According to court documents, Dale Soumis was charged with
False Swearing on 11/26/08. The actual offense date is
07/23/08. Mr. Soumis entered a plea of not guilty on 12/15/08,
and was released on a signature bond of $500.
Below are the posts that have brought over from another
blog, but, are relative to this post:
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John Jameson Says:
December 18th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
It’s good to see that the APD finally did something sowrthwhile and arrested Dale Soumis for perjury. With any luck, this will result in his being removed from his job of City Admin. and start Antigo on the track to recovery.
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John Jameson Says:
December 18th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
^ I apologize for the typos. ^
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antigo Says:
December 18th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
i would hope that they could also charge him with a few others if the rumors r correct. but knowing Uttke he will probably drop the case because hes everyones best friend who is a city employee. and of course no one who actually goes to court here ever seems to get any real time. he will get a slap on the wrist like many others who have walked the halls of the court house and laughed at him behind his back.
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It Burns Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 1:29 am
What the heck are you talking about?!
Dale Soumis arrested??? When? I think you may be confused.
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admin Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
If you check the WI court site, there is an open case against him with charges of “False Swearing”. A signature bond was set on 12/15/08, so apparently he is out. Langlade County Case Number 2008CM000266. You can find a link for the Court site on the AntigoBuzz main page.
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Kim Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Nope they aren’t confused it was in thursdays (12/18) paper.
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John Jameson Says:
December 19th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
The worst part is the city’s attorney is representing Mr. Soumis. This seems wrong on several differnet levels. The people of Antigo should demand that he resign A.S.A.P. I do not feel comfortable leaving a criminal at the helm of our city. I wonder if the police cheif still eats breakfast with Dale at Dixie Lunch every morning. If so, he should reconsider associating with known criminals. It might haunt his future political career.
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voiceofreason Says:
December 20th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Criminal? It’s funny that you defended Morse to the death but have already convicted Mr. Soumis. If he is found not guilty, will you take your words back? Presumed innocent until proven guilty…hmmm, where have I heard that before? I seem to remember being accused of slander by Mr. Jameson in a posting on this very thread on July 26th. Hello Kettle, I am the Pot…you are black!
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John Jameson Says:
December 20th, 2008 at 1:12 am
The evidence of Mr. Soumis’ crimes actually do exist in public record. He is wasting the county’s time by pleading ‘not guilty’ to it. Seeing as Mr. Soumis was arrested for a criminal offense, I am in the right calling him a criminal.
If Mr. Morse was arrested for making false statements. I would not argure his criminal status. I wanted to see your supposed evidence against Mr. Morse. The people of Wisconsin will show you the evidence against Mr. Soumis.
I almost forgot, you are the man who made up the lies about a Starbucks franchise(when they do not franchise). Unless you are opening a fake Starbucks franchise next week(I do like their coffee), I have no reason to waste my time on you.
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Fed Up Says:
December 21st, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Jameson-dying to know where you get the info you do. “The evidence of Mr. Soumis crimes actually do exist in the public record.” You must know something the judge does not because the case was thrown out of civil court–but being civil case it was not published. If you know of evidence, please produce it because the DA seems to be having a tough time and maybe he could use your help. Innocent until proven guilty except in Antigo it seems.
Antigo-guess you must know something I do by your comment that Uttke is the city employees friend. He successfully prosecuted the last two without prejudice so I think you might be mistaken.
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Fed Up Says:
December 21st, 2008 at 5:18 pm
BTW–voice you will like this. A local business person is contemplating criminal charges against Morse for a still unpaid bill which resulted from his last mayoral campaign. It seems he did not follow the statues in how he played the politics game and the outstanding bill, still not paid stands as evidence of such. I will let you figure out the details as no one ever believes me when I say that the truth as I know it but I am supposed to believe them when they say they are stating the truth. I hope the businessman follows through or at least gets his money due as this is shameful practice in my thinking.
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Fed Up Says:
December 21st, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Jameson-Also–”Seeing as Mr. Soumis was arrested for a criminal offense, I am in the right calling him a criminal” For the record, arrest is not conviction, even in the court of blogs. I am sure that with you helping the DA uncover all this evidence you state is public record you will fight for his conviction based on that evidence as you present it to the judge. Until then, I suggest you not confuse the issue as it is beneath you.
Maybe you will elaborate for everyone who the other person involved in this case is. He has been proven a liar but we won’t talk about that now will we. I see a black pot and kettle brewing.
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antigo Says:
December 21st, 2008 at 9:39 pm
i’m not sure who u r talking about there fed up. the last two as in who? there r a lot of cases that go through the court house. and yes uttke lets them get away with little to no punishment. if u r talking about the alcoholic who ran over an innocent man that should have been closed along time ago, GUILTY! life in prison! and if u r also referring to the man who wanted to kill his wife, well all i can say is everyone talks and i wasnt there so i dont know the truth only a few select people do and it is those who r involved. so i know no more than u do, but i did hear they have your beloved mr. soumis on record as in either a voice recording or stenographer, not sure which one. unlike u i dont let my mouth overload my *SS.
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voiceofreason Says:
December 21st, 2008 at 10:52 pm
MORSE not paying bills from his last mayoral campaign?? Sounds vaguely familiar to me. Then again, the proof wasn’t there, correct Mr. Jameson? Oops! I just wonder if this is the old Clermont bill he hadn’t paid as of his last report or is there yet another? Then again, what’s a little matter of integrity have anything to do with an election? Regardless, he will be buried by Mr. Brandt come election day.
Speaking of election day, I heard someone is running against EDER. Anyone know if MORSE or KAPUSTA will be challenged? It would be great to get both of them out of office! Also, STIMAC could go for a 4-peat in defeat! This will be fun!
