Soon, new people will be filling the chairs at the council table. The biggest change will be Bookmeyer’s departure….and with him the pettiness that he brought, the man is vindictive, and it shows. In many cases his obsession cost this city tens of thousands of dollars. Under his tenure we experienced the largest number of libel suits of any city administration in the history of this community. And all were settled “out of court”; want to know why?
It is the city’s insurer who has the final say if the suit will be tried in court or settled outside. In every case the insurer decided the city’s exposure was unwindable and trying the case before a judge or jury could have proved financially catastrophic.
A favorite of the Dark Price were “Boards & Committees.” These positions were “appointed positions” so when the term was up for re-appointment he would simply not reappoint the current member and appoint one of “his own”
people to that position. Why? So he could control the Board or Committee whichever the case might be. He did it every chance he got. This was the action of a control freak, it was petty and mundane and it exposed him for what he really was; egomaniacal and incompetent to function in the best interest of the city.
Recently, a motion was brought forth to rename the council chambers in memory of Alex Kuhn, there was and still is….great public support for this measure. But the “Library Board” set an unrealistic amount of $500,000.00 for the right to rename the council chamber. This was orchestrated by the Dark Prince who controls the Library Board; he hates the Kuhn family with a passion and his vindictiveness mirrors that of a child who lives with never ending tantrums.
As a parting gift, Bookmeyer wants the saddle this city with major debt…..a hotel and a skating rink, neither of which we need. The mere thought of it is diabolical, I think the Dark Prince wants to blame the people of this city for his erotic, sadistic behavior during his tenure in our small town. He can be assured he will never be forgotten….but for all the wrong reasons.
Early on, the Dark Prince had a council that voted unanimously without one no vote on every issue brought before them. These involved issues that Bookmeyer gave the nod to. You see, on a 6 seated council you only need 3 votes to control every motion laid before the council. On a 3 to 3 vote the Mayor can, in certain circumstances, vote…..understand?
After Tornquist returned to the city for a visit he confessed that the pressure he suffered under the Dark Prince was so overbearing he contemplated the worst. He went on to say it was the underlying reason he moved his family out of the city. How many others have fled our great community because of the Dark Prince? Take a minute and count them up.
Then there were the cardboard cutouts…Hicky, Solberg, and Schoneman locked into place all without a voice of their own. The Dark Prince became the worlds greatest ventriloquist throwing his voice to all the above mentioned flawlessly. Hickey turned his back on those who elected him in the Second Ward to vote in favor of the hospital concerning the “loading dock” debacle. Why? Because the Dark Princes’s wife is a doctor and doctors were attributed to providing the majority of his political contributions. Listen, we know the doctor’s wives like the busy body own East State Street who helped get him elected, buying drinks for voters, throwing sick little parties, introducing Eric like a grown-up Opee Taylor, when really he was just disguised as Opee, and underneath was a twisted man bent on creating a legacy. Those living in the second Ward are lucky it wasn’t a life or death situation, for if it were they’d all be dead now.
Janet Solberg; this gift just keeps on giving. This woman self-professed to driving to a neighboring county, the trip that she claimed took eight hours. Her reason for going….simply to roll her window down and take a deep breath to see if she could smell pig shit! Apparently her destination were some CAFO’s. Proudly announcing she failed to smell pig shit, she then proceeded voting in favor of destroying our community and voted in favor of Prestige. This poor soul was grabbing at straws trying to convince the public she had a solid foundation for the death sentence she cast. Remember these council meeting were televised, these tapes can still be rescued and preserved to be used in political science classes. She isn’t running for re-election because the Dark Prince is jumping ship meaning she will have lost her voice, she has no thought process of her own. There needs to be measures put in place as to why a I Q test should be required before anyone can run for city council in any town populated by more than 25 people.
Harry Truman said; “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I say this, if you want a seat at the table where you are paid and your decisions carry effects; be ready to deal with the truth……..
So now we hit the refresh button on our screen and magically a new council appears; I say be careful what you wish for….
