Op-ed:
It’s never easy to speak ill of another, at least that is my personal feelings. There are however times when you have to bite the bullet and get on with it. Whatever I say does come from a personal Plato but rather from a closely studied observation of countless council meetings and fortified by local media outlets that cover the council and it’s doings.
The absence of Nelson, Marsters and Weaver is glaring, more like blinding in the face of what they contributed to this city. The first move was to instigate the Micro- Enterprise program from NIACC. After 18 months they have only garnered 5 prospects….some of which exploited the intent by stretching or violating the rules. The entire display was a study in ineptness that was a mistake from the start. It will never bear fruit, it was set up entirely wrong. All it ever was was an excuse to exploit the taxpayers who funded it. They passed it without one no vote.
Then there was the Human Rights department. For 50 years it served the needs of this community….and now we find that every member of the council voted to close it. Why? They said the reasons were economically driven. Then they OK a 70K expenditure to move Bookmeyer’s desk, then bought statutes and gave the museum $265,000.00 knowing they (the museum) are sitting on slightly over $800,000.00 in the bank. But no money for those who could benefit from the HR office. They all voted to close it, there was not one no vote.
Then there was the “burning facility” that Bookmeyer and the entire council fought for. There was no “due diligence” preformed on this company; was purely an act of desperation on the part of Bookmeyer who was searching for a legacy he might tie to his term….which by the way remains vacant. Everyone of the council members voted for this concept even though it could have been extremely dangerous to everyone living here. To this day this Colorado based firm has yet to find a community it’s that will except them. Bookmeyer replaced Weaver on the landfill board with Turnquist, his own personal hit man in hopes of bullying the landfill board into accepting the proposed concept….didn’t work. Turnquist got his lunch handed to him by the landfill membership with Clear Lake casting the deciding no vote.
Now Hickey, Solberg and Turnquist…along with their leader Bookmeyer have landed on a strategy they feel will propel them back into office. I think they are thinking of labeling it the “dream team.” We’ll they are on the right track, that’s for sure, only it is more like a nightmare team. As far as I know there is no excelsior invented that will erase the memory of an entire community. Just close your eyes for a moment….then pick a council person…any of them, and place them back in those chairs for another chance to keep screwing you over and over again. Think of the Second Ward and the Mercy Hospital fiasco where their representative Travis Hickey sat mute….it’s on tape, go back and watch. It was a horrible thing to witness, seeing a dozen citizens, homeowners being squashed by this medical facility and their council representative threw them to the wolves. Now he wants back in? He states he is a member of the EDC; if I were on that board I would change my name and shop at night. That’s a zero
I remind you now of the Forth Ward, my ward. As hard as it might be to be actually worse than Hickey, Solberg has managed to achieve that. She once proposed that all renters be required to buy insurance, you think it might have something to do with the fact she sells insurance? She went after some church in her neighborhood, tried to shut it down…failed. I would like someone post something she can point to that can be attributed directly to her….anything. Her only function during her entire term was to comply with whatever Bookmeyer wanted, and that is exactly what she did. You want more of that?
Now comes the real gestapo….Turnquist. I can just see this guy with a swagger stick in his hands….maybe a pair of high top black boots. This is a complex case, something that needs more than the paragraph or two I might give it. We are looking at what could easily be conceived to be the most egotistical schmuck ever to sit a that table. He is a lair, a blatant liar, lied on camera….we could stop here, that alone disqualifies him. He made a gigantic fool of himself at the landfill board meeting thinking the members would be in awe of him because he carried the largest block of votes….it turned out the board viewed him for exactly what he was worth….nothing. Can this man point to one thing that he was responsible for in this community that can be viewed as something that benefited this city? Go find it…and good luck.
Comes now Eric Bookmeyer, the mayor from hell. I have written extensively about the mayor. I have even invited him to lunch….I’ll pay, he can eat and drink until his hearts content. He can bring his best friend…who can either act as his second or maybe could act as his driver in case that is needed. He must know that the lunch will be filmed and recorded so there will be no mistake in the answers he gives to my questions. My questions certainly won’t be hard, he will easily understand them.
Now these three councilpersons along with Bookmeyer want to erect billboards featuring their pictures and bill themselves as the dream team. I say go for it, remind people what you really look like.
Peter Children
Ok Peter. Please share all those questions you have so those of us who are obviously not as intelligent as you can become as informed as you are?
Of course if you have some specific suggestions we would like to read those too. It is hard to be an informed voter without good questions, informed answers and not just opinions.
Very good observations and I agree with you Peter.
I more than anyone realize that 99% of what is stated here has been presented before. I wrote it again as a “grim” reminder as we approach election time. Too many forget the horrors of what happened during the terms that are now nearing completion. It is important that memories be refreshed, especially now.
The best thing these incompetent people could do is post their pictures on billboards as a reminder to all, just who these frauds are. They are so good looking….don’t you think?
Peter when are you going to announce you are running? I keep hearing rumors.I heard that you were at a hair dresser and was overheard yelling “Don’t you know who I am. I’m the next Mayor” Now I can’t confirm this but I have it from credible sources that it was you.
