Photo: Van Mason will be retiring as district engineer for the GDOT on Dec. 31.
Release:
The new year will bring new leadership to Georgia Department of Transportation’s Southwest district with the retirement of Van Mason and promotion of Scott Chambers.
Mason and Chambers have been sharing the title and duties of district engineer since Nov. 1 to aid in the transition. Mason’s retirement is effective Dec. 31.
Mason, a Lee County resident, was named district engineer in 2019, and he leaves the Department with 32 years of experience. Chambers started working with the Department in 1993, fresh out of Georgia Southern University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering technology. He has extensive experience in construction operations and has been district maintenance engineer since 2017. He lives in Tifton.
Chambers will supervise all facets of operations in the 31 counties of the Southwest district. In addition to the district office in Tifton, the Department staffs area offices in Valdosta, Douglas, Donalsonville, Moultrie and Albany. The workforce is approximately 500 people.
These two veteran employees have witnessed many changes in the Department and District since they began their careers in the 1990s.
“Our numbers are way down, but we have supplemented our GDOT employees with consultants. We use much more technology than we used to. Things are a bit more fast paced because of the technology. Our response times are much quicker than they used to be. Citizens are more vocal, using social media. More decisions are made on the local level with employees having more input and we rely more on the experience of our employees,” Mason said.
Mason leaves the Department during what has been an unusually challenging time.
“We’re in the era now that we’ve worked through a pandemic and our employees have stood up to the test in every facet. We have not missed one beat and I’m so proud of the employees. I may be getting some of the credit for it but it’s the employees who shine,” Mason said.
Chambers said he is grateful for the opportunity to be the district engineer and the confidence that executive management has in putting him in the position.
“I’d like to continue the good work of my predecessors. I’m really looking forward to engaging the employees of District 4 and encouraging them to see the Department the way I see it, as a career choice to keep them here more than two or three years,” he said.