What John Skipper wrote today was true, I know because I was there and I remember all of it. The question here is why are we hiring a search firm to fill these positions? Why don’t we go on social media and advertise what our needs are? Let’s look back….. during the past eight years we have survived with a dysfunctional mayor and virtually half of a city council that was cognizant. What exactly does that tell you…..it tells you the bar is set pathetically low in this community. Listen up; we don’t have shortage of hotel rooms, and we have ice west of town….why then would you vote to blow $38,000,000.00…in a building we don’t own? You voted down the .67 cent tax, vote no!!
Peter Children
Mason City, Iowa
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Strip Clubs; nothing wrong with these establishments. No one is
Forcing you inside. There is a business west of town that sells sex toys…..would you close its doors? Look out the window, you’re in America
Mr. Children, are you or how are you paid and or compensated for these so called op/eds that you frequently post here on NIT?
I believe you have mentioned before that you were paid to do hit type articles on Max Weaver. Would your postings here be any different?
I am paid $500.00 for each article I write for NIT. For the abuse I take it’s not worth it.
We’ll Riggie to me it looks like Matt covered your raise then cut you off at the knees. Look….there was a famous quote that said; bad politicians are elected by good people who don’t vote. That is exactly how this nightmare got into office. I see that changing here, look at the .67 cent tax….look at Andy O’Brian….tied himself to the
Dark Prince and got beat bad. These same people are going to vote down the hotel and ice.
It’s over Reggie…..hang it up!
WOW got a lot of opinions that’s great. But remember we r human and imperfect. We can agree to disagree. I see this as an opportunity. It’s time our community works together and gets someone that will LISTEN. Someone that doesn’t sit on a pedestal because u have money went to the right school’s ect. Someone stuggling in this community like the rest of us. Single mothers and fathers as an example. Doing for the people not themselves.
Pete you know liberals are offended by the truth — take it with a grain of salt and keep up the good work. Good or bad I find the truth refreshing. !
This is what I think; we’ve got two Anonymous working here at minimum, at times maybe more. I also think one of them could be a councilman. The comment made at 7:23 pm yesterday was up close and personal…it came from someone who is a witness and could say more. Or maybe the Doctor wrote it…..you think?
Pride is only one of the emotions that comes with each of us, its standard issue in both male and female models. It acts as a powerful deterrent in prohibiting us from self embarrassment and more importantly to those we love and hold dear. The Dark Prince is void of this option. He’s proven that over and over, time and time again. He is completely self centered.
Like I said, Pete, you triggered the defenders of Eric and his stooges (can you believe a few still actually exist?). Like a pie in the face, you slapped them silly with the truth. It’s NIT’s honor to have a man like yourself – an award-winning writer, stellar truth-teller and accomplished businessman – submitting opinions here.
Award winning writer? Is that for his submission to the AARP newsletter on boner medications or his work on the Werthers Original Candies Fanclub Chat room?
matt, there is no honor in nit. you just feed off the continual controversy you promote for your own self profit and greed. you’re no better than those whom you have spoken against for the same reasons. in simple words you’re a joke
Here is one thing the Dark Price introduced us to; a new low in degradation of office.
However unintentional it might be, you can’t hide the fact that you do have (respect) and continue to show respect for Mayor Bookmeyer. It’s as clear as the nose on your face. This is America, and by capitalizing “Dark Prince” you show your hidden respect. If your intent was to show disrespect, then you wouldn’t have capitalized those letters,
The word was a gift from the spell-check machine. It didn’t look quite right to me either. My choice was unwinable.
Hopefully there will be some good when Bookmeyer steps down as Mayor. Yep with any luck at all you will stop posting your babble filled misspelled editorials. Maybe you could go back to being a hired pen for the Globe and start bashing Max Weaver again like you used to do. And what is unwindable?
Children you are either an ahole or a phony.
