Union County native to take over Public Works Feb. 1

Doug Wright

Union County is betting that Doug Wright, the man recently tapped to direct a revamped and enlarged public works department, will get big things done with his razor-sharp understanding of funding sources.

The county announced last week that Wright, a Union County native and a 27-year Oregon Department of Transportation employee, will take over Public Works on Feb. 1.

Union County Commissioner Steve McClure said Wright’s work with ODOT as an aid specialist will be of particular value.

“Our biggest problem is money, and Doug understands both federal and state programs. That gives us an edge going forward,” McClure said.

Wright, 50, was born and raised in Union County. He graduated from La Grande High School in 1979, and earned a degree in civil engineering from Portland Community College in 1984.

Since then, he has worked for ODOT’s Region 5, which is headquartered in La Grande and stretches north and south from the Washington border to California, and east and west from Boardman to the Idaho border.

As the region’s aid specialist, he’s worked with communities throughout that sprawling area, including the Port of Umatilla and Port of Morrow. He said he’s managed about $60 million in funding for the region.

Recent projects he worked on in Union County include reconstruction of Pierce Road near the Union County airport, and 12th Street and Gekeler Lane in La Grande.

Wright said he decided to switch from ODOT to Union County to bring his expertise to bear on the place where he grew up.

“My experience with local governments, understanding the funding sources, plus the fact that I’ve lived here all my life are skills and abilities that I believe fit well,” he said.

Earlier this year, Richard Comstock announced he would retire as road department director in March 2012.

At the time, the county was already moving forward with plans to combine the road department, the Union County airport and the parks division into one public works department.

While the road department did all the work on roads and much of the work on airport and parks projects, budgeting responsibilities outside the road department fell on county commissioners and other managers.

McClure said the new public works director will oversee the budgets for roads, the airport and parks including the Mount Emily Recreation Area.

“We’d already started moving that way, and we want Doug to finish that,” McClure said. “Project management will go out there, and Doug will be responsible for finding funding.”

Comstock will help Wright settle into the new job between February and March, and will remain available to work for the county on a contract basis. As Comstock departs, Bob Kelly moves in as head of the road department.

Wright will manage a public works department with two dozen employees, including 18 at the the road department and five at the airport. In the parks division, Sean Chambers, Mount Emily Recreation Area coordinator, will work under Wright.

Wright said that priorities in the near future include completion of the Pierce Road and the Union County airport runway improvement projects.

He’ll also be focused on a planned major improvement of Palmer Junction Road, a project funded by the federal Western Federal Lands Highway program. A contract for that project has already been signed, and work is slated to start in 2015.

Wright said that because his family has a long history of involvement in timber and agriculture, he understands the importance of solid infrastructure. That’s especially true for farmers, he said.

”We’ve got to insure local farmers can get their produce to market,” Wright said. “I want to improve infrastructure by looking at all the funding sources and improving the application process.”

Wright and his wife Michelle live in La Grande with their three children, Shelby, 15, Norah, 4, and Ian, 2.