New Texas commissioners, FHWA's Ed Kussy to Nossaman, Krusee DWI (PERSONNEL)

Texas governor Rick Perry has nominated a former political aide Deirdre Delisi and a Fort Worth businessman and NTTA commissioner William Meadows to the Texas Transportation Commission which controls major decisions of the Texas DOT. The governor's office said he has "appointed" the two but the state Senate has to confirm the nominations.

Meadows seems likely to be confirmed but several Republicans have expressed opposition to Delisi. John Carona, chair of the senate transportation committee has called her a "political hack" and said she knows nothing about transportation and is unpopular with legislators.

Delisi has worked for Perry since 1998 and was his chief of staff into last year.

A resident of Austin she was nominated to replace Hope Andrade from San Antonio.

Meadows is to replace Ric Williamson, the chairman who died last December.

Kussy to Nossaman

FHWA deputy chief counsel Edward V Kussy, 60, is joining Nossaman as a partner in the Washington DC metro area office in Arlington VA. A press release quotes Geoffrey Yarema of the infrastructure group there: "There may be no single lawyer in the country who knows more about federal highway law and policy than (Kussy)."

Kussy has been working with the notorious NEPA process (federal environmental permitting) for 20 years and has been involved in "hundreds of NEPA cases." (Don't hold this against him. Someone has to do this stuff.)

Mike Krusee spends night in  jail on DWI

Former Texas house transportation committee chair and a champion of tolling Mike Krusee spent the night Apr 30/May in jail after being stopped about 10:30pm a few blocks from his house and charged with drunk driving. A Williamson County cop says Krusee was driving erratically weaving from one side of Anderson Mill Road to the other. The cop reported he had all the classic signs of drunkenness. He was unable to stand without swaying.

Krusee refused a alcohol breath test and so his driving license was automatically suspended for 180 days. He was driving with vehicle license plates that expired last year.

Tougher anti-drunk driving laws had been pushed by Krusee as chair of the House transportation committee.

Krusee announced last November he would not stand for re-election when his state house term expires this November. Virtually all his fellow Republicans abandoned him last summer in the stampede to abandon the toll privatization he had sponsored in 2004.

He represented a district north of Austin centered on Round Rock.

TOLLROADSnews 2008-05-04