Former Perry aide Wilson to be new head of TxDOT

First non-engineer

Jay Blazek Crossley, Sep 29, 11.

The 5 member Texas Transportation Commission appointed by Governor Rick Perry selected former Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson to serve as the 19th Executive Director of the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT), according to TXDOT.

Wilson was an aide to Governor Perry during the time that current Texas Transportation Commission chairwoman Diedre Delisi, then Perry’s Chief of Staff, was Wilson’s boss, according to the Austin American Statesman. Wilson served as Texas Secretary of State for 12 months following an appointment by Governor Perry. He currently serves as senior vice president of public affairs for Luminant, an electric generation company headquartered in Dallas.

Delisi, who also had no experience in transportation before being appointed to the Commission, is the “strategy and policy director” of Gov. Perry’s presidential campaign and said to be the most influential member of his “inner circle” after campaign strategist Dave Carney, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Wilson is the first Executive Director of TXDOT to not be a professional engineer, a requirement removed by the Texas Legislature in 2009.

The commission authorized paying Wilson, 43, at least $292,500, $100,500 more than his predecessor, Amadeo Saenz, and will seek authority to pay him still more, according to the Statesman.com.

During the last Legislature, Republican officials argued
for much more money for the TxDOT position. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst called the $192,000 salary “ridiculously low.”

[The US Secretary of Transportation, who manages a $70 billion agency of 55,000 employees, is paid $199,700, according to Wikipedia. That is $7,700 more than Saenz earned, and $92,800 less than Wilson will be paid to run the $17 billion agency while the Commission works out a way to pay him still more. Saenz was with TxDOT for 33 years.]

The Statesman story continued:

Wilson worked for politicians for about 15 years, the bulk of his career. He served for one year as Texas secretary of state, appointed by Perry. He now works as senior vice president for public affairs for Luminant Energy.

Wilson is registered with the Texas Ethics Commission as a lobbyist with Luminant and its parent company, Energy Future Holdings Corp . The filing shows expected 2011 compensation of less than $10,000 from Energy Future Holdings and $50,000 to $99,000 from Luminant.

Delisi said that Wilson has a background of running large operations. Asked for an example, Delisi mentioned his one-year service as secretary of state. That office currently has about 200 employees.

State Rep. Joe Pickett , D-El Paso, former chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he was surprised the job went to someone with Wilson’s slim experience in the private sector.

“I could see where he would be named the next chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission,” Pickett said. “But we still need a Fortune 500 type to run the day-to-day business of the agency.”

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