Lufkins Mystery

We want to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Michelle Lufkins. May you find peace amid the turmoil.

We've been hearing lots of rumors regarding her death, but very little facts.

We have been told by various sources that she was reported missing on November 20 and her body was found in a wooded area behind the Sisseton High School on the evening of December 1.

The city Police were instructed to keep the area under patrol until the following morning of December 2 while her body stayed there.

An autopsy was ordered and completed in Sioux Falls, but still no official statement has been issued. We have heard bits and pieces of those results from a very reliable source, but again...no official statement has been issued. The autopsy has been over and done for more than a week now, with no official statement. Our informant has said it was completed on December 3.

We have heard that she could not have been where she was found more than a day or 2....so where was she since November 20?? How did she get there?? Who else was involved??

Answers....the people want some answers. We welcome any input on this subject, but please keep it clean.

We have plenty of questions....will we get any answers??

Recent CC Meeting

There was an interesting article in the Courier this week by John Seiber (page B1). It dealt with a recap of the Nov 10 CC meeting.

Amid all the bickering, indecision, name-calling and back-pedaling on previous decisions, there was a notation regarding a vote on a motion to fence off a section line. The vote was tallied with Hull also casting a vote.

It has been our impression that the Chairman only votes to break a tie and this clearly was NOT a tie vote.

Common sense (and South Dakota law) says that section lines are not to be closed if only ONE person objects, and that article stated there were several objections.

It will be even more interesting to see what write-up is published on this same meeting in 2 weeks won't it?

RC Sheriff Office: A Family Connection?

Of course we all know that RC Sheriff Tasa has a family tie with CC Navratil (he is Roger's nephew). But did you know that 2 recently hired Deputies are cousins as well? One is part time and one is full time, but both are relatives.

Amazing how quiet those CCs are about the Tasa-Navratil-sheriff staff family connection isn't it? Especially when those same CCs howled and roared when Vince Owen hired someone with ties in the past.

Could it be that the current sheriff is easily directed by our CCs so of course they want more of the same in that department? Or could it be simply a matter of skin color and/or genetics?

Makes one wonder if RC adheres to the "Equal Opportunity" disclaimer doesn't it?

Announcement

What do you know. I remove moderation and someone anonymously posts more hate.

I have deleted the comment naming the hate poster. I will ask that you not throw mud as it usually sticks to both parties. At the very least sign your name to your post and be accountable.

We have investigators working on the person spewing the hate and lies and they assure me they are closing in on the party. When they identify the person to my satisfaction the comments will reappear.

Of course moderation is once again in effect here.

UPDATED: To Moderate or Name Names?

In response to the woman who is posting profanity and idiotic comments on this blog:

We have someone tracking you and we have your name and city.

If you continue posting your garbage your full name and city will be posted as well.

Go back to your pitiful blog and stay there. This blog is for discussion, not mindless cussing. You are not wanted here.

********************************************************************

In order to keep this blog clean and not deal with the filth that has been posted in comments I have placed this blog on comment moderation for the time being. As soon as this issue is resolved the moderation will be turned off. This is for the good of all even if it is more work.

The ignorant woman with the foul mouth posting the filth here is from NEW EFFINGTON. I am in contact with her ISP and I have given them her full name, and I will post it if she persists.

CDP Turmoil?

We have news that CDP Hospital Administrator has either resigned or been let go suddenly.

Sounds like it may be a financial decision.

Does anyone have more on this subject?

RC Sheriff on Vacation?

We hear that our new sheriff is on vacation. Tasa has been on-the-job now for how long? 5 weeks?

This is the first job we heard of that gives a day of vacation for every week worked beginning from the start.

We don't recall seeing that in the job description so it must have come along with the CC promises made to recruit that particular person for that particular job?

CC Real Wages

If RC is broke it might not be all because of the CCs actions, but partly because the CC are "dipping" into county funds by excessive perks, salaries and more.

Figure a base salary per commissioner of $750 per month plus mileage plus insurance at $400 per month per CC. Times that by 5 and then by 12 and you come up with $69,000 PLUS without figuring in "incidentals" such as mileage, meals, paved roads etc. Even if one made a big show of not accepting county insurance, it still comes to over $65,000 PLUS per year.

Shouldn't some of these guys be eligible for Medicare anyway? Do the math. Figuring from 3 hours per week to 10 hours per week that comes out to a very impressive hourly wage doesn't it? Much more than our States Attorney or Sheriff are paid! Are they worth it??

Whatever happened to the days when the CC took on the duties out of a sense of betterment for the county instead of taking all they can get?

Just what is the average RC taxpayer getting for this large expense year after year after year....

Now What?

The Opt Out is over and there will be no tax increase in RC. Most of us would probably have supported a genuine need for more county revenue IF our CC had shown us any caution in spending or intelligent budgeting rather than throwing our money around as if there were no end to it.

Now what? Is it possible the CC have learned something from all of this? Is it possible they could actually reduce their rampant spending and "make do" like we have had to do?

Some ideas to perhaps help reduce the budget blues would be:

Change weekly CC meetings to one per month. In order to do this the CC would have to quit their drama and keep their nose out of private matters (which may be hard for them to do). This could be accomplished by requiring permission to bring up issues beforehand so if those issues were not county matters they would not be able to be aired at county meetings. It is called an agenda. If you are not listed on this you would not be able to bring it up...period. Many counties use this as a means to keep meetings on track.

Allocate some duties or tasks the county does now over to the townships or landowners. Mowing or weed spraying comes to mind, but there are certainly more we are sure.

Be aggressive and apply for those grants and federal monies. It could pay off to hire someone to apply for these funding sources that RC is ignoring.

Think about consolidating some county offices with other counties and saving money. Some services could be spread among one or more adjoining counties without too much inconvenience.

Please add your input to some ways to keep the county afloat, ways the county could save money or do away with unneeded expenses etc.

Think about it and let us know what you come up with. Where do we go from here?

ELECTION RESULTS!

News flash on KELO TV......Roberts County Voters defeated the Opt-Out by 78% NO votes.

Approximately 24% of the voters turned out for this special vote.

You can view the entire news story at KELO TV by clicking the following link:

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=90678

A special thanks to KELO TV for keeping us informed and a very special thanks to all of you voters who GOT THE JOB DONE!!

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Just a reminder that each and every one of you is important and that you VOTE tomorrow on the Opt Out issue.

Make sure you go to your local polling place and cast your ballot. Give your neighbor a ride to make sure they vote as well. Call your neighbor and ask that they give you a ride to vote if needed. I believe polls open at 7 am so do it early and be done.

Just please VOTE!! Roberts County voters must make a statement and let those CC know that we are fed up with their mismanagement of all things county!!

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Where Did Your Taxes Go?

**a take on last week's headlines**

Last week's local paper had the headline: "Where Do Your Taxes Go?" Most of us just want to know what we got from those taxes.....just where DID our taxes go?

We got: 3 Commissioners who think they are almighty, a jail we cannot afford and did not want but we got it anyway (thanks to the CC), an awful LOT of Sheriffs, a short-lived investigator for the States Attorneys office under Kay, Kay still on the county payroll, an Auditor who did not file any audits for several years. What else? Oh yes! We got to pay for a paved road exclusively for ex-commissioner Voeltz. Aren't we lucky to get all that??

No matter if you think you want to pay more taxes or you are tired of paying and paying and paying.....please make sure you are registered and then make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday.

We probably got much more from paying taxes. Who can think of more things we got from those taxes????

SOTA Says It All

Chuck has a very good editorial in this week's SOTA. You can access it by clicking HERE There are also some very thought provoking letters to the Editor in this weeks issue as well.

Seems it all goes back to our sorry bunch of CCs. Everything that has been plaguing RC for years now has its' roots with the CCs. Everything they do, everything they say will haunt the RC citizens for a long, long time.

We are sure there will be yet another sob story printed in what passes for the local newspaper this week, begging the voters to pass the Opt Out issue. Wonder if the opposite view would garner front page week after week? Of course not! Censureship is alive and well in RC.

Just remember when you go to vote on this important issue next week: These same CCs asking for more of your hard earned money to "balance the budget" are the very same who squandered your tax dollars for wasteful spending, ill-thought out expenditures, corruption throughout to say nothing about personal gains. These CCs have proven they cannot manage our tax dollars....don't give them more!!

