City Administrator position needed or not?

After reading the “Opinion/Letters” post on the Antigo Daily Journal website today, I am wondering if the point isn’t being misconstrued.

I do not claim to know a lot about politics, nor do I want to know a lot about politics, but, it sounds like the position of City Administrator may not be needed at all?  I realize that whomever wrote it is trying to convey the message that they feel it is needed, but the way it is written makes a person wonder if it really is?

When all things mentioned about the “good” administrators in the past, it seems as though they all spent money on projects that may or may not have been needed?

I am wondering what others in Antigo think about it?  Unlike the author of that article, I do want to hear from the nay-sayers also, as sometimes I think they have very good points.

You can find the ADJ article HERE.
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Drug testing STILL not implemented by Antigo School Board?

Yet ANOTHER article in the free paper this week regarding the Antigo Unified School District not yet implementing a drug testing policy for employees.

Am I gullible in believing the information that is printed from members of the Langlade County Taxpayers League?  I find it very reasonable that they have, in fact, looked into these issues of drug testing policies.  What I don’t find reasonable, is the time it is taking for our school board to DO SOMETHING?

It has been mentioned on this website, and I’m sure among others that other school districts in our area have already at least began the process of drug testing and changing their policies to reflect that.

I hate to say it, but, these tactics are very clear reminders of the recent events with our School Board and their lack of action and information to the public regarding some less-than-desirable events.

What are you afraid of?

Simply put, PLEASE ANTIGO SCHOOL BOARD – DO SOMETHING with this matter!!!

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Admin note 04.24.2012 – Antigo School District changes drug policy on WAOW

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Being charged without evidence is now commonplace?

With all the media attention that the Principal and Teachers have gotten over the drug busts, I am completely stumped on how our District Attorney can be charging these people when there is no evidence?

I saw a headline today about how it is expected that a former teacher will be charged for possession, and it raised these concerns AGAIN.  I thought in order to charge someone with a crime, there had to be SOME evidence?  Where is the evidence?  As far as I understand it, there was NO marijuana found in any of these teachers’ possession.  I just simply do not understand.

I am sure that some of the favoritism mentioned on this blog does happen, but, I really thought, for the most part, that the law was followed when it comes to charging to people.  With the attention that all this hubbub has gotten, it is shocking to me that charges are even being filed.

Have the laws changed recently?  How can this be happening?

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Do Cops really have list of med-getters??

I was recently having a conversation with someone about this and it raised an eyebrow.  There are many types of these accusations on law enforcement here, and I’ve heard quite a few, but I also know there is a big problem in this whole entire country with over-prescribing medications, especially pain meds.  So, I thought I would take a look at the Langlade Hospital’s Privacy Policy, as I would think patient records would be private.

The following is taken directly from LangladeHospital.com -

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO CONFIDENTIALITY
You are assured confidential treatment of your medical record by state and federal law. As a patient, your medical record will not be released to persons outside Langlade Hospital unless you consent in writing. Your medical record can be released:

to the doctor who referred you to Langlade Hospital.
if allowed by a court order.
to medical personnel in a medical emergency.
as necessary in complaint investigations.
if required by a third party payer such as an insurance company.
if otherwise required by federal or state law.
to qualified personnel for research, audit, or program evaluation, as long as individuals cannot be identified.

I also downloaded a copy of the Patient Privacy Policy, and it states the following:

Law Enforcement. We may release medical information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official:
– In response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons, or similar process;
– To identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
– About the victim of a crime if, under certain limited circumstances, we are unable to obtain the person’s agreement;
-About a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct;
- About criminal conduct at this health care facility; and
– In emergency circumstances to report a crime, the location of the crime or victims; or the identity, description, or location of the person who committed the crime.

National Security and Intelligence Activities. We may release medical information about you to authorized federal officials for intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities authorized by law.

Inmates and Law Enforcement Custody. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, we may release medical information about you to the correctional institution or law enforcement official.  This release would be necessary (1) for the institution to provide you with health care; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.

