Inside New Berlin

When launching New Berlin Now last year, the online editor requested that I (and presumably the other Community Voices bloggers) post items at least weekly. Because I take commitments seriously, value community participation/interaction, and communication, I’ve endeavored to do that.

When life gets hectic, composing/ posting a blog item can be difficult--but it’s not impossible. I’ve done it often and regularly---without lengthy gaps between blog entries.

Like many individuals, I've got numerous responsibilities and other interests besides blogging. Family matters consume much of my time.

For example, over the past six months alone-----
My husband and I celebrated the birth of our first grandchild and his baptism, my mother & mother-in-law’s 80th birthdays, my husband’s 60th birthday, his retirement, our eldest son’s graduation & achievements (couple of masters degrees from Baylor University in Texas), his August 11 wedding, and new home purchase. We had a houseful of out-of-town guests staying at our home the week of the wedding. I’ve also hosted a bridal shower, helped throw a surprise birthday party, and assisted with a baby shower. Babysitting our precious little grandson full time M-Fri (quite a challenge so far!) occupies much of my time and attention.
My husband and I have made several treks to hospitals because of my mom’s declining health, including hip fracture and subsequent operations, and one of our offspring’s middle- of- the night medical (diabetic) emergencies.
Speaking of trips---- during the last three months, we’ve traveled to Baltimore/Washington D.C. and gone out West to visit family members. In fact, I’m in Colorado right now helping our son and daughter-in-law with moving/unpacking. This blog was posted via my lap top computer.

Obviously, I’ve had much experience juggling multiple tasks and activities. Neither a crammed schedule or travel has kept me from posting my blogs.

If you are interested in doing a regular blog on New Berlin Now, take the plunge and sign up. Too busy to blog? Remember that old saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”? People tend to find time for what they value and want to do. Blogging is not hard and can be fun. Give it a try.

Idiots. Disgruntled. Discredited.
Washed up. Has-beens. Misguided followers.
Malicious. Spiteful. Liar.
Loser. Sicko.

That’s a sampling of repugnant terms some folks affiliated with or supported by New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government (NBCRG), have used to describe citizens in our community.

Ralph Heun is long-time member and current president of NBCRG.
During the 2005 District Annual Meeting in the Eisenhower auditorium, he stood up and loudly declared “The recall people are idiots.”
So, Heun used the Annual Meeting to malign and intimidate some actively-involved District residents/parents by publicly calling them a derogatory name.

Heun has used his blog for personal attacks, too. For example, he posted a letter from NBCRG Secretary Dolores Karner describing me as “malicious” and “spiteful”.

Additionally, Heun’s blog has referred to local current or former elected officials (unnamed) as discredited and/or disgruntled.
School Board VP Matt Thomas (who had been supported by NBCRG), used similar deprecatory words in his blog. Recently, he posted a letter from Ralph Heun's son Keith, that was rife with slurs against me--including a slew of insults

Is the Heun-Heun-Thomas clique excluding certain politicians and former politicians from those colorful but negative, disparaging descriptions?

Matt Thomas, for instance? When he served on the Waukesha County Board, Thomas was cited (discredited?) by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel as one of five County Board Supervisors having the worst meeting attendance records.
Thomas’ response was to whine (disgruntled?) about County Board Meetings being held during the daytime. Gee, you’d think he’d have known when the meetings were held before he ran for the office.

If the Heun/Heun/Thomas trio believes losing an election results in one becoming
"disgruntled", "discredited", "washed-up", a "has-been"---then does that make School Board member Jennifer Eitel, who ran for a seat on the County Board and lost, a “disgruntled, discredited politician” ?

Or Keith Heun, who served a term on the New Berlin School Board in the 1990’s--including as its president-- but lost the School Board election the next time he ran for the office in 2002?

Former mayor Ted Wysocki lost when he ran for re-election. NBCRG had supported him. So, should NBCRG members be deemed “disgruntled” or “misguided followers”?

I disagreed with several things Wysocki did, but unlike Keith Heun, I’d never call any of our local former elected officials (including Wysocki)-- a washed up has-been.

Evidently, Keith Heun, the President of the New Berlin School Board--who was supported by NBCRG, has no such scruples. He rants and calls a taxpaying constituent disparaging names. For a School Board leader/public servant, he’s displayed an amazing lack of self-control.

Previously, I referred to a Waukesha Freeman news article, which reported a New Berlin citizen/former official being subjected to insults/name-calling by Alderman Dave Ament, as well as emails from Ament’s wife containing “URALOSER”, “Sicko” and other offensive remarks.

The Aments also have ties to NBCRG. Alderman Ament was supported by NBCRG. Peggy Ament is a NBCRG member/financial contributor.