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Fed Up Says:
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:01 am
Antigo-beloved Mr. Soumis no. Waiting to see the evidence, yes. A lot of rumors fly and I am waiting to see the evidence presented by the DA because I know he brings a lot of cases to the docket to keep his job and they are thrown out for lack of evidence. I personally would like to see my tax dollars used to put the murders of the innocent in jail and not used to feather someone’s resume. You and I are not that far apart, I just know that Uttke chases windmills with my tax dollars and I am afraid this is one. The voters put him in so he has a job yes and I just wish he would do it.
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Kim Says:
December 22nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
More than just our tax dollars are being used on Uttke, the city attorney is representing Soumis.
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John Jameson Says:
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Ok, the followoing is loosely paraphrased from a source close to the investigation:
Mr. Soumis was arrested after making false statements about his dealings with the damage done to Mr. Stimac’s business after the demolition of the McMillon Hotel. Apparently, on sworn record, he had claimed to have never sopken to Mr. Stimac about the damage done to his business. However, he is on record 3 monthes earlier speaking with Mr. Stimac about the damgage.
If the infromation from the source I have is correct, the evidence exists in public records.
It is more surprising that the city attorney can defend Mr. Soumis. Is he paying for this legal representation? If he isn’t, why are we paying to defend his false statements? If he is(paying), isn’t it a huge conflict of interests to have the city’s attorney working to represent a city employee? I would like to see the city start looking for a new attorney who would have the ethics to refuse the case, but that is highly unlikely.
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Fed Up Says:
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I will no longer comment as this case is under investigation in the courts and not in this blog. If the case is based on city business, then the city attorney is legally obligated to represent the city and its representative(s). That being said, I will not comment further but please keep talking amongst yourselves.
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voiceofreason Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:14 am
Mr. Jameson has “a source” and we should all believe him! Especially with his past support of public records! Wow, this is ironic!
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John Jameson Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
You are out of your element here voice. I wanted you to provide me a current bill showing an account that was past due. All you had was an old campaign spending report, which was not what I was asking for. How about you run down to that Starbucks Franchise of yours and get me coffee. Good boy!
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voiceofreason Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Yes Yes Yes, I am out of my element. How dare I point out the hypocrisy of a kook like you. Obviously I have no place with heavyweight intellectual types such as yourself. How dare I not provide current bills that no one other than MORSE has access to, even though you, your excellency has requested them? How dare I point to public records that prove the bill wasn’t paid ONE YEAR after the campaign and call that proof, even though that is the public record that MORSE HIMSELF provided? How dare I presume Mr. Soumis innocent until proven guilty even though the legal scholar that you are has taken the place of the judge? I definately am out of my element, my apologies to all….oh, and Merry Christmas!
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Ridiculous Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Mr. Monson, I mean, Mr. Jameson…everyone knows you have a personal vendetta against Mr. Soumis, so please stop trying to be an unbiased source. The man is innocent until proven guilty. He should be defended by the city attorney because the case involves city business…nobody would ever work for any city if they didn’t have some protection. If he is proven guilty, then you can spout off, but until then, anyone that believes in that “old fashioned” ideal that you can’t be guilty until it is proven will rightfully reject your rantings.
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John Jameson Says:
December 24th, 2008 at 3:00 am
I am certainly not Monson. Far from it in fact. I just believe that the taxpayers should not suffer for Mr. Soumis’s sins. The city didn’t force him to lie in a sworn hearing. There is obviously evidence of wrong doing here, otherwise he would not have been arrested. I would volunteer to take Mr. Soumis’s job, and if I ever commited perjury, I would sure as hell be willing to hire my own legal help. I know several city employees who don’t believe they would get free legal help if they commited a random, personal misdameanor. I wonder if Mr. Soumis would pay my property taxes in place of paying his retainer fee. It seems that representing the personal wrong doings of city officials would take time away from the duties that the taxpayers pay the city attorney for.
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John Jameson Says:
December 24th, 2008 at 3:03 am
Voice, thank you for admiting that you are unable to get Morse’s personal bills. You did not have the proof you claimed. That is all i needed to hear from you. I still want that cup of sweet Starbucks coffee from that franchise you and buddy were setting up. When where you two opening that imaginary franchise again?
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voiceofreason Says:
December 24th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Oh Mr Jameson, I never claimed to have MORSE’S bills, I claimed that according to his financial reports, that he was required by law to submit, showed that he had an outstanding bill of $800 due to Clermont Printing that still hadn’t been paid ONE YEAR after the close of his campaign while reimbursing himself $300 for the same campaign. Is this illegal, no. Is it deplorable to stiff a local business in the very city you were hoping to represent as mayor, ABSOLUTELY. He is a disgrace to the city. You seem to support him while declaring SOUMIS a criminal. That alone shows your character or lack thereof. But, election day is coming. I am sure that you will be in the minority and thank God for that, because your ilk, the FROWNING FOUR (MORSE, EDER, KAPUSTA, and to a degree CAHAK) will all probably have their political careers ended. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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ridiculous Says:
December 26th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Mr. Jameson, OK you may not be Monson, which was a tongue in cheek comment anyway, but you still didn’t address the issue of innocent until proven guilty. Are you going to respond to that? I’ve known people arrested and charged and totally exonerated in court. If you done any reading, you know that more often then we would like to admit, people can even be found guilty in court and end up later being found truly innocent. All I say here is…the man is no criminal UNTIL he has been found GUILTY in court, and NOT in the court of opinion YOURS or anyone else’s! Are you going to respond to that? Probably not, because you can’t possibly reject one of our most basic rights, even for someone you obviously hate.
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John Jameson Says:
December 27th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Ok, he isn’t a criminal, just a man arrested for commiting a criminal offense. How does his legal defense become the responsibilty of the taxpayers? I can see having a city attorney defend police officers in law suits related to their line of work, and having a city attorney to look over contracts makes perfect sense.
