Another of Gov. Katie Hobbs' nominees faces contentious grilling

PHOENIX — A Senate panel recommended confirmation of Gov. Katie Hobbs’ pick to head the Transportation Department — but not before the chairman grilled her on personal beliefs and, at one point, suggested she was not being truthful.

The unanimous vote Monday of the Committee on Director Nominations came after Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, the chairman, sought to ferret out how Jennifer Toth feels about certain transportation policies with political implications he indicated he believes have no merit.

He singled out ideas some groups have promoted about road safety such as the roles of racism in road construction decisions and of toxic masculinity in accidents.

“My job is to discharge the duties and the policies as set forth by the governor and the Legislature. And if the Legislature wants to adopt those policies, then I’ll be willing to implement them,” said Toth, who until now was director of the Maricopa County Transportation Department and the county engineer.

Hoffman wasn’t satisfied. “Do you believe that those statements have merit, not ‘is that the official policy of ADOT’?” he asked.

“My feelings aren’t relevant in terms of being able to implement those policies,” Toth responded.

Hoffman persisted. “This committee is here to evaluate you,” he said. “And I feel that it’s relevant, which is why I’m asking the question.”

Hoffman followed up with questions about concepts of so-called transportation equity and mobility justice. He did not like it when Toth said she is unsure exactly what those are supposed to mean.

“I would question that you had not heard of transportation equity or mobility justice given that you’ve had an extensive career in the industry,” Hoffman said.

He noted that the Maricopa Association of Governments, which handles transit planning — and works closely with state and county transportation agencies — has mentioned the ideas as part of federal laws that require projects seeking federal funds to identify the needs of those with disabilities, older adults and people with low income.

“I find it hard to believe that you don’t know what that is,” Hoffman said. “I’ll take you at your word. But I do think the public deserves honest and forthright responses.”

All that drew a verbal slap from Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa, who suggested Toth was being asked to answer questions about “contentious partisan semantics.”

Contentious process

The confirmation process itself has become more contentious this year as the Republican-controlled Senate scrapped the process used for decades in which gubernatorial nominees for various positions were screened by standing committees with areas of expertise.

Under that process, Toth’s nomination would have gone to the Senate Transportation and Technology Committee, one that Sen. Lela Alston, D-Phoenix, said might have expertise in the kinds of transit ideologies on which Hoffman was grilling Toth.

Instead, a special panel, with a 3-2 Republican edge, gets to screen all nominees.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

While the full Senate still gets the final decision, the recommendation is given great weight. Its 3-2 recommendation against confirming Theresa Cullen as the state’s new health director doomed that nomination.

Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said the change was designed to ensure the qualifications for all nominees are thoroughly explored.

But what also changed is that the Republican-controlled Legislature must deal with a Democratic governor and her nominees for the first time in 15 years. The GOP majority is seeking to use the nomination process to potentially thwart Hobbs from making policy changes through agency rules that Republicans may not like.

“The clearest pictures of what Katie Hobbs’ policies will be is who she nominates to lead executive agencies,” Hoffman said. “We’re here to thoroughly and objectively evaluate nominees for their commitment to execute Arizona laws rather than creating new public policies that are in conflict with constitutional separation of powers.”

Much of the questioning appeared to be about potential strategies for reducing accidents.

Hoffman focused his attention on Vision Zero Network, a group that has ideas about redesigning streets and slowing speeds. He claimed the policies, implemented in other locations, actually increased accidents.

Toth said she can’t speak to what has happened elsewhere. But she said fatalities went up nationwide in 2021 as COVID emptied roads and those still on the highways were driving faster.

“It’s a nationwide issue,” Toth said.

She did say that ADOT has experimented with variable speed limits.

“And we’re finding that it’s not working very well,” she said. “So that’s something we need to take a look at to see if that is a viable strategy.”

But Toth declined to commit to any single method of reducing accidents and road deaths, saying the state needs to look at all options.

ADEQ nominee’s hearing postponed

Separately Monday, Hoffman said he has put off a hearing on Hobbs’ nomination of Karen Peters, a deputy Phoenix city manager, to head the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

“There was some concerning information that we’ve become aware of,” he said Monday without providing specifics. “And some additional investigation and vetting is necessary.”