The Aments, Keith and Ralph Heun, Thomas and Eitel have made personal attacks against community residents. It begs the question: Did they make those attacks out of disgruntlement, as an intimidation tactic, or because they consider such antics acceptable when made against those they disagree with?

The next Common Council Meeting is scheduled for August 28. (agenda pending)

There is a Special Committee of the Whole Meeting tonight.
Here’s the agenda/public notice of that meeting:

AGENDA
CITY OF NEW BERLIN
SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
7:00 PM

NEW BERLIN CITY HALL
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
3805 SOUTH CASPER DRIVE

Call Meeting To Order
Roll Call; Declaration Of Quorum; Public Notice
Discussion and possible action on the City’s 2008 Budget
Adjourn

PLEASE NOTE:
It is possible that action will be taken on any of the items on the agenda and the agenda may be discussed in
any order. Also Note: It is possible that members of and possibly a quorum of other governmental bodies of
the municipalities may be in attendance at the above-stated meeting to gather information; no action will be taken by any governmental body at the above-stated meeting other than the governmental body specifically referred to above in this notice.
Upon reasonable notice, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals through appropriate aids and services. For additional information or to request this service, contact the Office of the City Clerk at New Berlin City Hall, (262) 786-8610.

On August 16, my husband and I took a short drive to hear the Doo-Wop Daddies, who were featured at Wisconsin Lutheran College (on the campus courtyard between Bluemound Rd. and Wisconsin Ave at 89th St.). The performance by the Doo-Wop Daddies wrapped up the free Summer Arts in the Park concert series held at the college.
People brought lawn chairs or blankets. Refreshments were available.
Of the Doo-wop style music and oldies tunes performed that night, my favorites were In the Still of the Night and The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

On August 18, we drove to Jefferson, Wisconsin for: 1964 The Tribute.
Advertised as the #1 Beatles Show in the World, the band played one Beatles hit after another. It was an interactive experience, with the audience participating by clapping and singing along--and several audience members got up and danced, too. The band was so good, it got a standing ovation.
This entertaining and fun concert was held in the Performing Arts Center at Jefferson High School. It was not a free concert, but the tickets were reasonably priced. The concert was hosted by Jefferson Council for the Performing Arts.

Corporate sponsors and volunteers helped make these events possible.
Both concerts were held on school campuses.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the new taxpayer-funded Performing Arts Center at New Berlin West School were utilized for such diverse and enjoyable community concerts?

A New Berlin Eisenhower parent sent a July 5 e-mail to the School Board complaining about money being spent on West’s renovations/ additions while students & faculty were still being exposed to mold problems at Eisenhower.

West’s spiffy renovations/additions include a cavernous, immense auditorium and an extravagant Field House sports facility.

Keith Heun (School Board President, New Berlin Public Schools) initially fired back an outlandish e-mail reply (a public record) on July 6 stating----

“School district money belongs to the taxpayers, not individual schools. I disagree with your assessment of the situation. The renovations at West were needed and long overdue. The severe mold and asbestos problems that you claim at EHS are simply not true. I believe these rumors are made up by people who have a bad case of jealousy about the renovations at West and will spread any misinformation they can to try to get even more and bigger renovations at EHS. My advice would be to stop believing it, stop spreading it, and confirm anything sensational that you hear with the district office.”

Guess what? Two weeks later at the July 23 School Board Meeting, District Superintendent Paul Kreutzer disclosed publicly that mold had been positively identified at Eisenhower! (The District had hired a company called EMC to conduct a scan for mold in the lower level of the school.)
Kreutzer stressed that administration was exercising its authority to deal with the school's mold problem--and that it was considered a priority.
He reported on the District’s “significant abatement project” underway--about a $142,000 expenditure--to abate the mold in every lower level classroom and hallway at Eisenhower.
And he said the District was contracting with EMC to look at the rest of the Eisenhower building, as well.
According to Kreutzer, the Eisenhower mold abatement project will stretch this year’s facility budget for maintenance to the maximum (and he hoped it wouldn’t exceed it).

When Buildings and Grounds Director Bob Pulliam was summoned to comment, he praised the aggressive mold abatement effort at Eisenhower. He indicated they had run into problems, however. Some pipes broke while being cleaned--resulting in chemicals and water going onto the floor. Pulliam said that was due to old pipes and bad valves.

Kudos to Dr. Kreutzer and Bob Pulliam for acknowledging publicly that Eisenhower has mold and taking steps to eradicate it. Isn’t that a better approach than ignoring problems or trying to sweep them under the rug?!!!!
It’s heartening that Dr. Kreutzer is striving to make Eisenhower a more healthy environment for its students, faculty and visitors. That’s caring, responsible leadership.
By the way, I am a registered nurse (retired) who has asthma and allergies to mold. Mold literally makes me sick.

