Bradbury Township

Mille Lacs News

Opinion

Destruction

You would put your life in their hands?

Mille Lacs County Commissioners

Back row: the Tellinghuisen BROTHERS and Phil "1 Minute" Peterson

Front row: Frank Courteau and Jack Edmonds

Friday, September 12, 2008

Snow Job

Even in Minnesota, we don't expect a good snow in September - unless, of course it is a Snow JOB from a county commissioner seeking re-election. That would be, of course, Frank Courteau.

For all of you Hannabelle supporters who have followed our ordeal for the past year and a half, you know what we went through to try to keep 94 convicted sex offenders from encroaching on our residential (R1 zoned) neighborhood. When I think of the hours and hours of research, the dedication, the drive, the tenacity, all of those awful meetings with all of those awful people - i.e. the Onamia city officials and the Mille Lacs county commission, (I'm rather fond of the Bradbury bunch on the township board. They may be powerless, but they are at least honest, have good intentions, and when it comes to gravel for our roads, they sincerely take it seriously.)

This week the Nexusville Messenger published a letter by commissioner Frank Courteau in which he has the nerve to say:

"Mille Lacs County recognizes and respects the right of property owners to restrict who and where others might encroach upon their property. This respect and recognition extends to all property owners in the County, including the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe."

Can you believe it??? This goes under the heading of: You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you CAN'T fool ALL of We The People ALL of the time. Except in Mille Lacs County...
Here, as Courteau well knows, you can fool MOST of the people MOST of the time. (Just look at all the Sondra Erickson signs in the yards! LOL)

Rights indeed!

When I spoke on the telephone with commissioner Frank Courteau (who DIDN'T I call?), he told me that after spending one afternoon with the infamous Jim D'Angelo at the Mille Lacs Academy, he was supportive of the program for the sex offenders. Fine. BUT, don't put it where people don't want it. Don't ENCROACH. And don't obliterate OUR rights, don't allow OUR laws to be rewritten - stripping us of OUR protection in order to benefit the corporation, don't lower OUR property values, and don't give away OUR tax dollars because YOU were impressed with D'Angelo's propaganda on your little tour on that fateful one afternoon.

Yes. Frank's afternoon undid thirty years of my life. Do you think he cared about what happened in our neighborhood? Did he care about us? Do you think he cares about YOU? Frank Courteau was instrumental in pushing the Nexus agenda. And he was UNWAVERING (stubborn and stupid) when it came to listening to the citizens who opposed his "baby". Well, maybe that's a little strong... After all, at least he didn't hang up on me like the others... Let's put it this way - when I stood up in front of the commissioners at the county board public hearing last December, I had months of research to present - facts and figures which contradicted the facts and figures on Nexus' tax abatement application. I had enough information to raise the eyebrows of even the most rigid sex offender institution supporter. However....

"YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE!" snapped a hostile commissioner Phil Peterson (also running for re-election).

A few of us (those brave enough to stand up against Peterson's agressive intimidation tactics) used our ONE MINUTE to impress upon the commissioners that not only should they examine Nexus more carefully before handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax abatement - since what we discovered about the multi-million dollar private corporation was very questionable, if not highly suspicious that they provided false and misleading information in order to gain public assistance. We asked for a continuance. Denied. Public hearing closed. Voted. Tax Abatement passed.

What information? It's all public information. I'm no great sleuth. We found that Nexus claimed to spend approximately $2 million dollars in the county each year. When the county asked for a detailed account of where they might be spending that money, the figure suddenly dropped. Oh, did I say $2 MILLION? Pardon me. I meant $600,000... And of course, we found that they only actually spend about $200,000 in the county. "Well that's a lot!" you say. But maybe not - when compared to how much we pay in taxes to have the sex offenders here.

If you were on the county board, wouldn't these discrepencies send up a red flag or two? Wouldn't you at least look into Nexus, check out citizen concerns BEFORE giving away the tax payers' hard earned dollars? Not in Mille Lacs County. Not these commissioners.

Frank Courteau.... how DARE you bamboozle the people by telling them that Mille Lacs County "respects the right of property owners to restrict who and where others might encroach upon their property."

When the RIGHTS of individuals are disregarded for the "good of the community", that is NOT democracy. When a man like Frank Courteau disregards the RIGHTS of individuals and then says that he RESPECTS those rights.... well, I'd say that Frank Courteau lied quite bald-facedly to the people in his letter to the Mille Lacs Messenger, wouldn't you? Maybe in order to get re-elected so he can continue to "do ya"? (Of course, he'll probably sue me for saying that, but he'll have to wait in line behind D'Angelo, Freeman, and Nexus...)

