Opinions & Editorials

Lodi, Wisconsin-4/15/09

What is Wrong with the School Board?

Why is our School Board voting to give a contract to a mowing  company from Verona? Especially when a local contractor Buchanan’s Mowing and Maintenance bid the job and was the lowest bid.  Something is very wrong in my eyes! In these hard economic times, why is our School Board not supporting a local contractor?  We all as a community need to be aware of what the school board is doing.  And ask the question as to why they are not supporting local people?

The vote from the school board was 4 for the company from Verona and 2 for Buchanan’s.

Voting against Buchanan’s were:  Sue Miller, Bill Wipperfurth, Charles Brown, Ken Paul.

Voting for Buchanan’s was Dave Otto and Sheila Landsverk.  I would like to thank Dave and Sheila for thinking about the local person first.

Ken Treinen was not in attendance.

When a local person bids a job and is the lowest bidder it is my opinion that there should not have been any question as to who got the job.  Buchanan’s Mowing has been in this community for a long time. Joe and Taffy Buchanan support our local businesses and employ people from Lodi. In the summer Joe Buchanan hires high school students from Lodi High School. Now he may not be able to help keep people in Lodi working.   Who does the company from Verona hire?

If you see a problem with this process please speak out and let our Lodi School Board know what you think.

Sincerely
Irene Ludlum
Citizen of Lodi
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Lodi, Wisconsin-3/30/09

After reading the opinions of Mr. Pickle in the Lodi Enterprise and the Lodi Valley News website, I believe I must respond to some of his statemements and understanding of state tax laws and how the laws are applied to determine property taxes.  Mr. Pickle has repeatedly complained about a so called “water tax” a term he used to describe the taxes on waterfront property.  Does Mr. Pickle understand that under Equalized Evaluation, property on the waterfront needs to be assessed at or near the potential sale value based on recent sales of similar property in the Town of Lodi?  Would Mr. Pickle want to shift more of the Town of Lodi’s portion of school taxes to property owners who do not have waterfront property?

The Town of Lodi is presented a bill each year for our local schools, MATC, etc, and this amount is based on the equalized evaluation of the Town’s value. The amounts are not based on the assessed evaluation of property in each area, but under a formula of equalized evaluation.  Even if all of our property in the Town of Lodi was assessed at 50% of the present assessment, we would all be paying the same amount in property taxes because the mill rate would have to be adjusted to meet our share under the equalized evaluation.

Mr. Pickle has also stated that because of our high assessed evalualtion the Town of Lodi will receive less money in shared revenue from the state and less money for our roads.  The facts are that shared revenue is based on a per capita basis, and road revenue is based on miles in the Town, not on the assessed evaluation of the town.

Mr. Pickle, Mr. Collins, & Mr. Ritchie all sing the praises of each other and ask that all of them be elected.  I think that this “Trio” is one group that the Town of Lodi can well do without.

Joan H. Zavoral

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Lodi, Wisconsin-3/30/09

WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL US YOU WERE RUNNING FOR A PART TIME TOWN OF LODI CHAIRMANSHIP POSITION MR PICKLE? During the Mar. 25, Optomist “Town of Lodi Candidate’s Forum” my question to the candidates was; ” I recently learned that some of the candidates spend an extended amount of time in Florida during the winter. I understand you can run a campaign and submit letters to the editor by e-mail. How can I be assured that you could run the Township 24/7?” Mr Pickle Indicated that he winters in Florida or Arizona. IF ELECTED TOWN BOARD CHAIR. MR PICKLE WOULD CONTINUE TO WINTER IN FLORIDA or ARIZONA and ‘WOULD PUT SOMEONE IN CHARGE OF THE TOWN” IN HIS ABSENCE. ( Mr Richie indicated that he has a home in Florida and for the past several years has returned for Okee Sanitary District meetings.)
For Town of Lodi residents, I think Mr Pickle’s response begs a number of questions. (1) I suspect most of the Township citizens assumed they would be casting a vote for a full time Town Board candidate. Why were we not informed by Mr Pickle that he was campaigning for a part time Town of Lodi Chair. position?  (2) Who would Mr Pickle be “putting in charge”? Would the “in charge” designate be a senior board member, a committee member or an unelected member of the community? (Has that person been chosen and informed prior to this election?)  (3) An additional wage and benifit package for the substitute Board Chair.?  (4) Would a current board member be expected to cover the for absentee Chair’s meeting assignments plus his own?  (5) WHEN was Mr Pickle going to announce to the Town that he was leaving on his annual winter sabbatical and ______ _______ would be serving as Town of Lodi Board Chairman in his absence?   A REMINDER as you cast your vote on Tues. April 7, for Town of Lodi Candidates; IF YOU ARE VOTING FOR MR PICKLE YOU WILL BE GETTING HIM FOR THE WARM MONTHS ONLY (it’s up to you to decide if you’re getting scammed.)
Allison Seaton, Town of Lodi resident

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Lodi, Wisconsin-3/30/09

We support John Pickle for Town of Lodi Chair, Bob Collins for Supervisor #1 and Jerry Ritchie for Supervisor #2.

They have been leaders in their respective fields and have demonstrated integrity and fiscal responsibility. Because of the planned decrease in 2010 state revenue sharing funds and road funds, we require people in place who know business and are financially proficient with the experience to deal with these issues both before and after the revenue is decreased. We believe that Messrs. Pickle, Collins and Ritchie have this experience.

Richard and Doris Braun
N2765 Demynck Road
Lodi, WI 53555
608-592-5800
Randd@charter.net

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Lodi, Wisconsin-3/30/09

I am running for Chair of the Town of Lodi because I believe that I am well prepared to help the town get through the financial Challenge that appears to be headed our way over the next two or three years. I am hoping that you will also support Robert Collins (Supervisor #`1) and Jerry Ritchie (Supervisor #2).  If I am elected to be your chairman I will need the business experience that these two men bring to assist in assessing and finding solutions to the financial problems headed our way.  The source is caused by the economy downturn which results in lost or reduced tax revenue, home foreclosures, lost jobs, and business failures.  Another factor is the over assessment of certain segments of our real estate, which increases the Town valuation, which results in a decrease in revenue sharing and road revenue normally provided by the state.  The Governor’s Budget Bill will, in 2010, require Towns to pay Madison prevailing wage scales for even tasks such as lawn mowing.  This will force existing small business to pay Madison prevailing wages if they service any state project over $2000.  All of the above factors are going to result in a budget breaking financial Tsunami, which could result in the Town to reduce or eliminate services and or projects.  Some towns may even go into default and basically disband and turn their functions back to the county.   Efforts to reduce the impact of this financial storm will take experience, skill and luck to minimize the impact of the next two to three years.  The three of us, Collins, Ritchie and me bring to the town board sufficient business experience to give the Town the best chance of survival.

We encourage you to vote on April 7 and will appreciate you voting for us:  Collins, Ritchie and Pickle.  Thanks!

John H. Pickle, Jr.
N 2771 N. Lake Point Drive
Lodi (Harmony Grove) WI  53555
608/592-5095

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posted 3/16/09

By Herb Carberry

Are We Safe??

Are we safe?  Things at the Lodi Area Fire Department seem to be falling apart.  Does anyone realize that we have recently lost a combined total of over 150 years of experience?  Why are the men quitting?  I think that it is time that someone speaks out on behalf of the citizens of Lodi and surrounding areas that Lodi Area Fire Department protects.

Let’s start by listing a few safety concerns.  Are you aware that most of the daytime firefighters have quit or gone on reserve status?  There was a fire call on Thursday March 12 for a chimney fire.  Only 4 men responded and Arlington Fire had to be called for mutual aid.  There was a car accident about a month ago and it took the Lodi Area Fire Department 20 minutes to leave the station, and they also had to call Sauk Prairie for mutual aid.  Thank God that no one was seriously hurt. In serious injury accidents victims have about an hour to get to the hospital to have a better survival rate.  With them taking 20 minutes to leave the station the hour is almost half gone. I am not okay with that!  What if it were your family member…wouldn’t you want them to have the very best chance of survival?

Do you realize that the Lodi Area Fire Department no longer has a rope rescue team?  What happens when someone falls off Gibraltar Rock?  They will have to call Sauk Prairie for mutual aid…. they are over 20 minutes away.  Calling for mutual aid is great when you really need help for the big fire or accident, but to rely on mutual aid to cover our fire district on a regular basis is not the best way to run the department.  Spring is here and grass fire season is soon approaching.  What will happen when there are only a few firefighters that can make the calls?  Are we safe?

Do you realize that our homeowner’s insurance will go up?   Fire departments have an ISO rating that is made up of the time it takes to get to the scene, as well as the amount of training that the men have.  It is the system by which insurance companies figure your homeowner’s rates.  Without the experience of the firefighters and their response record as of late, I am sure that the rates will be increasing.

As citizens, I think that we all need to stand up and find out the truth about what is going on and why!  I think that the problems that the Lodi Area Fire Department are having is the fault of the Lodi Area Fire Board!  They are trying to run the department from the Board and that is WRONG!  I would love to see their training and credentials. Have they ever taken a firefighting course??  Are they getting up in the middle of the night to put out a fire or respond to a car accident??  THEY ARE NOT RISKING THEIR LIVES WHEN THE PAGER GOES OFF!  Why is the Board not listening to the MEN RISKING THEIR LIVES??