I have a feeling that if one of the kids that mows lawns for the city in the summer was arrested for possesion of marijuana that they would not recieve free legal defenese. Unless Mr. Soumis’s job description includes ‘lieing under oath’, I do not see how it is right for him to waste tax dollars on his personal defense.
If he had any charactor, he would resign his postion untill after the criminal investigation is over. Is it right to have him in charge of any city office when he can’t remember what is fact or fiction? He is a disgrace to the city of Antigo. If he is not found guilty in a court of law, then it will be a disgrace to our court system as well.
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ignorant people suck! Says:
December 27th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
At a minimum he should be suspended until the case is settled. At least he can’t make any more stupid decisions if he isn’t there. The City will still have to pay him; but they will probably be saving lots of money by not having to pay for some of the dumb ideas that we have to pay an engineering firm tens of thousands of dollars to explore.
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Ridiculous Says:
December 27th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Folks, telling the man he has to resign his position, a disgrace to the city of Antigo, and that if he is not found guilty it will be a disgrace to our court system proves my point.
You do not believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty. He has been accused, not convicted.
Your comments betray that you don’t like the man, and thus don’t care if there is any evidence or not, you have already found him guilty and think he should be treated that way.
Fortunately, you are not in charge of our justice system.
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voiceofreason Says:
December 28th, 2008 at 2:50 am
Come on Ridiculous, you don’t really think Jameson is rational enough to see your point do you? The man(?) is a kook. He can’t see through his own bias. At least IPS raises legitimate issues. I don’t agree with him in this case but his points are thought out and coherent.
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Fed Up Says:
December 29th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Jameson, According to your “source” and what you yourself have loosely paraphrased: Mr. Soumis was arrested after making false statements about his dealings with the damage done to Mr. Stimac’s business after the demolition of the McMillon Hotel. Apparently, on sworn record, he had claimed to have never sopken to Mr. Stimac about the damage done to his business. However, he is on record 3 monthes earlier speaking with Mr. Stimac about the damage.”
The destruction of the McMillon which Mr. Stimac is on recording of begging for repeatedly, was a city project at city expense. This would make all of this city business which entitles Soumis to representation by the city attorney who dealt with the whole process as well. This would negate this being a personal defense as you stated based on what you wrote in your own posts.
My compliments on the hole you are digging for yourself. Its beautiful and fits you very well.
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voiceofreason Says:
January 7th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Hallelujah, MORSE is out of city government come April. EDER and KAPUSTA will probably join him. Thank you to Mr. Hessedall (spelling?) and Ms. Turnbull for running against those two imbeciles. Good luck to both Mr. Brandt and Mr. Cernoch in the mayoral campaign, both seem to be good men. Antigo’s future is brighter already!
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Sherry Says:
January 8th, 2009 at 1:15 am
I agree, things might just be looking up in the city of Antigo.
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Ridiculous Says:
January 8th, 2009 at 2:25 am
Couldn’t agree more Voice!
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voiceofreason Says:
January 19th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Has there been an update in the case against Mr. Soumis? Judging by the silence of Jameson and the rest of the kooks, I would assume that either nothing has been settled or he has been exonerated. If anyone has info, please post.
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admin Says:
January 20th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
According to the WI Court site, he has a status conference scheduled for 02/02/09. The case is still open.
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Tags: antigo city administrator arrested, dale soumis antigo city admin charged, dale soumis antigo wi
There has been so reason comments or report on the case and I noticed that the city attorney wasn’t sitting with the council at the last common council meeting at City Hall. I assume that because he is representing Mr. Soumis, that is the reason (?).
Sorry…there has been no recent comments or reports…
The city attorney probably feels bad for wasting tax dollars. Dale Soumis chose to lie by himself. The crime he was arrested for was his own, not the city’s. So why, again, is the city paying for it? If he is found guilty, does he have to pay the money for legal defense back to the city? If our city believes that our government officials should be allowed to lie under oath and keep their jobs, I am not sure if this city is a good place to raise my family.
Voice, if you have a problem with me, that is fine. But who are these kooks that you refer to? Grow up a little bit buddy, grade schoolers do not even call each other kooks. At least when I insult you, I have the balls to refer to you by name.
Fedup,
“This would make all of this city business which entitles Soumis to representation by the city attorney who dealt with the whole process as well. This would negate this being a personal defense as you stated based on what you wrote in your own posts.”
If this isn’t Dale’s crime, then why was he arrested? The court records do not indicate that the city was responsible for perjury. In fact, they only seem to list Mr. Soumis as a defendant. I would still like to believe that the city is not in the business of perjury. Apparently Mr. Soumis is. That still makes his case ‘personal’ defense.
From Wikipedia:
Personal means “of or pertaining to a person, or belonging to a person in some way”
As for those holes I was digging. The only hole left around here seems to be you.
Ah, Jameson lives! One would think that with the time off, you would have come back a bit wiser. I appreciate you giving us a definition of ‘personal’. Now, I have an assignment for you…google the term ‘presumption of innocence’ and let us all know what you find!
It is obvious that your intelligence is too low to understand the concept of Mr. Soumis being represented by the city attorney for city business so there is no need to further discuss that issue.
I appreciate your concern for my ‘balls’ but rest assured, they are fine. As you can see, I clearly delineated you personally as one of the kooks. Since you asked, others of that ilk include EDER, KAPUSTA, MORSE (all of which will be out of city government as of April…hoorah!), DIECK, MUNSON, STIMAC, ZUPON, KARPF, BENESHEK (spelling?) and any of the rabble rousers that clutter city meeting with their incoherent drivel.
Finally, I must give you credit for one statement you made that I agree with.
