Editorials
Our View — Molnau needs performance review
If government should be run like a business, a principle we endorse, then Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, needs a thorough and tough-minded performance review.
Her department was at least partly responsible for the collapse of the I-35W bridge collapse. It knew the bridge was in bad shape, and didn’t act with any kind of sense of urgency to fix it. The emergency management director of her department was off on a business trip when the bridge collapsed and didn’t come back until 10 days later. Her department ignored recommendations that would save Minnesota roads $3 million a year with an investment one-tenth of that. Molnau endorsed a wrongheaded policy that put MnDOT on a starvation diet compared to the needs of the state’s infrastructure, mostly because she was aligned politically with a governor who had a policy of no new investing for needed projects.
She needs to be held accountable for these failings. Molnau needs an honest and tough-love performance review.
That review should come from her boss, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and the public should have access to that review so it isn’t sugar coated.
Of course, a performance review is problematic. Molnau is an elected official who just happens to be in charge of a major department. Because of the politics involved here, her boss does not really have the power of a normal boss. How could a governor ever “fire” his lieutenant governor, elected by the same people who, by the way, voted for him. What we have here is a boss who, realistically, cannot fire his subordinate, however bad her performance.
That’s a system that cannot work and should not be allowed to exist.
When Pawlenty appointed Molnau head of MnDOT, it sounded like an efficiency in government idea. Only now does it look like a system no private business would allow.
- Editorials
-
-
Our View: Health care a challenge for GOP
The Issue
President Obama has invited Republican leaders to meet with him on health care.
-
Our View: Leave old education law behind
The Issue
No Child Left Behind will likely be revamped this year if the Obama administration has its way. -
Our View: Civic center expansion worth the investment
Mankato leaders have requested state bonding to expand and improve the Verizon Wireless Center.
-
Our View: Caucus-goers key element of democracy
Thumbs up: To everyone who attended caucuses on Tuesday.
-
Our View: Health care costs keep rising
The Issue: The federal government’s share of the total health care bill continues to expand.
-
Our View: Mammoth jobs await Legislature
The Issue: State budget deficit, election reform, mental health -
Our View: Honesty required in state budget debate
Minnesotans shopping for a new governor ready to make sufficient changes to fix the state’s gigantic budget shortfall are going to be disappointed.
-
Our View: State needs to rethink higher ed
Higher education expects funding cuts at the coming legislative session.
-
Our View: Caucuses are political party time
The Issue: Minnesota's precinct caucuses are Tuesday night.
-
Our View: Technology can widen democracy
The Issue: Voters feel left out of the debate, decisions and without influence
- More Editorials Headlines
-
