Just 360 days ago, in the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of Minneapolis City Hall, I had the honor and pleasure as a member of the House Public Safety Policy Committee of personally thanking the Emergency Management directors responding to the 35W bridge collapse. They are heroes, whose preparation, training, and good judgment saved dozens of lives that night.
Unfortunately, I also heard bad news that day. A whistleblower told me that MnDOT did not have the appropriate person on the job. A few weeks later, we learned that Sonia Pitt, the director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at MnDOT, had failed to return home after the bridge collapse - for TEN DAYS.
More after the fold...
After asking questions over the course of a few months, I discovered that Ms. Pitt had failed to complete 12 of the 14 courses required to achieve professional certification in Emergency Management. Two courses she cancelled in the last year - Mass Fatalities Incident Response and Debris Management. The last course she cancelled one week before the bridge collapse, presumably because the second day of the course was the day she flew on our dime to see her 'friend' at the Federal Highway Administration.
Today, the Minneapolis StarTribune announced that Ms. Pitt has been hired by Homeland Security as a "transportation security specialist." Amazing.
Today, I sent the following letter to my Congressman and Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Jim Oberstar:
Dear Chairman Oberstar,
I was shocked to read in today's StarTribune that the Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration hired disgraced and fired former MnDOT director of emergency management, Sonia Pitt.
As you may know, Ms. Pitt was absent for 10 days following the 35W bridge collapse last summer. She had failed to complete 12 of the 14 required courses to achieve full certification in emergency management; in response to Ms. Pitt's failures I authored HF 3099 that will now require that all state agency directors of emergency management achieve such certification. This new law takes effect tomorrow.
Ms. Pitt's absence and lack of training resulted in confusion, fatigue and frustration at the bridge site. I believe that criminal charges are still pending against Ms. Pitt for allegedly stealing $26,000 from the people of Minnesota.
I cannot understand why any Homeland Security staff member might find Ms. Pitt fit to work in transportation security. I urge you to look into the situation and demand answers from all relevant personnel.
Let us all pray that this incident is not another example of hiring security staff based on partisanship or patronage. The American people deserve better from those charged with keeping us safe.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Kalin
State Representative - District 17B
P.S. I am attaching for your reference a copy of the Legislative Auditor's report after investigating Sonia Pitt's actions as MnDOT direction of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. If you need, I also have records showing Ms. Pitt's poor attendance at training courses and background information about Minnesota's emergency management certification program.
I am going to stick around for a bit, but I do need to go knock on my 3,100th door of the summer this afternoon / evening.