Eligible citizens deserve to have their votes counted. A rule the state Attorney General wants to impose would disenfranchise voters and cause election chaos, says the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin  states, “Attorney General Van Hollen is seeking to overturn a recent decision of the Government Accountability Board and change election procedures--just before a Presidential Election. He wishes to impose an emergency rule dealing with matching the statewide voter registration list with the Department of Transportation database. Federal law (HAVA) requires that this matching be done. Matching is already being done in Wisconsin. What HAVA does not require is that people with non-matching data be disqualified from casting a regular ballot on Election Day. The Attorney General’s proposal would result in persons with non-matched data to clear up the “nonmatch” or re-register at the polls or use provisional ballots on Election Day…”

“All kinds of simple inconsistencies (e.g. La Follette in one data base and LaFollette in the other) and clerical errors (e.g. Mary K. Jones in one data base and Mayr K. Jones in another) can result in a non-match. Other examples include problems with hyphenated names, names with two words (e.g. MaryKay vs. Mary Kay); first or middle initials (present in one data base only); first names that look like last names and vice versa.”

The lawsuit has come under fire from others, as well.

Wisconsin Election Protection, a coalition formed to ensure that all voters have an equal opportunity to participate in the political process, has voiced objections to purging voters from the registration rolls whose names do not make a "complete match" to the voter's ID information and other government databases.

Mike McCabe of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a non-partisan political watchdog group that works for clean government, criticizes the lawsuit.  

“This lawsuit smells of political mischief,” observes a recent Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorial.

Van Hollen claims that the lawsuit was not motivated by partisan ties and he knew of no ties between his agency and the Republican Party on the issue. But not only is Van Hollen co-chair of GOP nominee John McCain’s presidential campaign, the JS informed us that GOP lawyer Chris Mohrman pressed the Government Accountability Board to enact a rule on checking voter information--and when it refused in August--Mohrman complained to the Department of Justice. The newspaper also reported that the lead Dept. of Justice attorney for the Attorney General’s lawsuit met with Republican Party representatives about a week before the suit was filed.

Well, one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to conclude that Van Hollen was deceitful or clueless about what’s happening within his own Department and the state Republican Party.

The Capital Times  argues that the Attorney General's vote lawsuit threatens to undermine democracy.

Milwaukee Magazine has an interesting article about the suit and provides some background. It also includes a reference to an Associated Press story, which reported that ten voters complained to the Government Accountability Board that the McCain campaign sent Democrats the wrong ballot mailing information (poll location). State Republican Party Executive Director Mark Jefferson denied this was part of any voter suppression effort. He dismissed it as a mistake in the voter data the party had and noted that "no list is perfect."

Milwaukee Magazine suggests Jefferson might want to pass that thought on to the attorney general.

Perhaps the New Berlin School Board should send a thank you note to Governor Jim Doyle and the state representatives responsible for the district getting more state aid.

In June, the School Board approved a $52.67 million General Fund budget for 2008-09 with a projected tax levy increase.  Indeed, NOW reported: “Budget comes with 4.5 percent tax levy hike, Average homeowner would pay $115 more to operate schools”.

The budget ($52,675,656) & tax levy ($45,301,529) figures were cited in the public notice (July 24 NOW newspaper) of the July 28 District Annual Meeting. However, at the Annual Meeting the electorate was asked to approve a different, lesser tax levy (and tax levy increase) because of an unexpected $3 million state aid “windfall”.

Unexpected? Well, the district's assumption that property valuation would rise by at least 4% was wrong. Additionally, when Dr. Kreutzer’s administration calculated the budget & tax levy-- and presented its recommendations in June, they didn't have some significant data from the state.   

According to Ross Mac Pherson, the district’s financial services director,  NBPS gets more state aid because ( as reported by NOW )----

• the district benefits from a state aid formula that includes a less than expected increase in equalized property valuation (less than 4%).
• the district drew down its fund balance by $2.9 million last year to fund some building projects
• Gov. Jim Doyle’s insistence that K-12 school aid would be an exception to his zero growth state budget for 2009-10.

It should be noted, though, that state aid is not finalized until October, so things could change.

As for district spending: The proposed 2008-09 $52.67 million Gen. Fund budget approved by the school board is higher than the $51.97 million 2007-08 budget.

