Paul Trombino
The reason for the departure of the director of the Iowa Department of Transportation is a mystery to statehouse insiders like Senator Tim Kapucian of Keystone, Iowa. Kapucian is the ranking Republican on the Senate Transportation Committee. He heard “through the grapevine” last night that DOT director Paul Trombino was resigning.
“He did a good job for Iowa. It’s a big hole to fill because there is money there and we’ve got a lot of projects that need to be done, the bridges and roads in Iowa,” Kapucian told Radio Iowa. “Fortunately, we’re kind of winding down to the end of that construction season, but I’m sure this is the time when we’re letting bids for next year. Hopefully there’s not much delay in finding someone to replace him.”
Kapucian said sometimes people in state government choose to “move on” after an election, but he has not heard why the DOT director is leaving or what job he may have landed elsewhere.
Trombino, who has been the DOT’s director since 2011, ushered in new technology for the DOT. Iowans now have the option of renewing their driver’s license online, plus all the documents for tracking DOT construction projects are now digital. Senator Kapucian said Trombino did some invaluable research about traffic trends, too.
“He did a study on the logistics on how freight moves across Iowa and it was really an eye-opener on the heavy traffic that goes on our highways and just exactly where the most heavy traffic was,” Kapucian said. “It really gave us some insight in where, if the roads aren’t up-to-date, where they’re going to need to be addressed in the future because of the heavy traffic.”
Trombino notified DOT employees yesterday that his last day at the agency would be November 28th, but he did not give a reason for his departure.