“If our city believes that our government officials should be allowed to lie under oath and keep their jobs, I am not sure if this city is a good place to raise my family. ”
Don’t let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya!
Voice, well said.
Jameson, please continue the drivel you spew if it makes you feel like you are actually in the know. The hole gets larger as you dig it. I am not the one stating false statements; “The court records do not indicate that the city was responsible for perjury.” The only court records for public viewing indicate that he is accused of making a false statement which is not the same as perjury so be very careful or we will have to believe that someone in the court staff is leaking information and we will have the county officials being charged next… unless of course you are a county official and then you would be risking your job so I don’t think you would be that stupid.
Just to add my two cents here…there are many times that someone is asked to resign or give up their post prior to a conviction. (Illinois governer, anyone??) Anyone can be held in jail awaiting trial..isn’t that the same thing?? Being punished for you actions pending actual convictions happens EVERY day in our justice system. Limiting his ability to make decisions regarding our city and our tax dollars seems logical considering there is a question regarding his morals, ethics and ability to preform his job functions.
I highly doubt we have heard the last about Mr. Soumis and his actions.
Furthermore, does anyone know anything about Mr. Soumis’ past. Where he’s from, what he did there, why he left and how he ended up here???
Mr. Monson is not Mr. Jameson.
Soumis was not arrested, he was charged by the
District Attorney for signing two conflicting affidavits.
He once was fired in Gladstone Mich, see minutes from their council meeting in 1995. Dixie Lunch probably has a copy.
Brandt was Police Chief and was supposed to investigate Soumis before he was hired, he obviously didn’t.
Telling the truth as all blogs should.
Michael Monson
PS I will sign an affidavit that in fact this is the first time I wrote in this blog as someone told me I was listed. Also note I will file a lawsuit against anyone libeling or slandering me
Now that is funny!
Don’t doubt the man. Mr. Monson is no stranger to court cases…although he is usually on the other end of the lawsuit. Type that name of his in the WI Circuit Court site using the link on this site and you will see that he has so many IRS and tax issues that I’m surprised that he hasn’t been nominated for Obama’s cabinet!
Correction, Dept of Revenue, not IRS..don’t want to be guilty of LIBEL! All apologies! Just telling the truth, like all blogs should! (sound familiar?)
Just of interest, would like to see the results of civil suit against those who fired Soumis in 1995 in Gladstone. Would like to see how much those involved had to pay to Mr. Soumis and the basis of the suit, i.e. slander, libel, wrongful termination, or something else. Anyone out there know where I can find that since that is “the rest of the story”.touched on by Mr. Monson. Also of note, Mister Stimac, the person at the root of the Mr. Soumis’ case according to Jameson source, was one of those responsible for hiring Mr. Soumis and was one of his strongest supporters at the time. Interesting that Stimac has has since done a complete aboutface and one has to wonder what is at the root of that. I have heard several reasons but would hate to speculate on them in this blog but if anyone knows the truth, would be interested in hearing the facts in this truthful blog.
Dale is wasting more than tax dollars, now he is going to waste the time of 12 jurors who have to hear his excuses. This would be one time when I would be happy to get picked for jury duty.
So let me get this right Fedup, Dale wasted the state of Michigan’s time and sued someone over losing his job? What a whiny b*tch! I can’t imagine why Brandt would have allowed a criminal into our city government. Oh wait, he is trying to put himself there now too. I guess it takes an incompetent police chief to hire a crooked city administrator. At least we know that VoiceofReason likes to live in a town ran by cheats, liars, criminals, and a surprisingly incompetent police chief.
If our identities are kept private like this site promised, it should be impossible for weak men like Voice to be found out and sued for libel. Mr. Monson, if Voice had the balls he would use his real name here. However, his courage(or lack thereof) again comes into question…
Again, how would Soumis choosing to lie equate to city business? Was lying part of his job description? Will his buddy, Billy Brandt, bring the same history of lies and corruption to the mayoral office? We can only hope(not).
John Jameson–Real name! Hypocrisy as usual! Nuff said!
Bill Brandt hired Soumis? You are quite the foolish man. The police chief has nothing to do with hiring the city administrator. Actually, STIMAC and MONSON had a lot to do with Soumis being hired, hence the irony or them wanting his head.
Check the facts Johnny Boy (your real name of course, because you have balls!)
Jameson, please keep spewing the hatred for the entertainment of all. You don’t actually read what people are writing to respond you just spew whatever rhetoric you choose to spew that particular day. No one said State of Michigan, so where you did you pull that from? I posed a question as to if anyone knew the rest of the story.
Alas, please continue. I am sure the admin of this blog appreciates the hits you provide but remember your audience is getting smaller and smaller. If fact, I don’t think it shall include me any longer. Thanks for the laughs and the entertainment but life is too short to waste on idiots giving their warped opinions. I prefer to spend my time changing what is wrong instead of complaining about it.
Fed Up, you’ve threatened to leave before and failed. You are weak and foolish. Your question made no sense at all given what Mr. Monson stated. Mr. Monson never mentioned a civil suit, you did!? It seems only right that I am confused by your stupidity. How can you change what is wrong by blogging? Your words must be strong and energenic.
Brandt was sent to research Mr. Soumis before he was hired. He did not do his job and they(the city council) hired Mr. Soumis without knowing about the crap he pulled in MI. If Mr. Brandt had done his job then, we wouldn’t be talking about this now. If he is voted into any office, it is going to be a failing for us all. But you support failing causes, so go ahead and vote however you may feel.
Mr. Jameson (real name of course),
Mr. Brandt did not have a vote. STIMAC did, and MONSON was mayor and supported Mr. Soumis at first. If you want to pout over Mr. Soumis, make sure you are assigning the blame to the proper parties. By the way, I never knew that the police were sent anywhere to research possible city officials.