Recently, the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters published a Conservation Scorecard of our state legislators’ votes on key conservation issues during the 2007-08 legislative session. Mary Lazich got a dismal score-- the lowest score of the Wisconsin State Senators.

Contending that a Scorecard score sometimes “doesn’t do enough to illustrate just how far some legislators will go to jeopardize Wisconsin’s natural resources” and that some legislators are “grossly out-of-line with the conservation values of their constituents”, the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters added a “Conservation Dishonor Roll”. Four legislators’ names (including Mary Lazich’s) are on that “Dishonor” list. Senator Lazich and Representative Sheryl Albers got their “Dishonor” mention for ignoring the overwhelming public and bi-partisan support of the Great Lakes Compact and being the only legislators to oppose its passage.

( Check out what James Rowen's The Political Environment blog, July 16 entry  says about Sen. Lazich's actions, too )  

It's not the first time that Sen. Lazich’s (R-New Berlin) performance earned a citizen group's disapproval.       

The CRG Network (an outgrowth of Citizens for Responsible Government PAC), which touts holding politicians accountable, has accused Sen. Lazich of dishonesty. Their Web site states, “ Lazich lied to constituents when asked whether she voted for the pro-taxpayer majority leader. CRG Network did an investigational poll that revealed at least one senator lied about their vote and Lazich was forced to confess to her lie when CRG pushed for a re-vote. She subsequently resigned the leadership post she was promised in return for her vote under continued CRG Network pressure.”  See my July 10 blog post.

My June 20 blog entry reported that Sen. Lazich’s name is on the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s list of “Public Enemies”. The WDC is a non-partisan political watchdog group that tracks money in Wisconsin politics and supports clean government and pro-democracy reform. 

  

No, this is not about the Johnny Depp “Public Enemies” movie that's been filmed in Wisconsin recently. 

It is about legislator rankings.    

Did you know that Sen. Mary Lazich was on the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s “Public Enemies” list?

What is the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC)?

According to information on its Web site,  Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is “a nonpartisan political watchdog group working for clean government and real democracy. To carry out this mission, WDC tracks the money in Wisconsin politics and works for campaign finance reform, media reform and other pro-democracy reforms.” It's also described as “ a homegrown network of citizens fighting government corruption and working for fair elections, judicial integrity, media democracy, and open and transparent government.” 

The Web site informs us that “WDC was founded in 1995 as a non-profit, independent coalition of individuals and groups responding to the growing dominance of special interest money in the campaigns of state lawmakers.”

Why is Sen. Lazich (R- New Berlin) on their “Public Enemies” list?

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign ranked members of our current Legislature by their support for democracy reform (measured by analyzing four roll call votes in the Senate and four in the Assembly. Whether the legislators sponsored any of six reform proposals was also considered.) The WDC posted their report April 29, 2008.

The legislators were ranked by score and divided into 4 categories:

• Democracy Defenders – 6 to 7 points (nine legislators). Consistently voted for reform and regularly sponsored and worked for passage of reform initiatives.
• Public Allies – 4.5 to 5.5 points (45 legislators). Supported most but not all reform proposals.
• Bystanders – 2.5 to 4 points (22 legislators). Supported some reform measures but did not actively push for changes limiting special interest influence and cleaning up state politics.
• Public Enemies – 0 to 2 points (54 legislators). Regularly stood with the special interests and worked to defeat reforms that would restore power to the general public.

Click here to view our state legislators rankings on reform by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

MADD’s mission is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of violent crime, and prevent underage drinking.

A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article mentions MADD and reports:  

Jennifer Bukosky, her unborn child, and 10-year old daughter Courtney Bella , were killed when a sport utility vehicle slammed into the rear of their car. Authorities say the driver of that SUV was under the influence of pills. According to court records, he has a history of drug and alcohol abuse dating back to at least 1993. Two days before the fatal crash, he’d been convicted of his third driving while intoxicated (DUI) offense and his license had been revoked.

Wisconsin officials have reacted to this tragic event by urging tougher penalties for repeat offenders. Gov. Doyle (a former attorney general) says a third DUI offense should be made a felony. MADD ( Milwaukee chapter) supports that change. MADD also advocates criminalizing a first offense. Some state legislators plan to draft bills and/or are advocating revocation of driving privileges and confiscation of vehicles for people convicted of a third DUI.

