[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Not so fast

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Not so fast
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1187753530.shtml


   As is entirely appropriate given what's happened, the future of Carol
   Molnau as Minnesota's Commissioner of Transportation has been called
   into question. The DFL almost certainly will remove her (IMO) if a
   Special Session called, but this is only due to a defect in the
   Minnesota Constitution that puts no time limit on Senate
   confirmations.
   Carol Molnau is our elected Lieutenant Governor and appointed
   Commissioner of Transportation. She's a politician, not an engineer,
   which has prompted some commentary. I say, Commissioners should
   generally be politicians, Deputy Commissioners the engineer, doctor,
   accountant, etc as required.
   That's the main reason I reluctantly wrote that [1]Health Commissioner
   Diane Mandernach should be replaced, when she made a professional
   judgement call, apparently correct for the profession, but politically
   naive and embarrassing.
   This is especially important these days given how ruthless the DFL has
   become, the party that sacked perhaps the most able but again
   impolitic Commissioner of Education in Minnesota history. Commissioner
   Yecke never saw it coming.
   To find a Commissioner who is politically adept, good on camera, and a
   competent, proven professional just isn't possible or practical in
   most cases. We need two people, and it should be allowed that the
   Deputy is paid considerably more than the Commissioner or even the
   Governor.
   This doesn't excuse Carol Molnau from scrutiny. If she is the number
   cruncher some allege, that may be troubling in that she isn't focused
   enough on the politics, her first responsibility. It is Governor
   Pawlenty's job to decide is Carol should stay on or move on as head of
   MnDot.

References

   1. http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1183339982.shtml