(Op-ed submitted by Peter J. Children)
What is currently taking place in this city is outrageous… beyond belief. There is an element in this city that is trying their best to take advantage of the majority of its citizens. This small cadre of pseudo intellectuals want their cake and be able to eat it as well. They want the $165,000.00 for the micro-enterprise initiative program being implemented at NIACC…but they care little what others may want in today’s political landscape, that dog won’t hunt.
In truth… and in all matters the truth must be present; the micro initiative program is little more than smoke and mirrors. Therein it lacks any definitive explanation, there is no method to measure success or failure, no way to guard against fraud, no clear definitive yardstick to know just who might be qualified or not. It needs to be re-written by someone who speaks English. I think the council in it’s entirety wants what is best for Mason City, that said having Bookmeyer resign would be a good first step followed by Turncoat would constitute a solid second step. Realizing that neither will throw themselves onto the sword for the sake of the city, other measures must be considered.
Weaver has gone before the camera, on tape and on the record that he will trade his vote in exchange for the appointment of Sandra Servantez as a commissioner on the board of the Human Rights Commission. In addition our toxic mayor needs to agree to divorce himself on all matters relating to the HR agency until his term expires and his tenure here starts its decent onto the depths of hell as a major mistake in the annals of Mason City history. It should supersede the Dillinger bank robbery in 1934 as a major criminal act.
Don’t get righteous on me because I advocated the approval of a Quid Pro Quo offered by councilman Weaver. Speaker of the House John Boehner has publicly stated he will not sign off on budget proposals offered by Democrats unless they first agree to measures favored by the Republicans; we’re not plowing new ground here not by any means, this is chicken feed compared to what takes place on the Senate floor in Washington, D.C.. Does this mean that
Bookmeyer is holding up the funding for this bad dream, and openly knowing the funds could be forthcoming, does the small cadre of pseudo intellectual share quilt in not directing him to comply?
Nelson/Turncoat/Globe-Gazette
Councilman Nelson has accused Turncoat of wrongdoing by bidding and subsequently selling the Library a ventilation exhaust hood. Turncoat denies making a profit on the sale. I want to remind you who read this that there was another time this puss denied adverse interest in the office of Human Rights; said over and over he was right and all else were wrong… that is until it (the truth) came out on tape with him advocating what he once denied. Oh well, we know what his stock is trading for on the truth exchange.
Into this mix jumps my friend John Skipper; in his column of April 18th, he tries his best to sound neutral but fails miserably. His feeble attempt to reach back into another administration spanning some 15 years, to throw a lifeline to his favorite councilman provides little help to his intended. Instead it further shines the spotlight on his already presumed bias. Turncoat is infectious and John Skipper doesn’t have the antidote needed to save him. Turncoat proved without a doubt what he is in front of the entire community… pretending now it didn’t happen isn’t going to erase it. You’d have to be masochistic to vote for him now.
Yet there is another looming question that begs an answer; why has the Globe-Gazette assumed the position they have in matters of city hall? Is it because they left that area to one reporter to report what he feels is right? Cut it any way you like… this is a small town by any standards, we’re not living in a metropolis here, you can drive across this town in any direction in five minutes if you avoid electric stop signs… that’s your first clue. There are steel farm buildings in the city core, that’s your second clue. But we still have a daily paper… for now. The fact that its bolstered largely by a wealthy corporate owner who can write off any loss incurred in towns of
this size is fortunate; compare it to national restaurant chains…all of their locations do not make a profit but they cost average and are willing to absorb deficits for a period of time until it becomes apparent that the situation is irreversible, then they pull the chain. The Globe has cut its workforce and undoubtedly has taken other measures to trim the ship, but that is all part of a natural metamorphosis, sort of a circling of the wagons in order to fend off more drastic measures such as closing the doors. Its rumored that our paper may end up being printed in Waterloo…..once a week. The parent company of our local paper has now found itself reduced to selling junk bonds in order to extradite itself from financial ruin. In fairness, something the Globe is woefully short on, the overall financial picture of major newspapers is bleak. That said, you would rightfully think that an entity that has been around for 100 years would have the experience and management guidance to ride out financial downturns. Any business is little more than the total sum of its management and staff, and here locally the sum total is in the low single digits.
If you are paying attention Skipper is not at every council meeting, now there are a couple of ladies that sort of trade off; maybe after years of one sided reports and personality differences, the blush is off the rose. The relationship between Weaver and Skipper has always been contemptuous… and Weaver has suffered poor press as a result. On the same hand Turncoat has summarily benefitted by Skipper’s words, those are facts that are as plain as the fact that our mayor loves to drink beer, and it shows. Another target of Skipper’s overview is Third Ward Councilman Don Nelson; he and Jeff Marsters should be on every city council in every city. These men are methodical… they don’t hurry, they looks at every angle and are far from extravagant with taxpayer money. But whenever Nelson goes after Turncoat…Skipper will try his best to craft his understanding of the issue in favor of Turncoat. There are blatant examples of this on a regular basis.
Tom Meyer the City Attorney is as transparent as a freshly washed windshield. His rulings on issues will invariably favor the beer drinker, its called job protection. He needs to work to meet the many obligations he’s acquired along the way to today. He could be one vote away from being dismissed… and he’s as much aware of it as the prey on opening day… I would put as much faith in his decisions as I would in the tooth fairy.
The beer drinker in his zeal to control things has encroached on the duties of the administrator Mr. Trout. This works for Trout because he suffers from the same symptoms as the City Attorney. His office affords him a certain degree of autonomy as does his pay scale. His job description outlines his area of authority but he ignores it in favor of the beer drinker…its called placating. Both of these city officials are being compromised by the beer drinker and the only explanation that could fit is fear of losing their positions. It’s an outrage. This is a municipality inhabited by almost 30,000 people, not quite but close… we deserve much better than what we are getting for our buck. There is a control freak in the mayor’s seat, a city administrator who, despite his job description defers to the beer drinker at every turn. A city attorney who follows the same path as Trout and crafts every opinion to whatever outcome the beer drinker wants it to be. Doesn’t Tom Meyer know that the beer drinker cannot fire him? Both he and Trout serve at the pleasure of the council.
The beer drinker’s obsession with Lionel Foster and the agency he runs is a study in paranoia. His wife is a doctor and she should have him committed to a mental rehabilitation program… some times known as drying out. Late comments to this article; the Globe’s editorial of April 24, 2011 is little more than a reminder of their prejudices and bias. How pathetic is it to live with a local newspaper on a daily basis that projects this sort of bias as if were considered creditable? This is a paper that has lost whatever credence it once may have held in this community long ago. As usual it totally ignores the other side of the issue as if it were non-existent in favor of mayor whose fixation on this particular agency of our local government now breeds suspicion. Why is it that all preceding mayors never had an issue with it? Is it because they were not tied to I.C. Systems?
Peter J. Children |
