Will Kempton, who has led Caltrans since 2004, is leaving the outfit for a higher paying job with the transit agency in Orange County.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger, who took nine months to appoint Kempton, has already named Randell Iwasaki, chief deputy director of Caltrans, to the head position.
During his short tenure, Kempton flipped the department of transportation from a state of disarray to one of respectability. Prior to his arrival, Caltrans was suffering from sagging revenues and a hiring freeze, and had many of its top managers left for better-paying jobs in the private sector.
“Will Kempton has been an outstanding Caltrans director,” Mark Sheahan, president of Professional Engineers in California Government, told the Sacramento Bee. “On-time project delivery within budget, excellent public and legislative relations and uniting the transportation community have been his hallmarks and his legacy.”
According to the Bee, Kempton will pull in $255,000 a year with Orange County, a $100,000 raise from his post at Caltrans. Prior to becoming the Caltrans chief, Kempton was a relative unknown. He was an assistant city manager of Folsom, a partner in a Sacramento lobbying firm specializing in transportation issues and the executive director of the Santa Clara County Traffic Authority.