Gregoire taps new transportation chief

OLYMPIA – Paula Hammond jokes that she is “doubly different” as a woman civil engineer and, now, as the first female secretary of Washington’s Department of Transportation.

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced the appointment after conducting a national search. She said her Cabinet is now more than 50 percent female. At a joint news conference Monday, Gregoire and Hammond hugged and exchanged family news.

But their moment of celebration soon gave way to sober talk of the big problems facing the agency and state: congestion, rickety bridges, safety concerns, aging ferries, scarce help from the federal government and a lack of consensus about some “mega-projects.”

Gregoire also warned that congested King, Pierce and Snohomish counties can’t expect Olympia to pick up the pieces if the region’s voters reject an $18 billion roads-and-transit package in November.

The Legislature and the department have no backup plan, and congestion and safety concerns will continue to worsen, she said.

“We need a transportation system that will move our families, our workers and our goods in a safe and timely way,” the governor said. “It is a significant challenge.”

Hammond said she likes a good challenge and pledged to work with “tireless energy, integrity and a personal passion” to move the agency forward. She said she’ll look for innovation, and both she and the governor talked about trying to move more motorists out of their cars.

The agency is responsible for 7,000 miles of state highways, 3,300 bridges and tunnels, and the country’s largest ferry system.

Gregoire said she’s optimistic that she, King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels can break through the political gridlock over the replacement of the quake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle.

State highway crews this week are beginning initial work on the south end of the project while political leaders look for agreement on the “riddle in the middle,” the main elevated viaduct that runs along the waterfront, Gregoire said.

Gregoire and Hammond said the aging ferry system remains a big concern, including the four steel-electric class vessels. Gregoire said she and lawmakers are mulling the options, including postponing one of the four new jumboferries and using the money to replace the steel-electric vessels. They are the only ones that can serve the narrow channel at the Keystone terminal on the Whidbey Island-Port Townsend run.

Gregoire said the state has tried to find boats to lease, but to no avail.

Gregoire told reporters she did a national search for someone to succeed retiring Secretary Doug MacDonald and found her choice right on the Capitol Campus in Olympia. Hammond has been interim chief since MacDonald departed this summer. Before that, she was chief of staff and worked throughout the agency.

The Klamath Falls, Ore., native is a civil engineering graduate of Oregon State University.

Hammond, 50, a 28-year veteran of the department, and her husband, Alan, have three children. Hammond will earn $163,500 a year, about what the governor makes.

Senate Transportation Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, whose committee will hold a confirmation hearing, was delighted with the appointment and predicted unanimous Senate confirmation.

“This is a real classic example of somebody starting out the mailroom and becoming the CEO,” Haugen said. “No question, everyone likes Paula. People had a love-hate relationship with Doug, but everybody on both sides of the aisle and in the cities and counties and in agency itself really like her.”