Heun chooses to send his own kids to private schools rather than NBPS. Nevertheless, as Board leader of New Berlin Public Schools, he should genuinely care about the well-being of every NBPS student. He shouldn't be clueless or in denial of significant problems at a District school. Certainly, concerns raised by Eisenhower parents should be treated seriously and respectfully, not condescendingly or dismissively. Nor should those parental concerns be belittled, trivialized or arrogantly brushed off.

At minimum, Keith Heun exercised hasty, bad judgment when he sent that offensive e-mail containing false/misleading information and incredibly biased, mean-spirited, and preposterous assumptions/statements about people’s motives.

Perhaps Heun should take his own advice and confirm anything sensational with the school district office first --and get his facts straight, of course ---rather than believe or spread malicious misinformation himself.

According to last week’s (July 31) Waukesha Freeman, Alderman Dave Ament made some derogatory remarks about New Berlin resident Paul Gallagher.
“He didn’t have the guts to come to this meeting,” Ament said. “To face me and look me in the eye. He’s a wimp.”

Such presumptuous, derisive, and outrageous remarks from Ament, a government official!
So, that’s how this alderman deals with criticism. He retaliates with insults and name-calling!
He’s referring to the Ethics Meeting, which was held on Monday, July 30 at 2 pm.
Well, attending a Monday afternoon meeting might not have been hard for Ament, who owns his own business--but not everyone has a lot of flexibility with their job/ work schedule.

Indeed, the Freeman states:
“Gallagher said he could not attend the meeting because of work commitments. He said he was not surprised by the board’s decision.”

“I expected them to allow him to legally vote,” Gallagher said. “But there’s a difference between whether it was legal and whether he should have voted. He was very biased, too biased, and he should have recused himself.”

The Freeman article also includes this revelation:
“Gallagher, who has dedicated several posts on his personal Web site, www.newberlinlive.com, to Ament, made a post Sunday listing two e-mails he received from Peggy Ament. One reads “URALOSER” in the subject line with “1-800-LOSER” in the text. The second e-mail reads “SICKO” in the subject line and “1-800-getalife” in the text. Ament said he had not seen the e-mails before his wife sent them to Gallagher but he was glad Gallagher posted them. “That was her letting him know what she thought in a nice way,” Ament said.”

Nice? Alderman Ament considers that a “nice” way to communicate to a fellow citizen?!!!!
Good grief!

Only approximately 50 people, including school board members and some NBPS employees, attended the July 23 School District Annual Meeting.

Although any voter residing in the District could make a motion at that meeting, our control-happy school board officials quickly jumped in making motions. So eager and determined to push their own agenda! Indeed, they made ALL of the motions except the one on board salaries and they seconded many (See below).

The Annual Meeting began with Board President Keith Heun presiding as temporary chairman. He introduced the school board members and other persons seated at the table to the audience.

District Business Manager Anthony Goedheer presented the proposed 2007-08 budget/ tax levy.

Board members (except Heun) exited the stage.

Then came the motions------

1. Motion to nominate Matt Thomas (Board member) to chair the meeting---was swiftly made by Jennifer Eitel (Board member) , seconded by Susan Manley (Board member).

2. Motion to close nominations---also made by Jennifer Eitel (Board member), seconded by Susan Manley (Board member)

3. Resolution expressing appreciation to retirees for years of service---motion made by Art Marquardt (Board member) , seconded by Jennifer Eitel (Board member).

4. Motion to freeze board salaries at $3000 annually and increase Board President’s salary from $3500 to $4000---made by Angie Seidl, seconded by Jennifer Eitel (Board member).
* This substantial $500 raise for the Board President was proposed by Angie Seidl, whose husband Ron was elected alderman in April with aid from New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government, which is led by Ralph Heun (father of School Board President Keith Heun).
NBCRG is a registered political group that endorses certain candidates, raises & spends money to help get them elected to local offices.
NBCRG is also defined by law as a special interest group.
Every one of our current NB school board members was supported by NBCRG.

5. Sale of Prospect Hill property (under terms & conditions acceptable to the Board of Education)---motion made by Keith Heun (Board member) , seconded by Susan Manley (Board member).

6. Motion to dispense with reading of the Financial Report---made by Art Marquardt (Board member) , seconded by Robert Duchane.(* unsure if that is the correct spelling)

7. Motion to accept the Financial Report (as presented)---made by Keith Heun (Board member) , seconded by Jennifer Eitel (Board member)

8. Motion to adopt the tax levy for 2007-08 school year---made by Keith Heun (Board member), seconded by John Kegel (Board member) .

9. Motion to set next Annual Meeting for July 28 at 7:30 pm in the NB West Performing Arts Center (However, after discussion with legal counsel, the motion was amended to delete the location (NB West) from the motion)---made by Jennifer Eitel (Board member) , seconded by John Kegel (Board member).