Georgia has had grant programs for transit projects frozen by the Federal government due to financial management issues, as reported by the AJC.
Documented problems include funding for a bus route with no stops in Georgia, and life insurance policy premiums charged as “office supplies”.
This is yet another embarassing chapter for the Georgia DOT under Governor Perdue, who has made reform of the DOT the centerpiece of his administration.
The rifts that were exposed in the efforts to place Gena Abraham in charge of DOT consumed at least two entire terms of the General Assembly, and only now can the Governor and Speaker of the House pretend to be civil when together in public.
The backlash in the house resulted in an attempt to remove Mike Evans from the DOT board, and drove a fissure between independent fiscal conservatives and their more Chamber of Commerce friendly leadership.
And, of course, the coup de gras was Mr. Evans and Ms. Abraham then announcing that they had broken GA DOT policy by having a romance, but wasting all this polticial capital was O.K., because they were in love.
7 years into a Perdue administration, we still have a DOT whose accounting is FUBAR, projects that are committed but not funded, and no plan to fund the over $200 Billion in projects that are on the books.
And yet, Mr. Evans has resurfaced as a Congressional candidate, and according to his last press release, has been a champion of reform at DOT. He claims to have called for the audit that was released last week that confirmed additional financial problems, though the audit was commissioned as he was on his way out the door, and the problems were occuring while he was Chairman of the board and dating the Commissioner.
I will not be shocked at all when Mike Evans issues his press release in the morning touting states rights over federal freezing of rightful DOT funds, and that we have to get the Feds out of Georgia’s Business. Right before he flies to Washington to lobby for federal funds for his client, Forsyth County. The man has Chutzpah, I’ll give him that.
But what Georgia doesn’t have, after 7 years of Governor Perdue trying, is a functional DOT.
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For photos of the happy couple…
http://ethics.georgia.gov/Reports/Lobbyist/Lobbyist_Name.aspx?&FilerID=L20090187
http://ethics.georgia.gov/Reports/Lobbyist/Lobbyist_Name.aspx?&FilerID=L20080090
Seriously??
Are we still on this???
I want to know how much money the other candidates in the GA9 race are paying Icarus to keep these lies brewing. As if it really has an affect on the average voter.
Impressive… Really.
Please note any lies. Seriously. I’m all ears for whatever you consider in error, much less “lies”.
And for the record, I do this for free.
One target with The Ox wasn’t enough…you had to start slandering Mike Evans too.
Seriously??
Evans was at the center of one of the biggest scandals in state government in ten years, helping run a horribly mismanaged DOT which resulted in a freeze of federal funds, and you think we should not talk about it?
peachgop, seriously…are you an ostrich in real life, or just play one on the blogs?
peachgop,
Let me speak plainly: Mike Evans is the posterboy for what’s gone wrong with far too many in the GOP. He was once a promising young legislator who was seduced by power and became what he once opposed. To think he’ll be a good congressman given his recent track record requires a willing suspension of disbelief.
three of hte most ridiculously angry white guys on the planet. please, guys, for your health, go have a drink, relax, and try not to beat your wife.
Breath a little. it will be over soon.
I’m glad Icarus keeps posting on the DOT. For instance, this latest with the FTA isn’t just about the DOT – DOT is just a pass through for most of these funds to rural and small metropolitan areas like Hinesville. FTA not allowing DOT prevents Hinesville from starting its bus service after almost a year of GDOT just sitting on the grant application. Just as an FYI, Hinesville is trying to start its bus service primarily for Fort Benning and provide the soldiers with a way to go out and relax and get back to the base without killing themselves on the road. The rural services GDOT funds are services for the elderly and handicapped who can’t drive in rural Georgia. While this doesn’t have much to do with all the brouhaha of whether Mike Evans should be GA 9 representative, Icarus’ postings at least keep the horrible shape the DOT is in in the conversation hear.
Fort BENNING is close to Hinesville?
The only lies being told are those from Mike Evans:
1. Comparing Bill Stephens and Tom Graves to Sen. John F. Kerry.
2. Claiming to have raised double the funds of all his opponents combined. lol
3. Claiming to oppose out-of-control Federal spending, while being paid by Forsyth County to lobby for Obama stimulus funds.
4. Asking the 9th District to support him for the DOT so he could serve the public interest, while actually placing his “romantic” pursuits first.
