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Inside New Berlin
April 2008 - Posts
By Linda Richter
Wednesday, Apr 30 2008, 09:57 AM
At Monday’s New Berlin School Board Meeting at City Hall, Board President Keith Heun rose, faced the flag, and asked people to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, which he proceeded to recite with the words, “Our Father…”
Heun’s gaffe had folks in the room chuckling and guffawing.
Perhaps if Heun was more observant and attentive to the task at hand and his official duties, he wouldn’t have confused the flag with God or the Pledge of Allegiance with the Lord’s Prayer. What planet was he on anyway to make such an incredible boo-boo and for it to take the public’s outburst of laughter to remind him he was presiding at a government meeting at City Hall, not a church service?
Hilarious as the incident was, it was not the only wacky and odd event of the meeting.
Art Marquardt, who was re-elected April 1, did not attend Monday’s board meeting in person. Attending instead by teleconference, he was sworn in to public office via the phone. Watching the important oath of public office, including the oath to support the Constitution and State Constitution, administered to him via the phone, was a weird sight to behold.
Furthermore, board members voted for their board officers at Monday’s board meeting by secret ballot. How was attending-by-phone Marquardt supposed to do that? Not surprisingly, he didn’t--Marquardt announced he was refraining from voting for the officers.
Obviously, attending by teleconference is a poor substitute for being physically present. Not only did Marquardt not participate in the selection of the board officers, he could not observe any visual presentations at the meeting--including the numerous recognitions and awards given to New Berlin Public School students that evening.
(By the way, Keith Heun and Art Marquardt had been endorsed and supported by New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government.)
Oh, and if you haven’t heard, the new School Board officers are: Matt Thomas--President, John Kegel--Vice-President, Keith Heun--Clerk, Joan Doberstein--Treasurer. Marquardt was appointed CESA I Annual Convention Delegate. Dave Maxey was appointed liaison to the New Berlin City Council.
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By Linda Richter
Monday, Apr 28 2008, 09:55 AM
April is Autism Awareness Month
I’ve purchased stuff from Toys “R” Us for my infant grandson and am on their emailing list. A recent email from Toys “R” Us communicates that for the second consecutive year, Toys “R” Us and the Toys “R” Us Children’s Fund have partnered with Autism Speaks to raise funds and awareness to fight autism. To learn more about it click on this link.
The Toys “R” Us email also conveys that there are nearly l.5 million cases of autism in the United States, with one in 150 children diagnosed each year--and autism currently affects more children than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined.
Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization, provides a lot of information on its Web site http://www.autismspeaks.org/
Autism Speaks describes autism as a complex neurobiological disorder---part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders. Autism impairs a person’s ability to communicate and relate to others. Autism is also associated with repetitive behaviors and rigid routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to severe.
According to the Autism Speaks Web site, research indicates that early intervention in an appropriate educational setting for at least two years during the preschool years can result in significant improvements for many young children with autism spectrum disorder. As soon as autism is diagnosed, early intervention instruction should begin. Effective programs focus on developing communication, social, and cognitive skills.
Given that such early intervention therapy is considered so critical, parental frustration with reluctant insurers, waiting lists, and governmental (legislative) delays or inaction, is understandable. See March 16, 2008 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel news report “Autism care outlasts bill”.
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By Linda Richter
Saturday, Apr 26 2008, 01:44 AM
Now that I'm back from my Florida trip, in my spare time I've been trying to catch up on the local news. One news item stood out from the rest --the announcement of an agreement on the Great Lakes compact.
That announcement was a momentous event because of its importance and impact on New Berlin residents and so many others--- and because it was right here in New Berlin (City Hall) that Gov. Doyle, some mayors and legislators, business and environmental leaders had gathered to make the announcement.
I was pleased to see the news coverage of it.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MyCommunity NOW had news articles, pictures.
New BerlinNOW blogger Audrey Juds (Then Again) did a fine piece titled Great Lakes Water.
In his FranklinNOW blog (Today’s Concerns), Greg Kowalski shared his thoughts about the compact and announcement.
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By Linda Richter
Wednesday, Apr 16 2008, 10:45 AM
An e-postcard to you.....
Greetings from outside New Berlin. I've been in Florida since Sunday, April 6, visiting some family members and taking a break from regular routine and blogging. I'm hoping the sunshine and warmer weather here will facilitate recovery from the influenza, health problems and complications I've been struggling with during these last two months. The Sunshine State is a great vacation and recreation spot. A fun place to visit. However, there's no place like home.
Linda
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By Linda Richter
Sunday, Apr 6 2008, 01:18 PM
In the New Berlin Aldermanic April 1 races:
District 2--- Ted Wsyocki, who had no opponent in the race, was elected.
District 4--- Ald. Ken Harenda was re-elected. He actively campaigned. Paul Lincoln Scheuble (his opponent) ran simultaneously for three positions (alderman, school board, county board) and later acknowledged that he had not actively campaigned.
District 6---Ald. Bill Moore was re-elected.
Moore won despite the following:
- The active campaign conducted by his opponent JJ Blonien
- New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government’s endorsement/support of Bill’s opponent JJ Blonien
- The falsehoods/distortions of Moore’s record in public office by Vern Bentley in a letter published in a newspaper
- The distortions and misrepresentation of facts re: Moore by NBCRG/Ralph Heun in its New Berlin NOW blog.
