Will Kempton, Caltrans Director

Community Comments

"Will took over a troubled agency that was trapped in its own bureaucracy," says Scott Haggerty, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the agency that plans, coordinates and finances transportation for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. "I think he has done a phenomenal job making it more business-friendly. Will looks to local government more than other directors have in the past. We feel like we have a valuable opinion."

Kempton calls it the "new Caltrans," an agency that is faster and friendlier than it used to be. He backed up his talk in May when the agency quickly responded to a gasoline tanker truck that overturned, exploded and caused a section of the MacArthur Maze in Oakland to collapse. Those Caltrans jokes were all but forgotten when the department announced June 27 as the target for reopening the Int. 580 connector and offered an incentive of $200,000 per day if the work was finished early and an equal daily penalty if late. The contractor, C.C.Myers of Rancho Cordova, finished the project more than a month early, earning a $5 million bonus.

This is no accident. The same haste was seen building the tunnel on Hwy. 1 at Devil's Slide and during the Labor Day weekend when Caltrans closed the Bay Bridge for seismic safety repairs. In 2003, Caltrans took an average of 5.5 hours to clear highway accidents, but in 2005 that time was cut to 3.2 hours. Such efficiency, according to Caltrans, will save taxpayers an estimated $251 million over the next five years. For the sake of speed, Kempton wants to see more unconventional ideas, and he encourages his staff to take risks.

"We're not talking about wholesale anarchy here," he says, "but it does take some thinking outside the box."

Kempton communicates through video emails, sends CDs to maintenance workers and has a personal goal of meeting all 22,000 Caltrans employees (5,600 down, 16,400 to go). Employees feel empowered by Kempton and his go-getter approach. Jody Jones, for instance, has worked for Caltrans since 1980, so she has heard all the jabs and jokes. As the director for Caltrans District 3 -- which includes 11 Sacramento Valley and northern Sierra counties -- she deals with Kempton on a regular basis. Caltrans, she says, has always been a "great engineering organization" but lacked customer service in decades past. Kempton has made getting information out to the public a priority.

Kempton also has worked to reverse the agency's reputation for lagging by having his district directors sign contracts stating that projects will be out of the design phase and on to construction by the deadline. Last fiscal year, the agency was on time with 100 percent of its statewide projects.

"That's a sea change for the department to be able to have on-time delivery of our projects," Jones says. "We still have a ways to go in terms of the public trusting that we'll do what we say we're going to do. But I think the things that Will is implementing are really increasing the credibility of the department."

Still Under Construction

Kempton always wanted to be a politician when he grew up. Even back in grade school, he was voted "Most Likely to Be President." But a few years after graduating from the University of San Francisco with a degree in political science, he ran for a position on the San Juan Unified School Board. He lost and decided his political career was cut off before it even began.

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments