cur-mud-geon:
anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
We have apparently, at least, established the price of integrity for our Washington County Board. It’s about $4 Million give or take a few bucks.
The board voted, narrowly according to the Journal-Sentinel report, to renege on an earlier board’s commitment of some $4 Million to attract Cabela’s new site at the intersection of Hwys 41 & 45. That commitment dates back to 2005 and there has been a change of members on the board since that time.
In looking at the Agenda for the meeting of May 8th, I noted nothing about this specific item although it could’ve been buried in jargon. I also sought the Minutes to determine from whom the negative votes had come. The Minutes have yet to be published, and that may well be simply the process flow.
My fear is that we citizens of Washington County have just lost our credibility for a long time to come and we did so for $4 Million. What in the world were these folks thinking about, other than the big bad corporation that was taking taxpayer money into its account. The decision had been taken after what appeared to be due deliberation in 2005. There was opposition, but it was outweighed by support. It was a “done deal”.
The lesson to be learned is apparently, “if Washington County promises to pay you something, get the money right now; don’t wait for bonding issues because you may lose what you thought you had.”
Board Chairman Tom Sackett was reported as saying that, while he voted against the subsidy, he thought it would pass. He hadn’t heard much opposition to the plan before this board meeting. I understand that the open meetings laws are tough, but wouldn’t you think there could’ve been a more accurate estimation? It sounds as though the chairman is trying to say that we shouldn’t blame him for his No vote.
I’ll be interested to see the Minutes and will likely publish the list of Yes and No votes in a future Blog. Deals like this simply cannot go unnoticed…because everyone outside our county has taken note.
I suspect that attorneys for Cabela's have also taken note. The $4 million could get to be a lot more by the time the defense costs are cranked into the equation. Would punitive damages be possible against a governmental body? If not, maybe that would be a good law to change.
By the way, I wasn’t happy when the original vote gave the $4 Million to Cabela’s…but I am even more disappointed with this board’s decision.