- Anonymous “message” signs displayed near candidate campaign signs in Moore’s District
- Slimy anonymous fliers attacking Moore that were dispersed in Moore’s District shortly before the election. Whoever authorized and paid for those was too cowardly to identify themselves.
Moore was endorsed and supported by Ray McInerny, Sr.’s group We Care-NEW BERLIN. According to Community NOW, Blonien attributed his defeat by Moore to apathy in District 6 and difficulty beating an incumbent.
Re: apathy According to the City Clerk’s report of the election there were 28,206 registered voters, the number of voters was 6761, and voter turnout was 23.9%.
That report indicates that 755 votes were cast in District 2 for Wysocki (the sole aldermanic candidate on the ballot); if you add up the votes of incumbent and challenger in each of the contested aldermanic races, there were 970 total votes cast for an alderman in District 4 and 1211 in District 6. In other words, more votes were cast for alderman in District 6 than in Districts 2 and 4.
Re: difficulty beating an incumbent:
In the County Board race, Bill Zaborowski defeated incumbent County Board Supervisor (District 21) Karl Nilson. Nilson had been endorsed by the political action group New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government.
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By Linda Richter
Tuesday, Apr 1 2008, 09:34 PM
New Berlin Citizens for Responsible Government (NBCRG) President Ralph Heun spouted lots of nonsense in the NBCRG March 7 blog entry. See my previous blog entry titled NBCRG Spin and Blunders.
In that March 7 NBCRG blog post, Ralph Heun complained that citizens and civic groups cannot use City Hall. He bemoaned the “short-sighted policy that has kept election forums, Christmas and July 4 parades and other events from being televised”--and he blamed Alderman Bill Moore for it. He accused Ald. Moore of being a prime instigator in passing an ordinance two years ago that prohibited any non-city group from using City Hall/or City Channel 25 for any purposes. What a distortion of facts! Actually, in 2006 Ald. Moore argued against and voted against the restrictive policy/resolution No. 06-11. Furthermore, Ald. Ken Harenda---whom NBCRG has chosen to endorse not only voted in favor of this awful policy/resolution that Heun has complained so bitterly about, he made the motion to approve it.
Let’s get something else straight: Ald. Dave Ament called the Feb. 16 meeting at City Hall, but it was for area residents--not only his own District #7 constituents. The meeting dealt with Coffee Road changes, as well as sidewalks, side paths or bike trails in various areas of the City. Heun’s statement that Ald. Poshepny (District #5) was not shouted down is untrue. When Ald. Poshepny attempted to speak, some members of the audience rudely yelled out. I witnessed that. Heun admits that Ald. Ament asked Ald. Poshepny not to speak. And yet, others at the meeting were allowed to speak.
Perhaps if NBCRG President Ralph Heun had not stood beside Ald. Ament at the front of the room, facing and addressing the audience, for part of the meeting --which did occur-- it would not have appeared so much like a NBCRG meeting or political rally. Interesting that Ralph Heun, the president of a political action group, was allowed to do that and grandstand, but the 5th District alderman who tried to speak during the meeting was silenced and not permitted to speak! A so-called “informational meeting”-- that prevents someone--an elected official-- from asking questions or providing information? Does that serve the public's best interests? Well, the format gave Heun the opportunity to spew negative comments about the Transportation Committee, sidewalks, etc.
If it was just an “informational meeting” as Heun contends, why was there a stack of inflammatory “Just Say No” fliers opposed to sidewalks (and referring to a petition) prominently displayed on a table inside the meeting room ( by the entry), a petition for people to sign--as well as two individuals seated at the table, apparently to assist them?
And why wasn't a City traffic engineer invited to the meeting? Kudos to him for coming to the meeting anyway (it was held on a Saturday) to answer people’s questions. Ald. Ament introduced the City traffic engineer, but acknowledged during the meeting that he hadn’t invited him.
Heun also maintained in the NBCRG blog entry that Ray McInerny, Sr. is president of a small group that apparently is not active as they claim to be exempt from state law requiring that expenditures over $25 must be reported to the City Clerk. What a bogus accusation!
Ray’s group formed late last year. It’s an active group whose membership is growing. Heun misrepresented the facts: State law requires that a group that is supporting or opposing candidates (political action group) be registered with the City Clerk before making expenditures over $25. Ray’s group registered in October -- before it even knew who would be running for office in April (candidates had until Jan. 2 to file to get their name on the ballot) and is in compliance with that law. As for filing an exemption: Political action groups and candidates are eligible for exemption from filing campaign finance reports if they don’t anticipate accepting contributions or making disbursements totaling more than $1000 in a calendar year and don’t accept more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year. Local candidates typically claim exemption status. New Berlin candidates for local public office (including those endorsed by NBCRG) often claim exemption from filing . Independent committees have to file itemized campaign finance reports. In 2008, when Ray’s group decided to support a specific candidate--it filed as an “independent committee” and filed the appropriate reports by the reporting deadline as the law requires.
Ironically, Ralph Heun stated, “ If Mr. McInerny does not know the facts, He should not make the complaints”. Mr. Heun should follow his own advice.
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