Shortly after Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in he would be running for governor, he tested out his pitch at the CalAPA Annual Dinner at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles. He touted his business credentials and promised, if elected, to be a pragmatic leader who balanced the needs of all Californians. CalAPA members, to put it diplomatically, were unconvinced.

At the insistence of the association, Newsom later that year donned a hard hat and toured an asphalt plant in Southern California to get a first-hand look at what our industry does. It was viewed as a good-faith effort to show his business bona fides, and ultimately it earned him the support of the CalAPA Political Action Committee. Newsom easily won election as the 40th governor of California in 2018, and prevailed in a messy recall election last year. He is expected to cruise to re-election this November.

Along with way, however, there have been plenty of bumps in the asphalt road that have triggered questions by CalAPA members about the direction of the Newsom administration and what is sometimes called "pothole politics." In his inaugural address, for example, Newsom famously said it was time to "get real" about California's troubled High-Speed Rail project, but since then billions have been spent and costs continue to soar with no end in sight.

In 2019, the governor issued an executive order indicating his intention to "leverage" $5 billion in transportation funds for climate change initiatives. After howls of protests from CalAPA and others, the administration was forced to walk back the announcement with assurances that no money from SB1, the $50 billion Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017, would be touched.

In 2021, it was the administration's embrace of a tome called the "Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI)." CalAPA panned the report, saying in an official comment letter "there is scant attention paid in the CAPTI report to the important connection between infrastructure investments and jobs and the economy."

Earlier this year, another howler. The governor, in his proposed 2022-23 budget, called for a tax "holiday" to respond to high gas prices. Within hours, CalAPA had issued a press release, widely quoted in the media, calling the idea a "budget stunt" and "highway robbery." The idea was dropped in favor of relief pulled from the general fund as the state was floating on a record budget surplus.

In June, there were more mixed messages. In a webinar series on the future of powering asphalt plants and fleets, representatives from the California Energy Commission worried about the state of the electrical grid and predicted rolling blackouts were likely to be a grim reality for the Golden State in the coming months and years. On the same program, Newsom's California Air Resource Board swept aside those concerns as they outlined aggressive regulations to transition California away from cars and trucks that burn fossil fuels.

But by July, there was a glimmer of hope. When Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin was promoted to secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, Newsom reached into the California Department of Transportation to pick his successor, the highly regarded Tony Tavares. CalAPA quickly sent a letter to the governor and the Legislature endorsing the pick.

And finally, as the clock ticked down on this year's Legislative session last week, lawmakers were considering more climate-related legislation being promoted by the governor. Then, suddenly, the "pragmatist" governor made another appearance. The Legislature approved and the governor signed, a bill extending a $1.4 billion loan to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant operating beyond its scheduled 2025 closing date. The facility is the single largest power source in California, generating 6% of the state's electricity last year. Apparently someone at the California Energy Commission got through to the governor's people that the state's energy situation is indeed dire.

It wasn't that long ago that an energy crisis got Democratic governor Gray Davis thrown out of office a few months into his second term in 2003. Ignore the fundamentals of running the state at your peril. With his eyes clearly set on a run for the White House, it is obvious that Newsom is mindful that he must attend to the business of governing his home state or he could suffer the fate of another former California governor who made three failed runs for the presidency and was ultimately done in by bad news at home: Jerry Brown.

For Newsom to ever hope to lay claim to a pragmatist label, he'll need to continue to pay attention to "pothole politics" or see his Oval Office aspirations get stuck in gridlock.

Longtime asphalt industry leader and CalAPA Vice Chair Toni Carroll announced last month she has accepted a position with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. The move means she will depart the asphalt industry that she left an indelible mark over the past dozen years.

"We are very grateful for Toni's leadership and countless contributions to the association and the asphalt industry in California over the years. We wish her well in this exciting new chapter of her professional career," said CalAPA Chairman Scott Fraser with R.J. Noble Co. "With her wit, insight and passion, she helped elevate an entire industry."

Longtime readers of this newsletter will recall that Carroll first gained notice for her smart and snappy "Quality in California" blog, which was named "Best of the Web" by the California Asphalt Insider newsletter in 2011 when she was known as Toni Donovan. "It's superbly written and loaded with useful information," this publication reported in its Nov. 21, 2011 issue. A star was born.

The Asphalt Insider review continued:

Over the years, Toni Donovan got married and became known as Toni Carroll as she took on more prominent roles in various Caltrans-industry committees that helped evaluate and propose changes to Caltrans standard specifications and test methods. She also taught a highly regarded technical training class for CalAPA on the Hamburg Wheel Track test method.

She eventually was voted by her peers to the CalAPA Board of Directors, and later was elevated to the Executive Committee and an association officer, first serving as Board Secretary and, for the past two years, serving as Vice Chair. She took over the gavel in July as acting chair of the board, the first time in the nearly 70-year history of the association that a women had ascended to that position.

As her influence grew over the years, she became one of the most prominent women in the asphalt industry in California. In 2017 she joined Dr. Rita Leahy, Mary Teichert, Amy Miller, Amy Epps-Martin and Corina Borroel on a "Women of Asphalt" panel discussion intended to elevate women in the industry. The event was featured on the cover of the CalAPA magazine HERE.