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posted 3/12/09

by Lyn Lorenz-Poynette, Wisconsin

Taxpayers Should Demand Accountability

On MSNBC Tuesday night, Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren, the chair of the TARP Fund Oversight Committee told Rachel Maddow that none of the Wall Street recipients of billions of dollars of taxpayers monies knew what the monies had been used for.

Warren had been appointed by the Bush administration initially, but the Republican-controlled Congress had failed to engage her committee after former President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson forced the dispersment of TARP funds through Congress, arguing that without approval, the entire world economy would collapse.

The blatant economic terrorism perpetrated on American citizens by both the Bush and Obama administrations is criminal.  Billions of dollars have disappeared with no accounting, and there does not seem any movement in Congress to ‘follow the money’.

We must demand of our representatives full accountability of the use of our taxpayer dollars immediately.

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posted 3/11/09

by Paul Fisk-Lodi, Wisconsin

Doyle’s Task Force on Global Warming

The nation is beginning to get serious about finding a solution for the CO2 that contributes to our rapidly changing climate. The issue has been debated for several years and science has determined that carbon based energy production is a major source of the problem. No one part of the economy is responsible. Electric power generation is responsible for approximately one third of the current emissions the transportation sector is responsible for another third, and individually we are responsible for the remainder. Therefore no one sector of our economy can bear the entire burden of significantly reducing these emissions.

Governor Doyle created the Task Force on Global Warming to study this issue and make recommendations to put Wisconsin on a track to significantly reduce carbon emissions. This task force issued its final report last summer. The legislature and various state agencies are working towards implementation of the recommendations contained in the report. The task force emphasized that any solutions must be economy wide and the costs must be known as far as this is practical. For this reason the task force endorsed a cap and trade allocation system for emission allowances with a fee attached to each allowance and the number of allowable allowances decreasing each year. This removes the price uncertainty that you have if an auction (a process where industry and investors bid on the right to emit CO2) is used to allocate the allowances. It also assures a real emissions reduction that a carbon tax would not guarantee.

In the recently proposed budget the president has a proposal which would be disastrous to the economies of the Midwestern states. The administration is proposing to auction the allowances used to limit carbon emissions. This would generate $640 billion over 10 years. A portion of the monies collected would fund research to ensure a transition to a world with minimal carbon emissions. The remaining $400 billion would go to low and middle class taxpayers affected by the increased cost of energy.

The intentions of the administration are good. However, there are several unintended consequences of this proposal. First it will impact the Midwest and Wisconsin more severely than the rest of the country. For example California is 7 times larger than Wisconsin, but Wisconsin uses twenty five times more coal than California. This demonstrates that from the Wisconsin perspective we need to be certain of the additional costs incurred in any carbon cap and trade program. Second the impact will be more severe on rural communities. Urban centers have the benefit of mass transit systems allowing for a cheaper
transportation alternative as fuel prices increase as a consequence of the allowance auctions.

The concept of carbon reduction is sound, however, we must insist on a process that is fair to all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country. We must not allow the Wisconsin and the Midwest to become a donor region where monies are collected and shipped to the coastal regions with little or none returning to our region to assist our region with the resulting high energy costs. We must do our part but not bear the whole burden. We must stand by the principals set forth by the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming.

posted 3//7/09

Response to Deb Woodworth Rant:

Dear Ms. Woodworth,
I have read your rant on the Lodi Valley News. I am disappointed that you allowed yourself to get so worked up over such a trivial event. You even admit that you do not know the reason the person left his vehicle running. It could have been that he was cold, feeling sick, had an infant in the vehicle. Maybe the person actually believes that burning fossil fuel increases global temperature and was trying to help spring to get here.

WTF? Was that necessary? One of my favorite quotes is by John Wooden. It states that “Profanity is the language of conversational cripples” I hope you refrain from using it in future editions. You then complain about the person, your environment and wasting gas. All of us use the environment and all of us waste gas. The weather was so nice that day that you could have walked, biked or car pooled? I realize that in this world of political correctness many people feel guilty for just about everything they do but the person in the Expedition is not burdened with that guilt. He still believes that we live in a free country. Or maybe he realizes that all green house gases produced by humans is less than 1% of all green house gases. He probably cares about his environment but is not obsessed by it. He may have gotten some carbon credits to offset idling his vehicle. You may want to go to freecarboncredits.com so you can offset them in case he hasn’t. I got a million of them so I can sleep at night.

I feel it is a shame that we are moving away from a free country to one of a nanny state. I am glad we have the freedom yet to choose whether we wait in our car/truck or go inside. I am glad you did not confront the individual because despite what Al Gore says the earth is a lot tougher than we are. And someday when you have car trouble a Ford Expedition may pull up and offer to help.

(Editor’s note: This hand written letter was received by Deb Woodworth postmarked Madison WI and was forwarded on to us unsigned.)

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DOES ANYONE ELSE GET THIS??

by Lyn Lorenz

A recent letter writer to the Wisconsin State Journal tried to defend Rush Limbaugh saying that he wants to see President Obama fail. She stated “And talk about hatred – all I heard for eight years was extreme hatred of President George W. Bush. What goes around, comes around.”

I was appalled at her contention that president Obama deserves his detractors because Bush was (is?) hated. Historically speaking, I strongly disagree with her premise. Bush had an almost unprecedented 90+% approval rating after the attacks on 9/11/2001. Not only were Americans supporting him, but people and nations around the world backed him as well. Bush’s sorry legacy has evolved due to his lying and invading a sovereign country not connected with 9/11, trying to destroy the U.S. Constitution while illegally spying on all Americans, rendering and torturing detainees, some not yet charged in over 7 years, and then allowing economic terrorism to be committed on us by his corporate cronies, creating the worst economic crisis here in over 100 years.

Now we must give our new President the tools to try and stop the crash and hold those responsible to account. George W. Bush has bankrupted this country by unregulated fiscal ‘policies’ and two unfunded wars. Those who opposed the Iraq invasion and murder of hundreds of thousands of innocents were accused by those on the right of not supporting the troops and hating America. Clearly, those who want President Obama to fail, like drug-addled showman Rush Limbaugh must be unpatriotic and un-American, hoping that our entire country will fail in addition to themselves! This is nonsensical, counterintuitive and unproductive considering the economic emergency created in the Bush administration that will affect each and every one of us for years to come.

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TODAY’S RANT

by Deb Woodworth

We all need to speak up more. You see something that’s wrong, say so!

Today while at the Piggly Wiggly, I parked next to a Ford Expedition that was running.

Now, today’s it’s 30 degrees and sunny, the first lovely day in many weeks and yet someone thinks they need to sit in their monstrous vehicle and keep it running for whatever reason. When I came out ½ hour later, IT WAS STILL OUT THERE RUNNING! NOW WTF? WHY is that necessary? Why do you think you need to pollute MY environment and waste gas??? Why not get off you’re butt if you’re cold and walk into the store to wait out whom ever is shopping Don’t all cars have on and off switches? What is with that people???! You’re getting zero miles per gallon. Think about it and STOP. Be Responsible and stop wasting gas and polluting!!!

Ahhh, yes, now I feel better ! ! JOIN ME and state your RANTS!

84 Comments

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  By sawdust, March 17, 2009 @ 6:21 AM

  RE: Are We Safe? Well are we? Another important question here is–Do we have to pay for these mutual aid trips by other FD’s? If not, when will these other departments starting billing us on a per call basis? When we have lost all of this experience at the Fire Department, it really smells of something very foul. We need to know more.

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  By slumdog, March 18, 2009 @ 10:05 AM

  Hold on a second. Let’s look at it from the other side of the story. What I see is a bunch of people trying to manipulate and blackmail a board that is trying to do the right job. I think those guys are holding the people of our community hostage by not responding to fire calls. Those fire fighters who have succumbed to the manipulation of trouble makers and certain trouble makers themselves aren’t my hometown heroes anymore. They should be ashamed of themselves instead of continuing to stir up trouble and continuing to make it hard for those firefighters who really desire to serve and protect our community. ‘nough said!

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  By blah blah blah, March 18, 2009 @ 12:54 PM

  wow slumdog….you don’t seem to understand the men have quit the department. They are not wearing pagers!! Why are they all quiting?? They are not blackmailing anyone. They chose to leave the department because of the actions of the board. I think that the city and town goverment need to find out what the board has done to cause them all to leave.

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  By peg zaemisch, March 18, 2009 @ 5:09 PM

  Two points: First, I would like to thank the “sponsors” of this site for supporting the freedom of speech and most of all a place where public forum such as the above comments can spark open conversation.
  Second: Ignore things and they won’t go away – they will simply burn down.

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  By upinarms, March 19, 2009 @ 11:05 PM

  Are we Safe? Clearly this is a crisis situation. I am chapped raw that this is the first I am hearing about it too. What is wrong with the Lodi Enterprise??? Isn’t this “news”???? I’m pissed!
  Is the Fire Board some untouchable organization that can fail at their job, putting the community at risk every day, yet continue on as if there is no problem?? If the Board can’t figure out a way to keep the department fully staffed they need to be replaced with a Board that can. I’m sure that there are some fine people working on that board but let’s face it…as a group, they have failed and something needs to be done about it.
  Does anyone have any suggestions for how the average Lodian can impact this situation? PLEASE speak up!

