Fired by MnDOT, now at Homeland Security (35W Bridge Collapse)

StarTribune ^ | 7/31/08 | PAUL MCENROE and TONY KENNEDY

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Sonia Pitt, the MnDOT emergency response executive fired for taking an unauthorized, state-paid trip to Washington during the Interstate 35W bridge disaster, is now working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Pitt, 44, of Red Wing, confirmed Wednesday that she is working for Homeland Security's Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) at its headquarters in Arlington, Va. Her job title is "Transportation Security Specialist.'' Pitt declined to discuss her job responsibilities, her length of employment with the federal agency or her salary.

"All inquiries go through my attorney, same as always,'' Pitt said.

TSA regional spokesperson Carrie Harmon would provide only Pitt's job title and say that she was hired in May. That was six months after she was fired from her Minnesota post for unprofessional conduct, travel improprieties and misuse of state resources.

After the bridge collapse Aug. 1, Pitt didn't return to Minnesota for nearly two weeks, even as emergency officials struggled to recover the bodies of 13 people killed in the disaster.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Wholly crap......

[rawhide]

Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles opened an investigation into Pitt's activities after Star Tribune stories on her actions and found that she was a "belligerent, aggressive'' employee who abused her position and billed the state for thousands of dollars in excessive compensation for airfare, hotels, mileage and personal cell phone calls.

Pitt's letter of discharge states she engaged in activities that violated MnDOT's ethics code and was involved in "activities that cannot withstand public scrutiny without embarrassment. ... do not safeguard the public trust in the integrity of MnDOT, and undermine public trust in the Department.''

Central to MnDOT's decision to fire her was a review of state-paid, unauthorized travel that she took to Washington before the bridge fell into the Mississippi River. An arbitrator upheld MnDOT's findings that there was no work-related reason for her to be in Washington.

On the day the bridge fell, Pitt was at an authorized leadership conference in Cambridge, Mass. A Minneapolis employee charged with emergency response, who was also at the conference, quickly returned to the Twin Cities but Pitt finished the conference and then flew Aug. 4 to Washington, where she stayed until Aug. 11.

In firing Pitt, MnDOT also alleged in an investigative report that she misused her state-issued cell phone by making hours of personal calls. The summary included 94 hours of calls to phone numbers belonging to Daniel Ferezan, a Federal Highway Administration program manager for transportation security in Washington. He was identified in the report as a person with whom Pitt was having a personal relationship in 2007.

One day after the bridge's collapse, while rescue workers risked their lives to recover bodies trapped in submerged vehicles, Ferezan sent an e-mail to Pitt, who was still in Massachusetts. He asked her, "FYI: How's the clam bake?'' in an apparent reference to a social event she was attending.

Pitt argued before an arbitrator that all calls to Ferezan were business related, but the arbitrator ruled against her. "It is unreasonable to attribute such an inordinate percentage of her airtime to one particular person at one particular federal agency as all business-related,'' arbitrator Christine Ver Ploeg wrote on May 15.

[wastedyears]

Went from the state level to the federal level.

When, guys? When?

[rahbert]

juicy stuff here..

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/news_cut/archive/2007/11/09/

[AlaskaErik]

Guilty!

[Old Sarge]

No mention of party affiliation - therefore, DEMOCRAT.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

"All inquiries go through my attorney, same as always," Pitt said.

That kind of brush-off won't fly when you're now a federal employee working (for taxpayers) on the GSA schedule. Someone should just file a FOIA request.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

UPDATE.......

The Feds are now investigating her hiring by the DHS...

http://www.startribune.com/local/26145699.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:3

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

I bet she either works for her boyfriend or else he got her the new job in DHS.

[TSgt]

How do you know she works for her boyfriend!

She could be working for her girlfriend ya know. ;)

BTW - My father-in-law, trucker, has the handle Kentucky Ridgerunner

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Cool! Is he from Eastern Kentucky?

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

UPDATE.......

She’s been sacked by the DHS.......

http://www.startribune.com/local/26145699.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:3

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Wow, that didn’t take very long did it...!

[TSgt]

How did you guess? :)

Paintsville, KY. He grew up about a mile from Loretta Lynn’s homeplace but now lives north of Cincinnati.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Lots of ‘ridgerunners’ in that part of Kentucky, so it was an easy guess. :)

I’m originally from Southwest Virginia (very close to Pikeville though) and I’ve been through Paintsville many, many times. I luv that whole area, and miss it greatly. It’s a real pleasure to make your acquaintance!