He also had a hand in road projects that ultimately resulted in two board resignations, an erosion in public confidence and a public relations problem for Gov. Jim Hunt. An FBI probe of the department, launched in February, is focusing on the revelations and on several key transportation officials, including Dr. Goode. While removing him from power may help the DOT, the agency should not continue paying his salary, public policy analysts say. We have a new department, a new system for planning and a new highway administrator and we decentralized power in the department and put in place processes where before we had none. Instead of reporting directly to the transportation secretary as Dr. Goode did, the new administrator, Mr. Sanderson, will report to David King, one of three existing deputy transportation secretaries.
New guidelines dictate how transportation projects are funded.
Oversight committees will review requests before they go to the board. No longer will only one person make decisions on how money is spent in this agency. He said he plans to recruit outside the department for the position. Noticeably absent from Monday's announcement were details about the makeup of the 26-member transportation board. Both men resigned last fall after revelations that they pushed road projects that helped their family business interests.