TxDOT Announces New Members of Leadership Team

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Texas Department of Transportation today announced selections for the final three members of Executive Director Amadeo Saenz's leadership team. The new Assistant Executive Director for Engineering Operations is John Barton of Beaumont. The newly-formed office of Assistant Executive Director for District Operations will be lead by David Casteel of San Antonio. The newly-formed office of Assistant Executive Director for Innovative Project Development will be lead by Phil Russell of Austin.

"John, David and Phil are all outstanding professionals," said Saenz. "All of them understand the complex and serious transportation challenges our state faces, and I know they share my commitment to meeting them with hard work, dedication and creativity."

John Barton began working for TxDOT as a summer employee of the Wichita Falls District, while he was still in high school. After graduating from Texas A&M University, Barton continued his work for the department. In 2003 Barton received the President's Award for Planning from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. In December 2003, he was named to his current position as District Engineer for the eight-county Beaumont District.

As the new Assistant Executive Director for Engineering Operations, Barton will oversee and coordinate operations for nine divisions and offices. Barton will assist in directing long and short-range planning for the agency including the establishment of overall operating objectives and the technical merits of programs and policies.

David Casteel has served as the District Engineer for the 12-county San Antonio District since 2003. He holds bachelors and masters degrees from Texas A&M University and is a graduate of the Governor's Executive Development Program at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

A TxDOT employee since his first summer job with the department in 1983, Casteel served as District Engineer of the Childress and Corpus Christi Districts before moving to San Antonio.

As Assistant Executive Director for District Operations, Casteel will oversee the state's 25 TxDOT districts.

Phil Russell, a transportation engineer with 25 years state experience including leadership roles in Bryan, Dallas and Austin, has served as the Director of the Texas Turnpike Authority Division since 1998.

He oversaw the planning and development of the Central Texas Turnpike Project. The first 44 miles of the project were opened under budget and a year ahead of schedule.

Russell has directed efforts to relieve congestion on Interstate 35 in Texas with the development of Trans-Texas Corridor 35. He is also in charge of planning TTC-69, a 600-mile multi-use transportation corridor extending from Northeast Texas to Mexico.

Russell started work for TxDOT in 1982 and held numerous positions in TxDOT's 10-county Bryan District and seven-county Dallas District before moving to the turnpike division in Austin.

In addition to being a professional engineer, Russell is also a lawyer. In his new position as Assistant Executive Director for Innovative Project Development, Russell will oversee and coordinate turnpike/tollway projects and statewide transportation planning/programming operations for TxDOT. He will oversee functions related to the development and operation of turnpike projects to include Comprehensive Development Agreements, market evaluations, pass-thru finance agreements, Trans-Texas Corridor activities, and long-term transportation planning.

TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz created the two new positions of Assistant Executive Director for District Operations and Assistant Executive Director for Innovative Project Development to help meet his objectives.

"I want to make sure that our TxDOT Districts have all of the resources we can provide them to work with local officials to solve local mobility problems," Saenz said. "Our innovative programs, including toll projects built by TxDOT, local authorities and the private sector, also deserve special focus as we work to meet our department's goals."

Barton, Casteel and Russell will assume their new roles on February 1, 2008. They join Deputy Executive Director Steve Simmons, Chief Financial Officer James Bass, Assistant Executive Director for Support Operations Ed Serna and Government and Public Affairs Director Coby Chase in Saenz's administration. Saenz took office in September of 2007.

The Texas Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining nearly 80,000 miles of road and for supporting aviation, rail and public transportation across the state. TxDOT and its 15,000 employees strive to empower local leaders to solve local transportation problems, and to use new financial tools, including tolling and public-private partnerships, to reduce congestion and pave the way for future economic growth while enhancing safety, improving air quality and increasing the value of the state's transportation assets. Find out more at www.txdot.gov.

For more Information call TxDOT's Government & Public Affairs Division at (512) 463 - 8588.

Texas Department of Transportation Government & Public Affairs Division, +1-512-463-8588

Carlos Sanchez: A man to admire, he stood behind his cause

Last week’s news of Ric Williamson’s death left those who knew him in shock. Unfortunately, for much of the public, this man’s death of an apparent heart attack hardly resonated.

But anyone in the state who has ever cussed at the concept of the Trans-Texas Corridor or the idea of paying for new highway construction with toll roads has Ric Williamson to thank.

The former Democrat-turned-Republican state representative from Weatherford rose through the ranks of leadership roles in state government through force of will, a keen intellect and an old roommate named Rick Perry.

When he died early last Sunday, he was the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, and principle architect and primary advocate of Gov. Perry’s transportation vision for the 21st century.

Anyone who knew him would tell you in the same sentence how brilliant he was and how infuriating he could be.

I personally came to appreciate his style after the first time I interviewed him as a reporter working for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

As I began asking him questions about a contentious issue involving the Fort Worth region, which included Weatherford, he quickly interrupted me.

“You’re Hispanic, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, “Why?”

“No reason. Go on,” he said.

For the rest of the interview, I wondered why he asked the question.

It wasn’t until later that I realized that in this politically correct world, he simply used the hint of being politically incorrect to throw me off of my game.

And I was a Ric Williamson admirer ever since.

To admire him didn’t mean that I necessarily agreed with him.

But I always watched him in awe, particularly when he was engaged in debate — and he seemed to always be engaged in a debate.

Which leads to the other attribute that those who knew him invariably mention: Williamson relished a good fight.

One developer I know tells the story of Williamson walking into a public hearing in San Antonio to talk about recent changes he had called for involving state roads in that city.

Far from being intimidated by a roomful of angry and powerful businessmen, Williamson seemed to want to debate each person one on one, my developer friend told me.

And while Williamson was a highly principled and steadfast advocate for a variety of causes, he seemed to relish the debate more for the intellectual exercise.

This posture could be maddening for opponents, as so many people across the state realized when the debate for the Trans-Texas Corridor went on the road for public hearings.

One of last week’s parlor games was the question of how much he advocated for Perry’s road plan versus how much he fashioned it.

When Williamson took up a cause, he threw himself entirely into learning about every nuance of that cause.

One of his areas of expertise, for example, was fast-pitch softball, a sport he learned when one of his daughters decided to play.

And while his ability to frame a debate and cut to its intellectual heart may have made many a person feel personally inferior, I never witnessed Williamson make things personal.

That trait always turned opponents into admirers, much like a story told recently in the Austin American-Statesman.

It involved state Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, who took such issue with Williamson that he called on the governor to replace Williamson on the five-member transportation commission.

Last week, after Williamson’s death, Carona told the Statesman:

“I think we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ric Williamson for bringing transportation to the forefront . . . No one, even his harshest critics, could deny what a leader he was on transportation issues. And though I didn’t always agree with him, I had tremendous respect for him.”

The debate will continue over the state’s transportation infrastructure. We can thank Williamson for putting that debate on the map.

Carlos Sanchez is editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald.

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