Fear not, a much better council is on the horizon. MORSE, KAPUSTA, and EDER will all be gone soon. REJOICE!
I personally do not understand the full point of the position of city administrator. From the functions that I’ve witnessed Mr. Soumis (sp?) perform it would appear that many of these are functions that a full time mayor could perform and the position which is paid, if i recall correctly, $60,000 a year or was it a term, could be terminated saving the tax payers that kind of money. From what I understand, though this may have been hateful scuttlebutt, it was Mr. Soumis who determined it would be a better idea to allow downtown to flood to save the potato fields from flooding. I was under the impression that the fields, being so important to the owners, would be adequately insured against such catastrophes. However, how many local home owners are insured against flood damages?
Mr. Soumis does not seem to be the most… “inspired” individual as far as the city is concerned. Though, in politics, why are any of us really surprised that a politician would lie or commit such a vile act? The chances of someone running for candidacy with only the noblest of intentions in mind and being entirely honest are… almost negligible.
I cannot say I know all of the people on the committees but I do know Mr. Zupon and I’ve met Mr. Dieck once or twice. I’ve sat down a few times with Mayor Mike while he was in and had private discussions with him on the future of Antigo and we had a surprising number of thoughts in common. We both saw a bright and fruitful future available to this town but there had to be certain sacrifices in the forefront of the good to come. These sacrifices are the financial burdens that they would impose.
The wireless idea was actually fantastic, but the idea was crippled when the city voted on a committee to control the planning of this made up of those people on the council. These people who know so much about radio frequencies, antennas, networking, servers, databases, security… ??? They came up with a ridiculous installation fee and then decided to initiate this plan of action long before they had plan A, plan B, and plan C for contractors ready. If the fee had been $50 for installation an the monthly payments had started at around $30/month for the 3Mb stream, it would have raised more eyes and the volume created would have covered cost in a shorter span of years. Oh, FYI, 3Mb (megabits) is enough for 78% of users out there, more than that actually, I’m being generous. And the 3Mb that Antigo Broadband was offering had a symmetrical 3Mb upstream as well. Even charters 10Mb connection has only a 986Kb upstream. Granted, I utilize the 10Mb connection, but I often have two streaming media players running while playing online games and possibly while also downloading large files for updates to drivers and patches to software. I run a quadcore AMD system with over 1 TB of storage space and an 8800 GTS 512 MB GDDR3 graphics card. My system and my needs require that connection, most people do not so the 5Mb/10Mb point is pointLESS.
As our great legal system states, innocent until proven guilty Mr. Jameson (JJJ? as in J Jonah Jameson, the spidey newspaper director, implications to your identity perhaps?). If that weren’t the way our legal system worked, how many innocent people would have to live their lives in prison for crimes they did not commit?
Antigo has the potential for greatness, but requires people to use a little foresight, stop looking at today and look to tomorrow. Look beyond yourself and look at the whole… if you’re even capable. Tourism is a great driving force in this area, we need to embrace it. Build businesses towards deerbrook where Fudd Fest is every year to draw more customers. Find out why people are driving to Rhinelander, Wausau, and wherever else to spend their Antigo capital and find a way to bring that reason here. A better theater would draw many more people from the Antigo market (which obviously extends in about a 30 mile radius from the town itself) to our town. Businesses (besides bars) that are open beyond 8:00 PM downtown. Attack people with expendable income such as kids who have no taxes, no bills, nothing they HAVE to spend their money on and find out how to offer them things they want to draw their capital back into the local economy. Keep the area clean and make certain that you have a number of jobs to ratio respectfully with the number of employable citizens otherwise you’re risking state and local benefits for a number of people that you cannot afford to pay for out of local tax funds. There are hundreds of ways to embrace and flourish the economy.
I’m skeptical of the bakery the city has endorsed, but I do not know enough about such things to say for certain it is in err. However, what about technology industries? Antigo needs to embrace technology in this era of dramatic changing where people are so desperate to find repair and service for their gadgets and gizmos. Perhaps the city should look into funding two new businesses. What would I do? Put out an ad to look for people who would be willing to participate on a council to outline 3 business plans. Figure out how long it would take to construct these three things; a new 4 screen theater, a dance club/bar, and a computer/it business. Then figure out the cost, time to reach the full ROI (return on investment), consider potential for job creation, potential for tax economy, and industry drive for competition in those fields. Utilize aforementioned panels to describe what they would like to see such as an arcade in the theater, a teen night in the night club or computer lessons for the community in the pc oriented business. Figure out what we could use, ask the community what they’d like, figure the ROI and potential profit margin over the first 10 years. Then, once you’ve decided on a plan, call for bids to manage the business and contract with options to alter the management team at any time should the business not perform to minimal expectations. i dunno, maybe i’m just exercising the last fleeting moments of mental fluctuations before i give myself over to the land of Hypnus, but you keep asking for ideas so there ya go.
BTW, voice has some good input and even if he doesn’t have ideas, his criticism is insightful, if a bit neglectful of the potential of negative impact where it’s not necessary. Bottom line, if you won’t speak up and you have no ideas how to do something better, than perhaps the best you can do is no better than the best that someone else is already doing? How can you criticize for that?
Semperfi, your posting is only rivaled by the the stimulus bill. I started reading it yesterday and am almost done! Thanks for jumping in!
lol. i know my post was long and likely tedious, but i’ve been attempting to catch up to all that has passed before and there is much to comment on. i hope that my words are somewhat welcome and that i’m not as irrational as some part of me fears i may be. i am only trying to bring some fresh insight to an apparently aged problem.
Wow… this little post has stirred up a lot of interesting conversation.