More CC Madness

So now Chad Ward quit. Looks like those CC are getting exactly what they hoped for....a jail staff that is predominately white and obedient with the Sheriff position in their pocket as well.

Their nice little expensive jail will really be comfy now, especially as it will be mostly empty. All those contracts will wither away with no other departments willing to send prisoners to RC.

Can't someone stop their madness?? Do they ever think? They most likely have a person waiting to take over, someone who won't think or talk back, someone who will do just as they tell him no matter how stupid.

There is another budget installment in the local paper, with more figures pulled from the air.

This time it goes over the expenses for the courthouse. Seems to me if they got rid of the biggest expense there, namely Kay, they could easily balance the budget.

I would bet that most of you could find one or more areas for budget cuts without even trying.

What do you say?

RC Budget: Chapter 2

We must be the only county to have a county-owned newspaper. Seems whatever those CC want published gets into print EXACTLY the way they have it written with no fact finding whatsoever.

This week it was the chapter with the fiction about the highway and landfill budgets.

Highway Dept: If the operators of the RC road equipment were taught how to drive the machinery so they wouldn't damage our roads we'd be able to get along with less expense. Expense for adding gravel that was graded off the roads into the ditches, expense for re-tarring roads that had been damaged by an over-zealous roadgrader gouging chunks of tar from the roads, expense of having to employ bulldozers to remove snow that snowplows had not removed or snow fences not put up etc.

Next time you are out and about see for yourself. When crossing into another county you can see how differently they take care of their roads, unlike RC. Other counties have no ice staying on the roads all winter long (as RC does) Why? Because they get out and remove it rather than waiting a week or more. Other counties have passable gravel roads after a rainfall (as RC does not) because they have rounded roads thereby allowing moisture to drain off....RC roads are either flat or have holes gouged in them allowing water to stand, ever notice?

One big expense easily tossed would be to have landowners/operators mow the roadsides, as they do for townships. Many counties have done this and cut a large chunk off their budgets.

Have you forgotten how bad our roads were this past winter? Over a week went by without maintenance just because there were internal problems. A week where we had several snowstorms and many blocked or impassable roads.

Landfill: This should not even be an issue as there was little if any upgrades for a long long time there. There hasn't even been any rodent control expenses from what we hear. With all the "paying customers and counties" using our landfill RC should have a lucrative business there.

Perhaps if RC didn't go around and pave commissioner's roads as "perk's" our budget might still be in the black. Just ask ex commissioner Voeltz about that.

What do YOU think?

RC Budget Baloney

There has been some really thought-provoking comments lately regarding RC budget.

Just exactly what IS the county budget, broken down by department, line by line expenditures beside what was budgeted for that particular item or action? I'm not talking about the budget "fairy tale" published in the local un-newspaper...I am talking about just what really goes on?

RC citizens only know what they are "hand fed" by our Auditor or our CCs or what the Courier is allowed to print. We have no idea what really goes on with our tax money do we?

For instance: There is a cost to RC for training new employees, even if that training is done by present employees. Think about it. When you are showing someone how to do something you are doing yourself, you're doing that task slower with less results and more time spent. Who is paying for that extra time? RC taxpayers, that's who!
And when an RC employee is repairing something that was damaged by stupidity or ignorance, even with no actual charge to the county, the employee who stops what he or she would be doing is being unproductive (on the RC payroll) so factor in that cost as well.

It appears to me that the RC budget is playing "catch-up" with the run-away expenditures rather than an intelligent and honest effort to reign in that excessive and often thoughtless spending.

What do YOU think?

Nepotism in Roberts County??

Did anyone catch the SOTA this week? They have some interesting bits regarding the Opt Out and also one we've been hearing rumors of lately....namely that our new sheriff may be (is) related to one of the commissioners.

Do they call that Nepotism? Or is it Favoritism? Whatever "tism" it is, it is not good.
I would call it a big conflict of interest. Something to be explored further for sure.

Roger N. do you want to address this issue??? Or perhaps Mr. Tasa wants to tell us who his favorite Uncle is???

The story can be found in the SOTA by clicking HERE

Open Meetings?