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  By blah blah blah, March 20, 2009 @ 10:35 AM

  I would start by calling the Mayor Mike Bilkey or the Town of Lodi Chair Roger Wetzel or Town of West Point Chair Dean Schwartz. I would then encourage all your friends and family to do the same. People need to stand up and band together to make an impact! The Squeeky Wheel gets the Grease! Let’s get Loud!

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  By concerned, March 20, 2009 @ 2:15 PM

  Slumdog I would strongly suggest for you to get your facts right before making such statements about the Lodi firefighters.The board’s purpose should be to provide funding, oversee the business side of the dept. and be kept informend on the day to day dept. operations. The bottom line is the board must make sure the area has a trained and properly staffed dept. Maybe before becoming a board member they should be a firefighter to realize the dedication, time and hard work it requires. Then maybe the board would realize there responsibility. PS.I am sure the dept. would be glad to except any board member’s application. Keep in mind when applying for the job it is a 24 hr., 7day a week position with very little pay!

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  By blackberry, March 20, 2009 @ 3:29 PM

  I would like to thank Herb Carberry for his great letter. I didn’t think people in this town cared much about what is happening to our fire department. To begin with, I think the board should all be retired firemen. I don’t think the board missed any holiday dinners or got up late at night for a call for an accident or fire. Only a firemen could tell you what we need. I also think Mark Wickham did a great job when he was chief. I also think that people on this board should be people that have lived here all their life and know what is going on here. I don’t think this board has done a very good job.

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  By upinarms, March 21, 2009 @ 9:53 AM

  Thank you blah, blah, blah. I will call or write letters to all of them! Is anyone aware of the SPECIFIC reasons so many fire dept. staff have resigned? Did they all leave for the same reasons? What role does the current Fire Chief play in the turnover, if any? I hope the LodiValleyNews.com can help enlighten us since our “local media” doesn’t consider a serious breach in public safety news worthy. Thank you to the people who run this site for bringing this to light. I hope that the people who are “under fire” (no pun intended) on the Fire Department Board take advantage of this forum to clear the air and inform the public of what is really going on and what series of unfortunate events brought us to this point. If anyone knows the board members, please ask them to read and respond.

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  By Inside source, March 21, 2009 @ 12:21 PM

  To upinarms;
  Our illustrious fireboard felt the need to override our vote of Mark Wickham for fire chief. Our voting rights are part of our bylaws. So it is of the opinion of many of the resigned personnel that without bylaws we have no solitude. We have always governed ourselves, and may I say, done a darn good job. And they now also seem to want to control our donated funds. That in itself will probably end many of our charitable functions. Those of us remaining are trying to hold it together, but it is truly sad as our morale and numbers decline. I don’t think there’s anything we can do to get back the personnel we had and need, short of us taking over the fireboard. Wouldn’t that be something!!!!!

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  By lyl, March 21, 2009 @ 8:22 PM

  What a tragic situation. Yes, the air should be cleared, and the current board should be accountable to the firefighters and community. But one shouldn’t feel that “there’s anything we can do to get back the personnel we had” as ‘Inside Source’ put it. To move forward and make progress, there is ALWAYS SOMETHING that can be done. But, that will take the commitment of the community members to ask the questions and attend the meetings and join the dialogue! I commend all of the above who have engaged in this discussion about how to keep the community safe.

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  By concerned, March 22, 2009 @ 10:53 AM

  CONCERNED–Well kept secret. After Chief Mark Wickham resigned due to poorly planned out tax policy dictated by the fire board, with no canditates to take the chief spot, a former LAFD chief was asked to step forward and take the position. He did, only to be turned down on his way to the fire station to finalize the appointment. The board then accepted a current LAFD member to take the chief position on a temporary basis. Unfortunatly the appointment did not work out due to several reasons. The same former chief was again asked to reconsider the position, which again he accepted. This time it was a different process [a formal interview process] with two other applicants. Again the former chief lost out by the board appointing a firefighter with NO experience at any level as to running a fire department. My question is: why does the board keep asking a former chief to accept the job then turning him down? It appears politics and a certain board member or members are easily swayed. I am sure if the former chief had gotten the job, most all firefighters, including Mark Wickham, would be active and working for the common good of the LAFD and the community. I am sure the board would have explained what their position as a board member should be. It appears the board chose to appoint someone to work for the board and put the firefighters second. Great move fire board!

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  By Think about...., March 22, 2009 @ 7:49 PM

  Did anyone think about the firefighters that didn’t stomp their feet and leave because they didn’t get their way? What about all the dedicated members that are left and choose to continue their services to the district even though they may not agree with everything the board does. At the end of the day they are there to help people in need….not play politics. I for one am greatful that we still have the wonderful hard working men and women to respond when people are in need, I am thankful they know they may not have all the staff they need and they put down their ego and call other departments to come help (better safe then sorry), and I for one will continue to support them any way I can. After all they are all volunteers, in my opinion we should be congratualting those left for thier dedication to the fire service through the ups and downs. Keep up the great work guys (and girls)!!!!!!

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  By blah blah blah, March 23, 2009 @ 9:34 AM

  I don’t think that anyone blogging has placed any blame on the firefighters that are trying there best to hold the department together. I truely believe that things would be different if the board would have listened to the membership back in Nov! It was a clear Majority vote for Mark Wickham to be the chief! I believe that the men have quit because they don’t feel safe because of the lack of experience at the helm and the lack of respect the men recieved from the board! The department needs to be run by the men riskiing there lives not a board that doesn’t have a clue! I commend all of you that are trying to keep us safe. The fire board has put all of you and our community at risk. That is sad and very irresponsible on the fire boards part.

• 

  By upinarms, March 23, 2009 @ 1:51 PM

  To think about….You are correct in reminding people to be especially grateful to the few individuals remaining on the LAFD. It seems that they are going above and beyond. But the point of this exchange of thoughts remains the same: Because of politics and a series of poor decisions on the part of the Fire Board, the safety of our entire community is in jeopardy. That’s wrong. And that is what this dialog is about. It is your right to be “ok” with being put in peril over politics. You can choose to turn a blind eye and be thankful for having any firemen and women at all but if your home were on fire and you had to watch your life go up in smoke while you waited for the fire department to “get it together”, I’m sure you’d change your tune! I choose not to be “ok” with it. I want better for my community.
  To me, it’s nearly as bad that, to the best of my knowledge, the general public was not made aware of this potentially catestrophic situation, until Mr. Carberry’s letter on this website.

• 

  By No longer silent, March 23, 2009 @ 1:52 PM

  Is it experince at the helm or Hitler? I think it was high time the dinosaur (MW) moved on. Let’s start fresh with dedicated volunteers that do not carry political agendas. The profession of a firefighter is public safety.. folks lets focus! The next fire board meeting will be posted and this is an open meeting – put it on your calendar to attend and let your concerns be heard. Sitting back and bitchin is not going to move things forward it will only cause hurt and pain for those who are trying to keep all of us safe. Personnaly I am greatelful for our boards, commssions, firefighters and EMT’s. As for the complainers you can be part of the problem or part of the solution. I for one feel “safe” with our public safety teams and belive I am part of the solution.

• 

  By get real, March 23, 2009 @ 2:34 PM

  First of all if you were not made aware of this situation then obviously you aren’t reading the Enterprise, they have posted article after article about the Lodi Fire Department. Second of all there are not a “few” members left on the fire department, there are many volunteers that are doing the best they can to keep the community safe. No doubt in my mind is anyone in this community not safe! Marks action in the past year and a half have shown many people that it was his time to leave LAFD. There is always going to be change in life and it makes it especially hard when you have the people that you once looked up to act in the way that they do. Please stop believing EVERYTHING that you hear and bashing things when you don’t have the facts straight. I think it is a great idea that if you are concerned about the ability of the LAFD to stop in at anytime we are down there and you can see how hard we work to keep the community safe. As that being said I really hope that each and everyone of you can help us build the LAFD before waiting to watch us fail like the rest of the guys that have left the department.

• 

  By concerned, March 24, 2009 @ 8:12 AM

  Does everyone understand the training and experience needed to perform the task of a firefighter? There is no time for on the job training, when the majority of the seasoned firefighters are no longer active the mentoring process stops.Who is training the new chief? The link in the chain of passing down knowledge and experience is broken at the LAFD.It must be fixed asap.What steps is the fire board taking to remendy the problem.I would stongley suggest emergency meetings be set up with area fire depts.laying out well thought out short and long term plans to get the LAFD properly staffed and trained.I ask myself does the fire board and elected officials in the fire district really understand what has happened to the LAFD ? This is a 24hr. 7 day a week emergency service mandated by state statute.Just because of short sighted and poor judgement by the board along with no oversight should the community and many of the firefighters be put in this situation? This destruction of the dept. did not happen overnight,it has been a slow train wreck just waiting to happen!

