Ready, Fire, Aim!

It's been a while since I've been motivated to write here, but my attendance at yesterday's Executive Committee meeting -- where I spoke in support of continued attention to energy conservation in the county's budgeting priorities -- left me somewhat shaken. Here's what happened.

The Executive Committee comprises the county board chair and the chairs of the ten standing committees. All were present except Extension & Lime Quarry Committee Chair Larry Jepsen and Land Information Committee Chair Kim O'Connell. County Board Chair Bryan Beseler opened the meeting with a rather impassioned call to action, exhorting committee members to think across departmental lines and to resist the temptation to micromanage.

According the county policy, the Executive Committee is supposed to issue budgetary recommendations by April 20, and in years past those recommendations have been along the lines of "Cut spending across the board by 10%." No such specifics issued from yesterday's meeting unless they happened at the very end. (I left after two hours and twenty minutes when things seemed to be winding down.)

The first order of business was a motion, prompted by Beseler and made by Finance Committee Chair Gary Bergstrom, to consolidate the bookkeeping functions of each department under the supervision of the Department of Administration. This, it was argued, would make it easier to compile financial data and allow better cross-communication between departments. It was unclear whether the motion envisioned physically moving bookkeeping and accounting staff into a central location -- such details were deemed inappropriate topics of discussion because the Executive Committee's function, according the Beseler, is to look only at "broad concepts" and not get bogged down in minutia.

Supervisor Bob Dueholm, a CPA and former Honeywell employee, asked what this motion was intended to accomplish. When the answer seemed to be that it would facilitate the gathering of financial information from throughout county government, Dueholm recommended that perhaps what was needed was uniform software programs. That suggestion was ignored and the committee went on to adopt the motion, which Beseler said would be added to next Tuesday's county board meeting agenda.

Next came discussion of consolidating departments, and the "reform" train picked up speed. With Dueholm and, to a lesser extent, Supervisor Neil Johnson raising the only serious questions, the committee proceeded to adopt resolutions supporting the combining of the Highway and Lime Quarry departments as well as Health, Human Services, and Aging. Left on the table was the question of combining Land Information and Land & Water Resources -- a battle that was already fought just a few years back.

Both recommendations for combining departments will be sent on to the full county board at its May meeting, and the Executive Committee is recommending that the full board ignore Policy 881, which requires that such departmental mergers first gain the approval of their respective governing committees. Again to his credit, Supervisor Dueholm was the only one to raise concerns about this proposed flouting of county policy.

The question that was never answered -- or even asked -- was what benefits will accrue to the county through these proposed mergers. Will they save money? I suppose that's the idea, though other than eliminating some department director positions, it's unclear where else those savings will occur. And it seems quite possible that rushing willy-nilly into consolidation could create more problems then it solves. The overwhelming sense I got of yesterday's meeting was that change needed to happen, and that it didn't particularly matter whether the proposed changes had really been thought through or not.

Check out my new blog

I've started a new blog on which I will catalog renewable energy installations in and around Polk County. You can check it out here.

Welcome to the Buz Swerkstrom fan club

I'm joking, of course, but with my publishing of his annual Dubious Distinction Awards it may seem like Mr. Swerkstrom is getting more than his share of pixels on this blog lately. That may be, but I can't resist the urge to add some comments on Buz's recent self-publication of a book titled Polk County Places; Impressions and Explorations of Polk County, Wisconsin. 

I think I first met Buz in 1988 when he wrote a story for the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram about a new publication called Northwest Wisconsin Alternatives Forum that the late Larry Dodge and I launced that spring. "Newspaper offers alternative message" read the headline, with the subhead "Quarterly journal prints stories not seen in traditional media." Buz had driven to the Dorea Peace Community for the interview. He struck me as kind of a quirky guy, sympathetic but awfully reserved for a reporter. 

By that time Buz had been making a living off words for at least ten years. He still is, even though many of the newspapers that used to buy his stories no longer do. Nowadays he's a regular columnist for the Osceola Sun newspaper (where he provides some of the best reporting on county government) and sells most of his freelance stuff to magazines like Wisconsin West and Wisconsin Trails. And now he's written a book.

Polk County Places is a collection of essays Buz has written over the years, divided into nine sections: "Parks", "Preserves", "Communities", "Roads", "Trails", "The St. Croix River", "The Arts", "Artistic Impressions" and "Here and There". A couple of the pieces date back to the '70s -- they're updated with annotations when necessary -- but most were written in the last few years. Since he's lived in Polk County for all of his life it shouldn't be surprising that Buz has such an amazing depth of knowledge of our local environs. He's from Atlas, in the northwest corner of the county, but one gets the feeling there isn't a road he hasn't been on or trail he hasn't hiked anywhere in the area. Or, for that matter, an interesting person he hasn't interviewed. 

