OLYMPIA — The state transportation secretary will likely come under the thumb of the governor following passage of a bill in the state House on Tuesday.

The bill, ESB 5513, passed by a 92-5 vote.

The state Senate passed a similar bill by a 45-3 vote on March 14.

Minor differences between the two bills must be worked in a conference committee before it’s sent to Gov. Christine Gregoire, who’s expected to sign it into law.

The transportation secretary currently is hired and fired by the independent Transportation Commission, a seven-member board appointed by the governor.

Proponents say that having the transportation secretary directly answerable to the governor will provide greater accountability for such mega-programs as highways, bridge replacements, state ferries and light-rail projects.

Accountability shift

The shift in accountability in large part is triggered by December’s cancellation by the current secretary, Doug MacDonald, of the Hood Canal Bridge graving yard project in Port Angeles.

Although former Gov. Gary Locke reportedly weighed in on the decision, MacDonald abruptly canceled the $58.8 million project Dec. 21 with little consultation or notification among state lawmakers and local and regional officials.

The waterfront project was halted in response to a Lower Elwha Klallam tribal demand that “enough is enough” following a summer of archaeological digging and discovery.

About 300 intact skeletons as well as nearly 10,000 artifacts from the 2,700-year-old Klallam village of Tse-whit-zen had been unearthed on the 22.5-acre, state-owned property.

Appointed in 2001

MacDonald, a frequent visitor to the site as well as to tribal gatherings on the Lower Elwha reservation between 2003 and 2005, was appointed by the Transportation Commission in 2001 during the tenure of former Gov. Gary Locke.

He ranks 12th in seniority among the nation’s 50 state transportation directors.

Reps. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Jim Buck, R-Joyce, both voted yes Tuesday on the House bill, and Sen. Jim Hargrove voted yes on the Senate version last month.

Kessler, Buck and Hargrove represent the 24th District, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.

Both Kessler and Buck spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor Tuesday.

Buck, a vocal critic of the Department of Transportation’s handling of the graving yard project, described the bill Tuesday afternoon as “a shot across the bow.”

The graving yard was to be used to manufacture and float components for the Hood Canal Bridge eastern half as well as for future floating bridges, including the Evergreen Point Bridge that carries state Highway 520 across Lake Washington east of Seattle.

Other locations

Transportation officials are currently trying to determine other locations for the most expedient method of getting bridge pontoons and concrete anchors completed for a hoped-for 2009 Hood Canal Bridge east-half replacement.

The Legislature’s Transportation Performance Audit Board, meanwhile, has decided to conduct an independent investigation of events surrounding the December decision to halt the graving yard project in Port Angeles.