According to MADD’s Web site:

MADD was founded in 1980 by Candy Lightner following the death of her 13 year old daughter Cari. When walking to a school carnival, Cari was struck from behind by a drunk driver who had 3 prior DUI convictions and was out on bail from a hit and run arrest 2 days earlier.

In 1984, MADD changed its name from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD is made up of men, women and young people.

Some sobering statistics can be found on the MADD Web site, including:

• 3 in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol -related crash at some time in their lives.
• In 2006, an estimated 17,602 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes. Of these, an estimated 13,470 involved a driver with an illegal blood alcohol content (.08 or more)
• On average, someone is killed by a drunk driver every 30 minutes.
• Alcohol-related crashes in the US cost the public an estimated $114.3 billion in 2000----including $51.1 billion in monetary costs and an estimated $63.2 billion in quality of life losses. People other than the drinking driver paid $71.6 billion of the alcohol-related crash bill, which is 63% of the total cost of these crashes.

On March 6, the Senate passed the Great Lakes Compact.

The vote was 26-6.  Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) was among the handful who voted no.

The Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters site reports on the Bill and the Senate action.

Check out these other sources of information:

• Greg Kowalski’s FranklinNOW blog “Today’s Concerns” has data and commentary on the subject.  By the way, Greg is a member of Franklin’s Environmental Commission.
• The March issue of Milwaukee Magazine contains a comprehensive and interesting article titled “The Politics of Water”.
• Jsonline (Journal Sentinel) reported poll results indicating widespread public support in Wisconsin for the Great Lakes Compact.
• ExpressMilwaukee.com (Shepherd Express) has also published information about the Compact, including this  February 20 article.

State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), who holds a partisan political office, has a regular blog on NOW called “Conservatively Speaking”.

The Feb. 8 “Conservatively Speaking” blog post (written by Sen. Lazich? Kevin Fischer ? Someone else ?) refers to a recent report by the “non-partisan” Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

Click on this 2003 blog article for a different perspective.  

“Conservatively Speaking” is a blog that carries Mary Lazich’s name and picture. It’s regularly displayed on NOW sites in New Berlin and elsewhere in her senate district. The blog does not credit Kevin Fischer or mention his contribution.

But is “Conservatively Speaking” actually Mary Lazich’s words or her aide Kevin Fischer’s?

Cindy Kilkenny’s Open Records Request of Sen. Lazich may shed light on this matter.  She has requested information about Fischer’s duties, salary, length of employment, and his use of state time/computer for blogging.

Ms. Kilkenny states, “Lazich told me that Fischer writes a lot of the stuff on her blog.”  For that quote and more, click on Cindy Kilkenny's Fairly Conservative site and blog entries: “The trouble with Kevin Fischer", "Update: L’affaire de Fischer", and "Unfinished Business".

On Pundit Nation, Michael J. Mathias reports that Fischer conceded in an email that he “assists” Sen. Lazich with her blogs. When asked to quantify that “assistance” and answer some questions about it, Fischer declined.

Mathias writes, “ The real question is what community interest the editorial staff of Franklin NOW believes is being fulfilled by having blogs by both Fischer and Lazich, and whether it’s appropriate to routinely publish articles under Lazich’s name that are actually written by Fischer.”  

Kevin Fischer's deplorable comments/actions have previously been mentioned on some blogs.  I referred to Sen. Lazich’s silence about her aide's conduct in my Inside New Berlin blog entries “Sen. Lazich’s aide’s remarks should be retracted” and “Disappointed in Sen. Lazich and staff."

Speaking as one of Sen. Lazich’s constituents, I’d rather read what she--the elected official-- has to say on her NOW blog (even if she’s too busy to do a blog post more than once a month), than numerous blog posts ghost-written by her staffer Kevin Fischer.

The New Berlin-Muskego NOW newspaper, Jan. 3 edition, had a wonderful article about our son Jason’s wedding. Within a week, my husband and I received a “SAW YOU IN THE NEWS!” card in the mail. A handwritten message from Rep. Mark Gundrum’s Office was inside, conveying congratulations to us and expressing best wishes to Jason and Christine. Also enclosed was a typed note, which referred to Rep. Gundrum’s deployment to Iraq and advised, “ Please feel free to contact us in his absence, and we will be happy to assist you in any way we can.”