• 

  By Get a Clue People, March 24, 2009 @ 9:29 AM

  Where was all of this press when Mark Wickham stomped his feet and left the department high and dry without a fire chief??? Where was all of this press when all of the “veteran members” stomped their feet along with Mark and refused to be a part of the solution, but continued to make problems for the interim chief??? All of these veteran members left because they refuse to accept change, and they refused to accept that the “good ole boys club” was no longer superior!! Hey Herb, if you are so concerned why don’t you head down to the fire department and fill out an application, oh wait, that’s right you sit around with nothing better to do than find negative things to write about people. Why don’t you try being part of the solution and not part of the problem!! What are you, one of Mark Wickham’s buddies??? Well I am glad the fire board sent him away, because in about 6-8 months down the road something would have happened that Mark didn’t like, and once again he would have left the department high and dry without a chief. ONCE A QUITTER ALWAYS A QUITTER!!! I think that all of the members of LAFD are good people, and they work very hard to keep everyone safe. This is a volunteer organization, and every volunteer organization goes though transition periods like this from time to time. Look at the EMS, before Diane Eberdt took over they were down to like 10 active members, but here again, I didn’t see any press on that??? Like every other department LAFD will make it through this transition and become even a stronger department that it was before.

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  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 24, 2009 @ 10:56 AM

  This is rediculous. I am a member of LAFD and you maybe don’t have the whole story. Maybe we should look from the start. Mark Wickham quit because the board made him tell the members they had to pay taxes on their income. God forbid we would have to abide by a law that everyone in the nation has to right? Mark was given an option to come up with a plan to fix the tax problem, and he came up with a great one. “We are not paying or I quit”. Great leadership huh? Next issue, Mark quit, but said he and the officers would stand behind whoever stepped up as chief and help them and guide them for success. Well that was a great lie. He and his little groupies did everything they could to set John Griffing up for failure. No one has said to any member of the “Pouters Club” that they needed to quit or go to reserve status. That is a choice they made because they are mad they didn’t get their way. Mark Wickham bailed on all 34 members of the department and left us all hanging out to dry. Is that who you really want as a leader? Would you trust him? I sure can’t. Now lets address brilliant Herb’s concerns. Lets start with the chiminey fire. They put the fire out, with no problems or property loss. 4 people or 40 people it does not matter. They did the job. There was not an accident call where it took 20 minutes for the fire department to respond to, because Columbia County has policies against that. If it makes it to ten minutes they send another department. Reality check Herb. Your an idiot! The second part of they complaint about the accident just proves your stupidity because the fire department has not part in the transportation of injured people. If you have a problem with people being hurt and transported, that would be LODI EMS not LODI FIRE. Sauk was put on stand by because there were reported 4 people in the vehicle, not because we could not handle it. They were put on that status looking at the fact LODI EMS has 2 ambulances, what do you do if there is 4 hurt? Make them walk? Get your facts straight before you open your mouth. Now on to the rope team. It is news to me that we no longer do rope rescue. Just because one of Marks little buddies Robbie Buchannan quit does not mean we don’t do rope rescue anymore, there is alot more then just one person to do it. In fact lets take a step back to last summer. Where was Robbie during the rope rescue at the rock? He was sitting in his living room pouting because he did not get his way listening to the call on his scanner. Guess what, The LAFD saved a woman’s life that day with out Robbie. GO figure. Before you get all excited, why don’t you all come on down to the fire department and see what kind of people you have there. There are some very experienced and highly motivated people there that are not going to be allowed to contribute, instead of being a step and fetch because he was not in the click of 5 with Mark. LAFD is probably better and stronger now that the “Pouters Club” is gone. Again especially you Herb, I invite you to walk on in to the department and see for yourself before you open your mouth. Get a life and grow up. Quit trying to listen to Mark and his little cry baby squad. YOU ARE MORE THEN SAFE IN LODI. THATS A PROMISE THAT I WILL BACK UP TILL THE DAY I DIE!

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  By upinarms, March 24, 2009 @ 1:24 PM

  Dear Local Fire Fighter,
  As a citizen, trying to get the facts, I appreciate your viewpoint I also have a great deal of respect for our Firefighters and EMT’s they do things i know i could not do. However, I don;t even know you and you lost my respect with the childish name-calling and finger-pointing in your letter above. I strongly suspect that Mr. Carberry (whom I have never met) is not at the root of the problems in the LAFD yet your letter took vicious attack on him as though he was. No matter if the former members of the LAFD are “pouters”, “foot-stopmers” or “cry babies”…the department is seriously short staffed…CORRECT? For those of us who do not personally know Mark Wickam or the ex-fire-fighters, we just want to know that there is a plan in place to rectify the shortage. Your bitter, angry opinion that we are safe doesn’t hold much water. In fact, after reading your attack letter, I am more concerned than ever for our public safety. If this is how you react under pressure, we should all be concerned. You really shouldn’t be representing the Fire Department in a public forum until you can get control of your emotions and state the facts as you know them with respect for everyone involved. While I’m sure your letter has some facts in it, it’s too hard to weed them out through the nastiness. I would really value a rational, mature and professional summary of what the Board and the Department are doing to recruit and train new firefighters. Why don’t they use this forum to start that POSITIVE discussion?! I would be thrilled to read about that.

  “Get a Clue”…WHAT PRESS???? Do you mean the Enterprise? I am asking the same question. Where was the press for those meetings? The Enterprise is the only press we have in town. This site is made up exclusively of community members, volunteering their time and energy to communicate issues like these to one another. It is not “the press”. (click and read “about us” at the top of this page) According to “Get Real” the Enterprise has written “article after article” on the fire department subject. If they are referring to reporting the general ins and outs of the Fire Chief they seriously missed the story here. I admit I stopped subscribing to the Enterprise sometime ago when I noticed the quality take a deep dive into the dumpster. Not coincidentally, that dump happened when Peg Zaemisch, Gary Nski and some other really talented people left or where fired and the staff was replaced by out-of- towners and low-paid rookies whom obviously could care less about Lodi. It got so there was more about DeForest in the Lodi Enterprise than Lodi.
  I don’t think we should consider this site “The Press” it’s much more of a “Town Meeting”. And I, for one, am grateful that it’s here for us to be part of.

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  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 24, 2009 @ 1:42 PM

  Dear Up in Arms

  I will appologize for my harsh words to you, but if you had been a part of the department as long as I and seen the damage that these so called leaders have done to try and hurt not only the department but the community, it is very hard to not be hurt and upset. The commission and the members of the department are always just like in the past 10 years looking for people willing to be dedicated fire fighters. We have added 6 firefighters in the past year, and will probably add more yet this year. It is a cycle, never ending. But no one is unreplaceable.

  The fire department currently is staffed at 26 members out of 34. We are not at full strength, but what is being pushed out to you as citizens of the community is wrong and being pushed by people that are trying to get you to think that the six of them that left are non replaceable. Granted it is hard to replace experience, but we are down 8 members out of 34. There is by far no reason to panic or feel unsafe. There are several neighboring communities that are shorter staffed then us, and are doing just fine. Every job or service goes through these cycles. The only difference between when mark was chief with day time staffing is that he and Dan Markart don’t always respond anymore. We have always had a shortage of day time members, just like every other department. That is why we work closely with other departments so we can assist each other in times of need. I live in the same community as you, and I would truely say if I felt there was a safety issue, as my kids also live there. So try and see past what Herb has been fed for information from five people, and look into what you really have for hard working dedicated people at the LAFD. This forum should really be thanking the 26 members that are taking their own time away from their families doing the work of 34 people, because some people did not get their ways.

  Respectfully posted

  Your local firefighter

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  By Think about...., March 24, 2009 @ 2:59 PM

  To upinarms-
  I second “your local firefigher”. You say I am “turning a blind eye” if I feel I’m safe in this community. Like stated above, there are plenty of members, they have responded to calls since the “150 years of experiance” have left and everyone has been just fine. I haven’t heard of any houses burning to the ground in Lodi, or people hurt because of their actions. It is a volunteer service, you should be greatfull they are there to help in a time of need. They are not just “any men and women” as you state, they are the Lodi Area Fire Department….they have the same training as everyone else on that department. Maybe not as many years of service but guess what…..I trust them all with my life. If something were to happen to you and you needed emergency assitance, would you sit there asking how many years they’ve been on the service? It doesn’t matter!!!! Sure, it’s sad we lost all that experiance but did you ever wonder what kind of people they really are if they would quit over something like paying taxes, or because they didn’t like who the chief was??? The members that are left are there for the right reasons, to help the public, not putting politics before our safety like the ones you want back so badly. Just think about it……

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  By Your Local Volunteer, March 24, 2009 @ 3:31 PM

  There are several blogs here that hold some degree of validity, at the same time there are several that are very far from the truth. Mr. Carberry, while your story has some facts, it also has some fiction, I would urge you to make sure that you have 100% fact before publishing a letter on a local forum.

  Dear Get a Clue,
  I am not sure if you speak from past or present expierience on the department, it is very true that some of the “veteran” members left, all of them had their reasons for leaving, whether it be disagreement of what happened there, or perhaps other reasons. Several rumors fly, it is hard to determine what exactly motivates one to resign from something that they have dedicated their lives too for several years, but that is not important. What is important is that LAFD does have expierience left on the department, in fact in 2008 I know at least 3 of the members that were brought on had previous firefighting expierience and training, granted not with Lodi, but firefighting is firefighting and each department has different policies/procedures, but the general concept remains the same, and the training is standard in the state of Wisconsin.