It appears that our RC commissioners have been caught "red-handed" participating in illegal closed meetings. An article in yesterday's Watertown Public Opinion can be read by clicking HERE

And that is just one time they got caught.......

Thanks to the Public Opinion for keeping us informed.

More Opt-Out

It appears that the people have spoken and there will be a special vote next month concerning the proposed Opt Out plan "hatched" by our CCs.
Some of you may have read the interview printed in area newspapers where a certain commissioner was quoted as saying that Roberts County had never opted out before. What was not said in that interview is that RC has tried this before and failed.
Several years ago the CC wanted to opt out and it was defeated soundly in a petition.

Why would our CC want to purposely mislead the voters? Why wouldn't our CC rather try to trim their budget, much as we, the taxpayers, are trying to trim our budgets? Are the CC trying to hide their records? Do they have any records?

Questions we would like to see answered. Rest assured though there might only be hand-written minutes (easily altered and embellished) memories are what the CC cannot take away from us. And we DO recall a prior opt out attempt by the RC CC.
Questions? Lots of them. Now we need some answers!

Opt Out Petitions

The Opt Out petitions garnered more than enough signatures to force the issue of raising taxes to a vote. This should be voted upon in September. Thank you to all those who worked so hard to make this happen.

Now of course it is up to you, the voters. Make sure you vote and make sure you tell everyone you know to do the same. Of course if you should want higher taxes you would vote for it, but if you want to hang on to your money a little longer at least now you have a choice and can vote against it.

CHOICE. That is something the CC would like to take completely away from us. Are we going to allow them to do that??

Enough

I think it is long past time for everyone to act like adults here. I have stopped the ignorant juvenile from posting for now.
Maybe they will go out and get a life?

Don't lose focus or tempers please. We can discuss without cussing can't we? Now take a deep breath and start over.

Thank you.

New Sheriff Named

A new Sheriff has been appointed we hear. Let's all give Jay Tasa a welcome & a chance to show what he's got. We hope he can get in the saddle quickly as this county needs all the help and leadership it can get. We would like to hear from you Jay.
It isn't his fault that RC is saddled with a bunch of inept power hungry ignorant CC's who think the CC title is rightfully theirs forever. Well at least 3 out of 5 think so.
We know that you read this blog Hull. Why don't you explain how you came to this decision? What made Mr. Tasa get the position over the other applicants? Just what "qualifications" did he have that those others were lacking?
It looks like there is a little over a year for Mr. Tasa to "prove" himself and some of you CCs will be facing elections soon won't you. You have already "proved" yourselves and the voters are ready to VOTE.
It was good to hear from Orville Folk also. Thanks for all you have done for RC Orville. It sounds like you would have been a
good choice, but we are sure those CC feel they know better than everyone else don't we.

And you thought it couldn't get any worse??

Higher Taxes aka Opt Out

We hear there is a petition circulating regarding the proposed Opt Out/Higher Taxes that our CC would pass with no input from the taxpayers. In fact, there are several petitions going around right now.

This is in reference to the small article buried in the Courier about how broke the county is and how the Big Bad jail did it all. The jail, by the way, that those same CCs pushed onto the citizens...all the while touting about how much it would "save" the county with lower costs, less employees and more income etc etc. The same jail that was voted down several times and then passed by those same CCs over a technicality in the end. The very same jail that the very same CCs would not share with the Tribe.

It is a fact that RC is hurting on the budget, that same budget that could be cut in many other ways. Maybe these petitions will be The Way it is done?

Perhaps we could eliminate keeping Kay on the county payroll especially since she lost the election? Maybe our CCs would forego collecting all that unnecessary mileage fees when they go all over the county (and then some) over common sense issues that do not need to include road tripping?

By signing this petition a voter is demanding the issue of higher taxes be put to a vote so the citizens can decide just when it is time to STOP THE SPENDING!

Sheriff Applications

Things must be settling down as it has been a month since a post was made. That is a good thing. No comments is not. We must have SOMETHING to discuss?

How about just who are those who applied for the RC Sheriff position? Wouldn't it be nice if our commissioners would announce who applied for this position? And announce it before they choose someone so the voters could participate in the process by their input? Just a list of names and set a date where input could be given before they go thru the hiring process? Just maybe there are among us some who might know something that would be relevant, something that might not otherwise be brought up? Wouldn't it be nice if we, the voters, were INVOLVED in the hiring this time?