Here’s my take on it:
It’s too early to be condemning Mr. Soumis because the last I heard a judgment has not yet been entered in the case. However, I believe that city officials should “set the bar” on ethics and taking responsibility for their actions.
Even being charged with signing false affidavits is damaging to someone’s credibility – doesn’t make it right, but that is the reality of it. If a city administrator loses credibility with the people of the city, then he should resign and let someone else take the job.
If he turns out to be innocent though I will be the first one to retract this call for his resignation however if he turns out to be guilty I hope he will have the good grace to resign.
Jesse Seymour
Candidate for 2nd Ward Alderman
Mr. Seymour,
Thanks for your input. I appreciate you giving your take on this seeing as you are running for office. I would like to ask your opinion on what constitutes ‘a city administrator losing credibility with the people of the city’.
I ask this because loons like Stimac, who prompted this action, have been calling for Mr. Soumis’s head for a long time before this action. Unfortunately, the loudest of voices tend to be the malcontents that claim to speak for the majority though they seldom do. Stimac shows up at meeting after meeting, complaining about everything and claiming to speak for the taxpayer. However, he lost three straight elections, so the taxpayers obviously do not agree with him despite his public chest beating.
The same can be said for Mr. Zupon, who came to meeting after meeting demanding a referendum on the flouride issue in our water. Finally, he got what he wanted and the majority of the taxpayers, whom he claimed to speak for, voted against his position.
I can go on and on about many of the other loons that have consistently spouted off in meetings, in the paper, etc. claiming to speak for the majority but they and those they support continue to lose elections when they run against an actual opponent. (the exception, KAPUSTA who defeated Nora McKenna)
So, with that said, I ask again, “What, in your opinion, constitutes a city adminstrator losing credibility of the people of the city.”
Voice,
To me if any city official is accused of an illegal action then I find I have a hard time trusting them in the future. People don’t trust politicians and government employees the way it is and an accusation just gives them even more reason to not trust them.
There must have been a good reason that Soumis was accused and charged. Even the worst DA in the world will have some shred of truth before bringing an accusation against a city official. Granted that I don’t know many of the people involved here (I moved to Antigo in 2006) and all I know on the issue is a copy of a court report that I received via mail and the information contained here.
If I win my election to city council and I am accused of a criminal act then I would gladly relinquish my seat until I was proven innocent. If I was indeed guilty then I would hope that people would insist that I resign.
In short, in order to be an effective city official you should have the trust of the citizens that you serve. If you are being accused of criminal activity then fewer people will trust you and if the council members are doing the job they were elected to do they will have to take a good hard look at everything that you would bring to the floor to make sure they are no ethical violations, criminal violations, etc…
What I am saying is that city officials need to be held to higher standards and being accused of criminal activity (guilty or not) will probably make fewer people trust that official.
Jesse Seymour
Candidate for 2nd Ward Alderman
Mr. Seymour,
Your response is fair, but I still am not clear on what it looks like when a city official has lost credibility with the people of the city. Other than the loons that always call for Mr. Soumis’s head, I haven’t really heard any public outcry at all. Perhaps the question cannot be answered outside of a public vote but that isn’t going to happen. But, for the sake of argument, let’s play out your suggestion.
You said that if you were accused of a criminal offense, you would gladly step down until you were proven innocent. That is noble. That also may be an easy thing for an alderman to do but perhaps not so easy for the position of city administrator.
If Mr. Soumis were to step aside in late November when this began, who would be running the day to day affairs of the city? Who would have the intricate knowledge of current and future projects, the education and necessary skills to do this position, knowledge of all of the legalities involved in city buisness, etc? Who would do all these things and still cover his/her own day to day responsibilities? If this person could be found, are the taxpayers responsible to foot the bill for another salary during this time? It has already been two months, how long would be pay another person to do all this work? I guarantee that you could not have the current city administrator unpaid while this all plays out.
These are just a few questions that would arise. It’s easy to give rhetoric about no ethical issues and such. This stuff is subjective anyways. Your solution seems a bit simplistic but since you jumped into the fray, how would you answer these questions as an alderman?
Mr. Seymour, just to give full disclosure, I am not in your ward so I cannot vote for or against you. I have also known Mr. Darling for years and appreciate his long time service to our community through many projects and activities. I think its only fair that as I have this dialogue with you that you know where I stand on this.
Voice, the questions you pose are very good questions and I will take my best stab at answering them to your satisfaction. As for the voting issue it doesn’t matter much to me as I think that any citizen should be able to ask any alderman pretty much anything they want.
I would respond to your questions by answering that, if Mr. Soumis were to be placed on administrative leave, the city would appoint an interim city administrator from its staff or perhaps the city should look at an assistant adminstrator.
The benefits of having an assistant administrator are fairly numerous. One, an assistant could balance Mr. Soumis’s aggressive growth strategy by being a fiscally conservative person which would give us a really great administration. Two, it would allow Mr. Soumis to take some time off from time to time with being able to relax knowing a competent person is at the helm. Third, it creates the ability to have two brains coming up with solutions to problems.
I’m a big believer that no one person should hold all the knowledge about everything that is going on it the city. Judging from your questions it seems like that is the case here. What would happen if Mr. Soumis had died of a heart attack instead of being involved in a criminal complaint? Who then would run the city? Who then would have, as you say, “the intricate knowledge of current and future projects, the education and necessary skills to do this position, knowledge of all of the legalities involved in city buisness, etc?”
I don’t have a problem with Mr. Soumis – in fact he reminds me a lot of my old boss at the company I work for. Mr. Soumis aggressively pursues growth and business development and is not afraid to spend the money to get there. I feel that if he had an assistant administrator or vice administrator that could balance him by being fiscally conservative and a calculated risk taker I think the city could really benefit.
