Sep 26, 2007 6:50 pm US/Central
Handful Of Dems Call On Pawlenty To Fire Molnau
St. Paul (AP) ―
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Lt. Governor and Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau (File)
Eight weeks after the collapse of the Minneapolis freeway bridge and with no agreement to pump more money into the state's transportation system, Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday that it's time for Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau to go.
They urged Gov. Tim Pawlenty to remove Molnau from the helm of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, a role she shares with her job as lieutenant governor. The Senate has yet to confirm Molnau for a second term as commissioner and would probably reject her next February if Pawlenty hasn't already fired her, a leading senator predicted.
"She has failed on numerous occasions to provide the correct leadership and make the right decisions to guide that agency and I've completely lost confidence in her ability to rectify the issue with the I-35W bridge," said Sen. Steve Murphy, a Democrat from Red Wing who heads the Senate Transportation Committee.
A spokesman for the Republican governor had no immediate comment, and messages left for a DOT spokeswoman weren't immediately returned.
Murphy and Sen. Kathy Saltzman denounced Molnau's management of the transportation agency with an aging St. Paul bridge in the background, one of about 1,100 rated "structurally deficient" in the state. Murphy said it was "a rusted, worn-out bridge, much like the leadership in MnDOT."
He said he waited until now to call for Molnau's ouster so he could get more information about the situation at the Transportation Department. He said he's not getting answers to all his questions.
Murphy said he doesn't blame Molnau for the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge on Aug. 1, which killed 13 and injured dozens. But he laid the responsibility for a list of decaying bridges and delayed construction projects at her feet, and criticized top managers for failing to order an emergency manager back to the state immediately after the bridge fell or even to fix their own headquarters, where scaffolding protects passers-by from granite slabs that might fall off the building.
Saltzman, DFL-Woodbury, called for an outside investigation into the agency's top management and engineering staff, and said removing Molnau would help restore public trust.
"People are very concerned about the safety of our infrastructure and they're tired of being stuck in traffic. They're tired of the cost that they're paying because of our inaction," Saltzman said.
Molnau, a 58-year-old former state legislator, has headed the transportation department since 2003. She and Democrats have long disagreed over how to raise more money for transportation. In the aftermath of the bridge collapse, they appeared to move closer on a plan to raise the state gas tax but no deal was struck. Each side blames the other.
Molnau gets $78,197 a year as lieutenant governor but doesn't collect the commissioner's salary of $108,000. MnDOT is one of the state's biggest agencies, with about 4,500 employees and an annual budget of roughly $2 billion.
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According to a Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Web site, Molnau was born and raised
on a farm in Carver County. She attended Waconia public schools and the
University of Minnesota.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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