5. Claiming to “work for a lot of people” while dodging the questions from the voters in N.W. GA on the Mrs. Judy Show asking about Mike’s lobbying gig.
You claim lies, counter one of these facts if you can…ProveIt about to whine about negative false attacks…lol.
I have never heard him say #2. He often says he raised about as much as all of the other candidates combined.
I don’t think he’s still boasting about his fundraising prowess, since the disclosure statement would contradict that bravado. But a couple of months ago, that was the centerpiece of Evan’s campaign, that Tom Graves wasn’t going to be able to raise any money.
1. Bill Stephens and Tom Graves CAN be compared to John Kerry, NOT because of their liberal agendas, but because of the FACTS that Mike highlighted- they voted for the budget, then against it, visa versa. Mike NEVER attacks his collegues in the race for being liberal, on the contrary, he praises them for their conservative philosophies. He simply points out that when its time for rhetoric to meet reality, they dont always live up to the rhetoric. They could simply vote NO. Mike did.
2.He has never said he has raised “double” the funds of all of his opponents in the race. His words are, and have been that he has raised more than his opponents combined. NOT double.
3. Is Tom Graves not trying to get Obama stimulous funds for his district? Did not all of the house members lobby for Obama stimulous funds for their respective districts? I know when the transportation funding mechanism (TSPLOST) was being worked on, the House would NOT pass the Senate’s version because it didn’t have any pork and special projects for EACH of the Reps’ districts. Tom Graves serves on the House Transportation committee, he certainly played a key role in making sure he got what he wanted for his district.
That is just ONE example. There are many, many more.
4.It is very easy to throw stones at Evans for his relationship with Gena. Most of us have never been in that situation. I will admit, it did make it look like there was something fishy going on when that story came out. But there were no violations of policy when it was announced that Mike would step down so that he could date Ms. Abraham. As soon as it looked like things could progress further from buisness collegues to a significant other, Mike stepped down to avoid a violation of policy. Like I said before, it may have looked suspicious, but when you look at the facts, you quickly find there was nothing going on that should be considered suspicious.
5. I personally watched Nighttalk when Mike was on. How did he dodge the question? He said that he still has alot of private citizens ask for his help in relation to DOT issues because of the connections that he still maintains at the department. He applied for the Lobbyist badge before he ever had a “gig” of any sorts. I thought he answered the questions clearly.
GOPGrassroots – please get your facts straight before you go into attack mode.
1. Bill and Tom supported Republican budgets, Mike opposed Democrat budgets…woop de do…not something to use to call them John Kerry flip-floppers…while failing to mention the different situations.
2. Mike has NOT raised more than his opponents combined. You just admited that he stated this, and this is not a true statement. Thank you for clearing up the statement and for confirming that he lied.
3. Mike is the only candidate in this race (that I know of) who is paid to solicit Obama stimulus/bailout funds. He is a lobbyist, he goes after pork funded by deficit spending.
4. “DOT policy forbids personal relationships within the direct chain of command. The board oversees Abraham, approving things like her salary. ” Mike and Gena were in a relationship for some time before resigning.
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=209112
5. Two different callers asked him point blank if he was a paid lobbyist, twice he deflected the question and refused to answer.
My facts are straight, and the truth hurts when you’re running from it.
I also watched Nighttalk, and have a DVD of the show. He most certainly dodged the question. He was asked if he was a paid lobbyist. He responded that he did a lot of work for a lot of people, etc., etc. but never answered the question. Another caller said that he never answered the question and again asked him if he was a paid lobbyist. Once again, he talked about doing a lot of work for a lot of people, but never answered the question.
Ms. Judy, my bad.
I wonder if this means they will take those signs down on 117 and stop resurfacing the road in front of my house.
I can’t tell you how much those “Ross” folks from Tifton annoy me. Make me wait 15 minutes to go in my own front yard.
No. At least not this freeze. To be clear, it’s “transit” funds. Funds for busses, trains, mass transit, etc.
Road funds are an even bigger cluster because there’s more of them, but the Feds haven’t shut those down. Yet.
Shucks.
Of course, he could just say this was his plan to help stop federal government spending, getting it frozen.