Buz doesn't go anywhere without his camera and tape recorder. The book is illustrated with numerous of his black-and-white photographs, and includes extensive transcriptions of conversations he's had with everyone from Interstate Park naturalist Julie Fox Martin (on geologic history) to composer/performer Manfred Schoenhauer (on the transformative power of music) to local historian Russ Hanson (on the curiosities "west of 87") to landscape artist Mary Pettis (on whether truth is beauty or vice versa). 

Twice in the 321 pages of his book, Buz shares the fact that he keeps a cartoon on his refrigerator the caption of which is, "Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is stay where you are." In the tradition of writers like Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder, Buz has produced a book that celebrates these 956 square miles we call Polk County. His is a well-developed sense of place, and this is a place Buz obviously loves.

Polk County Places has very few of the glitches one often finds in self-published books; there are very few typos and the text is crisp and clear for the most part. It is, sadly, lacking an index, which might have made it even handier as a reference tool. Golfers and fishers will find it lacking in their areas, but anyone into the silent sports -- hiking, biking, birding, canoeing -- will find it an invaluable guide. There's also lots of information on the local arts scene. Thematically speaking, the biggest share of the book is about this area's natural history, and Buz does a good job of explaining all the attributes that make Polk County such an interesting place in that regard.

This book would be an excellent gift for someone new to the area, but even if you've lived in Polk County for many years I can just about guarantee that you'll learn something new from it. I got my copy at the Cardinal Shop in Luck. I know they're also selling it at the Information Center in St. Croix Falls. Get yours while the supply lasts!

Dubious Distinction Awards - part 2
by Buz Swerkstrom, Columnist

Osceola Sun

January 6, 2008

The second installment of this year’s awards of dishonor:

Wrong Place, Wrong Time Award

Speaking at the Relay For Life event for cancer patients and survivors in June, St. Croix Falls mayor Darrell Anderson used the occasion to taunt people who voted against him in the April election.

Goldilocks Award

This award goes to a Maple Grove, Minn., man in his late 40s who decided to sleep on a chair on the enclosed porch of a house in Luck owned by people he didn’t know, rather than walk to the Luck Country Inn, where he was staying. Awakened by a police officer, the man said he did not know where he was or who owned the house, and registered a blood alcohol concentration of .12.

We Don’t Need To Follow No Stinking Rules Award

The winners are Polk County Board chairman Bryan Beseler and former board chairman Larry Jepsen. More than a month after the county board amended a rule of order to require the minutes of all board and committee meetings to be “complete and detailed” the two of them continued to hold the position that meeting minutes should be bare-bones recordings of nothing more than motions, seconds and results.

Cheech And Chong Art And Literature Appreciation Award

The winner is a Frederic area resident in his mid-20s who had a tattoo of Winnie the Pooh smoking a dope pipe on his right calf when he was arrested for possession of marijuana on the Fourth of July.

Living Dangerously Award

Asked at a county board meeting as to where he would like money drawn for a study, county supervisor Russ Arcand answered — seemingly only half facetiously — “from the sheriff’s department,” when both the sheriff and the chief deputy were seated directly behind him.

The ‘What Part of ‘No’ Don’t You Understand?’ Award.

This award goes to the Polk County supervisors who continued to regard a completely new highway department facility as the preferred option even after 80 percent of Polk County voters said “no” to the idea in a February referendum.

Mr. Consistency Award

This award goes to the manager of the Osceola Dairy Queen. Arrested for possession of marijuana while at work at the Dairy Queen, he reportedly told police officers he smokes marijuana 365 days a year. His prize: A Brownie Blizzard.

Misplaced Priorities Award

This one goes to the St. Croix Falls City Council for not rescheduling a council meeting so it wouldn’t conflict with the season-opening Monday Night Football game between the Packers and the Vikings.

Sometimes You Sound Like A Nut Award

In a letter to the editor, former county board chairman Bob Blake suggested that Senator Barack Obama’s work as a community organizer in Chicago meant he had ties to the Chicago mob and perhaps had whacked people in the knees as part of his mod-directed duties. And you thought Rudy Guiliani was out there in denigrating Obama’s stint as a community organizer?