  Dear upinarms,
  Recruitment is hard for a volunteer department in a small community, unfortunatly the only thing that we can do is get the word out in the community that we need members, as you stated above “it is not for everyone”, which makes it all the more difficult. Even if someone is brought on with no expierience they would still have to attend classes to at least obtain entry level firefighting standards, which of course takes time, and in small communities it is hard to get people with expireience to step forward. In the perfect world we would have paid staff (espically during the day) to ensure full staffing for at least 1 truck, but that scenerio is not logical for a town the size of Lodi. Now granted the EMS has paid staff, but they do 400 – 500 calls per year to LAFD’s 100. So, if there are any other ways/recommendations as to how to recruit new members I am sure that the LAFD would be open to suggestions.

  Mr. Carberry,
  I can appriciate your concern for the safety of the community, but your article is not 100% true, and may be putting out an unnecessary scare to the community. The fact that there is no more rope rescue team is not true, it maybe short handed, but it still remains a part of the department, also the part that it took 20 min to get a truck to a scene is also not true, there are procedures that the Columbia County communications center uses when communities can’t get equipment out the door. Also keep in mind that it is not essential that the fire department be at every accident, as long as there is nobody pinned in the vehicle or the vehicle is not on fire the EMS can get the patients loaded and transported in a timely manner, now on the other hand if there was a pin or a vehicle on fire time would be of the essance. Again, I can assure you that there has never been a 20 min response time. Also keep in mind that LAFD plays a role on every accident scene, but patient care would not be compromised unless one of the above scenerios played out. Please keep in mind that all of the other volunteer services in the area go what LAFD goes through, daytime help can be hard to come by sometimes, but that does not make the community any less safe than the communites around us, we have been mutual aided several times to surronding communites during the day because of staffing issues.

  In closing I am very confident in our local Fire/EMS services, and I hope that the community continues to support us in the wonderful fashion that they have over the years, as smaller services we rely on fundraising to be able to purchase some of the advanced live saving equipment that we need on a daily basis, without our supporters in the community this could not happen, for that I thank you all!!

  Rest assured that the community is safe, all of us at LAFD/EMS will do our best to keep it that way!

  Your Local Volunteer.

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  By WHY, March 24, 2009 @ 4:58 PM

  Why are people being so cruel to the men that have protected our community for over 30 years?? Is there no Thank you for your time and service? As for the firefighter that have remained on the department Thank You for your service. As for all the men that have choosen to leave because of the politic that the board has infringed on the department things these men could not stand behind and could not agree with. THANK YOU for your many years of service. I never thought that any firefighter has ever had a politcal agenda as indicated…there agenda if any was to serve and protect. In my oppinion the Fire Board are the ones with the politcal agenda. They afterall are the political leaders in our community. Has anyone ever talked with Mark Wickham or any of the others that have left to find out thier side to the story. There are always two sides to everything. I would suggest that the firefighters seek out both sides and then make your decision. I don’t believe that any past or present fire fighter has ever had anything but the best interest of the community in mind. Why are all of you placing the blame on the people who have left and not the board?? Anyone blaming Mark Wickham for the fall of the department is crazy! He was the Chief for a very long time and the department never had this kind of trouble when he was the Chief. Why?? The trouble started when Peter Van Ness became the president of the fire board. He really feels the need to be in control…..Why? If anyone is acting like Hitler I believe Peter Van Ness is! It seems it is his way or no way. WHY?

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  By upinarms, March 24, 2009 @ 11:32 PM

  Your local Volunteer and Firefighter,Thank you both for the information. It’s good to know all sides of the issue.

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  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 25, 2009 @ 8:20 AM

  Why,

  The blame should not be on the board for people leaving. The board did nothing wrong but look out for the best interest of the firefighters and the community. This all boils back to when Mark was chief and bailed on the department because he did not want his guys to have to pay taxes. The board bent over backwards to help him put a plan into effect that would not cost the fire fighters any money out of pocket. Do you all know Mark’s answer? His answer was simple, “here is my plan, we are not paying taxes”. What was the board to do? Say as leaders of the community we are going to allow you all to commit a federal crime and just not pay taxes? It is not fair that you all blame the board. The board has been doing their job, and doing it well. They refused to accept mark back as chief because of the damage he has caused behind closed doors at the department, that all of the community could not see. He is a man of two faces, he tells you all one thing, and does another behind closed doors. That is why he was not accepted as fire chief. You hear about all the people that left the department, but what you didn’t hear was all the fire fighters that came forward and said that if mark was to come back as chief they would leave. Either way you were going to lose fire fighters, and your younger firefighters that are the future of your department would have been gone. Then what? Physical limitations come to play after 20 years of firefighting. What we once could do when we were young, you can’t do anymore. Knowledge is great, but if you don’t have the physical ability to fight the fire, or cut the car apart anymore, what good is it?

  There is a lot more behind the scenes issues that I would love for you all to come find out first hand. Because if you ask these people why they left one on one, their story will be way different then when they stand in front of the fire fighters they tried to hurt.

  If you all want to be mad at someone, I think you should be looking at the people that decided to try and make the department fail for a year, and put you all at risk, instead of pointing the finger at one man on a fire board, who does not even have a vote unless it is a tie breaker.

  I openly invite everyone from the community to stop into the fire department and meet the men and woman that are willing to risk their lives at any given moment for anyone in need in the Lodi Area. You might be able to see the light and realize where the problem was.

  Lodi Fire department will always remain in place, and continue to move forward, and train to be the best. With or with out Mark and the crew, we will still be strong and more then capable to serve your community.

  Your Local Fire Fighter

• 

  By concerned, March 25, 2009 @ 8:43 AM

  In reading the most recent blogs I fully understand the need to support our local LAFD members — that is not the issue! The last info.I received from the present fire chief is a membership of 22 active 3 on reserve status out of a potential full roster of 36 members.Of the 22 active how many are 1st. year trainees? Where is the new chief getting his training to lead the dept.? Not finding fault with the present members, but one must realize an emergency service can not be a training ground.Who from within is going to train the officers and firefighters.Anyone who has never been an active trained fire fighter probably does not fully realize the knowledge and training needed to perform safely at a emergency,fire or accident scene.The public expects and deserves much more than the LAFD can presently provide.Wake up fire board be part of the solution as you are a big part of the problem ! FIREBOARD– forget your policy making agenda.You can have all the policys in the world but without a well trained fully staffed dept.you have nothing.Do not run your board like the military-[pencil pushers with egos] The first thing the board must realize YOU HAVE A PROBLEM ! WHO SUFFERS? the LAFD members along with the public.The two appointments of fire chief made by the fire board shows the complete inability of the board to understand the workings of a fire dept.Maybe our elected officials need to appoint a new board!

• 

  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 25, 2009 @ 9:02 AM

  Concerned,

  There are “New” fire fighters on the department that are more then properly training. I believe that one of the new people has between 10-12 years of experience prior to coming here. Two other “New” firefighters both had 2-4 years experience. Yes there is fewer numbers, but we are getting trained people to step forward and come back. I also know that some of the fire fighters with 10-15 years expereince that left due to Mark and other fire fighters that have left, are looking at coming back now that the problems are gone.

  Like I said earlier, you can be concerned, but you don’t need to be. The crew is pushing this information out to you all to try and get you all upset. There is no reason to be. Mark and his little group are getting what they want out of you right now.

  Please, I am asking nicely, before you continue to bash on the fire department, come join us on a Monday night and see what you have there before you continue to riddicule the department please.

• 

  By Your Local Volunteer, March 25, 2009 @ 9:52 AM

  Concerned,

  First of all, emergency calls are not training grounds, never have been, never will be, new firefighters need to attend classes that are put on through MATC, once the class is over then they must take state tests to obtain certification. If they are not certified then they do not run into burning bulidings, they may help with rehab or filling bottles, things like that. Even the most expierienced firefighters learn something new on every call. We have 1 person on the department that is currently going through class to be certified, everyone else has a bare minimum of 1 year expierience. The funny thing is that some of the newer firefighters are good to have on calls because being fresh out of class, they may have learned a new trick or two of the trade…

  As far as the officers go, well let’s just say that all of our captains and asst. chiefs have several years of expierience, and I would not hesitate to trust them with my life at a fire, in fact there is no one on the department that I wouldn’t trust going into a burning building with me.

  I am sure that the chief will attend officer trainings ect…. Cut the guy some slack, he has been chief for what 1-2 months, he hasn’t even had time to prove himself, and yet he is already under the microscope. He has not even had time to get in depth with recruitment and other issues, I am sure that once he has been given sufficent time everyone will be pleased with the results. As your local firefighter said, come on down on a Monday night and see what we do, and meet some of the people that are being put under the microscope, I think that you will be pleased with what you see.

• 

  By WHY?, March 25, 2009 @ 3:06 PM

  Your Local Fire fighter- If you truely believe that Mark Wickham quit because of the tax issue….You are not getting the whole story!! You are apparently believing every thing the board is telling you…..how sad!

• 

  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 25, 2009 @ 3:32 PM

  WHY…….

  Your right that was not the whole issue. The other part was that he felt they went behind his back and had a meeting without him about enforcing the tax issue.

