Holden selections fill state highway board

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Once he fills two openings on the Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission, Gov. Bob Holden will have appointed nearly every member of one of the most powerful state boards.

The six-member commission is the governing authority of the Missouri Department of Transportation and has constitutionally granted independence to make policy decisions largely free from interference by the governor or the Missouri Legislature.

By having named five commissioners, however, Holden will have put a significant stamp on the panel.

The six-year term of commission chairman Barry Orscheln, a Moberly Republican, expired Monday, although under the Missouri Constitution he continues to serve until his successor is confirmed by the Senate.

The other vacancy was created in December by the resignation of Democrat Ollie Gates of Kansas City. Because Gates' term was also set to end Monday, his spot on the commission has remained open so his replacement would avoid having to be appointed and confirmed twice in a span of months.

Orscheln and Gates were the last remaining commissioners involved in the panel's controversial 1998 decision to scrap the ambitious, but financially flawed, 15-year construction plan MoDOT adopted in 1992 to sell a 6-cent fuel tax increase to lawmakers. That action continues to have repercussions for the agency and contributed to the overwhelming voter rejection of another transportation tax package in 2002.

The Missouri Farm Bureau, which supported the 1992 plan's emphasis on rural construction, has been a harsh critic of the decision to drop it. Estil Fretwell, the group's public affairs director, said the departure of the last of those involved in what he labeled a "breach of the public trust" provides the commission with a chance to restore voter confidence.

"It will be an opportunity for the commission to have a fresh start and look at the grave error in judgment the commission made in 1998 and rectify that mistake," Fretwell said.

Mary Still, the governor's spokeswoman, said Holden would move quickly to fill the vacancies.

"He is looking for people with real community and civic interests and an understanding of the importance of the transportation system to our economy," Still said.

Holden in late 2001 appointed three other current commissioners -- Democrats Bill McKenna of Crystal City and James Anderson of Springfield plus Republican Duane Michie of Hayti. Republican Marge Schramm of Kirkwood, an appointee of former Gov. Mel Carnahan, will soon be the lone commissioner not chosen by Holden.

Because of a law enacted last year to ensure regular turnover on the commission, Holden's forthcoming appointees will serve only until March 1, 2005, after which they will be eligible to be reappointed to full terms.

State Rep. Gayle Kingery, a member of the House Transportation and Motor Vehicles Committee, said he is hopeful both of Holden's choices will be from rural areas, with one from Southeast Missouri. However, Kingery, R-Poplar Bluff, acknowledged the probability of that happening is low.

Holden will likely tab one appointee from the Kansas City area and the other from rural northern Missouri, since the departures of Gates and Orscheln would otherwise leave those regions without representation.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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