Inside New Berlin

Ronald Reagan Elementary hosted a big chess tournament on Saturday, April 21. School teams from New Berlin and other communities competed in the day-long event.

Yet, the costly, mega-sized Reagan School, which opened 5 months ago, remains the ONLY elementary school in the New Berlin School District that has NOT hosted a School Board work session/board meeting.
And New Berlin voters could not even vote at Reagan in the primary and April elections because the facility was deemed NOT FEASIBLE for use as a voter polling place!

Speaking of tournaments-- It came to my attention several weeks ago that Prospect Hill Elementary School’s chess club had been charged $448.50 in custodial costs for a Saturday tournament it hosted in April 2006.
The charges were in violation of School Board Policy 1330 (Use of Facilities). I confronted District Business Manager Tony Goedheer about it. After expressing surprise at the custodial charges, he said he'd look into it. Goedheer agreed that NBPS chess clubs (being in Policy 1330's Group I category) should not have been charged custodial costs. I suggested that the erroneously charged chess clubs be reimbursed. I've heard that's now been done. I hope so. It was wrong to charge some Group I users and not others for custodial costs.

But here’s a new wrinkle----
Depending on the budgetary decisions the new school board makes, it's possible there won't be any more chess tournaments/ student events on weekends at the New Berlin Public Schools.

Goedheer presented two different budget proposals during the April 23 Board Meeting. Administration is recommending the first proposal be approved. The second one was offered to satisfy a request by Board members for a zero levy increase option.
According to new Board learder Keith Heun, it was the first time the Board had seen either budget proposal and it needed time to study them.

The second budget proposal contained this provision: " Eliminate all weekend use by Group I users, to eliminate overtime expenditures. Reschedule all events/programs to weekdays at the elementary school level. Group I includes New Berlin staff, students, parent-teacher associations and booster clubs. Revision of Policy 1330 should be considered if you pursue this option. Estimated savings in overtime is $30,000."

Art Marquardt voiced concerns about that. He argued the Reagan School tournament had been an 8 hour, Saturday activity, and it would be difficult to have such events on week days/after school. And keep in mind that tournaments are usually fund raisers for chess clubs.

To review: The District had failed to comply with Board Policy 1330. It was urged to treat all Group I users fairly (rather than discriminate against the student chess players/chess clubs by improperly charging them--but not others--for custodial services). And now, District administration has brought a budget proposal to the Board that involves changing board policy and eliminating ALL weekend use of school facilities by Group I users.

In a way, it reminds me of the Common Council action to prohibit ALL non-government groups use of the City's cable channel to broadcast voter forums or other events. That vote occurred after the Prospect Hill Independent Parents Association (PHIPA) hosted a couple of candidate forums and aired them on the City’s cable channel 25 (It had been granted permission to televise the forums)

If you'd like a copy of the budgetary proposals handed out at the April 23 School Board Meeting, contact the District Office (262) 789-6200. Wouldn't it be great if the District gave you online access to them, too?!!!!
Among the proposed budgetary items are cuts in learning assistants, special education and other staff, athletic reductions, a summer shut-down in 2008 to save utility costs, and adding more students via open enrollment.

School Board members plan to have a work session-board meeting May 7 to review and discuss the budget proposals. At Reagan? Nope. They chose Eisenhower.

At tonight's April 23 New Berlin School Board Meeting, the new board will select its officers (President, Vice-President, Clerk, Treasurer).

Speaking of officers---

Did you know that outgoing Board member/ School Board President Matt Weiss was the Treasurer of the Wisconsin Coalition for Voter Participation (WCVP), a group involved in a political corruption scandal? WCVP’s President was James Wigderson. The Secretary was Lorri Pickens. Wigderson, Lorri Pickens and Weiss were also on record as the Board of Directors.

WCVP’s objective was to get pro-voucher judge Jon Wilcox elected to the State Supreme Court. It collected lots of money from donors in and outside of Wisconsin.

Concerns were raised that Wilcox’s campaign manager had helped the supposedly “independent” WCVP raise the money for a massive postcard mailing done just days before the election in 1997---calling into question the “independence” of the group and whether there’d been collusion to hide what could be considered an illegal contribution.