I also heard that you were at a local eating establishment and signed your credit card receipt “Peter Children-Mayor to be”. Again I can’t totally confirm this but since we have the above unsubstantiated rumor to go along with it then it must be true.
Come clean Peter, when are you going to announce?
” Besides all of this flap is frankly old news, just warmed over garbage that has been regurgitated ad infinitum.”
While it may be old news, people tend to forget old news when they walk into the voting booth. Gladly, this is what the Internets and this venue is good for. Citing facts, times, dates, and even video of the record jogs the memory, and helps a voter make a reasoned choice.
Voter education in the past depended upon one’s memory, and the media sound bites (bytes). Facta non verba!
Peter – I believe in the past you and others have chided council for not doing anything about jobs (which I don’t think there is much they can do), but that aside, the micro-enterprise deal is an attempt to respond to citizens such as yourself. The fact that it has minimal results speaks to the lack of market response – something council can do little about.
As to the HR office. This has been chewed over & over and it still comes up as a positive for me in that Mason City taxpayers were paying twice, for their own and the states HR function. This was a good decision when made and still is.
Burning facility. What “due diligence” did the city fail to do? DNR was involved and was the true decision maker regarding environmental. Who at the city even has the technical expertise to advise on this? The inability of the Colorado company to find locations elsewhere has nothing to do with our situation. There are other trash burn facilities around – like Ames & Rochester.
Citizens squashed by hospital deal and thrown to the wolves. Ridiculous on its face. Council is the one body that is faced with making difficult decisions and I back them on this one. Mercy is the major employer and a benefit to the community & surrounding area.
Solberg & renters insurance. Yup, she put her foot in it. This matter is not for the city to decide but between landlord and tenant – which is where it still lies.
Tornquist & the landfill. As I recall the landfill board turned down the proposition to deliver trash to the proposed facility – very likely due to financial reasons, or simply out of spite in that it would be a Mason City project supported by trash from surrounding communities.
Lunch with Bookmeyer. I would imagine your venomous diatribes vs. rational discussion might put him off a bit.
Any council can always do better – as can any op-ed writer.
@4ever49-Thank you for your opinion Scott Tornquist.
LVS – good one! But not even close.
@4ever49-you sure sound alike.
If the city’s leadership made up of the volunteers who ran for office aren’t responsible for the situation we are in, then who is? Bookmeyer ran on the PLATFORM of MORE JOBS. He said it to my face trying to win my vote. When asked why, he couldn’t give me a straight answer. Needless to say he didn’t win my vote then and I made sure people knew why.
Anonymous – Like all political types who want to be elected, they fall into the trap of claiming to have the ability to satisfy voter desires even if it cannot be accomplished. It is really too bad that as voters we cannot recognize that government, particularly local, is incapable of doing whatever we desire. It would be refreshing if candidates would actually be candid as well.
Peter,
Thank you for putting this article together. Your summation is important for voters to consider for the upcoming November election.
For Reggie, Arms Bearer, or anyone else out there interested in finding fault with Mr. Children:
YOU KEEP TRYING TO KILL THE MESSENGER!!!!
Regardless of typing errors or your describing it as a p***ing match (which it isn’t), the readers are more interested in the information in the article then your political opinion and political tactic to shoot the messenger.
Thank you again Mr. Children, well put together.
PS: As hard as I try, using spell check, proof reading, etc. I post and make mistakes. Reggie, you can’t walk on water either!
“Reggie, you can’t walk on water either!” Watchdog you are correct BUT I’m not the one that is touted as an award winning writer.
@Anonymous
I don’t believe you!
If anything, the efforts you spoke of were ONLY for SELF-SERVING purposes !!!!!!!!!!
Peter: You have a real gift with words but why always engage in a pi**ing match? What a waste of your creative talent and what a shame. Besides all of this flap is frankly old news, just warmed over garbage that has been regurgitated ad infinitum.
Tornquist was one of the founders of the free clinic on sixth st sw. He put in countless hours helping to pull doctors and nurses together to help less fortunate people get much needed medical services. He has been very active outside of the council giving of himself to numerous charities. Solberg has been a active volunteer before she was on the council as well. Hickey too has been a volunteer and been on different boards and commissions.
Peter instead of being negative why don’t you write about the accomplishments of the people running against these folks and the positive work they have done for the community. That way you wouldn’t have to be negative. Which is against your nature.
@Anonymous-I don’t know where you got your information (probably from Turncoat himself), but he was NOT the driving force on the Free Clinic Board. He was along for the ride and that was it. The project was driven by The Cerro Gordo Health Department, Dr. Johnson, Amy Fleming and Bill Schickle’s wife. Turn coat as usual was only in the way. Don’t try to take the credit away from the people who actually did the work. Other than city boards he was appointed to he has been a detriment to any others he was appointed to (not volunteered for) as you would have us believe. His only claim to fame is being a lackey for the mayor. Solberg and Hickey speak for themselves, a big nothing.
“It’s never easy to speak ill of another, at least that is my personal feelings. There are however times when you have to bite the bullet and get on with it.” That’s the funniest two sentences that I have ever read by you Peter. That’s ALL you do is speak ill of others except for the 4 horsemen( Matt, Max,Don and Jeff).
Matt again I beg you ,PLEASE get Peter a proofreader.