Continued: Some smell politics in Stanek's $30,000 training video

The video begins with a somber-looking Don Shelby, the local TV news anchor, standing in front of three flags and saying "it was a normal, summer day in Minneapolis." Then come images of the Interstate 35W bridge collapsing.

The camera then focuses on Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, sitting with the 35W bridge wreckage in the background.

"I got here about 20 minutes after the bridge collapsed," Stanek said. "You can imagine how I just drove 15 to 20 minutes, red lights and siren, through rush-hour traffic."

Stanek, who gained national attention with his news conferences about the rescue and body recovery efforts, has found a new way to broadcast his role in the bridge collapse response: a 26-minute DVD, titled "Twenty Days in August," paid for with $30,000 in sheriff's forfeiture funds.

Stanek describes it as a "training" video, and has shown it to groups to illustrate how his office responded to the Aug. 1 tragedy.

One of those groups was the men's club at Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, where Stanek made a presentation last month. "The guys who were there were just really enthralled," said associate pastor Eric Youngdahl.

But others have questions about whether politics are a factor in Stanek's attention to Aug. 1. Stanek, who was elected in 2006 and does not face re-election for three more years, last month had a political fundraiser in which Gov. Tim Pawlenty served as an honorary co-host.

"Why would Stanek need a fundraiser?" asked Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein. He was a guest speaker in September when Stanek helped host a dinner to thank law enforcement officials and rescuers who responded to the tragedy.

Stanek declined to be interviewed for this article.

Kathryn Janicek, his chief spokesperson, said Stanek had been "strongly encouraged" to produce the video by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is overseeing the formal investigation into the collapse.

Janicek added that the fundraiser was a private event, and "the sheriff's office does not comment on private events."

"I'm sort of struggling to find the purpose of the video," Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele said after watching it.

She said she also believesthat a training video should include comments from the many federal, state and local agencies that responded to the tragedy -- not just the sheriff's office.

While the sheriff's office was in charge of the water rescue and recovery after the bridge collapse, the Minneapolis Fire Department had the overall command authority at the scene in the first few hours after the tragedy. The Minneapolis Police Department later took over that role.

Under the arrangement, Stanek reported to Minneapolis Deputy Chief Rob Allen, who was the unified incident commander at the site.

"Technically, that's how it works," said Allen. "They were in charge of the water side."

Allen said he was not invited to the September dinner hosted by the sheriff's office to thank those who participated in the rescue and recovery.

The city of Minneapolis is producing its own video about its response to the bridge collapse, although it's expected to be much shorter and cost less than $10,000, a city spokeswoman said.

The fund that paid for the sheriff's DVD is public money from forfeitures that the sheriff's office is authorized by the federal government to use for training, Janicek said.

The video isn't the only way Stanek is commemorating his agency's work. A glass display case outside Stanek's office in Minneapolis City Hall contains a blue hard hat, chunks of concrete, a photo with President Bush, letters from admirers, and a plaque from his employees thanking Stanek for his work at the bridge collapse.

On the DVD, as Shelby narrates the unfolding catastrophe, he sets the stage for Stanek's first moments on the scene. "As a veteran police officer and former director of homeland security and commissioner of public safety for the State of Minnesota, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek knew that the first 30 minutes were critical," said Shelby. "Sheriff Stanek, in the midst of the initial chaos, outlined five phases to address the peril all around him."

Stanek explained what faced him, including his decision to close several nearby bridges where onlookers had gathered. "We didn't know what took this bridge down. I didn't know if it was explosives. We didn't know if it was a terrorist event," he said.

"I ordered those bridges cleared to protect the safety of those individual citizens," he said. Summing up the issues facing him, Stanek added that "I had to make some tough decisions."

Shelby, who said he was not paid for his role in the video, said he viewed it as a community service. "I was in a little room, with some flags," said Shelby, who said he felt Stanek's "star rose a little bit" after his role in the tragedy. "I feel clean because I did it as a public service."

As the video shows brief clips of Stanek appearing on CNN, Shelby continues his narration. "Sheriff Stanek, who was uncomfortable with the large estimation of those missing reported at the initial press conference, took over the role as operation spokesperson," he said.

Shelby then moved on to Bush's visit to the scene. "When Sheriff Stanek got word that the president of the United States was visiting on day three of the recovery operations, he knew it was an opportunity to get the additional resources to do what needed to be done," he said.

The video then flashes pictures of Bush, and includes a statement from the president saying that he was "very impressed" with the rescue and recovery efforts.

"In a closed-door meeting," explained Stanek, "I told the president that in order to successfully accomplish our mission down here during the recovery operations I need the skills of some specialized divers."

Divers with the U.S. Navy soon took over the recovery operation.

Near the end of the video, Stanek talked of the day the last body was recovered from the Mississippi River. At one point, the sheriff appears to be near tears and turns briefly from the camera as he described the scene. "You had to be up and at your best -- on your game, so to speak -- 24 hours a day," he said.

Mike Kaszuba • 612-673-4388