Comments on Racine Post: City: Email vote was to expedite property sale; Re...

Anon 5:27, I stand corrected. You are right, it is...

2009-11-05T17:17:07.238-06:00

Anon 5:27, I stand corrected. You are right, it is not the city council, it is the Loan Board of Review that conducted the illegal e-mail votes. I apologize for the error.

Rob Weber doesn't run the City attorney's office -...

2009-11-05T13:46:23.954-06:00

Rob Weber doesn't run the City attorney's office - Scott Letteney does. By title it should be Rob, but that's not the case here.

The irony is the email vote was to expedite the pr...

2009-11-05T10:46:37.447-06:00

The irony is the email vote was to expedite the property sale, yet didn't Spodick end up not being able to sell now anyway? There is a lot that doesn't make sense with this.

Why would this board vote to expedite a sale and n...

2009-11-05T10:24:42.174-06:00

Why would this board vote to expedite a sale and not tell the owner of the building what they are doing? Sounds like a shady explanation to me.

Guy Fawkes, we need you!

2009-11-05T08:53:35.972-06:00

Guy Fawkes, we need you!

The blame lies squarely with Rob Weber. The other...

2009-11-05T08:00:50.736-06:00

The blame lies squarely with Rob Weber. The other board members are City Employees. They are not the brightest bulbs in the marquee, but (like City Council), defer to the City Attorney on matters of legal procedure.

Graham- "doesn't minimize the fact that the city ...

2009-11-05T05:27:22.318-06:00

Graham-

"doesn't minimize the fact that the city council is acting in direct opposition to state law"

The committee in question is an internal staff committee. There are no elected officials on it.

No one is alleging the city council ever voted via e-mail. Please get the facts right. This story is confusing enough as it is.

Anon 2:04, I was not citing the e-mail vote or cha...

2009-11-04T18:37:42.251-06:00

Anon 2:04, I was not citing the e-mail vote or changing of minutes. Yes, I know that took place on Dickert's watch and he should address these issues. I was referring specifically to Becker backroom deals. Little Johnny can not be held accountable for something he had nothing to do with, unless of course he finds out about them and furthers them, which has not been the case thus far, as far as we know.

Transparent Racine, it is obvious from Dickert's conduct prior to, and since, his election that he's no choir boy. He may be, next to Becker, the worst mayor Racine has ever seen (can you say “10 Year Plan” and “Higher Taxes?”).The next mayoral election will show the character and intelligence of the voters in this city. If Dickert wins again it will show the lack of them.

Anon 6:16, it's plagiaristic at best

Positively, Racine Sucks...

2009-11-04T18:16:29.094-06:00

Positively, Racine Sucks...

Stop being blind to the fact that Dickert is invol...

2009-11-04T17:16:32.866-06:00

Stop being blind to the fact that Dickert is involved in these many wrongdoings. If he nothing to do with any of this, he should fire Brian O'connell immediately. But since he does have something to do with it, he has to protect Brian otherwise he'll rat him out and let the public know that Brian was acting on orders from Mayor Dicker.
The only thing transparent at city hall is the glass in the windows.

The issues reviewed I raised as Anon 8:20 AM are n...

2009-11-04T15:29:22.279-06:00

The issues reviewed I raised as Anon 8:20 AM are not Dickert apology statements. They are statement of fact related to the past mayor. If the problems continue or similar new issues come up under Dickert then I will highlight those actions too.

It is called accountability. Please note, I indicated the staff involved should be looked at too.

I think the Post got bored with their "Postively R...

2009-11-04T14:57:59.867-06:00

I think the Post got bored with their "Postively Racine" campaign.

Graham: The email vote, the initial vote, and the ...

2009-11-04T14:04:38.108-06:00

Graham: The email vote, the initial vote, and the subsequent vote all took place under Dickert. The erasing of the minutes also took place under Dickert. If this was a shady deal that Becker did then it should be corrected out in the open. Two wrongs do not make a right and this is going to cost us, the taxpayers, a ton of money because the city violated open meeting laws, changed records, and lied.

First off it been stated it was an electronic poll...

2009-11-04T13:45:46.165-06:00

First off it been stated it was an electronic poll, I don't see any trouble with this. From what I understand it seems as if the official vote was taken at the meeting. Furthermore I think the post needs to get their own facts straight. From their original posting 10/29/2009
"Interestingly, one thing not reflected in the July 16 meeting is the board's decision to alter its June minutes to reflect a new reality. We only know that occurred because former Alderman Pete Karas attended the meeting and observed the changes to the minutes. Here's another mystery: The city's official online records have two separate sets of minutes for one meeting. ONE SET MENTIONS THE "ELECTRONIC POLLS". ONE DOES NOT".

