Comments on: UPDATED: S.B. 200 passes with one vote to spare

By: UPDATED: S.B. 200 passes with one vote to spare | Gold Dome Live

UPDATED: S.B. 200 passes with one vote to spare | Gold Dome Live — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:11:42 +0000

[...] UPDATED: S.B. 200 passes with one vote to spare | Gold Dome Live [...]

By: FlintRiverRat

FlintRiverRat — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:05:12 +0000

Correction to previous post. To the dedicated GDOT employees who do their jobs in a professional manner without complaint THANK YOU. To the deadwood who still call GDOT home, please consider leaving before you get fired for incompetence. To the idiots in the public who continue to berate and bash you SHAME ON THEM.

By: FlintRiverRat

FlintRiverRat — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:22:24 +0000

For those that continue to bash the ones in GDOT who do their jobs well with little recognition by our state leadership, I thank you. Weeding out inefficient workers should be a top priority within all of state government. Then maybe the legislature could afford to pay the workforce a living wage.

The legislature did did not do a service to Georgia by being hoodwinked into Sonny’s trap. Hopefully the committee will fail to reach a compromise and it will die. Anyway why the rush, no one can vote on the sales tax until November 2010!

By: Bloated Governmental DOT

Bloated Governmental DOT — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:21:37 +0000

I have a P.E. behind my name. Some Professional Services Offices get paid on the 1st and 15th. I guess you work in the D-7 or Central Office.
You need to get your facts right, The GDOT takes external Data from Private Contractors/Consultants and reviews it for many many months upon a request from various sources, the DOT then assigns the Design structure to one of several engineering firms to develop the scope of services and Planning Design. When was the last time you saw a Survey crew on the road? The plans are then reviewed aqain and you add to that R/W services acquistion and legal. I have worked at each level of the GDOT- and I know how the system works.
The GDOT does have some engineers who leave to work in the private sector after gaining experience in basic engineering from the GDOT. However most of the engineers I have worked with left due to lack of work and the ability to see a project from start to finish.
As for the lowest paid state employees…you have your facts wrong. The state of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Missouri all pay lower wages than Georgia does at every level from maintenance to Engineers to MOT, to Planning. Those are the facts. Get out of the state everyone once in awhile. AASHTO, NSC, ITS, PTE, CEPTG, NSC, AATSA, DESIGN PLANNING ENGINEERS, ENGINEERS ASSOCIATION, TRB, FHWA, Should I Keep going.
I get job offers and have for the past 20 years….I am at 30 plus now..maybe it is time for many of us real Engineers to leave the department and let the prisoners run the place for awhile….Where were you during the floods, the ice storms, the Olympics, I know where I was..and the facts are the road for 1997 was the Non Interstate Roadways because during the June ride through by the FHWA Members only rode SR 520/ Corridor Z…oh but I would not know that I am Bogus…

By: Bloated is he really gdot?

Bloated is he really gdot? — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:41:25 +0000

You said how many engineers have left on their own? 35% wonder why? They are all studying for their P.E. I guess if you were a engineer you would be gone like them. Alot of them are using GDOT as a stepping stone in their own careers. They learn how GDOT does buisness and uses it too help their companies get contracts because they have to follow the Aashto guidelines. Ever heard of Aashto? Because GDOT pays so LITTLE, we are the lowest paid of all the state agencies why the engineers leave. I would leave a job paying 50K for a job making 100K what fool wouldn’t. Did you mention that? Also your figures are dead wrong. I saw the 2007 data we are in the top 5 so you need to do better looking yourself. Because your info is bogus. Also the 1st and 15th we get paid on the 9th and 24th. Are you really a GDOT worker? Or one that that is just full of it? Also if you hate it bad enough find a new job your probaly part of the bloated problem too as you say. We design the roads, the scratch and sniff brigade are the contractors. Anybody that needs to come down hard on is them.

By: Roy

Roy — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:17:09 +0000

the house bill makes sense except the person who oversees actual construction is called the Director of Construction, an already existing position in the current DOT structure.
The House Transportation committee is the logical group to direct the DOT, not another state agency. Look at the lack of success of Roy Barnes’ GRTA.

