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Tarryl Clark, my state senator, always puts together a nice e-letter, which I always look forward to. This week's wasn't an exception. I'd bet that Mr. Tinklenberg will appreciate it much. Here's what Tarryl put in her e-letter that won't paint Mr. Tinklenberg in a flattering light:
Bridge Collapse Committee Meets with MnDOT
The Joint Bridge Collapse Committee met last week to take testimony from Department of Transportation officials. They were responding to the Gray Plant Moody bridge investigation report that was created at the request of this bipartisan legislative committee.
Among other concerns, the study found that funding considerations did influence MnDOT decision making at the agency, sometimes causing further study of a problem rather than taking corrective action. The I-35W Bridge was rated poor for 17 years, yet no action was taken to improve that rating nor was there a plan in place when the bridge fell down.
I'm positive that El Tinklenberg was the Transportation Commissioner during at least 3 of those 17 years. I'm equally certain that Democrats controlled the Senate & had a sympathetic ear in Jesse Ventura. What I'm absolutely positive of, though, is that Mr. Tinklenberg either did nothing in preventing decread license tab revenues or insisted on cutting license tab fees. Here's what MPR reported in 2000:
Ventura's transportation commissioner, Elwyn Tinklenberg, was left to defend the governor's last-minute vetoes, saying Ventura thought the last bonding bill was too expensive.
Tinklenberg: This was not to be taken as a message that somehow he was not supportive of local bridges or understood the need for bridge improvements across Minnesota, and that's why you see even though we have a very tight and very limited bonding proposal coming out of the administration, it does include significant investment in local bridges as a part of a state responsibility.
Because Ventura's transportation package is so sweeping, it will need to go before at least four committees in each chamber; a daunting task in a short session, and Senator Flynn says lawmakers may need to break it up into separate pieces to pass the key initiatives. But the chairman of the Metropolitan Council, Ted Mondale, warned lawmakers against, in his words, too much creativity with the governor's plan, saying Ventura might decide to walk away from the table. That prompted an angry response from Republican Senator Bill Belanger of Bloomington.
Belanger: Then it would be nice if he would quit trashing us every opportunity he gets.
Many lawmakers echo Belanger privately, saying they're far less willing to accommodate the governor's requests after getting burned by vetoes last year and listening to Ventura criticize the Legislature. That said, the Senate is still likely to support many of the Governor's transportation priorities.
DFL Senator Dean Johnson of Willmar, the newly-appointed chairman of the transportation budget division, says he agrees with the governor on cutting tab fees and balancing highway and transit funding, but he predicts Ventura's plan won't make it through the Legislature intact.
While former Sen. Johnson is the person agreeing with Jesse, it isn't a stretch to think that Tinklenberg helped put the policy together.
The truth is that El Tinklenberg was ineffective at best as Jesse Ventura's Transportation Commissioner. If he points towards not having the money to do what he wanted, then I'll point to the fact that he didn't cause a stir when license tab fees were cut.
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