The epic fall of California's Kevin McCarthy from the pinnacle of power in Washington reached an ignominious conclusion last week when he announced he would resign from his seat in Congress and therefore not complete the remainder of is term, which runs through 2024.

McCarthy, a Republican from Bakersfield, realized a decades-long ambition when he ascended to the Speaker of the House in January after a bruising series of floor votes. After a tumultuous tenure he was ousted from the position in October by his own party in a historic vote, triggering another messy floor fight that ultimately culminated with a relative unknown, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, taking the Speaker's gavel. A previous Asphalt Insider story on this topic is HERE.

Speculation about what McCarthy would do next immediately became a Beltway parlor game, but a looming Dec. 8 deadline for candidates to declare their intention to seek re-election forced the issue. In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, McCarthy not only announced he would not seek re-election, but also said would resign this month. That will require the governor to call a special election to fill the remainder of McCarthy's term. In the meantime, the 793,000 residents of the 20th congressional district in the Bakersfield area will have no elected representative in Congress, and the tenuous GOP hold on the House of Representatives got a little bit more precarious.

In losing McCarthy, the GOP loses one of its most prolific fundraisers, which could be an ominous development for vulnerable Republicans in California in the 2024 election cycle. Five of the state's 12 Republicans in Congress (the remaining 40 seats are held by Democrats) are in districts won by Joe Biden in 2020, and a sixth, Rep. Ken Calvert of Corona, represents a competitive district.

Long considered someone more interested in politics than policy, McCarthy earned the ire of the asphalt pavement industry when he directed GOP Political Action Committee funds to hire paid signature-gatherers that ultimately resulted in Proposition 6, a November 2018 ballot measure to repeal the fuel taxes that were a central feature of SB1, the Road Repair & Accountability Act passed by the Legislature a year earlier. McCarthy's move was ostensibly intended to drive interest among conservative anti-tax voters, with the ultimate goal of helping GOP candidates for Congress. The gambit failed miserably, with seven of the 14 Republican members of Congress losing re-election bids, and Proposition 6 going down to defeat. Still, the "No on 6" campaign required $46 million in donations from a broad coalition to defeat the measure, including about $7 million from CalAPA and its member companies. This, coupled with no meaningful support for federal infrastructure funding during McCarthy's tenure, ensured few tears were shed in the asphalt pavement industry over his humiliating fall from power.

Looking ahead, the fate of the paper-thin House majority may be decided in California. In addition to the vacancy created by McCarthy's resignation, vulnerable Republicans Young Kim of Anaheim, David Valadao of Hanford, Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita, Michelle Steel of Seal Beach and John Duarte from Modesto won't be able to count on a fellow Californian with access to GOP PAC largesse. They already have faced tough votes on McCarthy's replacement, as well as vote to expel accused fraudster and resume inflater George Santos from Congress. In that Dec. 1 vote, all California Democrats voted "yes" along with eight California Republicans. Only Tom McClintock, Darryl Issa and Doug LaMalfa, residing in safe GOP districts, voted "no." McCarthy, in perhaps his last parting shot to his colleagues in Congress, did not cast a vote.

A California Asphalt magazine report on Proposition 6's path to the ballot, including McCarthy's role, is HERE. A report about Proposition 6's defeat is HERE. A previous Asphalt Insider article about the original vote to oust McCarthy from the Speakership is HERE.

Rich Foley was appointed Caltrans Chief of the Division of Engineering Services (DES), taking over from Tom Ostrom, who is retiring at the end of the month, the department announced last week. Foley begins his new duties Jan. 1.

Foley has more than 32 years experience with the Department, mostly in the design and construction area. Chief Engineer Donna Perry, in an internal e-mail sent Dec. 5, said Foley "will use that experience to lead the seven sub-divisions of Engineering Services to promote the Caltrans Core Principles of Safety, Equity, Economic Prosperity and Climate Action." Part of that leadership includes "collaborating with our internal/external partners to implement the Department's Project Delivery Program effectively and efficiently."

Foley earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and joined Caltrans in 1991. He has been involved in the construction and retrofit of many complex projects, according to the department. He served as the Senior Bridge Engineer for the Benicia Martinez Bridge, a $765 million Cast-in-Place Balanced Cantilever Segmental Bridge across the Carquinez Strait. Between 2009 and 2014, he worked for the Division of Construction and acted as a Risk Manager and Field Coordinator in the Toll Bridge Program on the new East Span Replacement of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge and the removal of the existing steel structure and the marine foundations (a CM/GC project).

When the Toll Program ended, Foley worked as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Engineer and collaborated with the construction industry and existing Dispute Resolution Board members to improve the program. In 2016, he was given the opportunity to serve as the Independent Quality Assurance Manager for the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement project in Long Beach. In 2020, he acted as the Deputy District Director of Construction in District 4, which covers the San Francisco Bay Area. Since May 2019, he has been serving as the Deputy Division Chief for Structure Construction in the Division of Engineering Services.

Ostrom said he will be working with Foley in the weeks ahead to smooth the transition. "Rich brings an impressive track record of leadership, problem-solving and collaboration to this position," Ostrom said in an internal e-mail. "I am confident that he will lead DES with care and to many years of fulfilling our purpose of delivering complex engineering solutions to our clients and stakeholders."