Wasn’t that attentive of Rep. Gundrum’s staff?!!!  It was a nice gesture that sends a positive message to constituents and community. That's an example of good public relations. Mark Gundrum should be proud of his staff members.

Contrast that with the negativity, name-calling, snide remarks, belittling, insults and other personal attacks heaped on the public from Sen. Mary Lazich’s staffer Kevin Fischer.

My Jan 5 blog asked, “Where is Sen. Lazich’s public rebuke of Fischer’s antics and her insistence he retract his words and apologize?”. I pointed out that in her Jan. 4 “Conservatively Speaking” blog entry, Sen. Lazich called Assembly Minority Leader James Kreuser’s words deplorable and said they should be retracted.

In the 18 days since I posted that blog, Sen. Lazich has posted 21 blog articles on assorted topics, such as touting her appearance on the Weather Channel. Were any of her blog topics on Fischer’s deplorable words? Nope.

Fischer's “This Just In” FranklinNOW blog states he is legislative aide to Sen. Lazich. This past weekend, Fischer arrogantly defied NOW’s rules by posting a bunch of comments to his blog that contained vulgar expressions, obscenities, jeers or other slimy personal attacks against FranklinNOW blogger Greg Kowalski (a 21 year old college student) and former BrookfieldNOW blogger Cindy Kilkenny. Those uncivil, repugnant attacks were made by Fischer and his pals Bryan Maersch, Fred Keller and Janet Evans.

Given that Sen. Lazich was quick to criticize an Assembly leader’s words, her failure to take a public stand on her own aide’s deplorable, malicious remarks is disappointing and troubling. It raises some questions.

Are we to conclude? ----

Sen. Lazich condones or has been willing to overlook her staff member’s habit of resorting to nasty name-calling, belittling, gibes, and other personal attacks against individuals, including her constituents?

Sen. Lazich has a double standard? Offensive words aren’t “deplorable” when publicly communicated by her “conservative” Republican associates in state government positions?

She considers a staffer, who often verbally abuses others publicly, an asset to her office?

She feels Wisconsin residents in her district and elsewhere, who have been viciously maligned by her legislative aide, aren’t important & don’t deserve an apology?

While Senator Mary Lazich’s Jan. 4 blog calls Assembly Minority Leader James Kreuser’s words deplorable and says they should be retracted, she’s turned a blind eye to the deplorable words of her own legislative aide Kevin Fischer. Where’s Sen. Lazich’s public rebuke of Fischer’s antics and her insistence he retract his words and apologize?

Kevin Fischer, Sen. Lazich, and Greg Kowalski are regular bloggers on FranklinNOW.  Kowalski, a college student who just turned 21, is an appointed member of Franklin’s Environmental Commission. Kowalski’s blog is titled Today’s Concerns.
Although Fischer has refused to let Kowalski post comments on Fischer’s blog, he floods Kowalski’s with numerous caustic comments, many of which are insults directed at Kowalski and his blog’s readers.

For example: Click on Kowalski’s Jan 3 blog entry titled Some commenting issues and you’ll find that Fischer posted comments on it 38 times, starting from 8:51 pm and ending at 1:12 am. THIRTY-EIGHT!  Fischer’s 4- hour marathon of submitting mean-spirited, insolent remarks included calling Kowalski “Pillsbury Doughboy”, “Cheesecake Boy”, “cheesecake-breath”, “cry-baby”, and various other personal attacks. Far from being a wit, Fischer comes across as an immature, sarcastic bully picking on a college kid.

Fischer also taunted Kowalski with this gem: “You don’t pay Greg. You don’t even work full time. You have no clue what the real world is like. You are….what is the word….oh yes IRRELEVANT”

All of you high school & college students and other individuals not working full-time, should take note.  Senator Lazich's legislative aide apparently considers you irrelevant!!!!

Fischer also snidely referred to some of Kowalski‘s blog readers as “numbskull”, “butt-kisser”, “naïve”, “idiot”, “mommy”, “wussy”, etc. 

It’s disconcerting that someone employed as a state senator’s aide (funded by us taxpayers) resorts to such foul and unecessary name-calling.

