Investigation ordered into St. Paul public works dep't

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman Monday ordered an investigation into allegations that street maintenance crews were not doing a full day's work for a full day's pay.

A KSTP-TV investigation that aired Monday evening shows city workers taking long breaks when they should have been filling potholes. The story prompted public works director Bruce Beese to quit.

Bob Hume, Coleman's spokesman, said an outside firm has been hired to look into the allegations. But the mayor decided to take immediate action after viewing some of the tape captured by KSTP-TV.

"It looks to us that there's been a very serious breach of public trust here, and it's nothing that the city's going to tolerate," Hume said.

Hume said Coleman will not hesitate to take more disciplinary action if needed.

"The mayor's been very clear that he's going to terminate where appropriate, he's going to reassign where appropriate, and he's going to suspend where appropriate," he said.

Beese was a longtime of the department and was involved the city's response to flooding along the Mississippi River.