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While the state forecast puts Minnesota nearly $1 billion in the red, while Gov. Tim Pawlenty tries to make the economic hole a little deeper with a plan to reduce sales tax, we learn that nearly a half-million is being wasted on a feel-good campaign aimed at tricking the public into believing all is well with transportation in the state of Minnesota.
The state’s argument seems to be: It’s a good price for a lot of spin.
That may be true, but the logic that underlies this spin cycle is utterly hopeless.
Let’s remember what caused the state agency to have such a black eye.
This is the state agency that has been systematically underfunded so that roads and bridges crumble. This is the same department that has been so bereft of funding that counties such as Winona threatened to turn paved roads back into gravel.
Transportation projects in our district have been pushed back and pushed back, while potholes and patches grow larger and larger. Our region suffers from having more structurally deficient bridges than anywhere else in the state. And, our governor has decided to pay for many of the road improvements by bonding, ensuring our children get stuck with the bill for these roads long after they’ve needed repaving.
This — and not just a sudden, tragic bridge collapse — has led to MnDOT’s public image problem. And to be fair, it’s not really a problem for anyone but the state leaders who would rather not be reminded the roads have crumbled on their watch. They’d rather pay a firm to tell the public something they want to believe rather than the truth.
It’s not that the public has been misled about the agency during the past several years. It’s not that citizens are uninformed; it’s simply that Minnesotans expect more out of their tax dollars and state agencies than what the Pawlenty administration and former legislatures were willing to give. They don’t feel good about MnDOT for a righteous reason.
Finally, the Carol Molnau debacle hasn’t helped the agency. Since the bridge collapsed, Molnau and Pawlenty have refused to admit there were problems in the agency. But no one — not Carol Molnau, not Superwoman — could do the job of both transportation commissioner and lieutenant governor. Instead of realizing the frustration and reading the handwriting on the wall, Pawlenty and Molnau herself let the confirmation as transportation secretary become embroiled in an ugly Senate showdown in which she was unceremoniously stripped of her MnDOT title.
This is how Minnesota’s transportation department wound up with such a PR nightmare — because citizens saw the dysfunction in the news and felt it on nearly every bumpy state road they traveled.
The way you restore public trust and transparency isn’t by having some glitzy public relations firm soft sell public perception, or worse, try to plant overly positive stories in the media. That’s not restoration, that’s manipulation.
It might be true that a half-million dollars doesn’t go very far repaving roads or solving a disastrous budget crisis. But that $550,000 is just another half-million that doesn’t go to roads, doesn’t fill potholes and doesn’t restore bridges.
It may be intended to make us feel better, maybe even safer. But somewhere in the state, another road or bridge can’t be fixed because we spent the money on a PR campaign instead.
It seems like a half-million dollars is the going rate for a false sense of security.
The Daily News editorial board also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham and online editor Jerome Christenson. To comment, call 453-3507 or send e-mail to letters@winonadailynews.com.
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