The “Even George Costanza Could Come Up With A More Believable Excuse Than That” Award

In affidavits, both Polk County supervisors Gary Bergstrom and Larry Jepsen contended the Finance Committee needed to go into closed session every time it discussed the proposed sale of Golden Age Manor to keep the name of the prospective buyer hidden from the public for fear that opponents of the sale would harass that company’s employees and try to disrupt its operations, despite the fact that Wisconsin’s open meeting law clearly states public officials do not have the right to go into closed session based on speculation.

The Naked Truth Award

The winner is a 21-year-old St. Croix Falls area man who was arrested at the Holiday gas station/convenience store in St. Croix Falls for allegedly trying to shoplift a Playboy magazine and a Girls of Penthouse magazine, he reportedly explained that he tried to shoplift the magazines because he didn’t have any money.

I Fought The Clock And The Clock Won Award

This one goes to the time-challenged Polk County Board. Many “quick five” breaks turned into 15- and 20-minute recesses. A closed session guaranteed to last no longer than five minutes lasted more than a half hour. “Time Is On My Side” definitely was not an appropriate theme song for this bunch. “Time Won’t Let Me” seems more fitting.

Skunk Cabbage Award

This award is named after the moisture-loving plant, the skunk cabbage, that smells like rotting leaves when you sniff it up close. Like the skunk cabbage, the closer you examine the Polk County Board of Supervisors the more fetid many of its actions seem.

Best Approximation Of A Filibuster Award

This award goes to Polk County supervisor Ken Sample. On several occasions Sample spoke for such a relatively long period of time at county board meetings that his speeches almost took on the appearance of a filibuster.

One Vote Over The Line Award

This one goes to a 61-year-old Amery man, who was arrested for violating terms of probation by voting in the November general election when he was not permitted to do so because of a felony conviction.

‘Scuse Me While I Shoot The Sky Award

Finally, this award goes to a 27-year-old Clayton area man who, after consuming “approximately 12 beers,” decided to fire off several rounds from an AK-47-style rifle and a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol “straight up in the air” at about 1:40 a.m. one night in early December.

"Supervisors found guilty of violating the law"

That was the headline in the January 7 edition of the Osceola Sun over a story reported by Buz Swerkstrom detailing Circuit Court Judge Eugene Harrington's recent decision in a lawsuit brought by private citizen James Drabek. Drabek contended, and the judge agreed, that the Polk County Finance Committee knowingly violated Wisconsin's Open Meetings Law on numerous occasions between December 26 of 2007 and January 23 of 2008. The judge also agreed with Drabek that the entire county board had acted illegally when it went into closed session at its January 22, 2008 meeting, bringing the total to 83 counts. 

[See my previous post on Drabek's lawsuit here.]

Drabek distinguished between what he called "Class 1" defendants -- those on the Finance Committee -- and the rest of the county board, whom he called "Class 2" defendants. His contention is that the members of the Finance Committee willfully and knowingly went into illegal closed session meetings, while the rest of the board did so without the same awareness (or with the understanding that they had the approval of Corporation Counsel Jeff Fuge). Now that an opinion has been rendered in the case, another hearing will be held for the purpose of establishing sanctions. According to the Sun, Drabek is asking for imposition of the maximum fine of $300 per violation, plus additional fines of $140,000 to cover his attorney fees. The date for that hearing has not yet been set. 

If the judge grants Drabek's request for remuneration, the 15 "Class 2" defendants would each end up being assessed fines of about $2500, while the five "Class 1" group members could be forced to cough up nearly ten times that amount. I'm not sure whether the county's insurance covers this type of expense or not. 

I feel badly that former supervisor Duana Bremer got caught up in all of this. She had been appointed to fill Gerald Newville's seat shortly before these violations took place and was obviously relying on the advice she got from more senior members of the Finance Committee, which included Neil Johnson, Larry Jepsen, Mick Larsen and Gary Bergstrom. 

Three supervisors were exempted from the lawsuit by Judge Harrington due to their having been improperly served. Those include Russ Arcand, former supervisor Bob Blake and myself. State law says that a party to a lawsuit cannot serve a summons and complaint on another party; that job must be done by any other adult resident of the state. Drabek, who was initially unaware of this restriction, served Arcand with a summons at the Government Center. I had been in telephone contact with Drabek and actually drove to his home and picked up my summons. As for Blake, Drabek told me he mailed a summons to him and that Blake had agreed to provide some sort of acknowledgement. When that receipt wasn't forthcoming, Drabek drove the 50 miles from Balsam Lake to Blake's rural Indian Creek home with a new summons -- twice. Both times, according to Drabek, it appeared that someone was home but no one responded to his knock. Eventually papers were served to Marilyn Blake at her workplace, but the court ruled that service invalid as the law stipulates service must occur at a person's abode. 

