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Friends and Neighbors-

A few significant news items today. I'm looking forward to welcoming North Branch School's 6th graders to the State Capitol tomorrow, members of the Youth Service Bureau's Youth Advisory Board on Friday, and to helping honor Zach Mattson as he earns his Eagle Scout award in North Branch on Saturday. All that, and a conversation with former Gov. Al Quie today...!

As usual I welcome your thoughts, ideas, questions and comments. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

My best,
Jeremy

FORMER CHISAGO DEPUTY KILLED IN IRAQ

A piece of sad news. Former Chisago County SWAT team leader and deputy sheriff Bill Juneau was killed in Iraq early this week. Bill was a Rush City resident, and was working in Iraq training their local police force recruits. I pray that his memory be a blessing to his sisters and all of his family.

LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR ENERGY WORK

I heard from Alecia Ward, director of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, that I will receive their 2007 Leadership Award in January. I am proud to share the award with MN State Senator Scott Dibble, Sheldon Strom from the Minnesota Center for Energy and the Environment, and Christy Brusven formerly of the Governor's staff. We all collaborated on the nation's strongest Energy Efficiency Standard legislation last year - and it's great that we will be sharing the award together as well.

Previous winners include Governor Tim Pawlenty, and Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan. I will let you know more when I get the details.

LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR REPORTS $26,000 THEFT FROM MnDOT; OVERSIGHT & TRAINING PROBLEMS.

The Legislative Auditor released their report on Sonia Pitt, former director of the MnDOT office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. You can read the report here:
www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/fad/2007/fad07-32.htm

Some of their key findings:

1. Sonia Morphew Pitt, the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s former director of the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, caused the state to incur over $11,500 of unauthorized, unreasonable, or inappropriate expenses and charged the state for over $14,500 of work time that should have been recorded as personal leave.



2. The Minnesota Department of Transportation did not adequately supervise Ms. Pitt and did not have adequate internal controls over her state-paid expenses.

I was particularly interested in the information starting on page 7:
"In their opinion, Ms. Pitt’s job was limited to creating emergency response plans and ensuring that MnDOT officials and staff were appropriately and adequately trained in how to respond to emergencies.

Although Ms. Pitt’s position description did cite planning and training as key responsibilities, it also stated: “In the case of transportation related threats or incidences, this position directs the planning, execution, control and evaluation of the appropriate response in order to safeguard Minnesota’s transportation infrastructure.” In addition, the mission statement of Ms. Pitt’s office, MnDOT’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office, said the office was to “coordinate and direct responses in emergencies and large-scale incidents.”

When the bridge collapsed, staff from Ms. Pitt’s office followed the pre-established plan for emergency responses – they immediately reported to MnDOT emergency centers to perform various coordination functions. One staff person said she worked a straight 48-hour shift, and another indicated that Pitt’s presence would have been useful at the bridge site because there was confusion about who was in charge as MnDOT’s lead emergency management person. In contrast, Ms. Pitt limited her involvement to communicating with MnDOT officials and staff through intermittent e-mails and cell phone conversations.

One senior MnDOT official, who previously supervised Ms. Pitt and was closely involved with her in the development of MnDOT’s emmanagement plans, told us Ms. Pitt had responsibilities to perform in any MnDOT emergency. He said that the department provided her with a cell phone so she could be in 24-hour communication with MnDOT, and that she was on the list of people who were to be immediately and automatically contacted when a MnDOT-related emergency occurred. He said Ms. Pitt’s failure to return to the Twin Cities reflected “poor judgment” on her part.

However, MnDOT officials shared in that poor judgment by not adequately fulfilling their supervisory responsibilities. They should have been more diligent in finding out what Ms. Pitt was doing in Washington, D.C. and assessing the effectiveness of her work away from the scene of the emergency. An inquiry would have shown what was later found by MnDOT’s internal auditors – Ms. Pitt was doing little work related to the bridge collapse while in Washington, D.C., and it was of marginal significance. MnDOT’s audit report recommended that all of the time Ms. Pitt spent in Washington, D.C. after the bridge collapsed be charged as “vacation time.” We agree with that conclusion. "

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Jeremy Kalin
State Representative - 17B
sign up for my email updates at www.house.mn/17b

Contact me at the Capitol:
Rep.Jeremy.Kalin@House.mn
651.296.5377
579 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
St. Paul MN 55155

Contact me at home:
11629 Loftman Trail
North Branch, MN 55056
651-257-9861
Jeremy@Kalin.com