URGENT - 5th Update

Perdue, Cagle Express Support For Abraham, Say They Want Her To Stay At DOT

5th Update at 5:15 p.m. adds Chamber of Commerce statement. New material highlighted.
4th Update at 5:05 p.m. adds Cagle comments, support from other people and groups for Abraham.
3rd Update at 4:46 p.m. adds additional material, including Perdue's meeting with Abraham.
2nd Update at 4:30 pm. adds additional comment from Perdue.
1st Update at 4:21 p.m. adds details.

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(4/18/08) Gov. Sonny Perdue, with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle at his side, expressed support for DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham Friday and said he wants her to continue at the helm of the agency despite Thursday's revelations that she had a relationship with Board Chairman Mike Evans, who resigned after revealing it publicly.

"I do still have confidence in Gena's ability to conduct the affairs of the Department of Transportation ... She knows how to deliver projects, she knows how to prioritize, she knows how to get the value for the taxpayer and I think, with the support of the board moving forward, I think she can do that in our Department of Transportation, which we know is sorely needed," he told reporters.

He said he believes she will have that support and said he now is calling members of the board to make his feelings clear. The board is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the issue further.

Also, Perdue took pains to try to minimize any shock value from the revelations.

"When you look at this as two unmarried adults developing an admiration, respect and relationship with one another, the only problem here was their positions - one being the chair of the Board of Transportation and the other being the commissioner of transportation. At what point do you say, let's put time out here and we figure this out and then we persue that? I'm not aware of anything that happened that would give me any thoughts ... (that) anything different should have happened."

After the news conference, the governor's office distributed a memo saying it had received communications of support for Abraham from Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Dan Balfour, the Association County Commissioner of Georgia and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, among others.

The Georgia Chamber's Charles Tarbutton, for example, issued this statement:

"Yesterday's news is an unfortunate distraction from the essential work that Commissioner Abraham has undertaken at GDOT. We firmly believe that she is the right person at the right time for this challenging assignment. Commissioner Abraham has a proven record of accomplishment, and working with the General Assembly and the governor, we believe she will lead the reforms necessary to make GDOT a model of efficiency and effectiveness."

Perdue, who was out of state when the developments came down Thursday, said he talked with Abraham Thursday by phone and again in person on Friday.

"That was the first thing I wanted to do. I'm not one who tries to convince somebody that they ought to do something that is not in their heart to do. I waited until I had a conversation with her. What I saw this morning was the Gena that I knew - a person that is resolved to make a difference for Georgia, that has the capability, that has the confidence and has the capacity to change things," he said.

Asked if his support for her would change if he learned the relationship extended for a longer period of time than the month or so Evans acknowledged, he said:

"I think a month or so is what she and he have told me. I have to take that at faith value. As we all know as humans, there's no light switch in a relationship that comes on one day. It's not like that. It's a rheostat of relationships. When you work with somebody, you develop a mutual respect. It comes from admiration and then it develops into deeper feelings than that."

He continued, "I believe they took the appropriate action in going to the vice chairman and expressing the desire to persue a deeper relationship and then made that known to the board. The question is, for all of us as humans, at what point does that occur and how can you say when to do that? And that's what I think they were faced with."

He added, "I think the right thing happened. Obviously, it was very clear that they both could not continue, and I think Mike Evans did the right thing in tendering his resignation to the board so that Gena would have the opportunity to continue to lead with a great vision for transportation in Georgia."

Perdue went into some detail about his initial telephone conversation with Abraham, the first woman to head the department and his personal choice for the position over the opposition of House Speaker Glenn Richardson.

"My sense was that she was emotionally distraught and I think when people work in a situation in which you put in 16-18 hour days (and I'm aware of many of the challenges that she was facing and the things that she was uncovering) that, in itself, is wearing. And I think she was exhausted. I think it was exacerbated by the emotional relationship and attachment that she had developed with the chairman and I think that was weighing on her. It was a much more distraught Gena Abraham that I've ever seen before. She's usually always in command of her thoughts and is very disciplined in her approach to solutions, and it was very uncharacteristic of that. I told her that I would be home on Thursday night and I wanted to meet her Friday morning and let's hear from her what went on. I think that was prior to the (DOT) meeting that took place ..."

He said he never asked for her resignation.

"I did not ask her for that. I came in this morning to meet with her to, frankly, detect and pursue the depth of her commitment and resolve that she's had in this job. I sensed that it was the same - that she was commited to better this state in public service by leading this board of transportation ... to get us a transportation plan and a transportation program in place that will serve our citizens well. I think she has that resolve and I am persuaded that she is the most capable person at this point to do that ..."

Cagle said he was involved in the conversations with Perdue and Abraham.

"The governor and I did not push her. We wanted to know if that fight was still there, and I'm convinced that it is and I'm convinced that the board members there at DOT are equally as committed ... And I said when she was first elected and I will say it today that she truly has the opportunity to transform our state government relative to transportation and I'm very excited about her moving forward in that ..."

The Speaker's office said it did not plan to issue a statement.