Closing out a four-month search for the Missouri Department of Transportation’s new director, a 40-year veteran of the department stepped up Wednesday as the unanimous choice of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
Ed Hassinger, who has been serving as interim director, told reporters in a press conference that increasing staffing levels is a top priority. He said the department has missed more than 2 million labor hours in the past decade — a result of pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic, high turnover rates, a reduction in the amount of incarcerated workers the department once relied on and other stressors.
One tool to restore staffing levels is better pay and the department is awaiting the outcome of a legal battle to determine whether it has the ability to use the Road Fund to increase employees’ wages. The department won its case in Cole County Circuit Court and oral arguments were made last week to the Western District Missouri Court of Appeals.
Hassinger said the department has “the resources” but doesn’t have them available. The department will be asking for authorization to spend money currently in the Road Fund to pay 250 additional employees.
“This is Road Fund money; we already have it, but we just need the legislative approval,” he said.
The department asked the legislature for the money last year but was denied after lawmakers pointed to a large number of vacancies. Hassinger doesn’t expect to have the same issue this year, saying the department has “stopped the bleed” and maintenance positions are anticipated to be full by July.
He enters the position at a time when the department has a “generational level of funding” that has taken “many decades of work.”
The state legislature has been appropriating money from the state’s general fund for the department, defying precedent. Commission Chair Dustin Boatright told reporters he expects to ask for additional general-fund appropriations.
MoDOT has a plan to spend $14.6 billion over five years on the state’s infrastructure. Boatright said the department has secured all the federal appropriations available and applied for additional discretionary funding from the federal government.
The commission had to choose someone who could seamlessly manage the large volume of work. The obvious choice was Hassinger, he said.
“The historic number of projects that we currently have underway requires somebody who can hit the ground running with years of project management experience and a track record of fostering leadership development within the department,” Boatright said. “While we had candidates with solid skills and extensive experience, Ed is who we believe is the best fit.”
He lauded Hassinger’s record as the department’s chief engineer since 2013 with additional duties as deputy director since 2018.
“(Hassinger) has consistently produced results that have made Missouri a national leader in project delivery and provided great value to each and every Missourian,” he said.
The department has completed over 4,000 projects in the past decade at a cost of $9.7 billion.
“I want to just highlight that we’re building on a foundation here,” Hassinger said. “Those that have come before us, and commissions previous and leaders in the department have built the foundation we are standing on, and we’re going to take that to the next level and deliver.”
Former director Patrick McKenna held the role for nine years and resigned in August, saying he had “never been more confident in the future of MoDOT.” He now works as President and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a nonprofit think tank focused on transportation policy.
Among the other candidates seeking the MoDOT leadership position were state Sen. Lincoln Hough, a Springfield Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Independent’s Rudi Keller contributed to this report.
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