Confused? So are we, because the board's actions don't make sense. It's clearly illegal under state law to vote by email, and it's highly questionable to re-write minutes to reflect actions the board didn't take. The issue gets murkier when the reason for the vote is considered"

this was in your original post, however if you follow your own links for the two sets of minutes you can clearly see 1 is the MINUTES and the other is the MEETINGS AGENDA. These are 2 seperate things and the post should really be able to tell the difference between the two. I will give you credit you have created alot of false intrigue and drama.

Graham wrote: "...doesn't minimize the fact that t...

2009-11-04T12:57:25.503-06:00

Graham wrote: "...doesn't minimize the fact that the city council is acting in direct opposition to state law."

Er...the Loan Board of Review is not the same as the City Council. In fact, there are no Aldermen/women on this Board.

An Alderman I recently spoke with was quite shocked and dismayed that the Board was doing this.

Johnny looks like your being bullied!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

2009-11-04T12:40:38.939-06:00

Johnny looks like your being bullied!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon 7:23, just because you think the "Spodick iss...

2009-11-04T12:34:44.320-06:00

Anon 7:23, just because you think the "Spodick issue" is bigger than the "e-mail issue," doesn't minimize the fact that the city council is acting in direct opposition to state law. Our elected officials should always cast their votes in the open, in the face of the public they are supposed to represent so we can see who is truly representing our best interests at the time of the vote, and who is not.

Anon 7:51, you have obviously never been to an open hearing. Think back only a few months ago when the city council wanted to force citizens to participate in a historical district that would have cost them (collectively over time) hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars. Thanks to the open meeting, that proposal was killed.

Anon 8:20, concrete katie, right on!

Anon 10:29, if, in fact, Weber knew of these e-mail votings, then I agree, he should be fired immediately.

Anon 11:19, I don't understand how you can hold Dickert responsible for deals made by Becker. I don't support Dickert, but I will not lay blame at his feet for something that is clearly not of his doing. Should he look into any previous deals made by Becker? Yes. But, he can only do so if they are already known, or when they come to light. Lighten up, man.

I think that Dickert has done the right thing in putting a halt to these e-mail votes. Any further use of them by any member of the city council should result in their immediate dismissal, even if it's only a preliminary vote amongst the members just to see where they stand. That is still a vote behind the public's back. Dickert ran part of his campaign on "transparency in government." He needs to hold to that, and we need to make him do so.

Maybe city development should send out an email as...

2009-11-04T12:28:56.850-06:00

Maybe city development should send out an email asking when everyone would be available to be shot by a firing squad made up of Racine taxpayers. Criminals and tyrants should be handle appropriately.

I notice how the Dickert apologists are trying to ...

2009-11-04T11:19:57.679-06:00

I notice how the Dickert apologists are trying to blame this on a previous mayor, even though it happened six months after he left.

Hey Dickert, how about taking responsibility for something for once. You are the mayor, man up.

The legality of email votes is just NOW coming to ...

2009-11-04T10:29:37.289-06:00

The legality of email votes is just NOW coming to light in city hall?
For how many years has City Hall been voting by email, and no one has yet to get a ruling or an opinion from a qualified source.
Weber should be fired, immediately.
Someone is either ignoring their responsibilities, or is lying.

One of the issues that need to be looked at is the...

2009-11-04T10:00:39.379-06:00

One of the issues that need to be looked at is the use of building assessments as weapons.

Anon 8:20 am, I agree with you completely.

2009-11-04T09:51:33.798-06:00

Anon 8:20 am, I agree with you completely.

The bigger issue that needs to be viewed is the nu...

2009-11-04T08:20:02.766-06:00

The bigger issue that needs to be viewed is the number of side deals made by Becker that keep coming to light now that he is gone.
To name a few:
1. The current loan issue goes back to a Becker promise.
2. The metal artwork on Washington in Uptown goes back to a Becker promise.
3. The SCJ property tax deal that Becker even got Doyle to support in Madison on a Becker promise.

There are probably more side deals out there too. Each deal seems to have a similar trend. Money for some pet Becker project. Questions about City staff involvement. No real value for the City long-term.

Put these issues together with the long list of bad department head hires due to lack of proper background checking and you find a pretty poor legacy.

Dickert needs to get his arms around these issues in total and take some actions to make sure these things don't happen again. If staff are involved some accountability for the actions needs to be taken too.

In this electronic age this process should be acce...

2009-11-04T07:51:28.972-06:00

In this electronic age this process should be acceptable. An open hearing is not going to change the outcome of the vote.

7:23 We car that we have good folks in office no...

2009-11-04T07:48:00.758-06:00

7:23

We car that we have good folks in office not those seeking screw their foes or enrich the good old boys.