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NewsAugust 29, 2004

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Try as it might, the Missouri Department of Transportation has been unable to bury the past. For six years, the department and its governing board, the State Highways and Transportation Commission, have dealt with an intense public backlash stemming from broken promises to deliver a substantially upgraded highway system. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Try as it might, the Missouri Department of Transportation has been unable to bury the past.

For six years, the department and its governing board, the State Highways and Transportation Commission, have dealt with an intense public backlash stemming from broken promises to deliver a substantially upgraded highway system. Efforts to rebuild trust have achieved little success, and the nearly 3-to-1 voter rejection of a $483 million transportation tax package two years ago bluntly illustrated the department's credibility problem.

MoDOT may not quite need a miracle worker to turn the situation around, but that is what commissioners hope they are getting in Pete Rahn, whom they named as director of the embattled agency last week.

Commissioner Jim Anderson of Springfield, who led the nationwide director's search, called Rahn, a former New Mexico transportation secretary, an agent of positive change.

"We wanted someone that could walk on the Missouri River and think that we've come pretty close," Anderson said.

Targeting the impossibleRahn, who will assume his duties Sept. 15, ambitiously intends to make Missouri's transportation system to the envy of the nation.

"There are those today who say that it is impossible for us to have the greatest transportation system in the country," Rahn said. "That's the impossibility, and that is going to make the accomplishment of it all that much more satisfactory."

During his eight years running the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department, Rahn earned a reputation for honesty and innovative thinking.

State Sen. Shannon Robinson, a Democratic member of the New Mexico Senate's transportation committee, said Rahn, a Republican, will make Missouri proud.

"He is a man of integrity, and he is willing to go out and get things done," Robinson said. "You are getting a guy who gets things built, but I always thought he had an extraordinary way of paying for it."

In particular, Rahn advocated borrowing money through bonds to finance major projects in New Mexico.

Missouri traditionally has relied on a pay-as-you-go approach. The legislature in 2000 authorized MoDOT to sell up to $2.25 billion in bonds to finance construction, but to date the commission has only sold $907 million in bonds due to concerns about getting too deeply in debt.

Rahn said bonding was the best solution for New Mexico but may not be for Missouri.

"I do not believe in borrowing money recklessly," Rahn said. "I believe it has to be a good business decision. The bottom line is it takes dollars to build and maintain roads."

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Rahn isn't yet prepared to talk details about where that money should come from and acknowledged that trust of MoDOT needs to be rebuilt before Missourians are again asked to endorse a tax increase. Rahn promised to be aggressive on that front.

"I'm not going to lie to you," Rahn said. "I'm not going to try to make you think there is something we can do that we cannot."

Overpromising and later admitting it couldn't deliver were what landed MoDOT in hot water with the public in the first place.

In 1998, the highways commission scrapped an ambitious construction plan that promised a four-lane highway to every town with at least 5,000 residents because the plan was based on bogus financial projections.

Fell on own sword

Henry Hungerbeeler, Rahn's predecessor as MoDOT director, joined the agency months after that decision was made but spent his entire tenure taking the heat for it. Hungerbeeler left the department earlier this year.

Commission chairman Bill McKenna of Crystal City said Hungerbeeler essentially "threw himself on his sword" amid calls for change among MoDOT's top administrators. McKenna said Rahn won't have to contend with many of the problems Hungerbeeler inherited.

Estil Fretwell, the public affairs director for Missouri Farm Bureau, a group that has been highly critical of MoDOT, said Rahn still has many hurdles to overcome.

"There is much that needs to be done in the state to improve the system and restore lost credibility," Fretwell said. "Achieving those two goals will be challenging."

Rahn, 49, stepped down as New Mexico transportation secretary, a position served at the pleasure of the governor, in 2002 upon a change in administrations. Since that time he has served as vice president for Ohio-based Contech Construction Products Inc.

With an annual salary of $130,008, Rahn will be the second-highest-paid state department head in Missouri. However, he is taking a $56,000 a year pay cut from his current job to work for MoDOT.

Commissioner Duane Michie of Hayti said Rahn's willingness to forgo more profitable employment in favor of public service is a mark of strong character.

"Pete will bring us a degree of enthusiasm and excitement, and that, we think, is what is needed in this department," Michie said.

mpowers@semissourian.com

(573) 635-4608

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