The way it was worded in this week's Courier that process may well not take place until next year. Sounds like they are leaving themselves a lot of "wiggle room" there.

Comments anyone??

Check Out The SOTA

Claudia has a very good letter to the Editor in this week's SOTA that makes some really good points regarding what really happened leading to Sheriff Owen's resignation versus what we were told happened.......

It is a "must read" so be sure to check it out! Just click the colored SOTA name in this post to read it.

Thanks to Claudia and of course to Chuck for telling it like it is....

Does anybody see a pattern here?

Does anybody see a pattern here?

In 2006 Moen was voted out as sheriff and Gaikowski elected. Gaikowski was to have begun in January 2007, but the CC decided to create a "new" position suddenly. This "new position" entailed them appointing McClelland
and giving him complete authority over Gaikowski, leaving nothing for the duly elected sheriff to do. Of course Gaikowski resigned (something the CCs were hoping would happen all along). Due to the many complaints from voters over this the CC appointed another Native American, Owen, who was reelected by the voters. Owen endured many months of harassment by the CCs with their vendetta against anyone with any ties to the Oyate.
Now Owen has resigned, leaving the county vulnerable again to the idiotic whims of a few who imagine themselves invincible and all powerful.

This pretty much boils down to white supremacy and a total discriminatory attitude by some of the ccs. They don't want a Native in a position of any sort of power, plain and simple....even if that person was duly elected by the people.

Have we had enough yet? Are we going to allow even more damage done to our county by those who took an oath to work for us rather than against us? The damage done by our present commissioners will live long after we get rid of them so the sooner we get them OUT the sooner we can begin the healing process. Roger and Tim are okay, but the others are not.

How much more of this behavior will it take for the PEOPLE to take back our county??? We need to stand up and be counted and we need to do it NOW!!

Sheriff Owen is OUT!

We hear from a good source that yesterday the CC held a special meeting during which they gave Vince $20,000 and got him to resign.
The Buzz is that the only application comes from Deputy Travis Grajczyk at this time.
We also hear that Chad Ward tried to resign as well, but the CC tabled his request.
The lack of support from the CC, running a large county department without sufficient manpower and the general harassment from those "Good Ole Boys" were the main reasons it was said.
All we can say at this time is "What were they thinking" or perhaps better yet: "Were they thinking at all?"

Please Vince, if you are reading this.....please reconsider!!

A Little Bit Of This 'n That

911:

We hear that it has been proven that 911 would be cheaper to keep it here in RC so LEAVE IT BE BOBBY! The equipment we already have in place will be good enough for several more years and a substantial savings would be made by keeping 911 in local hands. That news ought to free up some of Mr. Horton's time so he won't need to be running all over digging up bones anymore. Perhaps he can begin by earning his paycheck??

JAIL ISSUES:

Poor Horton keeps running all over trying to cut dispatchers down in the jail. Why don't you give it up Bobby? First you used the excuse of 911 and not needing the dispatchers. Then you made a fool out of the entire county by running to neighboring counties to see what their budgets, manpower hours and staffing needs were....but you forgot you were comparing apples to oranges. Now you are running to Pierre trying to meet with state branches to preach your story, only to find nobody will meet with you. Give it up Horton. Even you should see that this is out of your league.

It always seems to come back to the word HORTON. Wherever there is trouble or argument, you will find Horton. Besides making RC look foolish, yourself look ignorant, you are also throwing up stupidity at Hull as well. People think RC must have some pretty slow CCs and a Chair CC who can't even control his own board's idiotic public behavior. It must be a regular circus at the courthouse on Tuesdays.....at least that is what every single county in the entire area is thinking, and they are probably correct.....

911 Follow Up

Our Sheriff, Vince Owen, has made some very good points on this subject *see the previous post* so we would like to "revisit" this subject a little more.

Vince could you please post exactly what issues need to be resolved on 911 as you mentioned in your prior comment? Are these issues that we need to know concerning 911?