By: Bloated Governmental DOT

Bloated Governmental DOT — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:31:32 +0000

Reality……How many engineers with the DOT have left on their own in the past 3 years? Left Early?..over 35 to go to the private sector. We lost one in the past 3 months who pretty much handled the day to day engineering services for all road projects..why because he will say the same thing I have….the system is broken and bloated. No one needs to call a neighbor or friend to design a road or build a road. The projects created now are done 90% outside the department and the GDOT approves the plans. Once again the job is done by a private company who turns the job around on time. How many projects have been completed on time in the last 10 years? About 8% were completed on time and within budget. 61% were completed 90 days past due or longer and were 40% to 50% overbudget due to changes made by the DOT. 26% of the projects were over 280 days past deadline and created an additonal average of $400,000.00 per $ 1 million dollars budgeted. Those are facts.
As for being one of those disgruntle persons who could not get one of those lazy jobs..I have one of the jobs with the department that is scrutinized and is out in the public eyes, I have to create reports for every project in my district, I have to write reports for every person in my district, I evaluate employees, I budget my office, I budget my projects and deal with the issues of attempting to rid the state coffers of employees who do not do a days work for a days pay, which in my eyes is stealing from the taxpayers of Georgia. I am sick and tired of working with lazy people who only look for the 1st and 15th of each month and take little or no pride in their work, appearance or attitude. Let me add I have 5 family members who were also Real Engineers who retired from the GDOT and went on to work in the private sector and have seen this department turn into a jobs program.
Once again this ‘Best Roads in the South” is brought up and the plain facts are those numbers are 10 years old…yes it was true for over 16 years during the 80’s and 90’s Georgia ranked in the top 5 each year, the numbers also reflected the number of dollars spent on roads per gallon of gasoline tax purchased. The old formula until it was changed By Gov. Barnes allowed as much as needed to be spent on roads. Now the rules must provide for walking trails, sidewalks, trains, bicycle trails and horse trails to taken out of the funding formula. The old formula allowed GA. to spend up to 90 cents of every dollar on road projects…now the number is much less, almost half for “roadway projects” Road projects need to be built on need not want. Today with the cost to employ a state worker and the benefits it involves is just wasteful for the taxpayers to finance a retirement program. Just in case you did not know it..the old retirement system is funded nicely..the new retirement system is in the negative and the money is not there to keep it fluid. Check your facts…and do your homework.

By: SUBURBAN OVERLORD

SUBURBAN OVERLORD — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:29:04 +0000

Oh the poor DOT. I don’t get how people can defend an agency that has carried INSTITUTIONALIZED LYING AND DECEIT to a level never seen before in the history of the state of Georgia. The leaders of GDOT lied about their financial problems – lied about the when projects would be built – lied about doing bridge inspections – lied about everything they do. Their credibility is gone and they did the impossible by getting the Governor, Lt. Governor, and House Speaker to agree on something, for once.

People that are scared of a power grab, and yes there is one, should understand the terrible shape our state DOT is in. You know nothing if all you keep up with is what is in the newspapers. I am no Sonny Perdue fan, but this was the right call. The present system is the most dysfunctional one in the country, where Board members are King and don’t spent the money around the state evenly or even care. No matter where you are from, an in-town Atlanta hippie to a south Georgia Cracker, this is better than what you have now.

By: stupid bill

stupid bill — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:28:47 +0000

bloated… i never said they were the best… but the construction people have really hard jobs that are not very enriching, hence the high turnover and the bad attitude… they are never given the training to do their jobs right so they just dont care
and if you think consultants do a better job than the state engineers you are just plain uninformed… more often than not the consultants work is deeply flawed and has to be sent back multiple times… i’m not saying the in house work is a lot better sometimes (though it generall is) but they at least know the process…

By: LA

LA — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:25:18 +0000

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/
Click on “legislation” for either the House or Senate to see who voted for what bill. You can also read the bill, see who sponsored it, etc.