To respond to the lack of public outcry I think that the reason more people aren’t talking about it is because they don’t know what is going on. Some of my neighbors had no idea that Mr. Soumis had even been charged until I told them about it. Now I am not claiming to speak for the majority (and I won’t be speaking for anyone but myself unless I win the election) but I think that most citizens have no idea what goes on at City Hall unless someone tells them.
To close, Voice, if think of any other questions or concerns that you want me to respond to that may not be on this particular topic feel free to email me at jesse@voteseymour.com or visit VoteSeymour.com.
This has been a good dialougue. I appreciate your time in speaking on this issue. I agree that the reason for no public outcry could be a lack of knowledge. However, it could also be that the people like the direction the city is going. There is evidence to this effect. In last years elections, STIMAC and DIECK, both open critics of Soumis were defeated for the third and second straight time respectively. Supporters of the city’s direction under the leadership of Mr. Soumis, LARSON, BALCERZACK, NOSKOWIAK and KASSIS were all re-elected to thier posts. That seems to be the people speaking. I predict that in this election we will see more of the same. MORSE is already out (anyone hear angels singing?), and I predict that KAPUTSA and EDER, both outspoken critics of Mr. Soumis will be defeated as well. As for your race, being a young, new guy in the community you face a steep climb. Mr. Darling has a long history of jumping in and making Antigo a better place. Not an impossible feat but a tough road ahead for you. I wish you luck.
Voice:
“make sure you are assigning the blame to the proper parties”
I am giving blame to the proper party, and that is Mr. Soumis.
I, however, am one of the people who do not agree with the diection the city is heading. Your buddies have had the majority in the council for a while now and for some reason the city keeps losing jobs. If you like the direction of poverty, listen to the VoiceofReason(he will also tell some tall tales about a Starbucks Franchise coming to town, those are hilarious!).
I can’t stand the smell of Morse and Mr. Eder has always rubbed me the wrong way, but I did agree with a few votes that they made. They didn’t foolishly vote to build a boardwalk. At least that golden boardwalk is going to bring the jobs to Antigo(j/k). I told a recently laid off friend that the boardwalk was going to bring him work and the burden he has carried was lifted from his shoulders.
Foolish as usual, Mr. Jameson (your real name, of course)
So now the economy is the fault of Mr. Soumis and our City Council. I guess you haven’t heard of this little thing sweeping our nation called a recession.
How many jobs have been lost in Antigo? I’m not sure, exactly. From what I have seen, we have had a positive change here in Antigo. Businesses such as Merit Gear and Sears have expanded, new businesses such as Goodwill and Holiday Inn have come. The closed Vulcan plant is now home to a new business that is expanding to even more jobs than were lost. The former County Market building is being used again as well as new stores in the former K-Mart strip. Old, useless buildings are coming down and contamination on the land is being cleaned up to be prepared for new business.
Yes, times are tough all across the country and Antigo is no exception. That cannot be laid on Mr. Soumis. You can blame him and the council for the recent economic downturn, but you will continue to do it from the minority and without 3 of your so called Fantastic Four. If you had the superior argument, one would believe that eventually one of your ilk would win an election. I don’t foresee that happening.
Voice, I have enjoyed conversing here as well. I am going to give this race my best shot to win. However, win or lose, I know that the people are going to vote for the person they think will do the best job and as long as the people have a choice that’s all I ask for.
One thing I can’t stand is a person running unopposed for public office. I believe every race should have at least 2 candidates, otherwise then the people don’t really have a choice.
Thanks for the good luck wishes – any kind words are appreciated.
Mr. Seymour.
I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the frame of mind that you’re allowing the public to see in this electronic forum. I hope that it finds it way to more than simply the few people who browse these pages. I have been recommending this site more and more. I’ve found the majority of these pages to be uplifting in that there are those in this town that are not letting the defeated mindset of potato farmers rule all and we’re from a small town so why attempt to attain a higher economy or stature. Bigger things never happen if you don’t reach for them and sometimes you have to be willing to have your hand slapped if you’re to get the greater rewards. Good luck in your election. It will be brilliant for you if you continue this positive force even after your election. Many officials allow themselves to be changed by the system rather than changing the system to better suit the people and the times. Very backwards.
Mr Soumis appears to be one of the most polarizing people I’ve seen in many a year. Apparently you either love him or hate him, and there is NO in-between.
I am, however, a little surprised to learn that we hired someone to investigate Dale Soumis, and didn’t learn what he did in Gladstone and Williamston Michigan. Pretty shoddy investigative work if the Council wasn’t informed about all that. If anyone had looked at his history and seen that he was run out of both towns in Michigan with allegations of financial impropriety and issues of his truthfulness, it might have suggested he was not someone who should be in a position of trust. Now let’s see what is he accused of now? Lying and playing fast and loose with money. Hum. Interesting.
Yeah, yeah, innocent until proved guilty, but come on. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I’m curious to see the evidence in court in March … I bet there is way more than any of us know!
We live in interesting times. Oh and voice — if logic and ethics won elections, we wouldn’t have had a president Nixon or Clinton in our past. Elections are glorified popularity contests, and I hope the people of Antigo wake up before it is too late, and start paying attention!
Good point L-word, we have had our share of crooks in office. But, the same process has also given us great leaders. It’s the system we have, like it or not. So, if you have a better alternative than the current system, I am all ears.
As for this whole issue on what Mr. Soumis did or did not do back in Michigan, can someone give some concrete evidence that he was guilty of something. People are throwing this around and I would like to see where they get their info from. I am assuming that it is “I HEARD” kind of stuff but if someone on here can produce a link or some other way of proving the claims made on here, I am willing to listen.
Still waiting for that proof of what Mr. Soumis did in Michigan. Funny how quiet it gets when you ask for something that is actual rather than hearsay.