The Elections Board and state Justice Department investigated. It filed civil charges, accusing the Wilcox campaign and WCVP of illegally coordinating their efforts and failing to file required reports. Hefty fines totalling $60,000 were paid by Wilcox, Wilcox' campaign manager Mark Block and WCVP's founder Brent Pickens. See my previous blog Weiss, WCVP, Wilcox Campaign Scandal . You may also be interested in reading this Rethinking Schools Online article: Voucher Backers Illegally Funnel Money

According to a Jan. 27, 2000 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel news story, in an interview, Weiss said he told investigators it was “possible” Wilcox’s campaign manager had a role in the fund raising for the mailing.
Weiss claimed the whole WCVP organization was his pal Brent Pickens’. (spouse of WCVP Secretary/Director Lorri Pickens)
Interestingly, Brent Pickens contended that Weiss, even though he was treasurer of the WCVP, was not in a position to know who the donors were. Pickens also said, “Matt’s role in this was basically depositing the checks.”
But Weiss insisted that he didn’t handle any money for the group.

Now, imagine that! A treasurer/director who didn’t handle any money for his group, which had raised funds and spent a wad on a massive postcard mailing just before an important election.
A treasurer who “wasn’t in a position to know who the donors were.”
If true, doesn’t it sound amazingly ignorant or incompetent?
A treasurer in name only?

That brings to mind the appalling way some school board members have handled their officer duties. Perhaps I’ll do a blog about that sometime, too.

Former NewBerlinNow blogger and alderman Paul Gallagher recently launched his own web site.

The web site, which is called New Berlin Live, is interesting and informative.

Check it out.

It's easy. Click on the link provided above or type this internet address: http://www.newberlinlive.com/

The New Berlin School Board’s Work Session/Board Meetings are typically scheduled for a Monday in the first half of the month. This month’s was supposed to be on Monday, April 16 at Eisenhower. But it’s been cancelled, according to the District’s web site.

Our School Board members are paid a $3000 salary. That’s equivalent to $250 a month. The Board President is paid an additional $500 annually.
They get that pay regardless of how many nights they hold board meetings, how many they cancel, or how brief they make the meetings.

Be advised (unless it's changed later) that the Board is stacking 3 meetings onto Thursday night, April 19, including:
a closed half-hour meeting at 7 p.m. about administrator contracts and an 8 pm closed meeting for a student discipline issue, with a Work Session/Board Meeting sandwiched in-between the two closed session meetings at 7:30. ( Note that only 30 minutes has been slotted for that mini public- is- allowed- meeting)

During the past 13 months, a Board Meeting/Work Session has been held at each New Berlin Public School except New Berlin West and Reagan Elementary. See Board Meeting minutes/District web site During that same period, Work Session/Board Meetings were held at Eisenhower several times. The April 16th one was to be at Eisenhower, too.

So, what’s the Board's excuse for NOT holding Work Session/Board Meetings at New Berlin West and Reagan Schools?

Students attend classes at those schools, like they do at the other NBPS schools.
Don’t forget that a boatful of our tax money has gone into those 2 schools.
Are the West and Reagan Schools considered adequate for students, staff, and activities, but not feasible for a School Board meeting or voter polling place?
Are we expected to believe that the School Board can’t find a spot anywhere in those two vast schools to hold its Board Meeting?

The chart below is from the District's web site (SB mtg. schedule)
Note locations for upcoming Board Meetings are listed as Eisenhower, City Hall or TBA (to be announced).


Date & Time Meeting Location
Monday, April 16, 2007 Board Meeting/Work Session Eisenhower Middle/High School
7:00 p.m. (CANCELED) 4333 S. Sunny Slope Road

Thursday, April 19, 2007 Special BOE Mtg. (Closed) Eisenhower Middle/High School
7:00 p.m. Re: Admin. Contracts 4333 S. Sunny Slope Road

Thursday, April 19, 2007 Board Work Session Eisenhower Middle High School
7:30 p.m. 4333 S. Sunny Slope Road

Thursday, April 19, 2007 Special BOE Mtg. (Closed) Eisenhower Middle High School
8:00 p.m. Re: Student discipline issue 4333 S. Sunny Slope Rd.

Monday, April 23, 2007 Regular Monthly Meeting New Berlin City Hall
7:00 p.m. 3805 S. Casper Drive

Monday, May 14, 2007 Board Meeting/Work Session TBA
7:00 p.m.

Monday, May 21, 2007 Regular Monthly Meeting New Berlin City Hall
7:00 p.m. 3805 S. Casper Drive

Monday, June 11, 2007 Board Meeting/Work Session TBA
7:00 p.m.

Monday, June 25, 2007 Regular Monthly Meeting New Berlin City Hall
7:00 p.m. 3805 S. Casper Drive

A dead man won election in the town of Norway. According to a Journal-Sentinel news report Town of Norway Chairman John Malchine received 437 votes and won the April 3 election, despite having died on March 18 (about 2 weeks prior to the election).

In another news article “McGee gains clout with easy recall win”, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel informed us that controversial Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee, who had been unable to block the recall, won with 64% of the votes in that eight-person race.

