Caltrans Removes O.C. Chief

The director of Orange County’s local Caltrans office was transferred and demoted this week, an abrupt move that caught local transportation officials by surprise.

The decision to remove Mike McManus, which Caltrans officials say was not punitive, comes after intense criticism of the agency by two state legislators from Orange County.

It also comes just over a month after a weekend repaving operation on the San Diego Freeway resulted in massive traffic jams following a decision by McManus’ office to keep only one lane open during the day. Caltrans employees said McManus was summoned to Sacramento by superiors and asked to explain what happened, and top Sacramento officials vowed not to repeat the mistake. McManus could not be reached for comment Friday.

He was reassigned--effective immediately--to the San Diego office as deputy director of maintenance and will take a pay cut. McManus, who turns 45 today, has worked off and on for the state Department of Transportation for 21 years. He is the first district director in the state to be removed and reassigned under Gov. Gray Davis’ administration.

“It’s a question of Director [Jose] Medina getting his team in place,” Caltrans spokesman Jim Drago said. “Just being comfortable with the people working for you is important. Some people you maybe hit it off a little bit better with than others.”

Public officials who have worked with McManus for the last 2 1/2 years said the move was shocking, and they suspected the decision was related to Caltrans woes.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the governor’s office is looking for scapegoats to blame for some of the seriously bad public relations that they have received lately,” said Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who has worked closely with McManus on transportation issues.

But State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), who as deputy chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and one of Caltrans’ harshest critics in recent months, said none of his criticism was directed at McManus.

“Every dealing I’ve had with Mike has been great,” Dunn said. “I’ve only been impressed with his performance.”

Several hearings have been called by Dunn and Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) to get to the bottom of two issues directly affecting Orange County residents: errors in the oversized truck permitting office and faulty welds at the Orange Crush.

A bad permit written by a Caltrans employee resulted in the death of a Westminster man in July when the oversized truck he was driving near slammed into an overpass and lost its cargo. Caltrans officials also have had to repair faulty welds at the Orange Crush--where the Orange, Santa Ana and Garden Grove freeways meet--even though they are only three years old.

Drago said a replacement has not yet been chosen and that he believed an interim director would be named, although he did not know when that would happen.

Albert Miranda, a 27-year Caltrans employee and program manager for facilities in the Orange County office, said McManus was well-liked but his insistence on changing long-established procedures in the office through quality-assurance programs met resistance in Sacramento.

Miranda said McManus also was initially blamed for moving the Caltrans office into new space in April that didn’t contain enough parking spaces or workstations, a problem that was later resolved.

“Mike did a good job here and I’m puzzled as to why he was removed,” Miranda said.

Officials from the Orange County Transportation Authority, where McManus served as an ex-officio member, said they are now eager to find out who will replace him.

The district director in Orange County manages 1,200 employees and a budget of more than $60 million, and is responsible for an estimated $3 billion in capital improvements either underway or scheduled to be made. A good portion for those funds will come from the OCTA, which manages the tax revenue from Measure M, the half-cent sales tax passed by county voters in 1990 for transportation improvements.

“It’s of real concern and interest what Caltrans does now,” said Monte Ward, head of special projects for the OCTA. “My question now is: Who is going to replace him? We need a good working relationship with Caltrans to get our work done. From Orange County’s perspective that’s the most important issue.”