  No I don’t believe everything the board says, but I was man enough to ask him face to face and that is what he advised. He was mad that he felt the board was working behind his back about the tax issue, and that mad him upset. Now does that justify bailing on the members of the department?

  I don’t think so……but hey maybe in what ever it is you do that is acceptable. When it comes to leading a group of men and woman that are willing to give their lives for complete strangers, then NO IT IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE REASON!

  Like I have said in several entries, please accept my invitation to come down to the fire department and meet the men and woman that protect you every day, and find out what the true feelings about what mark did to us all is. You might be suprised.

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  By WHY?, March 25, 2009 @ 5:05 PM

  local fire fighter

  so you are saying it was something the board did….hmmmm.

  I would like to thank you and all the men for trying to protect our community!

  I just don’t think that calling someone a quiter after 30 years of service is nice or very profesional. I have lived here most of my life and have seen Marks accomplishments as a fire fighter. He deserves more respect then that.

• 

  By concerned, March 25, 2009 @ 6:26 PM

  In response to several new blogs today– either you have a personal agenda to protect a fire dept. that is in dire need of gaining seasoned firefighters hopefully day time members,or you have never been a member of a well run fire dept.so you do not know any better.I beleive every one should get off the Mark Wickham band wagon on blaming him for the present condition of the LAFD.Remember Mark was chief approx.15 months ago so do not tell me the present problems all revolve around him.The board has had 2 opportunitys to appoint a seasoned fire chief and for some reason keeps appointing a rookie chief.Mark was a dedicated chief for many years, as I see it he got to the stage of burn out and the tax issue was the ending blow.I see a mistake was made by not having another LAFD member groomed to step in as a fire chief.Some of the blame falls on Mark for not slowly turning the dutys of chief over to a intrested dedicated member.With that said I really feel if the fire board was was in touch and understood the inner workings of a fire dept.they would have sensed a need to make sure another member was in place to accept the chief dutys.Just like the old saying all of your eggs in one basket,an emergency service can never go down that road,everyone deserves better.

• 

  By heard enough, March 25, 2009 @ 9:26 PM

  To everyone that is on the LAFD and has been reading this, please lets stop this is a huge waste of our time! We are trying to defend ourselves to a bunch of idiots. We know the true reasons and what has gone on at the LAFD and are ready to move on and build the department stronger than it ever has been. You can’t reason with the unreasonable.

• 

  By M, March 26, 2009 @ 7:42 AM

  The comments on the running vehicle were hysterical! The holier-than-thou dolt who took it upon herself to complain missed the biggest point. Here, in good ol’ downtown Chicago, the thing would have been stolen the moment the driver turned his back! Leaving an unattended car running? Are you out of your mind? How many kids (or demented adults) would have gladly taken it joyriding? And maybe killing somebody in the process? Either the driver has darn good insurance or none whatsoever and figures “what have I got to lose?” Was the driver leaving it hoping someone WOULD steal it to collect the insurance? Just wondering. Please, everyone, LOCK your cars and homes for your safety. At the very least, DON’T leave your vehicle running! puh-LEEZ

• 

  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 26, 2009 @ 8:54 AM

  Concerned,
  I have been a part of a successful fire department. It would be LAFD. You and I finally agree on one issue. You are starting to see the light, Mark got mad and walked out on us. I am not saying or have never said that Mark was a bad chief or that he was not a valuable asset to the department. What I am saying is he has created a monster with his actions. He has taken his group of friends, and made them so mad that he has gotten them to quit with him. That is wrong. Now on to the obvious. LAFD will move on and be successful with or without him.

  Please do a little research for me. Go visit Dane Fire Department or Arlington or any of the departments around Lodi and see how many members they have during the day. We are not the only one that has day time help problems. You need to quit listening to the people that are trying to get you mad and upset. We have had a shortage of Day time help in LODI for YEARS. You just never heard about it because Mark covered it up. Now the only difference is from his time in office to now, is he no longer responds to calls. That is one person difference from before. Now that he is not the Chief he wants to show the weakness of the department that is no different then when he was there.

  Please realize that you are letting a group of five disgruntled firefighters construew your view of reality. Your fire department is as good if not better then any of your surrounding departments. You are letting him get you fired up about nothing.

  It is your choice. Come see for yourself, or quit talking about issues you don’t understand.

  Your Local Fire Fighter

• 

  By Get a clue people, March 26, 2009 @ 10:25 AM

  Local fire figther,

  Wanna throw?

• 

  By Get a clue people, March 26, 2009 @ 10:38 AM

  Local fire fighter,

  Just playing!!! =) You be good people, you seem a little wound up though… =) Let it be my friend……. Seems most on this blog have made their minds up already, and anything that you say will not help that!!! Be Safe!!

  A Supporter of Lodi Fire Department.

• 

  By Your Local Volunteer, March 26, 2009 @ 11:55 AM

  Get a clue,

  I am sure that your local firefighter is just passionate about what he does. I think that everybody is passionate about one thing or another in their lives.

  Your Local Volunteer

• 

  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 26, 2009 @ 1:46 PM

  Hey Get a Clue,

  Thanks it is nice to hear that your a supporter of the LAFD. It is a very touchy subject to me to have a group of five people that supposedly were there for the best interest of the community would now be out there trying to raise hate and disconcern with a department that is compiled of men and woman that have dedicated a part of their live to volunteer to keep you safe. There is not a man or woman on LAFD that would not give their life to save yours or anyones in the community, so yes, I am very passionate about the fact that some in mature people want to go out and try and turn the community against the very people that are there for their protection, and are very dedicated to it.

  In closing LAFD is better now then it ever was. People actually enjoy coming to the station unlike six months ago. The people that had all the experience also made it misserable to be at the station because they treated everyone so poorly. It is a great department compiled of now of men and woman that truely care about the best interest of the community.

• 

  By concerned, March 26, 2009 @ 5:54 PM

  Here we go again. As I stated before, if you want to play the blame game there is plenty to go around. That is not the issue… blame and finger pointing are not part of the solution. Leadership and an unintrested and uninformed board are the past problem. Now everyone must ask, “what is the next move?” I realize some LAFD members do not feel, realize or see a problem. Look out everyone. Sooner or later (I hope never) the responding members will be faced with a situation that will bring all of our concerns to reality. Let’s all hope no one will unnecessarily get hurt responding to an emergency. Several of the blogs elude to the fact that I am an uninformed citizen with no experience in the fire service. I must say that I am a long-term past member of a fire department holding officer positions. Over many years, I have studied, watched and been involved in primarly volunteer fire services. Therefore, I am well qualified to say what I have said in my past blogs. As a local Lodi citizen, I am extremely concerned and saddened to see what is happening to the LAFD. The community should feel pride in the LAFD. I commend the present members trying to keep the LAFD together. What upsets me is that I sense no outward concern or urgency to realize the present state of the organization. Yes, the LAFD can be fixed. It will take experienced leadership and a concerned involved board to reastablish the department. I strongly suggest trying to rebuild the bridges that are broken down and hopefully regain some past experienced members. The department’s equiptment is first class. Now we should focus on learning how to put it to good use. Let’s just all try to get along with a common goal to rebuild the LAFD better than it has ever been.

• 

  By WHY, March 27, 2009 @ 7:39 AM

  Very well said concerned! Let all more forward to a solution!

• 

  By Your Local Fire Fighter, March 27, 2009 @ 8:51 AM

  Concerned,

  This will be my last entry on this site. I don’t think you understand the damage that was done behind closed doors by the people that are no longer a part of the department. If we were to bring those five back, your looking at losing up to 15 members. You have to look at the balance. Is bringing five experienced people back worth losing 15? I don’t think so.

  I can respect your fire back ground and my following statement you will understand. If you can not trust the man next to you when it comes to fire fighting you can’t function. There is finally a feeling of trust and working relationship with all “active” members of the department.

  If you have ideas on how to recruit people or ideas on how to make the department better, I invite you to come down to the station and give us your thoughts. The difference in the department now is you can walk in and be accepted by the group that is there. We are not a bunch of ignorant people, we are always open to new ideas and help.

  Instead of sitting here trying to get people fired up, put your knowledge, experience, and effort into helping us build a stronger department, instead of cutting us down and telling everyone that there is problems that are not there.

  I hope to see you walk through the doors at the station some day soon. I hope you will be willing to share some of your knowledge with us.

  Local Fire Fighter……..OUT

• 

  By concerned, March 27, 2009 @ 2:14 PM

  In response to your local firefighter blog,as I have stated over and over every one must move forward together.This is where the problem starts,who will have the knowledge and ideas to move on and what roll will the board be willing to play other than create more policy.As to your statement to me of helping rebuild the LAFD,why do you think I have been been so active on this web site? Primarly out of frustration.I have been asked 2 times by the fire board to become involved,with the board changing there mind there minds both times.As I have said before when politics and friendship come first this is the result.The public should view the agenda of the upcoming board meeting — policy,policy ,policy.Forget the policy making and start getting involved in the real reasons for having a FD.Focus on a membership drive and extensive training including pump operators.Do not put the cart before the horse!