But I will stick my neck out further and say that if you trust someone like Frank Courteau representing you at the county level, if you are dumb enough, gullible enough, or bamboozled enough to vote for someone who thinks he knows what's best even while refusing to consider all sides or review evidence which might contradict his mind-set, if you haven't learned by now - then, you deserve to have Frank abusing his power to allow anybody to encroach upon your property - even 94 beloved sex offenders.

 

SHAME ON YOU, DAVE AND ROGER TELLINGHUISEN!!!

SHAME ON YOU, PHIL PETERSON!!!

SHAME ON YOU, FRANK COURTEAU!!!!

SHAME ON YOU, JACK EDMONDS!!!

Vote them OUT or shame on you too.

Thursday July 16, 2008

by Hannabelle, Mille Lacs News staff writer

One Down, Four to Go!

Onamia Councilman Mark Loch Resigns

Although the "Loch-ness Monster" has resigned from the Onamia City Council and is moving out of the city he was elected to represent (but failed), the damage caused by this yes-man is everlasting, un-do-able, un-fix-able, AND citizens will be paying for Mark Loch's bad judgment and absence of testicular fortitude for many years to come.

Milton's Marionette

Mark Loch is the quintessence of what is wrong with local governments throughout small town America today. However he got on the city council, he did not belong there. After observing him at city council meetings over the past year, it became clear that Mark Loch's only function on the council was to second motions proposed by other councilmen and to help make Mayor Larry Milton's schemes come true. He also fulfilled the requirements for the quorum - i.e. his butt occupied a chair at the council table so that the council could still have a quorum, even with councilman Mickus' frequent absence and councilman Kryzer's wintering in Arizona. But what exactly did Mark Loch contribute? Ideas? No. Checks and balances? No. Was he fair and open to citizens' concerns? NO! Did he serve the community? NO!!! Did he make the town a better place? NO!!!!!!!

In essence, Mark Loch was not a leader. Mark was a follower. And he would follow his fellow lemmings on whatever course Milton set, even if it meant the abolishment of our human rights, our civil rights, ignored our Constitution and was a detriment to the community. You can blame your higher taxes on Mark Loch. You can blame most of Onamia's current problems on Mark Loch because he merely went along. He squandered his vote. Why is Hannabelle so mean to Mark? Because when it came to governing, Mark was a dishrag. He seemed caught up in the junior high school mentality of Milton's town council, succumbing to peer pressure, and like the pawn that he was, doing whatever Bully Milton wanted. Mark Loch may not have served Onamia well, but he definitely served a purpose. Milton's purpose. Nexus' purpose. From that perspective, they were lucky to have him as long as they did. The rest of us - not so lucky.

One of the lessons we should (but probably won't) learn from former councilman Mark Loch's time in office is that POWER is fleeting. But decisions made while in power can be everlasting and devastating. Choose your friends wisely. Yes. But choose your local leaders with extreme caution. They can screw up your life as easily and thoughtlessly as a seventh grade boy throwing spitballs at a classmate. You think your local councilman cares about the people he was elected to represent? You'd better make sure BEFORE you elect him. Will he vote his conscience? Hey, you'd better find out if he has one BEFORE he sits down at the table to determine YOUR life.

Mark is leaving the community but he's also leaving a mess in his wake, a mess of which he has given up all responsibility. What does he care about Nexus and their sex offenders? He doesn't have to deal with them anymore. What does he care about the neighborhood which by his bad decisions was destroyed? He no longer has to face with those people. What does he care about the BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP of machines he doesn't have to listen to from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.? He is free to move away, move on and forget about what happened here. Forget what HE DID here. He is free to have a nice life after ruining ours.

You can help!

Kick a buck or two into

 Hannabelle's Legal Aid Fund

Dear Friends,

For over a year, we have worked diligently to bring you the Truth via

 Mille Lacs News,

 Bradbury Buzzz,

and our

YouTube videos.

We've donated our time and efforts to keep you informed by bringing you back to reality - letting you know "the rest of the story", the things that Nexus and the government don't want you to know... The things that other newspapers are too wish-washy to print...

Throughout this war, we've never made a dime. In fact, it has cost us dearly to bring you the news from Bradbury Township.

What did we get in return? A whole lot of ostracism and 94 convicted sex offenders relocating next to elderly widows and day care centers.

Broken hearts.

And two big gigantic SLAPP lawsuits.

That's right. Even though Nexus won everything - from having the Onamia city council write their own personal ordinances, to free taxes, they are punishing Hannabelle by suing her. That will teach us all NOT to make waves...

Click the donate button above and Help Hannabelle protect your Free Speech.

Thanks.