MnDOt Fires Emergency Manager Who Failed To Return After Bridge Collapse

This was the Emergency manager who didn;t bother to return to the state until over a week after the bridge collapsed. Looks like she will have to find a job in the real world now, not living high on the government hog.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation on Friday fired the emergency manager whose frequent travel came under scrutiny, including her decision to remain out of state for several days after the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

Sonia Morphew Pitt, who had been director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, committed "serious employee misconduct" by misusing state resources and putting her personal life ahead of her professional obligations, the agency said. An agency report documenting its two-month investigation raised questions about her personal relationship with a federal transportation manager.

Pitt had been on administrative leave during the investigation into alleged travel and cell-phone abuses. She was out of town when the Minneapolis bridge collapsed and didn't return to the state until 10 days later.

In a termination letter to Pitt, MnDOT said its investigation found she altered travel documents for a trip to Boston in July and August to add unauthorized legs to Washington. Pitt was reimbursed for more than $850 in work-related expenses even though she was "not in authorized work travel status" during the period.

Because Pitt had no work-related reason to be in Washington after Aug. 3, the letter said, her conduct was unprofessional. Investigative documents the department released Friday alleged that a personal relationship between Pitt and a Federal Highway Administration manager took precedence over her role as an emergency manager in the aftermath of the Aug. 1 collapse.

According to documents, Pitt told investigators she helped manage the bridge response while in Boston via phone and e-mail. She said her supervisor never demanded that she return to Minnesota.

But a chart shows that in the days following the collapse Pitt spent more time on her cell phone with the federal employee, identified as Daniel Ferezan, than people within her agency dealing with the tragedy. Between February and June, the two exchanged at least 275 calls totaling 2,000 minutes.

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