Speaking from a citizen's view on this, we understand that RC would need equipment to handle the incoming/outgoing calls plus people to do that, certainly more training involved if RC was to take all incoming 911 calls....but is there more to 911 than what we citizens see? What are the cost ratios as to having the needed equipment/operators compared to costs of paying another county to take the initial calls and notify us?

We've had charges on our telephone bill for more years than I care to recall earmarked for the 911 system, but so far all we have seen from those charges are some road signs (put up when the county was back against the deadline I might add). Most rural residents have gotten a mouthful for a new address and that's about it so far.

Vince also suggested that everyone contact your CC and let them know that you want this very important issue decided by THE PEOPLE and not a few who have shown they don't give a hoot about what is best for Roberts County. Contact your area commissioner (who works for you no matter what he thinks) or go to a county meeting and voice your opinion please!

A big THANKS to Vince for the input on this and kudos to you Vince for yet another productive income-producing month!!

Don't Mess With 911

It seems that our small-minded CC's are trying to use the 911 system to undermine our sheriff. DON'T EVEN THINK OF THIS!!
We cannot stress enough how very critical 911 is and how keeping it local is to our advantage in so many ways.

Having one local call center to accept incoming 911 calls keeps mistakes to a minimum, has much less chance for error when only
one phone call is needed rather than one to call and another to relay that information. A local 911 call center also has the big
advantage of quicker response time, more knowledge of area where the help is needed as well as being less costly.

There really is no advantage to having another county receive the calls, none. In fact it would drive costs up, result in more
mistakes and slower response time. It would not reduce jail staff as dispatchers would still be needed to answer 911 calls whether
coming from another call center or coming directly from those in need of help.

We have been charged a fee for quite some time already for this service so our county ought to be ready to begin this service
without even more monies. What has been done with those monies already received CC? So far the only results we have seen
are those the county has been forced by law to follow, such as the rural addressing signs etc.

Chuck has an excellent article in today's SOTA detailing the jail's county contributions to date. Just click the

SOTA link

It is a pity how much 5 commissioners can mess up a county with their "get-even" attitude. Give us a break! Leave our sheriff
and jail staff alone and let them do the fine job they have been doing. Maybe with the deposits from the jail that Vince & Chad have been
giving to the county we can accomplish this 911 transition without even more money??

Is BIG BROTHER Watching You??

We hear that one of our CCs is attempting to dig up dirt where none exists. It is well known that Horton has been going around to other counties Sheriff departments trying to get comparisons as to costs and/or operating procedures to RCs (and we all know you cannot compare apples to oranges don't we). All he has accomplished so far is to make Roberts County the laughingstock of the entire region.

So now he has branched out.

He was seen sitting at the landfill recently watching activities. Finding nothing worthwhile there he proceeded to watch the 24/7 program at the jail.....which is a state program with no county monies involved. Frustrated with that activity he sat and watched the dispatcher's office all night.

Who will be next? What are the CCs looking for? Could the CC be thinking of cutting our Sheriff's staff when it is already down below the bare minimum already? Is Horton drawing overtime/night shift wages for his nocturnal detective shifts? We will be watching closely to see who the CC throw mud at next and how much of it actually sticks and how much splashes back at them.......we do know that both Zempel and George do not support these underhanded activities. We also know how to rid our county of those CCs who actually encourage this sick behavior don't we?

Jail Revenue & More Questions

Jail Revenue to County:

$44,767 to general county fund from different agencies, work release, telephone cards

$14,281 to general county fund from grant written by Chad and Vince

$28,458 amount county saved by not sending juveniles to other facilities

That is a lot of money to be given back to county funds. Especially when you never hear the CC say anything about it. All you hear them talk about is how broke the county is? Where are the county records? They are considered public now so should be truly public....where are they ? And what do those records say?

More Questions.....

Dept of Labor ordered county to pay overdue overtime hours to dispatchers, jailers & deputies. County wrote checks with no hours or amounts paid. Could this be because county sent a different set of figures to the state than what was supposed to be repaid? Why were employees made to sign forms that were supposed to be for correct names and addresses but were really releases for county so no further action would be taken against county for unpaid hours? Why didn't Auditor inform those signers of what they were signing? Why did Auditors office only allow the employees to see the line to sign, nothing more? Does the Auditor or CC really think this will fly? Do they realize how easily it will be to check the true figures and see who is really telling the truth and who is not?

