MDOT: Time to move agency forward
The newly constituted Mississippi Transportation Commission voted 2-1 Tuesday to demand that Mississippi Department of Transportation Executive Director Larry L. “Butch” Brown resign today or be terminated.
Newly elected Northern District Commissioner Mike Tagert, who was sworn in before the meeting, voted with Central District Commissioner Dick Hall to replace Brown. Southern District Commissioner Wayne Brown, no relation to Butch Brown, voted against the action.
The action comes after Butch Brown announced his intention to retire June 30 on the day prior to the special election to choose a successor to the late Northern District commissioner Bill Minor, a Brown ally who died Nov. 1, 2010.
Both candidates – Mike Tagert and John Caldwell – in that runoff election to choose Minor’s successor pledged during the campaign to remove Butch Brown from office if elected. Tagert won the runoff and was as good as his word in joining longtime Hall in ousting Brown from office.
Clarion Ledger
2/9/11