The Great Cookie Caper!

I received this email from a local Village resident(thanks for putting me on the mailing list). While I am not surprised that one side is party to negative campaigning(when there are no positives, negatives are all that is left). I think it is only appropriate to look at some of these claims.

The following un-edited email was sent to me yesterday(with my response here in quotes):

Hello!

I am not usually a very “political” person but I will tell you that when the intersection in front of our home was changing from a 4-way stop and we were highly involved in the village meetings that Diane Wiedenbeck did not care what we or other home owners being affected had to say about not wanting a round about. She was very “cold” and did not even look like she was listening to what any of us were saying. That board that she was part of told my Mom right to her face when she said she was worried about her Grand kids, “We don’t give a Damn about your Grand kids”. Now, if she doesn’t care about MY kids what makes you think she cares about YOUR kids? She will run her own agenda, not that of who she ‘represents’.

* Talking to all parties involved, this absolutely did NOT happen. What person in their right mind would say this? If you know Diane you would know how far fetched this claim is. I get that the property owners on the corner in question did not want a roundabout, but the question we have to ask is: Did they prefer lights because they are safer for the children(with people rushing to beat the yellow) Or did they want lights to make their property more valuable to a certain chain drugstore?

You will probably remember that Scott Norton was elected Village President and he changed the intersection from a round about to lights (thank you Lord!) and then had to resign and Mike Mikalsen was then voted in as Village President by the board.

* Full detail of the resignation of Scott Norton and the appointment of Mike Mikalsen here. Let us not forget, they denied the citizens of Cottage Grove a right to vote!

I will also tell you that although Mike is not a “warm, fuzzy” kind of guy, this man KNOWS his stuff! He knows what is going on in surrounding communities/areas and what has worked and not worked for them and brings that to the table.

I love supporting women in leading roles but I have personally suffered under Diane numerous times and unfortunately can not support a women this time.

Mike is obviously more qualified for the job.

* Then why the \"pants on fire\" rating?

Do you know how much money has already been spent on the “Library”? Hundreds of thousands (I believe if I remember right at one of the village meetings I was at the figure was something like 200,000 – 350,000!)! And what do we have to show for it? A corn field that is owned by “The Friends of the Library” not even the village. Our school system is having major budget issues and we cant afford a Library at this time and that is exactly what Diane will spear head if she is elected.

* A few things here, 1. please feel free for anyone to show me anywhere in all of the campaign materials, quotes or meetings from Diane in the last year where she has said spearheading a library is her priority? 2. As Dr. Phil says”The greatest predictor of future behavior is past behavior”. What would Mike and the village board had done with the money already raised for the library? We have a pretty good idea.

Please vote with me on Tuesday, my vote will be for Mike Mikalsen!

Mike also bought cookies from our Girl Scout troop, Diane on the other hand, sent me an email asking me to make sure to come to her house when cookies were being sold again, and when we did, said “No Thank You”!

* Only one possible way to answer this. To be fair, if anyone can supply the email to me that Diane “allegedly” wrote I will gladly include it here.

I know some people blame the village board for businesses like Fired Up Pottery leaving and I know they worked hard trying to help Kim stay in the village but they can not control what the commercial property owners charge for rent and they were unable to get the facility that Kim needed at the price she could afford. The current Village Board was able to hold onto Landmark corporate office and keep them from moving and even convinced them to build their offices in the Village rather than the town of Cottage Grove as originally planned.

* As was pointed out here, the owner of Fired up Pottery, specifically called out DIane by name as the ONLY trustee who tried to help her stay.

Thanks for reading my thoughts and views, please vote Tuesday!

Here is another email I received:

Please Vote – Tuesday, April 5 th
Hello,
Next Tuesday’s non-partisan election is very important for the future of our Village.
The major difference in philosophy between the two Village President candidates is:
· Mike Mikalsen is pro business development. He knows that more business development is needed in order to provide property tax relief to Village residents.
· Diane Wiedenbeck is against business development.
Also, take note of the fact that Diane Wiedenbeck is trying to hide her role in the Library debacle. Nowhere in her campaign literature do you find any reference to her “leadership” of this failed endeavor.
Please remember that three Village Trustee seats are up for grabs on Tuesday. The fiscally responsible Village Trustee candidates are:
· JENNIFER PICKEL
· PAULA SEVERSON – incumbent
· MICAH ZIELKE – incumbent
Our current Village Board is making good progress. Let’s keep moving forward.
Please do not embrace the vicious smear campaign being waged against these candidates.

* Richard must not have read the two emails sent to me yesterday(including his)!

Richard K

————-
Tammy P