First woman to head DOT knows traffic woes - Birmingham Business Journal:

http://aisef.org/spices/all_spice.htm
"Somebody's got to do something about this traffic," she eliciting wry laughter fromGDOT staffers. Thoss who know or are getting toknow Abraham, who formally takes over from current commissioner Harold Linnenkohl on Dec. 1, say she's got the acumen and drive to get the most out ofthe delay-pronde department, which has close to 6,000 employeex and oversees $2.7 billion in annual spending. But whethedr she can do anything meaningfulabout Atlanta's road congestion will largelyu depend on whether Gov. Sonny who backed her for the post, givee GDOT the funding it needs to overcomeea multibillion-dollar budget shortfall and get scores of major new projects off the ground.
38, is the first womann to lead GDOT and a department outsider who won her new position over House Transportation ChairmanVance Smith, a Republicahn contractor from Pine Mountain, on a 7-6 vote by the GDOT She's anxious to put the politicsd of that election -- which saw lawmakers call for the resignation of one board membert who supported her -- behind her and get on with the businessw of making the department leaner and more efficient. "She'd very aggressive, very businesslike, very Linnenkohl said. "I think she's going to do a reallh great job.
" If Abraham's track record as statse property officer isany indication, her first orderr of business may be to turn her attentiobn inward. As head of the , the and half of the Abraham quickly identified several workers on the payrollshe couldn'rt account for. She also discovered roughly $10,000 a monthj was being spent on office supplieas for about 100employees -- a whopping $100 per persoh on average; change orders that had been languishing for nearlyu a year; and other inefficiencies.
Chrid Tomlinson, deputy director in the constructiom division at GSFICunder Abraham, said she createrd a one-page strategic plan for each of the giving employees a clear, simple statement of what was expected of them. "Shes sets a high bar and the rest of us just try to keep Tomlinson said. "We're constantly measuring ourselves to see howwe She's clearly left a legacy here." He described Abraham'se management style as collaborative and accessible but alwaysd with the potential for her to jump in and do thinga herself if she feels the Abraham's ability to get things done -- she built her own lakefrongt home in Sharpsburg, from the seawall down to the hardwoocd floors -- is already impressing some at GDOT.
It stems from yeard of experience in constructionproject management, which is essentially what GDOT is all Abraham holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from and previouslyg worked in the private sector as a constructionn manager at what is now She createdthe first-evere registry of hundreds of state propertie under Perdue's , saving $30 million by selling off surplus buildingxs and land and renegotiating leases. She also presidedc over site developmentfor 's $1.2 billion planf in West Point, putting together the acquiring the land and clearingt it in less than a year. Abraham knows firsthanr the effectsof GDOT's difficulties getting projects builty on time and on budget -- or even at all.
She has as unpleasang a ride to work as any Atlanta commuter -- up to two hours and 15 minutes in heavt traffic -- and is considering takinvg a bus instead. The road ahead in her new careert may also be adifficult one. "Our state budget can' support transportation," Abraham said. "We'll try some things that are not gointto work, but we must look at every option."