N.C. Transportation Secretary Tony Tata today named former Durham Mayor Nick Tennyson Chief Deputy Secretary of Support.

“Nick has a proven ability to build close working relationships and manage large-scale initiatives,” Tata said in a news release. “These will be key attributes as we carry out Governor McCrory’s directive to establish a long-range plan for North Carolina that builds on the department’s previous efforts to leverage our infrastructure for greater economic investment and growth.”

One of Tennyson’s key responsibilities will be to lead the development and implementation of a 25-year transportation infrastructure plan. He will oversee five business functions: the Division of Motor Vehicles, strategic planning, information technology, fiscal, and intergovernmental affairs and budget coordination. Tennyson will collaborate closely with Chief Deputy Secretary of Operations Jim Trogdon.

Nick Tennyson, who was Durham's mayor for four years until 2001, will start work next month as one of two chief deputy secretaries at the state Department of Transportation.

As Transportation Secretary Tony Tata's chief deputy for support, Tennyson will take charge of developing a new statewide 25-year infrastructure plan, which was one of Gov. Pat McCrory's campaign priorities for DOT. He'll step down from a job he has held for 18 years as executive vice president of the Homebuilders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham counties.

"This is an opportunity to have a real impact on the future of North Carolina," Tennyson said. "This is really a continuation of work that I got started on when I was mayor, to try to get people to think about the near future. Twenty-five years seems like a long time to a lot of people ..., but we need to think how quickly 25 years will arrive." ... [MORE]

This looks like a beautiful weekend for a drive to the coast -- but maybe the wrong time to try the Outer Banks. NCDOT said that ocean overwash Saturday morning had closed NC 12, the Outer Banks highway, in several spots up and down the shoreline. (Saturday 1pm update: NCDOT says NC 12 has reopened, but more overwash and repeated closings are possible at high tide Saturday evening and over the next few days.)

The closings early Saturday were located at :

* at Kitty Hawk,

* just south of the tempory steel bridge on Pea Island, built across the new inlet created by Hurricane Irene in 2011,

* at the S-turns at Mirlo Beach, on the north end of Rodanthe, also the site of big breaches by Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012, and

* in Buxton. And there's more overwash in Hatteras today, so there could be additional road closures later.

Looks like a good place to keep up with this is NCDOT's Facebook page, which has several updates with photos taken Saturday. Also check out the NCDOT Highway 12 Twitter feed.

The revolving door from the Wake County school system to the state Department of Transportation continues.

Mike Charbonneau, currently Wake's director of public affairs, will be leaving to become director of communications at DOT. The school system has hired Renee McCoy, a former WRAL news anchor and more recently chief spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Resources, to replace Charbonneau.

Greer Beaty will remain in a communications role at DOT.

UPDATE

Ann Dishong is interim director of the DOT governance office. This makes at least five former Wake school employees who've joined Tata at DOT.

Four first-year Republicans in the state House have filed a bill that would squelch a state Division of Motor Vehicles plan, announced last week by Transportation Secretary Tony Tata, to start issuing driver's licenses in late March to thousands of young illegal immigrants taking part in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (Update: See Anne Blythe's story.)

President Barack Obama announced the DACA program last June, to benefit immigrants who were brought into the United States illegally as children. An estimated 18,000 to 50,000 immigrants in North Carolina are expected to receive DACA work permits, which protect them from deportation for two years.

Tata cited support from law enforcement and other groups for his decision to comply with a Jan. 17 opinion from Attorney General Roy Cooper's office. It said DACA participants are eligible under state law to get temporary driver's licenses.

The bill to freeze licenses for DACA participants through June 15 is sponsored by Reps. Mark Brody of Monroe, John R. Bell IV of Goldsboro, Donny Lambeth of Winston-Salem and Chris Millis of Hampstead. It criticizes the Obama administration for not enforcing immigration laws; the administration of former Gov. Bev Perdue, for requesting the attorney general's opinion; and Cooper's office, for issuing an opinion "that further complicates the application of the law."

Instead, the bill says, "the complexity of these issues requires a carefully crafted legislative response, undertaken only after thorough investigation and deliberation by the people's elected representatives in the General Assembly."