Another familiar name to the construction industry also announced his upcoming retirement: Chuck Suszko, a longtime manager in the Headquarters Division of Construction, will be retiring at year's end. He has been responsible for overseeing, monitoring and improving the construction contract administration processes and procedures for claims, change orders, dispute resolutions and the partnering program. His stated goal is to find mutually beneficial ways to improve construction efficiency for projects.

In addition, he led the implementation efforts to deliver three new safety improvements ̴:10 MPH Speed Zone Reduction in Work Zones, End of Queue Monitoring and Warning, and use of Automated Flagger Assistance Devices. These construction traffic safety enhancements improve worker and traveler safety by reducing traffic speed, informing motorists of changeable traffic conditions, and automating flagging operations. His last day at work will be Dec. 23.

"I have always had a special interest in asphalt pavement" Suszko told Asphalt Insider last week in an e-mail exchange. "As a junior engineer I could be found on the screed of a paver when variable paving was required, adjusting one side of the screed. On another day my supervisor wanted to know why I was operating a roller. I told the resident engineer that a roller operator got sick, and because I was inspecting the rolling operation, I choose the intermediate roller so I could easily monitor all three rolling operations."

"Working with asphalt Industry starting in 2001 starting with method, standard and QC/QA asphalt specifications, PG asphalt binders, long life asphalt pavements, payment adjustments for crude oil price fluctuations, reclaimed asphalt pavement in hot mix asphalt, Superpave mix design, and who can forget pavement smoothness, has been a highlight of my career," Suszko added. "All of these accomplishments were possible because of the partnering by asphalt industry stakeholders. There were a lot of disagreements along the way, but in a true partnering spirit, by understanding each other’s position resolution of issues happened and improvements to asphalt pavement were made that have benefitted all California drivers."

In one of his last actions for the department, he delivered a presentation to the Caltrans-construction industry liaison committee meeting last week in Sacramento with characteristic aplomb, highlighting downward trends in construction claims. When a snarky observer noted he didn't get the claims down to zero before he retired, Suzko replied with his characteristically dry wit, "We tried!"

The California Transportation Commission, meeting last week in Riverside, heard a report by the Commission's executive director refuting allegations that improvements to Interstate 80 in the Sacramento area somehow violate the department's climate guidance or other laws. The allegations were made by a demoted Caltrans manager in the form of a whistleblower complaint.

While the matter has not yet been fully adjudicated, CTC Executive Director Tanisha Taylor reported that CTC staff conducted an exhaustive review of the allegations and found there was no evidence that transportation funds were used improperly or other wrongdoing.

The allegations, which have garnered media attention, suggested that safety improvements to the roadway somehow were contrary to CAPTI, the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure, a California State Transportation Agency guidance document, or recently passed legislation. Nothing improper was identified by the CTC staff review, Taylor reported.

Testimony in support of the transportation improvements and how they were handled were provided by CalAPA, Transportation California, the California Alliance for Jobs and the Rebuild Southern California Partnership. CalAPA's official testimony before the commission was as follows:

"The California Asphalt Pavement Association supports the comments of Transportation California, the Southern California Partnership for Jobs and the California Alliance for Jobs as it relates to the efficient delivery of transportation improvement projects for efficiency, safety and a careful prudent environmental review, which in the case of the Yolo I-80 projects were done following all laws and guidance."

For more information and background on this issue, CalAPA members should consult a "Member Alert" that was sent out on Oct. 4. The meeting materials for the CTC meeting can be downloaded HERE.

In related news, Transportation California lobbyist Mark Watts was named by California State Transportation Agency Secretary Toks Omishakin to serve on a statewide transportation-construction industry Transit Transformation Task Force. A link to the official announcement is HERE.

Each week we highlight a word, acronym or other term commonly used in the asphalt pavement industry in California.

MINIMUM APPLICATION TEMPERATURE: The minimum temperature, as recommended by the manufacturer, to which binder must be heated while conforming to all specification requirements and providing appropriate application characteristics. 

Each week we highlight a key point or best practice of interest to asphalt paving crews, inspectors and others working in the field. We welcome suggestions. More tips can be found in our "Asphalt Parking Lot Construction Checklist" HERE. Information on the CalAPA "Quality Paving Certificate" program is HERE.

SUBSOIL: Is the base layer/subsoil firm and unyielding under the pressure of repeated construction trucks? Is the soil dry enough to support heavy construction? Can the soil hold its shape under loaded trucks? If the site is wet, postpone until the site is sufficiently dry and can be proof rolled and uniform stability is obtained. 

Each week we highlight a term that is specific to climate-change issues related to the asphalt pavement industry. This feature is intended to raise awareness of the asphalt industry's climate-change initiatives and the specialized terminology that goes with them. More information on "The Road Forward" asphalt industry climate initiative can be found HERE.

RECYCLED ASPHALT SHINGLES: Reprocessed shingles containing a stiff binder and aggregate fines.

"The truth is my light."

– Latin Proverb

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Sincerely,

Russell W. Snyder, CAE

Executive Director

California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®