Accident Input?

We've heard about a bad accident a little north of the Alco corner near Sisseton this morning. Supposedly 4 teenagers hit a bridge abutment over the creek there at a high rate of speed.

Does anyone know more about this? Please share.

Our thoughts are with the families involved and hoping for the best.

Open Meetings or Business As Usual?

It seems our commissioners are taking more and more of our public county meetings into "executive session". Where does it stop?
Just what does constitute "public right to know"?

Our CC chairman was very public with saying the commissioners were discussing public business in executive session.
Who makes the call and how do we know it is legitimate?

Maybe it is time that the citizens of the county protest this behavior by complaining to the state? Maybe it is long past time that our commissioner meetings are
broadcast on local television so more of us can see just what does go on in those meetings? We certainly cannot read about them in our local newspaper as
we all know that what is printed is a far cry from what really happened don't we?

After all, our commissioners should have nothing to hide should they?

Roberts County Will Get Stimulus Check

The Watertown Public Opinion had a very good article in today's newspaper with a breakdown of who gets what of the
much-talked about stimulus money. The link to the newspaper is below:

http://www.thepublicopinion.com/

Roberts county will get a check of $155,185.00

The commissioners will have one year to obligate that money towards specific projects, which they will choose. We would hope they choose wisely.

We certainly hope this goes towards road/bridge repairs and not towards paving some little used road that goes to a commissioner's home, as was done in the past.

The way this money was allocated was not good for the smaller communities. Those cities with populations of under 5,000 will not get anything from this stimulus package....nothing at all. That is a pity since South Dakota is a very rural state, with the majority of our communities having less than 5,000 people.

We would like to thank the good people of the Watertown Opinion for their coverage of our state and our communities. We depend on you for news and you do not disappoint.

Incident At County Jail

There has been mention of an incident at the new county jail where a prisoner managed to damage an overhead sprinkler to the extent that it allowed water to get into the booking area. You will find this story on KSFY TV website for one.
Cameron was quoted as saying he had been told a prisoner threw a shoe and another, unnamed source was quoted as saying the prisoner had used their hands to do the damage.
Commissioner Hull was overheard to have said that he knew this would happen, that he didn't want that type sprinkler system installed in the first place....never mind that this breakaway system was designed especially for jails and recommended by Pierre.
My questions would be: Why did the prisoner have access to shoes in a cell and just who is this anonymous, unnamed "source"?

NEWSFLASH

We are hearing rumors about a fatality at the Viking Motel. Supposedly there was a fight with several people involved and someone was killed. We heard it happened a few days ago.

Does anybody know more? Is there truth to this?

CC Power Play

For those who don't read the local newspaper, there is a small item in the latest CC report regarding the power struggle between the CCs and the Sheriff over the jail maintenance man.
The "new guys" voted to place him where he belongs, under the direct supervision of our Sheriff, while the "old school" voted to keep him under Dawn's supervision aka commissioners. Guess what? Hull cast the tie-breaking vote to keep this guy under Dawn's thumb. It probably would not even have gotten voted on except that George (seconded by Zempel) made a motion to right a wrong.
It would seem that Roberts County is "business as usual" with the county commissioners. Nothing has been changed with a majority being made up of the same old gang.
We need to think about upcoming elections, who will replace those 3 and maybe revive that recall petition that was discussed earlier.....

Where Is The News In Newspaper?

There was an interesting letter to the editor in this week's Courier concerning the lack of news reporting. It seems the city liquor store was robbed a few months ago and nothing was printed about it.
That is pretty normal for our local newspaper. One would think since the courthouse is only across the street from the newspaper offices that readers would get news articles that are current, newsworthy and unbiased. Not so.
We figure that the Courier is forced to keep all current news off the printed pages to make sure there is enough room to print all of that useless gossip news. Do people actually read that stuff? Most newspapers quit that archaic printing about the time the telephone was invented didn't they?
There was an obscure mention buried in the city minutes regarding purchasing a better alarm system for the liquor store awhile back, but nothing about why the city needed it.....
The letter brought up some good points. Is news of this being kept quiet because the robbers are related to someone or was this not printed because the police don't want their records to show an unsolved case? Could it be that our "free press" is dependent on someone other than the editor to authorize what gets printed and what does not?

