DOT board rescinds vote on accounting
The DOT board has voted overwhelmingly to rescind its controversial votes from last month defying the state auditor on its accounting methods.
With most attending by telephone, nine of the 13 members voted to rescind the move, two abstained, and no one voted to hold fast.
The meeting Friday followed a round of jarring meetings board members held Thursday with House Speaker David Ralston, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, House Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla), the Senate Transportation Committee and the highest-ranking members of the state Senate, and Gov. Sonny Perdue’s chief of staff, Ed Holcomb, according to Board Chairman Bill Kuhlke. The message: Back off.
“I had never been over to the state capitol where I saw so much consistency in the disbelief of what the board did, and anger,” Kuhlke told his fellow board members. Kuhlke said board members had previously believed they had support in the House, but were disabused of that notion. He said Roberts could go either way but the House leadership was firm.
Board members Dana Lemon, and David Doss, who made the motion to pass it, abstained. Doss said he had heard from toll road investors that the controversy was shaking their faith in Georgia’s ability to do big toll road projects again.
The board in January voted to reverse a change in accounting practices that the DOT had put in place over the last two years following searing reports from the state auditor. The board’s move would have allowed the department to book future revenues before they were actually available, in order to sign contracts for multi-year projects without having the entire contract in the bank already.
Board members were swayed partly by the news that top leaders at all branches of government supported state legislation that would allow the department to account the way the board was hoping.
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22 comments Add your comment
MCM
February 5th, 2010
6:12 pm
It just amazes me how these politicians don’t think twice about spending our money. BUT, the very idea of signing FUTURE contracts without having money on hand is just absolutely ludicrous. This is NO way to do business. It’s like giving these people a blank check. AND THEY RAISED OUR TAXES!!!! Let’s vote them ALL out.
bulldog
February 5th, 2010
8:08 pm
These board members are appointed not elected but they are appointed by those that are elected.
ProgressivePeach.com
February 5th, 2010
8:33 pm
Ah for the days when DEMOCRATS appointed DOT board members and we got roads widened for the Olympics and potholes got fixed. Now with REPUBLICAN appointees on the DOT, these morons can’t even keep track of the billions they’re wasting doing nothing. Thank goodness we have a chance to throw the GOP out of office statewide this fall.
MGM
February 5th, 2010
8:45 pm
No, FAST FORWARD was “absolutely ludicrous”. That’s what got us into this mess. Hopefully,after this year, the only place Georgians will see the names “Perdue” and “Cagle” is on poultry products.
bob
February 5th, 2010
8:46 pm
Here is another issue that made Perdue angry….look at his time in office…each time there is a department he doesn’t completely domminate..he changes the structure, agency head, funding, etc. Now he want to appoint more and more positions…he went through a period of anger with the Regents..on and on…power and patronage is the game for perdue..that is his personality…and ego..control and power…he know best
Iconoclast
February 6th, 2010
6:40 am
This is no partisan issue. After-all, Zell Miller was governor presiding over much of the GRIP that built many 4-lane routes out of cow-paths. He sure as sh_t isn’t a DEM, no matter what he calls himself. We’ve just got a Guvnuh and Legislature who’s greatest feats in office, besides angering most, is attracting Georgia’s only operation auto maker and brokering self-serving land deals.
Mike
February 6th, 2010
9:36 am
The DOT has always been the fourth branch of Georgia state government. They’d pave the whole state f they could. It’s good to see it get pulled back in.
Hodad
February 6th, 2010
12:53 pm
Sonny Perdue is a moron and to echo bob’s previous comment. He is a control freak who opposes anything where he is not calling the shots.
As far as the accounting method controversy is concerned. Would it make sense for a person to wait and save the entire cost of a home before they could purchase it? Same concept regarding transportation funding. Transportation projects are hugely expensive and to wait until enough money is “in the bank” to commit to them is unrealistic and shortsighted.
Good grief!! Even Jimmy “Peanut Brain” Carter was a better Governor that Sonny “Pass the Biscuits” Perdue and he is having a negative impact on this state in countless ways.
JimC
February 6th, 2010
5:18 pm
The DOT financed many projects for decades with the old accounting method with no problems. It was only in the past couple of years that people got their panties in a wad about this.
Mike
February 6th, 2010
6:41 pm
It is about time the DOT Board figured it out.
The ironic thing is that the only NO Vote on this original action proposed by DOSS was by the newest member of the board, Mr. Gooch from Dahlonega.