If this is really your own opinion then you are an a-hole and a stupid one at that. Bookmeyer has done more to move this town forward than any mayor in recent history. What have you done to move this town forward? Nothing.
If you are allowing your name to be placed on opinions actually written by the little weasel then you are a phony.
Which is it?
It’s not my job to move this city up or down or side to side. If you think this Mayor has accomplished anything at all, name it. Since you brought up names….where is yours? You could make up a name There are those of your ilk in every city. Are you going to say this city has been sued more in previous administrations…..? I don’t think so.
Please name three things the Mayor has done to move this community forward.
The hell with three things, just name one
OK ill take the challenge but i will name 5 things that i think has been good since Eric has taken office.
1. He brought decorum back to the city council meetings. To me this was huge.
2. He got the council to more in the same direction toward common goals.
3, He was there to complete the Streetscape Project and the HPI
4.He got a large company to be willing to invest $240,000,000.00 in Mason City. I know most of the NIT bloggers will look at this as a huge failure but it was really quite a feat IMHO.
5. He was Mayor when the council started the matching $ for upgrading properties along highway 65. Matt even took advantage of this program.
I know Peter will not agree but while not a perfect ,the Mayor was/is not the devil incarnate. He’s just a man that did his best and obviously pissed some people(Matt) off.
^^^ Triggered.
1. “He brought decorum back to the city council meetings. To me this was huge.”
– Reality: Sending police officers to intimidate citizens exercising their first amendment rights, interrupting folks, mocking them for walking too slow, laughing at people. A real class act that behind the table. Meanwhile he’s getting kicked out of bars and making people cry at hair salons for demanding faster service – witnessed doing it – while leading us into lawsuit after lawsuit. What a prince.
2. “He got the council to more in the same direction toward common goals.”
– Reality: Bobbleheads and stooges of the Chamber of Commerce. Utterly zero leadership from the council, none of them had any fortitude to actually “lead” or even provide a moral compass (save for a few like Lee, Kuhn, Schickel, Adams).
3. “He was there to complete the Streetscape Project and the HPI.”
– Reality: I never saw Eric swing a hammer, hell, I think if he did, his drinking would cause his hand to get smashed. All he did was take credit for these projects that the taxpayers paid for.
4. “He got a large company to be willing to invest $240,000,000.00 in Mason City. I know most of the NIT bloggers will look at this as a huge failure but it was really quite a feat IMHO.”
– Reality: He cozied up to a desperate company looking for a goofy set of morons who would play ball with their idea of taking over their town, ponying up $35 million for water and other subsidies, ready to sell their soul – all for what? Crap jobs that would be gone or maybe not exist; if you watch the news, Mr. Prestage no longer sleeps at night as Pres. Trump undoes our trade laws and China is looking to South America and Europe for their pork. That mega plant might be mothballed, stay tuned.
5. “He was Mayor when the council started the matching $ for upgrading properties along highway 65. Matt even took advantage of this program.”
– Reality: Not his idea, but it was probably invented so his Chamber cronies could take advantage of it, not regular citizens like myself. I bought a church, used the funds to rehab the building. Now it will be taxed big, huge, for decades to come. Everyone wins in that scenario.
Wow, sounds like you drank the Kool-Aid ! He has been a bully, a mean-spirited man that loved to hurt people. He contributed to the suicide of Alex Kuhn, and the contemplation of suicide and quick exit out of town by Scott Tornquist. He is a drunken, womanizing , phony. And, tried his best to cram Prestage down our throats. Destroyed the Human Rights Commission., and has contributed nothing to Economic Development. There is so much ..not enough time or space.
Bravo! Here comes the truth…it’s late but it’s here.
Anonymous finally got it right. It took him awhile which really shows he is a true Dark Prince lackey.
don’t forget those on the opposing side of the mayor, they contributed to the death of mr. Kuhn equally with their constant harassment of the councilman with their unprofessional tactics
The ONLY one responsible for the death of Kuhn was the Black Prince. We know it and his family knows it.
I agree with the statement that children is an assh**e