[Speed Gibson,
Wednesday January 2, 2008 at 11:47pm]
Molnau's time is up
It's time for Carol Molnau to step down as Minnesota's Commissioner of Transportation. She has had five years to tame this unwieldy organization and has little if anything to show for it. MnDot hasn't run any worse, barring any surprising findings by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation. She has saved us taxpayers several hundred thousand dollars by jointly serving at Lt. Governor, but we can and must afford better.
We must get a better MnDot head, preferably someone with both professional and political skills. We've seen what happens when one of these is missing, with Diane Mandernach (professional only) and Carol Molnau (political only). We may have to lure someone in from another state, but we need someone to take charge of MnDot, with three goals:
Prime Minister Pawlenty should get this taken care before the start of the 2008 Legislative session, to avoid an almost certain show trial in the Minnesota Senate, bridge investigation number 5.
We must get a better MnDot head, preferably someone with both professional and political skills. We've seen what happens when one of these is missing, with Diane Mandernach (professional only) and Carol Molnau (political only). We may have to lure someone in from another state, but we need someone to take charge of MnDot, with three goals:
- Improve the department's image, starting by finishing the I-35W bridge promptly and cleaning up other projects.
- Find and fix the management problems of which Sonia Pitt is but one example.
- Give the Governor and Legislature needed guidance to avoid further rail boondoggles and disproportionate rural highway spending.
Prime Minister Pawlenty should get this taken care before the start of the 2008 Legislative session, to avoid an almost certain show trial in the Minnesota Senate, bridge investigation number 5.