• 

  By lyl, March 30, 2009 @ 9:24 PM

  With regard to Mr. Pickle’s letter, I do not believe that anyone believing in ‘luck’ should be elected. I also do not see any stated documentation of the supposed business qualifications of Collins or Ritchie. Town leadership is absolutely not part-time. I cannot vouch for the opposition candidate, but one should ask if it is in the Town’s best interest to vote for candidates that will not be in the Town on a very full-time basis.

• 

  By truthseeker, March 31, 2009 @ 8:42 AM

  Ms. Seaton’s letter brings up some very interesting questions that need to be answered. Should and elected official be able to select their own stand-in when they leave the area for months at a time? Shouldn’t the constituency be voting on both the candidate and their “stand-in”?? Thanks, Ms. Seaton for opening this line of discussion! Does anyone know the policy on this if their is one?

• 

  By Aware Lodi Citizen, March 31, 2009 @ 2:06 PM

  Concerned,

  So, what you are saying is that the only way you would come back to the department is if you are the chief??? I am sure that you are more than qualified to hold that position, but should a group of people trust an outsider? If you are so CONCERNED then maybe you should re-join the department as a firefighter and contribute to the cause, or are you too expierienced to be a firefighter, and only feel that you should be the chief? I know who you are and also know that you were chief several years ago, and as I can greatly appriciate your years of service it seems that you like to talk about improving the fire department, but only would do so in the role of fire chief. Maybe if you came back as a member, you could become an officer of some sort and help the cause!! Again, I can not give enough thanks for your years of service. Hopefully you will consider becoming a member, you would be a wonderful asset to LAFD.

• 

  By concerned, March 31, 2009 @ 5:31 PM

  To aware Lodi citizen—If someone is willing to volunteer there time,why not in a position of most benefit.Someone with past fire chief knowledge who was part of a full staffed,well trained dept.with a waiting list really thinks with a lot of hard work,dedicated members and a desire to bring the most recent past and present firefighters together and work for the common good of the fire district maybe should not be overlooked.Did you ever think bringing someone from the outside would be a benefit? As I keep saying I fully understand the noble effort of anyone stepping forward and voluntering there time.How great it would be to work together,mentor the new members and again bring the LAFD back to its former glory.It is not to late.Remember fire board you play a key roll in the LAFDs future.Give the fire board pagers and turn out gear and create a ride along program so they can begin to understand what it means to be a firefighter,not just policy makers!

• 

  By April Goeske, April 1, 2009 @ 4:06 PM

  Dear Truthseeker (and others wanting the answer:
  See Wisconsin State Statute 60.30(5)(a)which regulates the Temporary Vacancy of Town Officers: “If any elected officer, other than a town board supervisor, is absent or temporarily incapacitated from any cause, the town board may appoint a suitable person to discharge the duties of the office until the officer returns.” Thus this is how a temporary vacancy of the Town Chairperson would legally have to be addressed.

• 

  By truthseeker, April 2, 2009 @ 9:25 AM

  April Goeske
  thank you so much for that info. I sincerely appreciate it. It seems like it really is a matter of disclosure on the part of the candidates. Since it is deemed acceptable by state statute to reside in another state for several months while holding a town office, candidates should, morally anyway, in my opinion, disclose their intentions for residency. I would say Mr. Pickle is remiss at the very least for not informing his constituency of his plans. In doing so, they could make an informed decision about who’s watching over the town (even when it’s cold!).

• 

  By Who Cares, April 3, 2009 @ 11:24 AM

  Fire Department! It is a good asset to the community. To you “Concerned” AKA Mr. Bushnell, we as a membership are supporting our new chief. Get over it. If you want to help, come back and be a member, if not. Move on! Enough said!

• 

  By concerned, April 3, 2009 @ 6:41 PM

  By Who Cares— Yes a FD is an asset to the community,mandated by law and taxed based.I feel you have really missed the point, if it was not for concerned citizens questioning the profiency of the current FD what will ever get the ball rolling for the LAFD to head in a diffrent direction? Maybe you or others who are missing the point should be thankful citizens who are concerned enough to express there feelings just might be exerting enough pressure on the board to get involved ! Your statement of GET OVER IT really brings home the point many are trying to make.Who is to get over what? Maybe some should begin to understand the importance of being a member of a FD.Really every on just wants the dept.to be a well trained dept.to succeed an and be safe.Always rember– a good day is when after a fire call no one got hurt and every one is able to go home to there family!

• 

  By Aware Lodi Citizen, April 6, 2009 @ 1:16 PM

  Hey Concerned,

  Did you see the posting for the fire board meeting??? Maybe you should go there and speak your thoughts instead of doing it on this forum! Why don’t you go to the meeting and try to make a difference?? As you speak of in your previous posts! Or are you only willing to speak on this forum??????? Put your money where your mouth is!!!

• 

  By Who Cares, April 6, 2009 @ 2:08 PM

  Mr. Bushnell, Ooops I mean “Concerned”

  I tell you what. I will compare my training and abilities in present day firefighting against your fire expereince of 20 years ago? You have not been a fire fighter in years. How are you going to sit here and tell us all how we are as fire fighters when you have no idea what had changed in training and standards, much less the upgrades in equipment that we have? You have no real concept on how to judge us as a department. You are comparing your old dusty days to the present. I am sorry but you are cutting on men and woman that have way more training they you give them credit for. I would love to see you at the up comming board meeting. We will see if you can back up all your lies you have written in here. We have not lost a fire fighter yet. And we never will because the Men and Woman that serve you are more then well trained.

  Quit pouting because you did not get the chief job. Quit “stopping your feet”. If you think your such a valuable asset, then please feel free to apply and be a member. If not. Shut your mouth until you research the facts!

  Man up and see ya on Wend!

• 

  By concerned, April 6, 2009 @ 6:28 PM

  By Who Cares I really hope you are not an example of the many hard working LAFD members.It really scares me to here that you are so certain of your abilitys and training.I always thought learning never ended.Also why would anyone ever make such a statement as [we have not lost a firefighter yet] Also explain what old dusty days means, I am at a loss as to what that means.Also do not be to quick to judge my schooling,training and experience maybe just maybe I have kept abreast and involved in the volunteer fire service beyond your knowledge.Of course all I can say again, to bad you and maybe others just can not grasp the point!The LAFD does not need more meetings, just strong experienced leadership.If it takes meetings to determine what is wrong or needed,does not that in itself lead you to beleive a real problem exists?

• 

  By Aware Lodi Citizen, April 7, 2009 @ 9:15 AM

  Again concerned,

  judging by your response I am assuming that you are not going to go to the fire board meeting, Mr. “the public needs to speak up” isn’t going to go speak up!! What a shame, seems like you have alot of valuable input!! It seems that you would rather “rant” on this blog, instead of the fire board meeting… Unfortunatly doing it here makes no difference!! I would go to the fire board meeting, but I will be the first to admit I know nothing about the fire service and would have nothing to contribute, but someone like you whom actually knows something could go, but chooses not to, and only complain about everything!! If someone with knowledge like yours feels that LAFD is heading in the worng direction, I would hope that you would step up to the plate for the rest of us who don’t know what you know!! Again, you are wasting your time here, when you could be out voicing your opinion where it matters!!!

• 

  By Who Cares, April 7, 2009 @ 12:48 PM

  Mr. Bushnell,

  You have not been “active” with any department. Your not fooling any of us. We are moving on. We are conducting more demanding, both physically and mentally now then ever before. But you continue to talk about you. If you are so great, step off your high horse and come join us as a member. If not, well you just blowing hot air about “bettering the community”. The only one you care about is you and the $12,000 a year your not getting as the fire chief. If you are truely concerned about the community actions speak way louder then words. Either come join the department as a member or quit blowing your hot air that you know nothing about.

• 

  By concerned, April 7, 2009 @ 4:10 PM

  By Who Cares — There you go again missing the point.If you can not understand what I have been trying to say for days,you have a problem.I sense a real bitter feeling in your blogs,maybe you should direct your unchecked emotions elsewhere.As for the 12,000 wage, I stated to the board the money would go back to the general fund.The LAFD is a perfect example of money not being able to fix the problems! To adress By Aware Lodi Citizen — I understand you thoughts, the problem rests with the fire boards appointment process.After being asked 2 times by the board to step forward then turned away at the last minute it really frustrares a person that was willing to donate time to help get the LAFD back on its feet.It certainly was not just myself getting involved,several area chiefs also would have stepped forward and donated there time for the common good of the LAFD.Maybe someone should ask former Chief Griffing about the time and effort I put forth in an attempt to help him get started.John was great to work with,to bad the board did not give proper support to John.

• 

  By Aware Lodi Citizen, April 8, 2009 @ 12:10 PM

  Concerned,

  Perhaps you are right, maybe we can turn too some of our newly elected officals for help.. I understand your points as well. We can all hope that someday the process will be straightened out! If I was more wise to the world of a fire fighter I could perhaps speak out, but since I am not then I will have to sit back and ride the wave on this one.