Gooch was a county commissioner and seems to know enough about the constitution and state law to vote the right way from the beginning. It just took a while to get the other board members to comply with state law.
Doss, on the other hand, continues to defy the law,.
Hal
February 6th, 2010
7:24 pm
The board’s decision to return to the previous account method was the correct decision. That would get projects started, put georgians back to work, and improve infrastructure. Wait, Sonny and his constituents don’t want that to happen until after 2012.
Paddy O
February 7th, 2010
1:58 am
You folks are idiots. Perdue & Repubs are still on power trip. The DOT has DEDICATED gas money, and if you wait until all the money to do a project is in hand, which will be at least 3 years, then the cost of your project goes up, and its build time is extended. Sonny & Gena created a faux budget crisis because they were too stupid to understand the process. GDoT does not get funds from the general fund – this is because smart Democrats understood that you needed to keep politics out of transportation. Who here thinks Georgia roads are bad? I can drive from La Grange to Calhoun on four lane highways, easily driving 70 mph with light traffic. that is a good transportation system. The Atlanta problem can not be solved by concreting more lanes, but again, Sonny has dragged his Uncle Fester butt for a decade without realizing he needs light rail plus buses – but does Atlanta have a Grand Central Station? No again. Meanwhile, 126 million in fed funds sit being unused, and have sat for almost a decade. This is a horrible precedent. But the Repubs think we live in the feudel system – they are the lords & ladies, and all us serfs should be lucky they allow us to live – but not think for ourselves.
Stan
February 7th, 2010
7:31 am
Let’s all Go Fish!
jboy
February 7th, 2010
1:27 pm
I agree with the Sonny bashers. I’ve been w/DOT for 20 years and we never had a problem staying ahead of the State’s Transportation needs until Sonny the “warden” Perdue came along and had his call girl to screw things up so in the end he can take total control. I will be voting Democrat in the State Election and Republican (tea party) in the National elections. Again the Republican control freaks are stepping in the weeny!!
Cliff
February 7th, 2010
2:41 pm
Remember the massive Freeing the Freeways Program that, at the time, greatly reduced congestion? That, and many other programs, were started well before all the money was in
hand. Sonny’s latest silliness will set us back hugely. By the way, has anyone noticed that in
recent news conferences, he hasn’t even been wearing a coat and tie? Shows a lack of respect for the office, in my opinion.
Lawrenceville John
February 7th, 2010
3:26 pm
The arguments and bickering continue as the lack of funding for all transportation projects hinder economic recover in our fair state.
Base
February 7th, 2010
5:05 pm
Why don’t Sonny and his henchmen get goofy Doss off the board he is nothing but a front for the highway contractors.
tired of the B.S.
February 7th, 2010
5:17 pm
AS A DOT employee I am tired of sonny and his bs he is making us take days off without pay,giving all the work to contractors which by the way revees const. is getting all the work and the word is that it is owned by some of his family, DOT BUILT a new 3 million dollar asphat plant in davisboro ga,, they say it is land it was built on, and DOT didn;t use the plant 6 or 7 months if that, and DOT employees are hurting, they go up on insurance all the time but we haven;t had a raise in 3 years or more,atleast his term as governor is almost over
Tom
February 8th, 2010
7:04 am
Quit and go to work for one of the consultants. They don’t take furloughs.
Rossville Reaganite
February 8th, 2010
8:33 am
Mike Evans and Jeff Mullis are at the root of many of these problems on the Board. These two fat cats are only concerned with lining their pockets and advancing their pipe dreams of political advancement.
They both need to leave the Capitol, for good.
Name One
February 8th, 2010
9:31 am
Why in the heck is David Doss still on the transportation Board? he is “in bed” with the bg road builders like CW Matthews and this is a telling statement” ‘Doss said he had heard from toll road investors that the controversy was shaking their faith in Georgia’s ability to do big toll road projects again.”
We need term limits for transportation board members and Doss is the No. 1 example why.
Mr. Grumpy
February 8th, 2010
2:12 pm
I am so delighted to see that, even among Republicans, opinion is pretty universal that the Perdue administration still can’t come up with a cohesive transportation plan to take Georgia into the future. In fact, I think Transportation and Education and Perdue’s total lack of a water mangement plan should be enough to return state government to Democrats who ran it quite well and without all these little, childish power-plays. We’ve had 8 years of Republican control of state government, but it’s going to take at least 8 years to clean up this mess they’ve created and repair the damage they’ve done.