Krinkie on Mn/DOT

Chisago County is GOP has had a poll open, asking if Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau should resign. While the Dems want to make political hay by calling for her resignation, Phil Krinkie attempts to address the real problems. This opinion piece is found on True North, which got it from St. Paul Legal Ledger.

A New Commissioner At MnDOT Would Have Little Impact

By Phil Krinkie

When the state legislature wrapped-up a special session in one day last month, Minnesotans thought that they would get a break from politics for a few months until state lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene in February. But it seems some legislators just can't pull themselves away. They persist to debate transportation funding with a "he said, she said don't blame me, it was MnDOT's fault" attitude. All of these discussions seem to end with a standard DFL solution, a call for Lt. Governor Molnau to resign as Commissioner of MnDOT, a position she has held for the past 4½ years.

Some of the loudest voices calling for her resignation are State Senator Steve Murphy, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, and Speaker of the House Margaret Kelliher.

While they are certainly entitled to their opinion, after serving in the Legislature for 16 years, I would take a very different tack. What seems to be lost to these legislators, and the public at large, is that MnDOT is a huge bureaucracy, and given its current structure, it is doubtful that anyone can manage that Department effectively. A change at the helm will not fundamentally change MnDOT's operations. Real change will only come through a great deal of legislative leadership and the courage to change the status quo.

Read more....

More on Kalin’s Small Potatoes

The total price of replacing the I-35W bridge and related costs could reach $393 million according to the Pioneer Press.

All of us should be concerned with the enormous cost of this project. While many Dems are aghast at the price tag, Rep. Jeremy Kalin (D-17B) is still counting the small potatoes. See his press release which was also published in the various local newspapers this week.

Probably more than $393 million will be spent, but Kalin is locked on to two small dollar figures when compared to the hundreds of millions: 1. “...up to $26,000 of her [Mn/DOT's Sonia Morphew Pitt] taxpayer-paid travel was for personal pleasure...” and 2. “...excessive bonuses going to the losing bidders of the 35W bridge contract – to the tune of $600,000...”

Regarding the first point, the personnel review underway may very well disclose some improper use of tax dollars, but it would probably be far less than $26,000. No one who pays taxes wants government waste, but Kalin is so occupied with this that he has not expressed any proper concern in his latest article about the extremely large cost of the project.

Second, his complaint about excessive bonuses for the losing bidders ignores that it is required by state statute. Chapter 161.3426, Subd. 3 mandates:

"The commissioner shall award a stipulated fee not less than two-tenths of one percent of the department's estimated cost of design and construction to each short-listed, responsible proposer who provides a responsive but unsuccessful proposal."

Doing this math yields a $500,000 stipend for each unsuccessful design-build bidder on a $250 million project. It’s time our legislator reads the requirement of the statutes and quits attacking the Pawlenty/Molnau administration for supposed incompetence in this area. Whether a Republican or Democrat administration, this is the law–end of matter.

The design-build concept is relatively new to state law. According to former legislator Phil Krinkie, this provision was put in place in 2001 to fast track the Hiawatha Light Rail Line and was supposed to save money. The stipend that consumes Kalin is small potatoes compared to the rest of the provisions of the law. Rather than taking the lowest bidder, it provides for accepting the bid of “best value.”

Mn/DOT has selected the highest bid–$57 million more than the low bid. Another $27 million can be had through bonuses. And this bidder has the longest work schedule by more than two months. These are issues that Kalin should be pursuing because these are the big potatoes.

The real problem is the “best value” law which is administered by bureaucrats which has given us the boondoggle of the excessive cost of LRT, now the bridge, and more to come. The idea isn’t working and should be removed from state law. The lowest, qualified bidder system worked well.

Eventually Kalin may complain about these excessive costs, but it is doubtful he will address the law that creates it because that law caters to liberal thinking. He’d rather use the small potatoes improperly or merely potentially to attack a Republican administration than address true government waste.