Former New Mexico transport director to head Missouri agency

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Former New Mexico transportation secretary Pete Rahn is expected to be named Thursday as Missouri's new transportation director, The Associated Press has learned.

Rahn's selection was confirmed Wednesday by two Missouri state officials as well as a former colleague of Rahn's in the New Mexico Department of Transportation, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has scheduled a news conference for noon today to announce the new director, who will face the dual challenge of rebuilding Missouri's rough roads and fixing the damaged reputation of the department that oversees them.

Rahn, 49, served as New Mexico's highway and transportation secretary from January 1995 through November 2002, when he took a job as vice president of governmental affairs for Ohio-based Contech Construction Products Inc.

Happy with selection

Missouri's next transportation director -- accompanied by three state transportation commissioners and a staff member -- met Wednesday at the Capitol with House Transportation and Motor Vehicles Committee chairman Larry Crawford, R-California.

Commission chairman Bill McKenna emerged from the meeting and -- without speaking the new director's name -- said, "He's very well qualified, and we're happy with our selection."

The department has been run by an interim director for several months following Henry Hungerbeeler's announcement last December that he was resigning after five years at the helm of the agency. His departure came shortly after a citizens advisory panel appointed by transportation commissioners called for management changes.

Before directing the New Mexico transportation department, Rahn was an insurance executive and a San Juan County, N.M., planning and zoning commissioner. During his eight years as transportation secretary, New Mexico enacted a nearly $1.2 billion highway construction package that built 653 miles of new four-lane road.

But Rahn met criticism from some legislators for his handling of one major project -- the expansion to four lanes of what is now U.S. 550, a main link from the Albuquerque area to the northwestern corner of the state, including the Farmington area where he once lived.

Some legislators objected that the department approved a $62 million, 20-year warranty requiring the contractor to maintain the road. Rahn defended his decision, contending the cost was less than what it would have cost the state to maintain the road over two decades.

During roughly the same time, Missouri's independent transportation commission dropped a 1992 spending blueprint that had promised a four-lane road to every town of at least 5,000 people. Commissioners said the 6-cent fuel tax increase that accompanied the plan fell far short of supplying enough money.

Hungerbeeler took over as director shortly after the funding flap, but the commission's decision dogged him and the agency for years. When Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a transportation tax plan in August 2002, commissioners and elected officials interpreted it as a vote of no confidence in the department.

Since then, legislators have passed measures intended to improve the department's public accountability perception, and interim department director Dave Snider has eliminated some high-level positions.

All six commission seats have been filled by new appointees in recent years.

"It's an exciting time for having a new director," Crawford said Wednesday.

Senate Transportation Commission Chairman Jon Dolan said Thursday's announcement would mark the department's best day in the past eight years, adding that he was pleased with the commission's choice for director.

"We're very proud of the department and the progress they've made toward reform," said Dolan, R-Lake St. Louis. "We've got a great opportunity here. It will not be squandered."

On the November ballot is a proposed constitutional amendment that could give Rahn more money to work with in his new job. It would gradually direct additional money to the transportation department by decreasing the amount of road funds transferred to other state agencies.

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Associated Press correspondent Barry Massey in Sante Fe, N.M., contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Transportation Department: http://www.modot.state.mo.us