Changes are afoot in the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program.
Longtime program manager Michael Romero Taylor has moved on to a new post at the National Parks Service’s National Trails office. His cohort for the entire tenure of the program, Kaisa Barthuli, will become the acting program manager until it sunsets late this year — unless it is reauthorized by Congress for another 10 years, which is looking increasingly likely.
John Murphey joined the Route 66 staff as of Jan. 5. Barthuli had this to say about him in an e-mail:
John comes to us from the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office, and has extensive knowledge of historic preservation and historic roads. He will bring great energy and experience to the program, and we are very fortunate to have him.
From other accounts I’ve heard, Murphey will be an excellent pickup for the program. I have little doubt the Route 66 office will hum along without a hitch.
However, I’m sad to see Taylor go. We’ve known him for about eight years. He’s soft-spoken and courteous, and his enthusiasm and dedication to the Mother Road were genuine. And I think his (and Kaisa’s) accessibility was one of the strong points of the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program. If you contacted the office about a historical question or a preservation crisis, you could rest assured that you’d get a prompt answer or some sort of action would be taken.
As I’ve said before, people like Mike and Kaisa are rare instances of giving the term “bureaucrats” a good name. And, now that I think about it, that may have been a big reason why there’s so much sentiment to renew the program.