Voice, I do have a copy of the minutes in which the Gladestone City Council passed a resolution to various list of charges. I have not been able to verify this copy yet with an online source because the document was from 1995.
I will be posting it on my website later today.
Mr. Seymour, please tell me that you know politics as usual when you see it. You cannot be that naive. That whole list shows nothing more than a city commission that is removing an employee. Your commentary…
“There are more charges than this but this list shows the kind of manager Dale Soumis once was and may or may not still be. It seems that back then he felt that he was the one in charge of the city and that he could do whatever he wanted”
That is pretty irresponsible to say when you have not heard both sides. You are instantly agreeing with what was said. The current council here in Antigo can write a list of things that Mr. Soumis is doing wonderfully. Would you instantly agree with them because it is in the minutes of an official meeting? That would be equally irresponsible.
If Mr. Soumis did what was alleged in those minutes, would he not be charged with some kind of crime? I am hearing charges on here of perjury, financial impropriety, etc. Heck, if kooks on the current council MORSE, EDER, and KAPUSTA had their way, their list would probably be much worse than the one on your website. However, that doesn’t make it true.
Mr. Soumis will have his day in court. We’ll see what happens.
I do know politics as usual when I see it, but I also like to think the best of people and that a city council wouldn’t terminate an employee for no reason.
I simply relayed the information that I was provided. It is interesting to note that the charges Mr. Soumis faced in Gladestone, MI have some similarities to wrong doings that he has been accused of here.
I proclaim that Mr. Soumis is neither guilty nor innocent; I am not a judge. I was not selected by my peers to judge them. I simply find it important that all facts relevant are bought into the open for examination. I prefer to let people make up their own minds rather than allowing my opinion to influence their decisions.
The court date is March 20th for the trial. After that we’ll see if he is found innocent or guilty.
The case against Mr. Soumis has been thrown out for LACK OF EVIDENCE. Now, will Jameson and the other kooks apologize for their comments? Will Mr. Seymour retract his call for Mr. Soumis’ resignation or split hairs and say that he wasn’t found innocent, just had the case thrown out?
‘If he turns out to be innocent though I will be the first one to retract this call for his resignation however if he turns out to be guilty I hope he will have the good grace to resign.’
It is nice to see that Mr. Seymour took his article off his website but there were some comments as to what kind of manager Mr. Soumis is. Will you take back those comments?
Voice, I did retract my call for his resignation in my latest post on my website.
Now, if you have other information you feel I should consider I invite you to present that information with one of the following methods:
* Email me at jesse@voteseymour.com
* Send me a letter at Jesse Seymour, 631 North Ave, Apt 7, Antigo, WI 54409
* Call me at 715-216-4116
* Comment on an article at my website
* Use the contact me page at my website
* Or stop by and visit me at the above address
I believe that like all of us, Mr. Soumis has made mistakes. Those mistakes made him grow and develop as a person and have made him better for it.
During the days leading up to the trial I had played the devil’s advocate and looked for any possible way that Mr. Soumis could be found guilty. I was very glad when I found none – which is why I removed the articles on my website before the trial. I believe that we have too many problems to face as a community without this legal mess that Mr. Soumis was entangled in.
Now that this trial is over we can move on to more pressing issues. I feel that Mr. Soumis, while I may disagree with him, is a fine manager and deserves to keep his job until he does something that proves otherwise.
As for splitting hairs I will never do that – I value my reputation to much to sink into “politics as usual”. If I say that I will do something I will do it. The fact that it took me over 12 hours to do it shouldn’t count against me. (Can’t a guy take a night off to relax?).
Yes, you can take a day or two off. My post was not only to you, but also to the kooks that called for Mr. Soumis’ head and convicted him without a trial. Amazing how silent they have become.
As for playing devil’s advocate, that seems a bit irresponsible to me. You are running for a position that will have to work directly with Mr. Soumis. Looking for any possible way to find a man guilty doesn’t do much in building a working relationship with someone.
The splitting hairs comment was unfair on my part. I apologize for that. As for contacting you on your site, I prefer to communicate here where others can read the dialogue. Your site doesn’t seem to get much traffic seeing as the two polls you have posted have had very low totals. At least here, more people can see an intelligent dialogue between two individuals that probably don’t look at things in the same way. I can get down and dirty with the kooks but I prefer this kind of discussion.
Voice,
I believe that looking for the worst in people, and then being pleasantly surprised when you don’t find it is a great way to start building a relationship.
One thing I hate the most about online debate like this is that so much is lost in the way of body language and facial expressions.
When it comes to Mr. Soumis what I am trying to get across is that since I don’t know him I don’t want to take the chance of believing everything he says is true and then find out that it is not the case.
By doing the digging and the research into this matter and looking for the negatives I will be much better equipped for working with him on the council.
Seeing as the only negatives that I found were an incident that happened over ten years ago I feel I can trust that Mr. Soumis is going to pursue what he thinks is best.
Does this mean that I will always agree with him? Probably not – but that is more because I am not afraid to express disagreement. Let’s face it – if we all agreed 100% of the time on 100% of the issues there would be no need for the Common Council.
As you come to know me you will find out that I am always looking for the worst case scenario and then preparing for that so I will be equipped for just about anything.
You will also come to find that I am very open with everyone and that if I am made aware of information pertaining to an issue that I believe is relevant I will share those facts with the people as they deserve to know.
As a side note, my site receives between 10 to 15 visitors a day from Antigo – no where near the level of this site I’m sure but still not something to laugh at.
One last thing that I want to say is thank you for being able to hold an intelligent discussion – it’s hard to find that in the offline world, let alone on the web where people have some degree of anonymity.
Jesse Seymour
Candidate for 2nd Ward Alderman
http://www.voteseymour.com