Because I Say

Because We Say Its So

In election year 2008, need for governmental change is a prominent subject in public discourse. On the national level, its becoming clear that US citizens are determined to retrieve their country from the hands of an administration running rampant. A government which started a war based on lies and deception, they've openly as well as covertly concentrated efforts to violate our Constitutional rights, run amok with overspending taxpayers' money, have bamboozled and boondoggled, and have, in effect, carried Orwell's "Big Brother" into nonfiction.

While much attention is focused on national politics, unfortunately the same problems evident in Onamia go unchecked. City government is on a rampage of malfeasance. Acting as an agent for NEXUS, a private multi-million dollar corporation, the city council is bending, breaking, and rewriting the Rules in order to force 94 convicted sex offenders where they don't belong - into a residential neighborhood next to elderly widows, day cares, children, and vulnerable disabled adults whose rights to "Just Say No" have been replaced with the government's "Because I Say Its So". Using Rove-like tactics of lies and deceit, the Onamia council has boondoggled the community into believing its hype and propaganda about NEXUS and it's sex offenders. The Onamia city council will do whatever it takes to serve NEXUS, even if its wrong.

For instance, in January, after the city council was notified that 1999 city ordinances mandating resolutions to establish a community based City Planning Commission, Board of Adjustments hadn‘t been complied with, the council simply ignored proper procedure, and instead hired Bob Ruppe, the city attorney, to draw up a new law, establishing themselves as the official Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment, assuming total control, negating any possible balance of power. This is Totalitarianism.

The latest and perhaps most blatant assault against our community happened at Monday's public hearing and special meeting to customize zoning ordinances for NEXUS. Mayor Larry Milton, along with councilmen Bob Mickus, Bill Hill, and Mark Loch (Kryzer hasn't been present in months) voted unanimously to pass their personal opinions into law, regardless of facts and figures. They ignored Minnesota Statute 462.357 which states that juvenile sex offender treatment centers shall not be located in R1 or R2 residential zoned areas. They wrongfully zoned a commercial sex offender institution as R2 Because They Say Its So.

The Onamia council was apparently unimpressed that similar facilities had non-residential zoning classifications and were, in fact, placed outside and away from residential areas. I'd spoken with executives from similar institutions and the Department of Corrections who agreed that "the last place we'd want to put an unlocked facility such as ours would be next to a day care!" Not only is it bad for the neighborhood, it is counterproductive for the inmates' treatment programs. The city council ignored all contrary evidence and passed the newly amended ordinance unanimously. Facts and figures meant nothing to their predetermined mindset. Again, Because We Say Its So took precedence over reason, ethics, and duty. They are working for the good of the NEXUS corporation, not for the good of the community. Don’t let them fool you anymore.

As long as the bully mayor and Onamia city council are allowed to get away with this type of corporatism, the local citizens can breathe easy - because ignorance is blissful indeed. By not paying attention to the way you are being manipulated and controlled by a Fascist local government run by a Dictator who uses your tax dollars to legislate lies, you're free to concentrate on what really matters: What Simon will say about the next contestant on "American Idol".