I’m amazed at Sen. Lazich’s silence and inaction regarding Fischer’s deplorable remarks. The senator's legislative aide is mocking and insulting her constituents! Why does she tolerate it?

Sen. Lazich contact information---  email: Sen.Lazich@legis.wisconsin.gov.
Madison Office address: Room 109 South, State Capitol, P.O. Box 7782 Madison, WI  53707-7882 
Phone # (608) 266-5400 or (800) 334-1442  District Office # (414) 425-9452                                      (voting) address: 4405 S. 129^th St. New Berlin,WI 53151  

Staffer Kevin Fischer can be contacted by email at KevinFischer@legis.wisconsin.gov

According to Saturday's Journal Sentinel front page article:
“Like regular state employees, elected officials can tap their account of unused sick leave to pay for health care in retirement. But sick leave for elected officials is not monitored as closely as it is for rank-and-file employees, and they do not lose pay if they don’t show up for work.
A Journal Sentinel investigation found that lawmakers, judges, district attorneys and other officials rarely take sick leave, allowing them to build up bigger retirement perks.”

Ah, bigger retirement perks?!!!

The newspaper reports that state elected officials have racked up $2 million worth of sick leave retirement benefits since March, when the Assembly passed a bill that would end the perk starting in 2009. “The Senate is contemplating a bill that would end the benefit only for state lawmakers. If the two houses can’t agree on how to proceed, nothing will change.”

Hmmm. The perk might end---starting in 2009! And maybe not at all?!!!

Saturday's Journal Sentinel editorial was titled “Simply embarrassing" and states, “There’s been some progress but still no budget. Perhaps it’s time to consider real consequences--to legislators--in the event they can’t pass a budget.” The "real consequences" proposed include shutting down government if there is no budget, withholding legislators’ pay if there is no budget by deadline--or at least adopting Iowa’s practice. What's that? Apparently, in Iowa, if state legislators don’t meet a specific deadline to pass a budget, they lose their daily per diem expense stipends (that’s $88 per day for Wis. Legislators who live outside of Dane County). And those stipends are tax-free.

So, our state Legislators (who live outside Dane Co.) get $88 daily per diem expense stipends--and they are tax-free?!!!

Sunday’s (Oct. 7) Journal Sentinel reports, “Wisconsin is now the only state whose Legislature has not passed a budget. And the budget is on track to be one of the latest in state history, behind only the 1971 budget.” The article’s subheading is “Signs of a deal replaced by more partisan sniping.”

Uh, oh. No budget but plenty of partisan sniping!!

Sunday’s Journal Sentinel also posted a 5-paragraph excerpt from an editorial posted by Madison's WISC-TV. Incuded was this statement, “ The Wisconsin State Legislature has become dysfunctional, ineffectual and counterproductive.” It laments that if only we could give the Legislature 90 days to pass a budget. If it fails, dissolve the Legislature and hold new elections.

What has Gov. Doyle said about the repercussions of the Legislature's failure to pass a budget? According to the the Sept. 29 Journal Sentinel: “Doyle said not having a budget would cause problems across state government. He said without a budget: Students at all University of Wisconsin campuses could face an $800 tuition surcharge next semester; the expansion of the secure facility for violent sex offenders may have to be delayed; road projects could be canceled; and people participating in the SeniorCare prescription drug program may have to start paying for drugs out of their own pockets.
'You simply cannot run a state without a budget,' Doyle said."

** A reminder that State Aid Shortfall is on Monday’s (Oct. 8) New Berlin School Board Meeting agenda. (under District Administrator’s Report)

We are already into October and yet our state Legislature has still not agreed on a budget. Being the only state with a fiscal year beginning on July 1 that does not have a new spending plan in place, is not something to be proud of.
The impasse is a failure of leadership.

It’s certainly caused headaches for officials of municipalities and school districts. Community governments can’t wait endlessly for the State Legislature to get its act together. The August 27 Journal-Sentinel reports that “Under state law, local budgets must be in place in November, since property tax bills go out in December.”
Because state budget negotiations dragged on and on, local governments were forced to develop their own budgets without key information-- relying instead on assumptions or guesses about state aid figures, property tax caps, etc.