She also was an effective "citizen lobbyist," interacting with numerous elected officials in Sacramento to press for additional funding for transportation infrastructure and other issues important to the asphalt pavement industry. When the many years of lobbying finally paid off with the passage of SB1, the $50 billion "Road Repair & Accountability Act," she presented former Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose and SB1 author, a special asphalt highway scarf at a CalAPA conference that Beall kept on display in his office for years.

In announcing her resignation from the CalAPA Board of Directors, which was occurring simultaneously with her departure from CalAPA member company Graniterock, Carroll thanked the Board for the opportunity to learn and grow, and when then presented her the opportunity to give back to the industry.

Among her many accomplishments as a leader of CalAPA, she championed the formalized creation of a California branch of the national "Women of Asphalt" initiative, helped shape two iterations of CalAPA's strategic plan, modernization of the association's website and other brand-building activities that led to record member growth, and raised awareness of mental health as an essential safety issue for the asphalt industry and the construction industry broadly. Her eloquent commentary for the CalAPA magazine on the topic, "Ask why. And then listen and reflect on the answer," can be found HERE.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced last week that Carroll will be starting on Sept. 19 as the Quality Assurance Group Leader. In that capacity she will be overseeing the Quality Assurance Program (QAP) for the institution, according to an internal lab announcement. She will lead supply chain, software and the internal Independent Assessment Process, and also be program manager for the ISO 9001 Quality Management System.

In relaying the announcement on LinkedIn, Carroll was showered with accolades from her many fans and professional colleagues.

The CalAPA Board of Directors will announce at a later date who will fill Carroll's position on the Board and on the Executive Committee.

Editor's Note: CalAPA Vice Chair Toni Carroll sent the following note on Aug. 24 to the CalAPA Board of Directors announcing her resignation:

It’s with deep regret that I am submitting my resignation as Vice-Chair and board member of CalAPA. As some of you may know, I’ll be leaving my position as Director of Quality at Graniterock and ultimately leaving the construction/mining industry to pursue other opportunities this Friday, August 26.

 

While I’m excited about this next chapter of my life, there is a big part of me that is mourning this change, especially having to leave this association. I wanted to reach out to express my continued admiration and appreciation for the members of this group. I tell everyone that I “grew up” in CalAPA and Caltrans meetings with all of you. There is not a meeting that goes by that I don’t learn something from you and always leave my interactions with you with a full heart, pride for our work, and excitement for the future. In fact, when I considered leaving the industry about eight years ago, it was CalAPA alone that kept me here. I have always felt respected and valued as part of this association and I cannot express enough how much I’ve enjoyed working with you. Thank you for accepting me for me and helping me grow over the last 15 years. 

 

I’d like to leave you with a final request that I know the people in this association can achieve because of how accepted and valued you have made me feel over the years. 

 

Being a minority in this industry is exceptionally hard, despite how it may appear at times. I have held an unofficial position as sort of a figurehead of hope for women in California construction/mining for a long time and I can assure you that holding up the weight of that truly humbling and demanding role wears you down. It requires a balance of being tough, smart, accommodating, non-reactive, and “nice” to maintain success while knowing that any time you mess up it could create another obstacle for future minority leaders to overcome. A part of me is truly struggling with feeling shame to be leaving these women with another legacy of not sticking around. 

 

What I hope that you’ll help me with is to reach out to your team members that fall into minority groups. Ask if they’re OK. Ask if there is anything you can do to help support them. You would be surprised how something as small as asking someone to lunch can impact someone’s career, mindset, and confidence. It shows us that we are not alone and that we are seen. There are now well documented studies that people of minority groups, especially women, have been adversely affected in their careers due to the challenges that Covid has created for our communities over the last couple of years. I know this to be fact but beyond that, the stories that I have heard from women and minorities over the last 15 years in our industry have been difficult to hear and sometimes difficult to swallow. We don’t speak up because we fear that it will only make it harder for us and other minorities so many of you may not ever see this happening unless you build a true relationship of trust between you and your team members, on a personal level. I have been extremely lucky and blessed to have had this type of relationship with several members of this association and believe that change is on its way. I believe that you all are the change and you can make a difference in growing our workforce, retention of talent, and most of all on the individual lives of those around you simply by reaching out. After all, it worked for me 8 years ago.

 

Thank you again for creating one of my greatest experiences in life and for your continued support of the association going forward. I will miss you all and hope that we’ll still run into each other from time to time. If you’re ever in the Livermore area please reach out! My cell phone number will remain the same and my personal email is tonicarroll85@gmail.com.

CalAPA offices will be closed on Monday, Sept. 5 in observance of the Labor Day Holiday. CalAPA offices will reopen during normal business hours on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

SHOVING: Localized displacement of an HMA pavement surface, often caused by high shear stresses associated with vehicle acceleration to deceleration.

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.

RECORD RETENTION AFTER PROJECT COMPLETION: Take a final photograph of the site for your records and retain all records from the project including: copies of all truck delivery tickets and record of all the temperature recordings and compaction readings you took during the project.

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.

CARBONATION: Permanent sequestration of carbon dioxide.

– Elizabeth Gilbert

We hope you enjoy CalAPA's Asphalt Insider newsletter. We are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information on technical issues, regulation, news, analysis, events and trends in California that is of interest to the asphalt pavement industry and our various agency partners. Click HERE to contact us with any comments or suggestions.

Sincerely,

Executive Director

California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®