Bridge Collapse

ST. PAUL (AP) ― The Minnesota Department of Transportation on Friday fired the emergency manager whose frequent travel came under scrutiny, including her decision to remain out of state for several days after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.
  
Sonia Morphew Pitt, who had been director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, committed "serious employee misconduct" by misusing state resources and putting her personal life ahead of her professional obligations, the agency said. An agency report documenting its two-month investigation raised questions about her personal relationship with a federal transportation manager.
  
Pitt had been on administrative leave during the investigation into alleged travel and cell-phone abuses. She was out of town when the Minneapolis bridge collapsed and didn't return to the state until 10 days later.
  
Pitt has not returned multiple calls from The Associated Press, and MnDOT has refused to say whether she has hired a lawyer. On Friday, before her firing was announced, no one responded to a reporter knocking on the door of her home in Red Wing.
  
In a termination letter to Pitt, MnDOT said its investigation found she altered travel documents for a trip to Boston in July and August to add unauthorized legs to Washington. Pitt was reimbursed for more than $850 in work-related expenses even though she was "not in authorized work travel status" during the period.
  
Because Pitt had no work-related reason to be in Washington after Aug. 3, the letter said, her conduct was unprofessional. Investigative documents the department released Friday alleged that a personal relationship between Pitt and a Federal Highway Administration manager took precedence over her role as an emergency manager in the aftermath of the Aug. 1 collapse.
  
According to documents, Pitt told investigators she helped manage the bridge response while in Boston via phone and e-mail. She said her supervisor never demanded that she return to Minnesota.
  
But a chart shows that in the days following the collapse Pitt spent more time on her cell phone with the federal employee, identified as Daniel Ferezan, than people within her agency dealing with the tragedy. Between February and June, the two exchanged at least 275 calls totaling 2,000 minutes.
  
The agency report said that of the 32 e-mails Pitt sent and received between Aug. 1 and Aug. 3, only 12 were related to the bridge collapse.
  
According to the Star Tribune, an e-mail sent from Ferezan to Pitt on Aug. 2 -- while rescuers in Minneapolis were still searching for bodies -- had the subject heading of "FW: Immediate Inspection of Deck Truss Bridges." In the text, Ferezan wrote: "FYI: How's the clam bake?"
  
The termination letter also said Pitt made unauthorized airline seat upgrades and failed to reimburse the state for more than $600 in personal calls on her state cell phone. Four of her trips in 2007 were examined and found to be in violation of agency policies.
  
Ferezan, a transportation security specialist for the highway administration, was interviewed by the Minnesota department's investigator. Ian Grossman, a spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, said on Friday that Ferezan was not under investigation himself.
  
Ferezan deferred questions to Grossman, who said he believed there was "both a professional and personal relationship" between Ferezan and Pitt.
  
"He's in the same line of work as she is. He does for the Federal Highway Administration similar work that she does in Minnesota," Grossman said, adding that he didn't have details about their private relationship.
  
Pitt was the first person to hold the homeland security position at the agency after it was created in 2003. She had worked for the state for 15 years, including several years in public relations roles.
  
A second investigation is being conducted by Minnesota's legislative auditor that is looking at Pitt's travel and MnDOT procedures related to employee trips. Auditor Jim Nobles said Friday that he hopes to finish his work by the end of November.
  
"She engaged in a lot of travel -- an unusually high amount of travel I would say for a state employee," Nobles said.
  
If investigators believe she made improper claims for state money, Nobles said he could refer Pitt's case to criminal prosecutors.

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The original I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River opened in November 1967 and was 1,907 feet in length. The replacement bridge opened in September 2008 and measures 1,216 feet in length.

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