Mr. Blake sent another of his mean-spirited letters to the editors of all the local weekly papers this week blasting Drabek for only caring about preserving his wife's employment at Golden Age Manor and for trying to "line his pockets" at taxpayers' expense. A cheap shot, if you ask me, and one that clouds the real issue. I do have to agree, however, with Blake's suggestion that the county should hold its legal counsel responsible for whatever bad advice may have led to these illegal closed session meetings. 

Let's hope that some lessons have been learned.

Dubious Distinction awards - part 1
By Buz Swerkstrom

Osceola Sun
12/30/08
Here is my annual acknowledgement to some of the more entertaining goofs and gaffs I’ve reported on in the past year:

The Old Switcharoo Award

An item called “Presentation on Offer to Purchase GAM Nursing Home” on a Polk County Board meeting agenda turned out to be a presentation by a real estate broker about his company, statistical information about Golden Age Manor and the planned transaction timeline. The county board’s prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii ... er, rather, brochures about Hawaii.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not Award

This award goes to Polk County Board chairman Larry Jepsen. After nominating Gerald Newville as an interim replacement for the vacant District 23 supervisor position he was one of seven board members to vote against confirmation of the nomination.

The Pot Calling The Kettle Black Award

This one goes to the members of the Golden Age Manor Board who stripped Gene Sollman of the board vice chair position because he was party to a lawsuit that tried to prevent Polk County from selling the Golden Age Manor nursing home. They contended Sollman’s legal action constituted a conflict of interest. Yet it wasn’t a conflict of interest for the Manor board chairman to vote to sell the nursing home or for Rodney Littlefield to sit on the board when his wife was director of nursing at a different nursing home in Amery?

Do As I Say, Not As I Do Award

This award goes to the Polk County supervisors who complained of how the county board’s Finance Committee discussed Golden Age Manor purchase offers in closed session, then voted to have the county board discussion about a proposed purchase agreement in closed session.

The Sun Also Rises In The East Award

At the Feb. 7 meeting of the Polk County Board’s Highway Committee county highway commissioner Steve Warndahl suggested moving up the date of the committee’s March meeting to Feb. 31 to accommodate his travel schedule. Informed there is no Feb. 31, Warndahl responded: But isn’t this a leap year? It seems as though someone wasn’t getting enough sleep.

A Bureaucrat By Any Other Name Award

Since “Human Resources Department” was so similar to “Human Services Department” that it confused some members of the public, the employees of the Polk County Human Resources Department requested a name change to the Department of Employee Relations. Didn’t it occur to anyone that “Personnel Department” would have been a cleaner, clearer name?

Laughing All The Way To The Jail Award

The winner: a 22-year-old Coon Rapids, Minn., woman who thought it would be funny to throw a shoe at a bicyclist from a passing SUV in which she was a passenger, in the Osceola area. She was arrested for disorderly conduct and taken to the county jail.

Sneaky Pete Award

This one goes to Polk County supervisor Herschel Brown for his sneak attack campaign strategy to oust incumbent Jeff Peterson. Brown won by waging an 11th hour stealth write-in campaign. Democratic elections are supposed to be open contests of ideas and personalities, not “Survivor”-style backstabbing and scheming.

The “No, Soporific Is Not Better Than Terrific” Award

This one goes to the Polk County Board for its drowsiness-inducing three-hour discussion of rules of order at its organizational meeting in April.

The Wrong Sort Of Kodak Moment Award

This award goes to a 33-year-old St. Croix Falls resident who was arrested for throwing a disposable camera at a passing car, causing a large crack in the plastic of the car’s front bumper. The phrase is “picture this,” not “pitcher this.”

“I’m Taking My Ball And Going Home” Award

By passing a motion that no county money should be spent to clear and maintain the Amery To Dresser Trail route, two months after a previous incarnation of the committee offered the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources cooperation in developing the route as a non-motorize trail, members of the Polk County Board’s Property Committee demonstrated the petulance and pouting ability necessary to reveal their inner childishness and win this award.

Chutzpah Award

The winner: Polk County supervisor Russ Arcand, for suggesting to a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources employee that the DNR could simply give the 14-mile-long Amery To Dresser Trail corridor to Polk County so that Polk County could develop the ribbon of land as a multi-use recreational trail instead of as a state-owned non-motorized trail.

Comfort The Comfortable Award

In a letter to the editor, in May, former county supervisor Bob Blake defended Big Oil’s right to gouge consumers for gargantuan profits while blaming government for $4 per gallon gas. The “greed is good” mindset lives.

