UPDATED: GDOT board meets about Abraham
The GDOT board is deciding the fate of Gena Abraham over her relationship with now former Chairman Mike Evans:
The board called a special meeting for 10 a.m. Monday to finish business left undone when last week's two-day meeting devolved into closed sessions digesting the personal lives of the department's top leaders. The chief question now is whether, if Abraham decides to stay, the board will decide to keep her.Both Gov. Sonny Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle have publicly supported Abraham through this. Insider Advantage's Matt Towery wrote an editorial in support of her, though he says a reprimand may be in line.One key issue is whether Abraham retains the credibility as a hard-charging, by-the-book enforcer of the rules to effectively carry out her reforms.
Evans and her other supporters have painted her as a historic change agent brought in to reverse a 50-year culture at DOT of over-promising projects and slack adherence to the rules. They say she remains effective and must stay.
An "intimate" relationship between an employee and a superior in the worker's chain of command is forbidden by DOT policy, and it is unclear how long Abraham was out of conformity with that policy. She has refused to comment publicly.
Evans has refused to say when the relationship actually got romantic, saying that was personal matter. Gov. Sonny Perdue, who also continues to support Abraham, has said a relationship between two people comes on gradually, not like turning on a light switch.
I think most everyone wants to see Abraham finish what she has started and that may be why she keeps her job.
I'll update this as soon as I hear what action the board takes.
[4:08pm] Abraham was reprimanded by the GDOT board by an 8 to 3 vote. A motion was made to remove Abraham, but it did not receive a second the motion did receive a second.
[9:51pm] From IA:
Board Member Dana Lemon, who did not support Abraham in the original election last October, offered a motion to ask for Abraham's resignation. That was seconded by Sam Wellborn, who also did not support Abraham last October.No surprise that it was Dana Lemon who made the motion to remove Abraham. She is one of the members holding up real reforms to GDOT.
Comments
Just what is a reprimand? Do they doc her pay,deny her a raise,cut her benefits,don't let her participate in recess.? She broke the rules.
I guess if you have enough friends in high places you don't have to pay the penalty for rule breaking.
Can I get just a reprimand if I don't pay my tax? I mean after all its just a rule and to tell the truth I would rather have a reprimand than pay 1000s to have it wasted paying for meetings like this.
Don
Posted by: Don | April 21, 2008 08:39 PM
Well I don't know about Sonny but it was just like turning on a light switch when I met my wife ....Wasn't nothing gradual about it but then unlike most politicans that have to look for a loop hole or decide if something would be good for their career I don't have to take a lot of time to decide if I like something or don't like it. My wife and I ,married 38 years in June, had one date before we got married so I don't think that was gradual thing Sonny. Just let me add....Wrong AGAIN Sonny
Posted by: Don | April 22, 2008 07:41 AM
I just read the conditions of the reprimand and from what I can see everybody at the GDOT gets one "oops",you get to keep you job you just can't be boss,and as long as you FINALLY tell your secret you can keep your job you just have to be careful,thats what probation means.
Does anybody know how much the pay reduction is. I mean it is our money isn't it?
Posted by: Don | April 22, 2008 08:00 AM
I remember the meeting that
was held at the Henry County
Administration Building about the future of Hwy 42 where several of our local leaders were brought in to give advice on anything that could be done to expedite the widening of Hwy 42 through Henry County to try and aleve some of the headaches of travel through the county. Nothing of real substance came of the meeting other than a lot of political jargon. Ms. Lemon did not offer anything of value other than to let us know that nothing is planned to help with the road for many years to come. Our IV District Commissioner had a viable proposal on how to fix the road but he was treated as though he wasn't in the room. His proposal has real merit and should have been given at least a real chance. But the folks on the panel had their own agenda. Again the GDOT was of little help and this is part of the problem they have been busy with their internal problems and forgot about the citizens who pay their salaries and let us crawl around on our roads. It is going to take a long time to fix this mess. A lot of us probably will not live long enough to see it fixed and I think it is really a shame.
The Doctor
Posted by: The Doctor | April 23, 2008 01:15 AM
Dr.
I was at that meeting and I agree that Mr. Bowman was treated with an attitude of "We will listen if we must,but don't think that just because you were elected by the voters that those of us who were appointed to our positions are going to heed anything you say" and yes I was one who spoke and said that I didn't know how much longer I could afford to live in Henry County given the tax I pay and the fact that it is not being spent wisely.
I have also said publicly that I would have supported an additional one cent tax if I could have concrete assurance that that money would be spend on that project only,that no zoning would be granted for future business development until the project was COMPLETELY finished and that impact fees would be high enough to discourage the type of strip mall development such as we have seen on too many of the roads that service the county.
I also said that one cent taxes would not hurt anyone but it is when you have 45 different agencys asking for just one more penny that it starts to hurt your personal economy. John Douglas agreed but the rest of the panel looked at me as if I had purposed armed robbery of the tax system.
I attended a meeting the following week where the GDOT informed me that they were not going to argue with me about their way of doing things because they knew what we needed more than we did. Besides we don't think things are all that bad. Of course they did admit they live in Forsyth County and only come here on rare occasion.
They tried to tell me that it was cheaper to build a temporary road or bridge than it was to install a temporaty traffic signal...is it any wonder the GDOT is a ship with no rudder? You must accept the fact that we should just supply the money they will supply the brains..lol.besides if they fix our road problems what would they do for a living...at least thats what they appear to think.
And yes it really is a shame.
Posted by: Don | April 23, 2008 03:10 PM