Category: Minnesota Politics

by Dave Mindeman

Sometimes you see a story that pretty much exemplifies how stupid things can get.

Remember Sonia Pitt -- the MnDOT employee who was fooling around in Washington when the I-35 Bridge went down? Well, she landed a new job.

Yes, she is now a "Transportation Security Specialist".

But let's not be too harsh with her. After all, she merely personifies how government gets administrated. It is not what you know, it is who you know. We prefer nepotism and cronyism to competence.

And you know, its our own fault...yes, "we, the people"...it's our fault. We want a government that works but we want it cheap. After all, why compensate people properly and pay them what they are worth, when we have all these career bureaucrats ready to work cheaply as long as they can exploit us for the rest.

Here are some examples:

Senators and Representatives are paid reasonably well but they could make far more in the private sector. Yet, they continue to seek re-election because they want the influence and they know at some point they can retire to a lucrative lobbyist job. A study was recently done that put the number at 43%. Want to do something about earmarks? Stop that revolving door.

Then there is Monica Goodling -- the Justice Dept administrator with the unique job interview style. Why is she not in jail? As well as all of her bosses including Alberto Gonzales? The reason they are not in jail is because they were IN CHARGE OF THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE! Who the heck is going to prosecute them? The Bush administration is certainly not going to pursue the issue because THAT'S WHAT THEY WANTED. Incompetence hired to hire more incompetence. It's a never ending circle.

And in Minnesota, justice has some equally notable flaws. The Pawlenty administration, in its never ending pursuit of budget cuts, slashed the budget of the court system. Then he appoints one of his buddies to be the Chief Justice of Minnesota. As we all are aware, the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow -- but in Minnesota's case, they are not grinding at all. The backlog in court cases is weeks, months, and sometimes years long. Public defenders have been cut back so much that some counties will have to sue the state to get help -- and they have a strong argument that lack of counsel violates the Constitution. In this case, justice is blind is not an expression.

And one more thing -- Minnesota's restricted ceiling on government salaries.....it is costing us money. It truly, severely limits our pool of available personnel. Maybe we can't fully compete with the private sector in terms of salary, but let's get rid of this artificial cap. Top quality administrators will save the state budget huge amounts of money...well beyond the probably large increase in salaries that would be involved. With the current restrictions we are at the mercy of the Sonia Pitt's of the world. They are the only ones we can afford.

So, in reality, it is not surprising that Sonia Pitt was rewarded for her incompetence. All she needed to do was look to the Federal Homeland Security Dept -- where incompetence is becoming part of the job description.

Category: I-35 Bridge

by Dave Mindeman

Well, the NTSB is back to talking about gusset plates again, but this time with a twist (Star Tribune):

A critical gusset plate connection on the I-35W bridge fractured partially along a line of corrosion that had gone unfixed by state transportation officials since at least 1993, according to evidence released Tuesday by the federal agency investigating the collapse.

The laboratory report from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) doesn't draw conclusions, but it said a corroded plate in the L-11 East gusset node broke apart from compression forces in the bridge truss, not from secondary impacts sustained during the collapse.

In 1993, a state bridge inspector found that the half-inch gusset plate at L-11 East had lost nearly half of its thickness in some spots due to corrosion along an 18-inch line. No repairs were ever ordered. (Emphasis mine)

In previous bridge reports form the NTSB, corrosion was always background noise...emphasis was always on design flaw. But how can a 50% loss in thickness because of corrosion, for a critical component, not be a factor?

Now, this report notes the discovery happened in 1993. Nothing was done about it then... nobody was overly concerned.

However, a critical bridge analysis occurred in 2003. URS was hired by the state to decide if this particular bridge needed help. Now, the first question that arises is what prompted the hire of URS in the first place? Something must have prompted a specialty hiring.

But beyond that...didn't URS go over past inspections on the bridge? Obviously, there were notations from 1993 on about these issues.

But we never hear from URS. They have given few respones.. and cursory ones at that. More often they decline comment.

Some points to ponder about URS:

1) Transcripts of Gray Plant Mooty's interviews show that attorney Jocelyn Knoll of the Dorsey and Whitney law firm was present for the interviews with the four URS employees. The transcripts also show that Knoll asserted attorney/client privilege when asked if URS did an analysis of why the bridge collapsed.

Attorney/client privilege?

2) MnDOT hired URS in 2003 to perform a thorough analysis of fatigue in the bridge support structure. In January of 2007, URS presented several options to address safety concerns, including re-enforcing and retrofitting the bridge. MnDOT chose increased inspections over the more expensive options.

Option of re-enforcing and retrofitting the bridge involved.."Add redundant plating over the most critical 52 truss members." MnDOT chose to bypass that option in favor of more inspections. That was a critical decision.

3) URS Corp. indicated in its study of the bridge between 2004 and 2006 that there were 20 fracture critical truss beams on the bridge - those considered after inspection to be "the most susceptible locations for crack initiations." While the URS study indicated that "no cracks are believed to be in existence currently," a monitoring system would "timely report any signs of crack initiation and/or propagation."

Although reports repeatedly state that no cracks are "believed to be in existence", there is a lot of discussion about "crack initiations". Why? Is there something in the inspection process that led them to believe that cracking problems were imminent? And by the way, MnDOT chose not to use any monitoring system either.

If you are going to get any questions answered then we had better find a way to get URS beyond attorney/client privilege and on the official record.

Something is missing.

Category: Barack Obama

by Dave Mindeman

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has been moved to the media's short list as Obama's choice for Vice President. The Washington Post has an article that delves into the speculation.

Kaine would seem to be a good choice for electoral politics -- Virginia could be in play, but Governor Kaine doesn't improve on any of Obama's perceived weaknesses -- namely, experience and foreign policy.

The Post article seems to center on Kaine, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware...with lesser mentions of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, and former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia.

Senator Hillary Clinton gets an obligatory mention, but it is becoming clear that neither Obama or Sen. Clinton see that happening.

The emphasis on Kaine, Bayh, and Biden seems to be warranted. There is nothing inherently bad about the rest of the names, but they all have inherent weaknesses or baggage that will not help with Obama's quest.

Gov. Kaine gets high marks for his youth, loyalty to Obama, and his high standing in Virginia, but Obama needs a little more than that. Senator Bayh is often lauded for his bipartisan nature and his work on foreign policy. He is well liked and has a very affable manner. And his state of Indiana has long been a Republican stronghold, although Obama has made serious headway this year.

Kaine and Bayh would be good choices but still not just right.

Then there is Joe Biden. Biden has a certain amount of baggage which has been vetted over the years -- his behavior in the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill controversy is still a sore spot with feminist women.

But you have to remember the job of the Vice Presidential candidate. He or she has to take on the harsher tone for the campaign. The VP candidate is the "attack dog".... the person who makes the accusations and questions the other side's record.

The VP candidate also has an official debate. You probably remember the Lieberman/Cheney and Edwards/Cheney debates. The Democrats underestimated Cheney in both encounters giving George Bush a bit of a boost when he most needed it.

Joe Biden distinguished himself in the Presidential debates this year. He also proved that he can deliver a clever, yet meaningful attack on opponents. His dismissal of Giuliani with "all he has is a noun, verb, and 9/11" is still repeated today.

And Biden is a respected voice on foreign policy. He has expertise on the strategic global objectives of the US that few in the Senate have. That would be an excellent addition to an Obama candidacy.

All of the names mentioned in the article are certainly fine choices. The pluses and minuses can be, and will be, debated until the choice is named. But, if you had to center on one person right now, I think Senator Joe Biden is the guy.