Tribal Concerns

It has been mentioned there was no place for all things Oyate.

Here is where you want to post your tribal concern comments. We have room for all RC citizens on this blog.

Seven Commissioners??

Remember when it was said that RC had 6 Commissioners? It sounds like we have another one, making a total of 7 now. It has been reported that 2 wanna-be CCers are attempting to dictate who gets off probation and when in the Sheriff Dept and one of them is insisting on being in on the CC decisions. It would seem this is all a sham so an informer can be kept running between the jail and the courthouse.
I am sure that our Sheriff has nothing to hide so why don't those 2 Counterfeit Commissioners just get back to doing the work they were hired to do? It might not be too early to start thinking of the next elections coming up and who needs to go and who can replace them?

Roberts County considering court reforms

The Watertown Public Opinion has an informative article today regarding changes offered by our new States Attorney that warrants reading. The link for this is below:

http://www.thepublicopinion.com/articles/2009/01/14/news/local_news/local06.txt

Some ideas that were brought up by Cameron were a Teen Court and changes in methods for DUI handling, among others. These seem to be worthy of more attention as they would most likely alleviate the overloaded RC court system and help the RC budget as well as being beneficial to those charged.

Good ideas Kerry! We need changes here in RC and it sounds like you have some good ones.

The story also gives a rundown on the newest Grab Game by Kay for that RC county dollar she can no longer call hers. We applaud those commissioners for standing firm on this issue.

Another good article by Joe O'Sullivan of course. It seems we get more RC news brought to us by the Opinion than our own local newspaper.

RC Road Maintenance or Lack Of

We are wondering what the RC road maintenance policy really is? We can't help but notice that most of the county roads have not been touched recently despite blizzards and snowstorms. Gravel or tar, the roads are getting very tough with little or no snow removal.....except that done by local farmers who were forced to move snow in order to get out. We have not seen a snowplow on our county road for well over a week now, almost 2.
No notices have been published nor signs put up stating policy changes that we are aware of. We would think the current upheaval in that department should not affect the roads and the responsibilities RC has committed to the county residents.
In fact, the roads have only been cleared a few times this winter season so far; so the argument of "lack of funds" shouldn't apply.
It is getting rather embarrassing when people from other areas mention the poor shape our RC roads are in.
The city of Sisseton has done an excellent job with snow removal this winter so far and is to be commended for keeping up with what winter has dealt us.
Perhaps they could give the RC Road Dept some advice?

CC New Leadership? HA!

The Watertown PO had an article yesterday that stated our CCs voted against giving themselves a pay raise. Do they think that will give them a good impression with the citizenry in RC? More like they knew if they did vote more money there would probably be some very vocal complaints around the county.
The article went on to say that Hull had been voted Chairman (we knew that would happen) and Navratil is to be Vice Chair.
I think they saved some low-end titles for those "new" guys though.
Enjoy yourselves commissioners, while it lasts.

They also hashed over the dilemma of appointing a deputy States Attorney and appointing a full time public defender. What is this? Didn't our old SA say there was no need for a public defender when she was in office? Suddenly we need a public defender and Kay just might happen to be available? and if that ploy doesn't work, there is always the NEED for a deputy SA isn't there....

In another publication there is quite a story about Richard Glynn returning to Sisseton, perhaps he would be available for one of those positions??

Control To The End....and beyond?

It seems our outgoing CC's are going to hang on to those reins of authority just as long as possible. Perhaps even longer.
The 2 newly elected Commissioners have been denied involvement in the hiring of the new RC Highway Superintendent position
(and we won't even go into that mess). The latest CC report would have you thinking there was actually an interview process for this position, when in fact, the new Super has already been picked by the Old Guard Boys. Hopefully he will do a good job in that capacity, even if he is related to one of our current CCs.
It would seem to me the new CCs are the ones who will be working with the new Super and should be involved in that decision. In any event, we are relieved (and ever hopeful) that this might be the last decision made by those outvoted commish's and RC will begin to heal from the oppression we have been under for too long.