NYT's take on bridge politics
Bridge Failure Can’t Fend Off Usual Politics
By MONICA DAVEY
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 15 — It took all of two weeks for the political unity brought on by a deadly bridge collapse here to fall apart.
Even as divers continued searching the Mississippi River on Wednesday for four people missing since the busy Interstate 35W bridge fell on Aug. 1, political leaders were dueling over plans for a replacement span.
The battle lines extended from disputed plans for light rail to suggestions that Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, was unnecessarily rushing reconstruction to impress Republican Party leaders, who will hold their presidential convention in the Twin Cities in September 2008. Mr. Pawlenty says such talk is nonsense.
“There’s a deep sense of loss for people all over Minnesota,” said Lawrence R. Jacobs, the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “And for them, to see kind of this new — and old — politics flare up like this is unseemly.”
Mr. Pawlenty and his State Department of Transportation have already unveiled broad plans for the new bridge, announcing the names of five possible contractors, and urging that it be open in record time, by the end of next year.
But R. T. Rybak, a Democrat who is mayor of Minneapolis; some Democratic leaders in the State Legislature; and members of the Minneapolis City Council have been loudly critical, questioning the need — and safety, given everything — of rushing to build a bridge.
(Continued here.)
By MONICA DAVEY
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 15 — It took all of two weeks for the political unity brought on by a deadly bridge collapse here to fall apart.
Even as divers continued searching the Mississippi River on Wednesday for four people missing since the busy Interstate 35W bridge fell on Aug. 1, political leaders were dueling over plans for a replacement span.
The battle lines extended from disputed plans for light rail to suggestions that Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, was unnecessarily rushing reconstruction to impress Republican Party leaders, who will hold their presidential convention in the Twin Cities in September 2008. Mr. Pawlenty says such talk is nonsense.
“There’s a deep sense of loss for people all over Minnesota,” said Lawrence R. Jacobs, the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “And for them, to see kind of this new — and old — politics flare up like this is unseemly.”
Mr. Pawlenty and his State Department of Transportation have already unveiled broad plans for the new bridge, announcing the names of five possible contractors, and urging that it be open in record time, by the end of next year.
But R. T. Rybak, a Democrat who is mayor of Minneapolis; some Democratic leaders in the State Legislature; and members of the Minneapolis City Council have been loudly critical, questioning the need — and safety, given everything — of rushing to build a bridge.
(Continued here.)
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3 Comments:
FYI – SurveyUSA has released a poll that Pawlenty is at his highest approval rating. The crafty politician, who was visibly shaken the night of the collapse such that he didn’t talk with reporters right away, has righted himself. Minnesota Nice embraces our leader and Pawlenty is getting people to stand behind him.
Nick Coleman has an interesting
column chastising a judge who denied the use of private experts to evaluate the bridge remains … the law suits are coming. Coleman questions why the 9/11 grounds were open for public view but the bridge is not. What he misses is that 9/11 was caused by terrorists and the politicians wanted to rile people up to support our response …. We don’t have an evil-doer to blame for the bridge collapse … but the politicians don’t want anyone to even think that they were negligent.
FYI - Kevin Diaz of the Strib is one of the reporters that will interview Jim Oberstar on Sunday's CSPAN Newsmakers program. I am not sure what time it is on the various cable system, but DIRECT-TV has it at 5PM.
It was taped earlier in the week, so he may have a story in Sunday's paper.
The Strib has a great editorial on the need for professionalism at MNDOT.
http://www.startribune.com/561/story/1375565.html
Richard Braun, a professional civil engineer, headed the Minnesota Department of Transportation from 1979 to 1986, serving Republican Gov. Al Quie and DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich ... he was the last professional engineer to run MN-DOT ... and he was the last to close a bridge due to safety concerns.
Pawlenty needs to take the politics out of MN-DOT and get some professionals in place.
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