The Plundering of Village(Cottage Grove)Government!

I wrote recently about Lobbyist Paula Severson\'s end run around democracy to claim a seat on the Cottage Grove Village Board that she thinks she deserves! Voters in the Village Be Dammed! Maybe we should have known something was up during the budget meetings last year, while making cuts across the board, Severson (and the other “conservatives”)vehemently opposed cutting the salary of the Trustees!

Right after that the local newspaper, Herald – Independent, used their editorial to speak out against such an appointment and point out the blatant hypocrisy of the Village Board.

It would be wise for the board to establish a consistent and clear practice outlined in policy for filling vacancies that takes into consideration the needs and wants of the community.

Create an appointment process that opens the position to the public, gives each potential appointee an open interview, and allows for public input before the appointment. The board would then be able to select the best candidate for the position, and allow residents to hold their elected officials accountable to something concrete in the future.

Yes it would be wise to establish a policy for appointments but alas, none is forthcoming. It is hard to set a policy when you do not know from year to year, what way is best to put your people on the board and circumvent the democratic process. Ms. Severson does feel a little bad though right about the unethical way she took back her seat? Not so much!

Severson said she knew some people would be unhappy with her appointment, but hoped to move past any disagreement.

Saying she knew the over 1000 people in the village who voted her OFF the board would be unhappy but who cares! She is now on the board and everyone else can just sit back and shut up. If she had any remorse or leadership qualities she would be offering up ways to move past the disagreement(is that crickets I hear?) Where have I heard things like this happening before? Was it here?

In response to this unethical debacle I wrote the following Letter to the Editor:

Our Founding Fathers set up a constitutionally limited representative democratic republic as our government. The constitution limits the power of government. We elect representatives, so it’s not a pure democracy. But we do elect them by majority rule so it is democratic. And the total form of government is a republic.

In Cottage Grove for the second time in a little over two years, our village board totally redefined the form of government here in the village. The appointment of Mike Mikalsen two years ago, divided the community and made a mockery of the democratic process. Recently, the village board thoroughly disenfranchised the electorate of Cottage Grove, and appointed Paula Severson (who lost the election) to the village board.

When Diane Wiedenbeck was duly elected as president to a two year term, there was a one year opening to fulfill her “trustee” seat. The Village Board, completely disregarding the April election results, voted 4-0-1 to put Paula Severson back on the board. This is not what democracy or leadership looks like! Trustee Ken Dahl, showing why he received the most votes of all candidates in the recent election, refused to vote for anything but an open process. Thank you Mr. Dahl!

Ex-trustee Paula Severson is a registered lobbyist whose goal in her career is to end unions in her industry (sound familiar?). This has proven to not be a very popular position in Wisconsin. The voters had their say in April and removed her from office. She was then appointed back on the board immediately with no process or serious public debate. The main reason for appointing Ms. Severson, was that she finished next in line (fourth for three open spots) in the election. This same condition was brought up as a reason to appoint Jack Henrich president two years ago (Mr. Henrich finished just behind Scott Norton, who abruptly resigned). Ironically, it was Ms. Severson, acting as interim president, who dismissed this qualification as irrelevant. What is good for the goose is apparently not good for the gander.

I am not necessarily contesting Paula Severson’s qualifications to be on the board, although she seems to always be at the forefront of limiting public input, but the process was once again closed. Would it have been too much to ask to open up the process to anyone who wanted to apply? Let the public weigh in on the candidate(s) who will be serving them, then, if she was the best person to fill the spot so be it. Does the current board think so poorly of the electorate of Cottage Grove that the results of the election two weeks ago were irrelevant? Can Paula Severson be taken seriously as a trustee when she so quickly sabotaged the democratic process? Will she be taken seriously throughout the county when dealing with actual ELECTED officials? If subverting democracy is the only way you can attain power, are you truly serving the public, or just serving yourself?

Cottage Grove appears to be open for chain stores, but the polls are closed!

If anyone is interested in weighing in on this topic, aside from commenting here, You can contact President Diane Weidenbeck and ask her to reconsider this decision and let the public weigh in! Or Paula Severson and ask her why she is scared of democracy. Or any of our other trustee’s, Jennifer Pickel, David Viken , Jeff Weigand or Micah Zielke and ask them what democracy looks like? Finally you could contact Ken Dahl and thank him for doing the right thing, despite all of the “rehearsed intimidation” he had to put up with during the meeting from trustees and former appointed officials!

PS: One final point, since she never had any intention of leaving her seat, I hope that Severson gives back the gift card that the taxpayers of cottage grove paid for, as a “token of their appreciation” for her “service”. The Village could use the money!