• 

  By concerned, April 9, 2009 @ 8:38 AM

  You would of had to been there.That is the monthly LAFD fire board meting last night 4/8/09.Just as I suspected in my opinion the president of the commission should be asked to step down or terminated as a board member.Peter VanNess really needs to extend apologies to Virgil Wickham and Herb Carberry.As I stated in my opening [you would of had to been there]The disrespect directed primarly to Mr.Carberry by Peter VanNess was in my opinion unacceptable to say the least.I always thought a public meeting gives anyone the right to speak with out being harrased by a board member,Mr. Carberry just got started with his talk when Peter interrupted Herb two times in a very insulting manner.Herb in return left the meeting very upset.Seeing something like this happening at a public meeting should not go unchecked.The direction the board president[Peter VanNess]is attempting to take by dwelling on policys and more policys seems to me as very counter productive.It appears to me there is a need for the board to go back to the basics, provide leadership and support to the LAFD.I would like to extend a thank you to Larry Clark,Roger Wetzel and Herd Paske for their time spent as fire board members,under their past leadership I feel they had a great impact on the LAFDs future,again thank you gentelmen.Hopefully new members appointed to the commission will be carefully chosen by our elected officials.

• 

  By Who Cares, April 9, 2009 @ 9:26 AM

  Mr. Bushnell,

  For a guy with so much knowledge about public meetings your not showing your intelegence at all. If Herb, wanted to speak at this meeting, he should have got himself on the agenda. That’s how a meeting works. A past chief with so much experience should know that!

• 

  By Editor, April 9, 2009 @ 9:39 AM

  Please note: According to LAFD fire board meeting agenda posted in the “Public Notices” section on this web site. Number two on the agenda for the meeting was “Public Input”. As a member of the public Mr. Carberry was already on the agenda.

• 

  By Aware Lodi Citizen, April 9, 2009 @ 12:02 PM

  The Editor speaks!! LOL………

• 

  By John Doe, April 9, 2009 @ 3:07 PM

  After reading all of these entries (it took awhile!!!), I have concluded that who cares has a very negative personality (There is help for that!!) and it seems like that he is only interested in personally attacking concerned. Hey who cares, did you ever stop to think that he may have some good advise/imput??? Instead of personally attacking him on every entry, perhaps you should embrace his knowledge, or at least say something positive for once in your life. Or for god sake get some help, I hope not all of LAFD is like you, because with your attitude we are in trouble!!!

• 

  By concerned, April 9, 2009 @ 5:10 PM

  By Who Cares I did not get involved in this blog to show my intelligence [spelled correctly].Do you think personal attacks solve problems? Why not use your time spent blogging in a construtive manner? Until our elected officals step in and correct the problems which surfaced last night at the LAFD board meeting there is no reason to care anymore!

• 

  By Who Cares, April 10, 2009 @ 1:48 PM

  Well here is the deal. You can be upset with me “attacking” Mr. Bushnell, but lets look at the whole picture. Mr. Bushnell has so much to say here, so I took the time to come to the meeting on Wend night. Mr. Bushnell said not one word all night. For being so offended, you did a great job of showing your leadership skills and cutting that off at the pass.

  I don’t agree with what the president of the board did on Wend night, but Herb was out of line as well. None of us need a history lesson on what being a volunteer means. It was handled very poorly on both ends!

  I have been a firefighter for years, and have always been the quiet one. why should I not hide behind a screen name and say what I think here?

  I have attended so much training on my own time it is not even funny. But to have a man who has no idea who I am or what I can do, tell me that I am not trained to protect the citizens of Lodi is an absolute insult.

  It is even more insulting to hear a man say that he has so much knowledge and leadership ability, not be able to step up and say two words at a board meeting after sitting here ripping the board and fire department apart.

  You can all be mad and upset with what I have to say, but guess what. You all need to look what this boils down too. Herb and Mr. Bushnell slapped the hornets nest and then expected us to all bow down to them.

  The problem is not the board, and not the fire department it is two pouters. Get over it. Like I have said all along, if you are so concerened and have so much to offer, apply and be a member. If not, let it go.

  Quit stirring up hard feelings when your not willing to do anything about it.

• 

  By Virgil Wickham, April 10, 2009 @ 2:18 PM

  My name is Virgil Wickham. I don`t feel that Peter VanNess owes me an apology. I returned his poor attitude with my own. I said that Peter was operating by the Peter Principal. This was uncalled for. The Peter Principal is when a person rises to the height of his/her incompetence and remains in that position. There was also some talk of board members getting 10.00 per meeting and one citizen commented that firemen get 8.50 per call or run and board members should get the same. It was said that the firemen are putting their lives on the line everytime they go on a run. I commented that Peter VanNess also puts his life on the line when he shows up for a meeting. These remarks were uncalled for and I will be the first to say that I am sorry for saying them. But also keep in mind that I was not the first to show a hostile attitude. You might say that I was just fighting fire with fire. I had a telephone conversation with our Mayor and I was not pleased with his answers to my questions but I respected his replies.
  I believe that Herb Carberry deserves an apology from Peter. Herb was not rude or offensive in any way. On his way out he stopped and turned to the board and properly excused himself to all of the board members except Peter VanNess. I am sorry that you were treated in such a disrespecting way Herb, this should have never happened. It was very wrong for an appointed official in Peter`s position to do this to you. I can only pray that every one can come together and restore what we have lost. I wish that the name calling would stop and look toward a positive way of getting everything resolved. Again, I want to say I am sorry Pete. I can only hope that you will treat all citizens (young & old alike) with respect that they so richly deserve.

• 

  By concerned, April 10, 2009 @ 4:46 PM

  By Who Cares – I must have been in a diffrent meeting than you as I engaged in 2 positive conversations with the board and chief regarding fire inspections and truck tire issues.Now do you remember? As far as your comment regarding Mr. Carberry, have you ever learned respect for other people? The president of the LAFD boards rude comments were uncalled for at any level.It sounds like if you would have stepped up to the plate and became the LAFD fire chief all of our worries would be over.

• 

  By John Doe, April 13, 2009 @ 8:05 AM

  I am willing to bet that who cares was not at the meeting, and is merely going off information that was given to him by fellow fire fighters, otherwise he would have known that concerned did say a few things!! My question is why lie about it?

• 

  By Who Cares, April 13, 2009 @ 9:40 AM

  23 consecutive years of firefighting means your and unexperienced fire fighter I guess, well at least in the eyes of the LODI experienced board. And Yes I guess i am a liar John Doe.

• 

  By John Doe, April 13, 2009 @ 11:44 AM

  If you are lying about something simple like going to a meeting, then why should we (the citizens of Lodi) hold any value to anything that you have posted here, for all we know everything that you have posted is all lies??

• 

  By blackberry, April 14, 2009 @ 9:42 PM

  To the Lodi School Board, Why is our tax money going to Verona and not staying here at home? What is wrong with this system. Lowest bid means lowest bid. Does this guy from Verona have friends on this board or relatives? Buchanan’s Mowing is very reliable and has the newest equipment. Something is very fishy here. Iam beginning to wonder about this town of Lodi. Do we really want to raise our kids with these kind of people doing want they want and not going by the rules. Think about it.

• 

  By truthseeker, April 15, 2009 @ 9:24 AM

  Who cares
  You have been intent on “outing” the identity of “concerned” but have continued to hide behind your own screen name. That seems a little inequitable and childish. If you find blogging under a screen name so offensive, why do you do it yourself?

• 

  By whatup, April 15, 2009 @ 9:27 AM

  Lodi School Board. This lawncare question seems like a no- brainer. Why would you make such a short sighted decision to hire a more expensive, out of town service? It begs an explanation!

• 

  By John Doe, April 16, 2009 @ 11:39 AM

  Who cares is finally silent, what a blessing!!! I think he may have had some valid points, but went about things the wrong way!!

• 

  By April Goeske, April 17, 2009 @ 4:28 PM

  Mr. Blackberry – you state “I am beginning to wonder about this town of Lodi” in reference to School Board’s decision regarding mowing contract. PLEASE be informed that the “Town of Lodi” had nothing to do with this decision, it was made the the Lodi School Board. The Town of Lodi always has and will continue to “keep it local”.

• 

  By Lodi taxpayer, April 18, 2009 @ 7:19 AM

  Ref: the lawn care question I know Buchanan Mowing pays taxes in the the Lodi school district as well as most of their employees. How many local people does this Verona company employ? shouldn’t that come into consideration?

• 

  By sundayslady, April 21, 2009 @ 11:35 AM

  I too would like to hear an explanation from our school board about why they voted down the LOWEST bidder AND a local company.
  Perhaps they should read this web site more (see below)..Think before you shop, support your local mom and pop! ..

• 

  By spittinmad, December 28, 2009 @ 5:52 PM

  Dear Lodians, I am of the opinion that there just aren’t enough opinions anymore. I check the opinion page of this site every so often hoping for some sort of scuttlebut on this or that, but nothin’! Surely there must be some disgruntled individuals out there busting to ruffle some feathers! Speak, and speak loudly, I say! Get it off your chest! I, for one am ready to start scoffing again.

Other Links to this Post

1. Pickle Outlines Qualifications | LodiValleyNews.com — March 30, 2009 @ 7:59 AM

2. Ludlum Puzzled by School Board Decision | LodiValleyNews.com — April 14, 2009 @ 7:35 PM

3. Lodi Valley News Pickle Questioned Lodi WI and Lake Wisconsin area news source | LodiValleyNews.com — May 17, 2009 @ 7:20 AM

4. Lodi Valley News Seton Responds to Picklea Lodi WI and Lake Wisconsin area news source | LodiValleyNews.com — May 17, 2009 @ 7:22 AM

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