Rep. Dana Bumgardner, a first-year Republican from Gaston County, has introduced legislation to scrap state plans to build the Garden Parkway, a $900 million toll road through Gaston County

“During the campaign, voters from both sides of (the) aisle overwhelmingly voiced their opposition to this needless road,” Bumgardner said in a news release. “This is not about political parties. This is about saving the taxpayers money and preserving people’s private properties from a pointless road.” (2/21/13 update: see Steve Harrison's story.)

Environmental groups and other Republican legislators have expressed a shared disdain for the Garden Parkway and other toll projects over the past year. The parkway, intended to alleviate Interstate 85 traffic west of Charlotte, was undermined by a state Department of Transportation study that predicted it would funnel jobs into neighboring South Carolina. Sen. Kathy Harrington, a Gaston County Republican who co-chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, won election by campaigning against the parkway.

Although tolls are collected from drivers, taxpayers also would help pay for these roads. Projected toll collections aren’t sufficient to repay what DOT must borrow to build and operate the toll road. Bumgardner's bill would cancel a promise by the General Assembly to spend $37 million a year to cover the expected gap between Garden Parkway project costs and toll collections.

Cris Mulder, chief of family and community engagement for Wake County schools, will join her former boss at the state Department of Transportation as deputy secretary for internal and external affairs.

“We are thrilled to announce this appointment," Transportation Secretary Tony Tata said in a news release Tuesday night. "Cris will be a tremendous asset to our department and the State of North Carolina as we work to better communicate with our citizens and improve customer service. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from the private and public sectors and a unique blend of marketing and community engagement skills.”

It's the latest announcement in a busy week of comings and goings at NCDOT, and Tata's second high-level hire from Wake schools.

Mulder starts work March 11, moving into the job created by former DOT Secretary Gene Conti for Ted Vaden, a former News & Observer editor. The job has been empty since Vaden's retirement last fall. She will oversee DOT communications, marketing and community outreach.

Here's what Tata's news release says about Mulder: ... [MORE]

While Gov. Pat McCrory names appointees to the state Board of Transportation, including several developers and major campaign contributors, his transportation secretary is making changes at NCDOT.

(2/20/13 update: Tata brings Cris Mulder to NCDOT, another hire from Wake schools.)

Since Friday, Transportation Secretary Tony Tata has:

* Removed Paul Morris, deputy transportation secretary for transit.

* Removed Eric Boyette, DOT inspector general for the past two years, and returned him to his former IT realm. He is business technology applications specialist and staff assistant to Randy Barnes, the DOT chief information officer. Boyette's salary is unchanged, $102,366.

* Moved Katherine White, general counsel, to an attorney's job in the Division of Motor Vehicles hearings office.

No replacements have been announced.

Other vacant spots at Tata's NCDOT include ... [MORE]

In his first State of the State speech Monday night, Gov. Pat McCrory mentioned both an early accomplishment and a new mission for his transportation secretary, Tony Tata (see speech video).

He credited Tata with moving quickly to address the double billing of hundreds of drivers on the Triangle Expressway, and he asked Tata to improve highway lights in North Carolina:

(2/22/13 update: I'm reporting on the highway lights issue TODAY. Are you concerned about darkness on Triangle area highways? I'd like to speak with you. Pls call me 919-829-4527 or email me (bruce.siceloff@newsobserver.com) with your phone number.) ... [MORE]

Transportation Secretary Tony Tata and Motor Vehicles Commissioner James Forte say they will announce their decision at 4 p.m. today on whether to comply with a Jan. 17 ruling from the state Attorney General's Office that said DMV should issue driver's licenses to young illegal immigrants taking part in a federal program that postpones their deportation.

(2/15/13 update: See story with reader comments: N.C. to give driver's licenses to immigrants in Deferred Action program.)

The issue affects teens and young adults – estimated at 18,000 to 50,000 in North Carolina – who were brought to the United States illegally as children. The Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program provides two-year work permits, and a deferral of deportation, for = young immigrants who meet certain qualifications.

Non-citizens who apply for driver’s licenses must provide documents to prove their “legal presence” in North Carolina, under state law. Former DMV Commissioner Mike Robertson asked Attorney General Roy Cooper in September for legal advice on whether DACA participants meet that requirement.

Yes, Cooper's office replied in a Jan. 17 letter from Grayson Kelley, chief deputy attorney general. DACA work permits show that the federal government has certified that their presence here is legal for two years. It does not change their long-term status as illegal immigrants, Kelley wrote. ... [MORE]