North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue has helped reshape the DOT, so much so that lawmakers are now considering circling the changes into law.
The crusade started when Perdue was elected governor three years ago and took a hard look at the transportation agency, which was plagued with continued abuse from transportation board members. Two members were forced to resign, and Perdue issued an executive order to straighten up the ethical standards of the board. The move wiped away the board’s core of corruption: the authority to award contracts and make spending decisions. The DOT secretary now handles those duties.
The agency now works with local leaders to form the most effective transportation strategy for the state, an approach that relies on public input and clear, objective criteria.
Three bills have passed through two committees over the past week, which would make the moves made by Perdue under the executive order law, and the measures will most likely make it through the state House and Senate in the very near future.
“It does appear to me that with the current administration, DOT has gone to a realistic, transparent, data-driven process to make the limited resources go as far as possible, and to see local governments as true partners,” Joe Bryan, a Republican Wake County commissioner, told the Charlotte News & Observer.