Yep, said it before and will say it again… GDOT is a Big ol’ barrel of suck. Anyone who bought a home a difficult commute from work believing that that GDOT would come in a make their commute easier in a year or two is in for a big surprise. Of course, maybe they got laid off and won’t have to worry about the commute anymore.
I’m really curious to find out the details of the bus route with no stops in Georgia and what justification there is for it. From the AJC article “DOT officials disputed some of the findings in the federal mass transit review, saying, for example, that DOT believed its bus routes were appropriate for the grants.” WTF? Was this a bus set up to bring the Governor of Alabama to Florida to discuss Lake Lanier at the Flora-Bama Lounge?
WE HATE MIKE EVANS!!!!! AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Icarus, my only complaint is about the last line:
But what Georgia doesn’t have, after 7 years of Governor Perdue trying, is a functional DOT.
WTF has Perdue done except ignore the problems until this past legislative session?
Perdue installing Abraham instead of the House’s annointed candidate was his attempt to reform the DOT. It was a major undertaking, which unraveled because of Abraham and Evans.
His reasons for not moving forward with a comprehensive transportation plan has been that the DOT must be fixed first.
It’s still very, very broken.
Isn’t the person in there now that same “House’s annointed candidate”?
Very broken, indeed. And Perdue hasn’t really done anything to make it better in the past 7 years.
Yes, Vance Smith.
And anyone that wants to search the Peach Pundit records will find that I defended Smith during the previous race, but was a strong supporter of Gena Abraham to get that position.
Not saying you didn’t. Just pointing out your last sentence was not the best way to put it.
I think Perdue’s way of trying to make it better was a fundamental reform of the DOT.
Unfortunately, he failed miserably at that.
So now we get to a fundamental question worthy of serious discussion: why did he fail? Was it the people he chose or the power of easy money over the people he didn’t choose?
I can’t take any more scandals with Evans. He has way to much drama around him for a mediocre Republican candidate. Lets vote for someone else.
Mike Evans did not cause most of the problems at GDOT, but he certainly did not solve any significant problems. At GDOT he rose to his level of incompetence, he does not deserve to rise any further.
For one, GA has on right to Federal funds. If the federal government wants to freeze their funds going to GA, that is both the right of the federal government and, if it suspects fraud of any kind, it is their duty.
I agree with Jane regarding Evans. He may go out claiming that government doesn’t work, but that is the direct result of public administrators such as himself.
I am all about Lee Hawkins winning this race, I will disclose that from the start. That being said, with Congressmen Deal leaving there will be some big shoes to fill. Deal was a competent legislator and an excellent public servant. Evans has proven that he can not serve honorably nor can he serve competently. The head of this serpent needs pinched off before its grows into a hydra.
I am not worried, nor excited, about any possible Democratic candidates for the 9th. It is a GOP district and will not be won by a democrat. Any democrat thinking about running should have their head examined.
Hawkins is a good man. He is loyal to his constituents and is a well reasoned and educated man. He, like Deal, would rather ask how some piece of legislation would benefit his constituents than spend his 5 minutes on a soap box for the congressional record.
WHO beat and robbed GC of his normal personality? This post is amazing.
This is my normal personality, Nr Simon.
Dare I take your remark as a compliment?
It may seem as, to many, that I am a left winger. That is not necessarily true. The conservatives of the 60s are often viewed, today, as liberals. While I believe in liberalism, I also believe that many liberals do not, necessarily, believe in liberalism.
I care about The People. It may be an apology of sorts, but it is true. I have spent a lifetime taking advantage of The People for the purposes of profit. That, however, is not the path of a statesman. This is something I really only realized in my elder years.
Yes. Take it as a compliment. Because that comment marks the first time in a long while (perhaps even ever) that you have made a post that did not sound like it came from Progressive Dem or Progressive Peach.
*first line should read: No right, I apologize for the misspelling.
“This is yet another embarassing chapter for the Georgia DOT under Governor Perdue, who has made reform of the DOT the centerpiece of his administration.”
Really? A centerpiece of his admiistration? That speaks volumes to Curley’s ineptitude. He couldn’t follow through on a down-stroke. What has he acomplished? He goes on vacation when the legislature is in session. For 7+ years the guy has just been kicking the can down the road. Meanwhile the problems with transportation, water and education are compounding. I know conservatives prefer the status quo, but his lack of action is negligent.
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