The “Who Do You Think You Are — A Utility Company?” Award

Goes to the St. Croix Falls Parks & Recreation Committee and the St. Croix Falls City Council for planning to put a community garden on the Polk County Fairgrounds property without consulting the owner of the property, Polk County. Their prize: they will be forced to take everyone’s surplus zucchinis.

You Have To Love Irony Award

This was such a competitive category that there is an unprecedented three-way tie for the award. Polk County county clerk Cathy Albrecht won for recording in the official minutes of a county board meeting that the board adopted a “Rules of Order Amendment” without specifying what rule was amended when the rules of order amendment directed that complete and detailed minutes of all board and committee meetings be recorded.

Polk County, as a governmental entity, is the second winner. When all 23 county supervisors were defendants in a lawsuit involving Wisconsin’s open meetings law, Polk County’s legal representative participated by phone, from Madison, during a court hearing in Polk County Circuit Court.

The Polk County Board shares the honor by voting to request that the heirs of the woman who donated land for the Golden Age Manor nursing home waive a use condition to allow for the sale of the nursing home while at the same time arguing in the legal arena that the land was not donated.

The “Hit Me Again; It Feels So Good When You Stop” Award

This one goes to the St. Croix Falls City Council for voting to have the City’s official newspaper be a paper whose St. Croix Falls reporter rarely stays beyond the first hour of city council meetings. Slackers everywhere, take heart.

Putting The Pop In Father’s Day Award

The winner is a Luck area resident in his early 20s who used Father’s Day as an occasion to punch his father in the face at least twice, bruising and bloodying the older man’s face.

County applying for state grant to study reducing fuel use

Polk County may be one of about 10 Wisconsin municipalities to lead the state's initiative to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

"We're really excited about this. It would put Polk County on the map as being truly committed to sustainability," said Jeff Peterson, chairman of the county’s Renewable Energy Committee, which is charged by the board of supervisors to explore ways for the county to reduce its use of non-renewable resources.

In October, Gov. Jim Doyle announced that he was making $500,000 available as a competitive grant that will designate five to 10 Wisconsin municipalities as the prototypes to demonstrate how local governments could reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and electricity by 25 percent by the year 2025.

By partnering with the cities of St. Croix Falls and Amery, the Renewable Energy Committee is applying to be one of those prototypes. The grant will pay for a part-time energy consultant who would conduct an energy assessment of all buildings and vehicle fleets, said UW-Extension’s Bob Kazmierski. Kazmierski, who is the county’s Community Resource Development agent, is working with the Renewable Energy Committee on their grant application.

"I’m very excited at the amount of support for this application,” said Kazmierski. “It will not only benefit the community from the economic standpoint, but it's also doing what’s right from the sustainable viewpoint," Kazmierski said.

An early goal of the Renewable Energy Committee was to complete an inventory of alternative fuels, especially so-called “bio-fuels”, in and around Polk County. “If our application is approved, this grant would go a long way toward compiling that sort of information,” said Peterson.

The Polk County Board approved a resolution of support for the grant application at its November meeting. The grant application is due December 15, with awards being announced sometime in January.

Land Information Committee Rules on First Rooming House Request

On November 19 the Land Information Committee ruled on the first request for a special exception to operate a tourist rooming house since the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance was amended to include these businesses as a category separate from resorts and motels. 

The first application came from the Bloomer family, who own property on Horseshoe Lake. Although some of their neighbors objected to it, the Bloomers' application was approved with a number of conditions attached. Here is the pertinent section from the minutes of that meeting:

Motion (Rediske/Sample) to grant the Bloomer request for a Special Exception to Article 8D1 of the Polk County Shoreland Protection Zoning Ordinance to operate a transient lodging rental with the following conditions:
1. Accessory building must be 5 feet from the lot line.
2. Accessory building must not have sleeping accommodations.
3. No RV, Pop-Up Campers, tents or other means of overnight stay allowed.
4. All parking must be contained on the property.
5. Must obtain all proper licensing.
6. All fires are to be extinguished by 11:00 p.m., with no unattended fires.
7. Must have a 24 hour contact number for tourist rooming house management available to the public.
8. Property must remain free from citation and charges for nuisance, disorderly conduct, or any other illegal activity.
9. Quiet hours from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
10. Property must remain in compliance with any changes or modification to the Ordinance.
11. Comply with ALL applicable laws and regulations.
12. All pets must be contained on the property.
Discussion. Sample – Yes, Rediske – Yes, Messicci – Yes, O’Connell – Yes, Motion Carried.