Laurel Walker‘s April 5 column in the Journal-Sentinel notes that nearly 360 people cast votes for James Burg for town supervisor in the Town of Waukesha--even though Burg had publicly withdrawn from the race before the election, part of an agreement with the Waukesha County District Attorney, who issued a citation accusing Burg of illegally altering his nomination papers before filing them with the clerk.

Laurel Walker’s column referred to New Berlin, too.
She remarked that a well-publicized bar fight and charges of disorderly conduct and battery to a police officer against New Berlin aldermanic candidate Don Counsell drove him from the race---but Counsell got 90 votes anyway.

Laurel Walker also paid tribute to Joe Poshepny’s victory. She noted that Poshepny, who had come in last in the primary for 5th District alderman--- won the April 3 election. He had launched a last-minute write-in campaign, got 553 votes--beating Counsell and incumbent Roger Hegeman. A considerable accomplishment, indeed!

Meanwhile, although the New Berlin School Board race was uncontested (3 seats, 3 candidates names on the ballot) many voters chose a different option than checking the name on the ballot. Of the 185 votes recorded in which the voter chose NOT to cast a vote for the name on the ballot for the School Board race-- most were write-ins. (According to the tally from the City Clerk, which was forwarded to me.
Wow. That's lots of write-ins.
My name was the one written in most often.
I’ve gotten congratulations for placing 4th in the race.
What a nice surprise.
I was not running for the office, I did not do a write-in campaign, nor did I ask people to vote for me.

Thank you. I feel very honored that a number of community residents chose to write my name on the ballot.

Linda Clifford was endorsed Sunday by The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Editorial Board, which contends that her opponent Annette Ziegler’s numerous conflicts of interest --undisclosed to the parties coming before her in Washington Co. Circuit Court, make her unsuited to be a justice on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court.
Retiring Justice Jon Wilcox has endorsed Ziegler. For information about the 1997 Wilcox campaign scandal (illegally coordinating with a supposedly “independent” organization) see my previous blog

If you thought New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government (NBCRG) is for ALL of you in New Berlin, think again. A New Berlin taxpayer e-mailed Ralph Heun’s blog, asking about joining his NBCRG group. Heun rebuffed her! And Heun called New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government "a private organization."

The outraged taxpayer recently forwarded her e-mail exchange with Heun to the mayor and to my Inside New Berlin e-address, conveying it was inappropriate for NBCRG, which she called a “private club” that supports candidates to masquerade as a “civic group” on the taxpayer- funded City web site.
New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government has been kicked off the City web site.

NBCRG is quite a political machine. Heun’s blog is a campaign tool for advertising the endorsements of his “private” NBCRG organization. NBCRG claims to support candidates "independently" and is considered (by campaign finance law) to be a "special interest" committee. Notice that Heun's blog has not disclosed who the NBCRG members are or even which ones interviewed the candidates NBCRG endorses. Heun hides it from you, yet wants you to trust his private, special interest NBCRG group's endorsements.

Be advised that several New Berlin Now bloggers have ties with NBCRG.
Ralph Heun is current NBCRG President. Herb Eggie is a former NBCRG President. Mary Hiebl is a former NBCRG Vice-President. Matt Thomas is endorsed by NBCRG.

Thomas has claimed that that he and Keith Heun (Ralph’s son) are political strategists who’ve helped elect local candidates.
Note also that Alderman Dave Ament’s wife Peg is actively involved with NBCRG.

Candidates endorsed by NBCRG include------

*Dave Ament and all three New Berlin School Board candidates. Duh, those are uncontested races but NBCRG is endorsing the candidates anyway.

*Don Counsell for 5th District alderman. Later, Counsell announced he was withdrawing from the race to spend more time with his family. Turns out he had recently been in a bar brawl, was Tazered twice and arrested, charged with disorderly conduct. NBCRG withdrew its endorsement.

*Roger Hegeman when he ran for 5th District alderman. NBCRG helped get him elected. Now that he’s running for re-election, NBCRG abandoned him and chose to support Counsell instead.

*Ron Seidl for 3rd District alderman. He has a multi-offense arrest/police record--including drunken driving, driving without license, court-ordered $1000 fine and a 2 month- House of Correction sentence. He lacks involvement in our community.

*Dave Ament for 7th District alderman. Ament voted to deny the rezoning request of the Greek Church--against the advice of the City Attorney. The Church sued. The Appeals Court sided with the Church. Ament’s poor judgment is partly responsible for that mess--- leading to unnecessary expense for our city and us taxpayers

*Matt Thomas for School Board. Although he spouts control spending rhetoric and calls himself a “fiscal conservative”, Thomas was unsuccessful at managing his budget and financial affairs. He petitioned for bankruptcy & was declared bankrupt 2 years ago.