During the September 10 New Berlin School Board meeting----
Business Director Anthony Goedheer emphasized that with state aid being the second largest revenue source of the NBPS District budget, it was "not a good thing" having an "unknown" state aid amount.
He acknowledged that the $2.8 million the District had taken from its fund balance (reserves) for construction projects has a negative effect on the state aid formula (funding), but claimed the most aid NBPS could lose would be 15% (because of a hold harmless clause)--and the District would be okay if the budget proposed by the Governor in July was passed. However, if the Legislature did not approve a budget and the School District would have to use last year's state aid figures, it would mean a District shortfall of $800,000 plus. (Goedheer said it would “crowd” $900,000)
Goedheer reported that DPI officials he'd consulted had indicated adjustments would be made in 08-09.

NBPS Superintendent Paul Kreutzer later remarked, “Obviously, politics are being played at the state level that may affect us at our level."

*STATE AID SHORTFALL IS LISTED ON THE AGENDA OF THE UPCOMING OCT. 8 N.B. SCHOOL BOARD MEETING-WORK SESSION. (UNDER THE HEADING OF DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT)

Adverse effects of the Legislature’s failure to pass a budget have been reported by the media, such as this Sept. 29 Journal-Sentinel article Here’s an excerpt from it:
“Why would property taxes go up without a budget in place now?
Because school districts would get aid at last year's level, they would need to increase how much they levy in property taxes to pay for increased salaries, utility costs and the like.

How much would property taxes go up?
There's a difference of about $79 million between last year's aid level and a level lawmakers and Gov. Jim Doyle have agreed is the amount school districts should get this year. On the median value Wisconsin home of about $170,000, that's a property tax increase of $27, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
What can be done to avert the increase?
Doyle said lawmakers could be within days of passing a budget and that if they complete one by next week, they may be able to extend the Oct. 15 deadline for notifying schools of their aid amounts, thus blunting a property tax increase.”

Senator Lazich began her blog post “Cost of public benefits far outpaces those in private sector” yesterday with this statement: “One of the key reasons why state and local spending is out of whack in Wisconsin is the high cost of benefits.”

The blog referred to state-local government employees.

OK, so what about state legislators?
Her blog has me wondering what salary, benefits and perks our legislators, such as Senator Lazich, have been getting.

If state spending is “out of whack” in Wisconsin, what are our state legislators doing to reduce the cost of their own benefits & salaries?
Have they taken pay cuts? Have they frozen their pay? Gotten raises?

Do our Wisconsin legislators receive automatic pay raises or do they cast votes on that item? How often?
Did the state Legislature close the loophole permitting officials to financially benefit from accumulated unused sick pay?

Maybe I’ll e-mail Senator Lazich and ask.

At the April 25, 2005 New Berlin School Board meeting, Rep. Mark Gundrum and activist attorney Michael Dean asked the School Board to join the legislature in seeking to intervene as defendants to oppose action brought by some state workers seeking domestic partner benefits.

The School Board hastily agreed--without even bothering to consult the district's own legal counsel first. And it retained Mr. Dean.

Ultimately, eight local governments (municipalities) sought to intervene in the lawsuit: The New Berlin School District, the Raymond Unified School District, the Town of Caledonia, the Town of Cottage Grove, Green Bay, Watertown, Oostburg, and Hobart.

Just those 8-- out of the vast number of cities, towns, villages and over 400 school districts in Wisconsin!

The motion to intervene was reviewed by the Circuit Court. Guess what? The judge ruled against allowing the intervention by the Municipalities and Legislature.
To put it bluntly, the New Berlin School District/Board lost.

It appealed. And the outcome? The Appeals Court sided with the Circuit Court---affirming its denial of the Legislature's and Municipalities' motions to intervene.
In other words, the New Berlin School District/Board struck out again!

By using the internet, you can get access to the Appeals Court decision and read the multiple reasons the Court presented for denying the requested intervention action. The Appeals Court decision was filed September 28 and posted on the Wisconsin Court Access web site.

Displeased with the Appeals Court rejection, Michael Dean petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court a few days ago. Of course, it's a long shot that the State Supreme Court will even consent to take this up, since it accepts so few cases annually.

Surprised to learn these facts? Isn't it a shame that the New Berlin School District and Board keeps the community in the dark about such matters? Our community newspaper has been lax in reporting it, too. But you deserve to know.