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This is by no means to be considered the Hospital’s complete privacy policy, only sections of it.  You can find the complete the policy available for download on their website at:  http://langladehospital.com/patientsFamilies/index.cfm?catID=4&subCatID=45&pageID=40

So, after reading this information, it seems as though it could certainly be reasonable to assume that Law Enforcement can easily obtain information on patients without obtaining warrants or subpoenas, as I am sure it would fall under “similar process”.

Interesting really, as it is something that I thought would require more hurdles to obtain.

So, patients beware, consider yourself warned …

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Delinquent Property Tax List

For those people who are interested in seeing the list of delinquent property taxes, you may find that information online by using the Langlade County Geographic Information Web Server.

The recent list in the Antigo Daily Journal was comprised of home and land owners who are or were delinquent from 2009 and prior.  So, in order to view the list, simply go to the following website and on the left side, leave everything blank except for tax year, for example, put in tax year 2009 and check the box that says “delinquent taxes” and then click “Search”

The last time I had looked, there were about 400 records for 2009.

In order to view more info on that list, simply check the record that you would like to view and then click on the “View Parcel Report” icon on the bottom left.

Here is the link for the website:

http://www.langladecogiws.com/LangladeCoWi/txt_default.jsp

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Everyone BUT Antigo to Drug Test Teachers & Employees??

Wausau, Mosinee and Merrill school districts are now talking about implementing drug tests for teachers and employees, according to the article in the Wausau Daily Herald.  In the article, they mention the Antigo teachers and employees as reasoning behind the idea, at least in part.

What bothers me about this, is where is ANTIGO on this list???  It is HERE that things originated, so why aren’t we included in this article?  Is Antigo school district going to implement drug testing also?  I would certainly hope so and I also would think that in light of the recent problems, they would ALREADY be doing random drug tests on the current teachers and employees.

Can anyone say or does anyone know if Antigo school district has this in the works also?  From what I read in the article, the only nearby school that is doing drug testing now is DC Everest.

I think, we, as residents, should be pushing our school district to start doing this NOW, if they aren’t already!

If there is any question or problem on who should pay for it – THEY should!  There is absolutely NO reason that the employees themselves can’t pay for it.  It certainly is not that expensive.

You can find the article in the Wausau Daily Herald HERE.

***************UPDATE 3/26/12****************
According to the article in the ADJ today, the School Board is looking at drug testing. You can find that whole article here:  http://antigodailyjournal.com/full.php?id=14467

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Admin note 04.24.2012 – Antigo School District changes drug policy on WAOW

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County Workers Pay Increases – Why So Varied?

As a commentator posted on the main page, it seems a little strange how the pay increases varied for the 3 county workers.  Why is the County Treasurer’s increase so high in comparison to the others?  Is this necessary?  It does not make much sense at all.

Here is the comment made:
“The adjustments for the three posts to gain parity varied. The agreement raises the clerk $5,684, the register of deeds $3,372 and the treasurer, $12,979.
Lets see that’s about a $3 per hour raise for the clerk, a $1.5 per hour raise for the register of deeds and a whopping $6 per hour raise for the treasurer! How many of you in this community get a $1.5 per hour raise much less $6? Anyone sick of getting robbed yet?

The following stories were in the ADJ regarding this:

County Board passes salary adjustments-  http://antigodailyjournal.com/full.php?id=14281

County Board will consider pay hikes – http://antigodailyjournal.com/full.php?id=14273

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Edison Club & BTK Billiards

I am a little confused about the actions of the Antigo Common Council.  I did not know it was even possible for a business owner to default on a property, sell the property {per Steve Welnetz} have the city take it over, and then gain ownership again for a super-low cost, with super-low interest?  I would love to see the business succeed, but, seriously?

This seems like there may be some favoritism here.

Then on the other hand, you have someone who wants to open up a tavern at a location downtown, which had already held a liquor license, but the common council is not taking any action?  How does this makes sense?

Again, it looks like some people are favored and others are not.

So, Mr. Welnetz seems to have a few friends in the Antigo government and Mrs. Davis apparently does not.

How sad is that?  And how can things like this keep going on?  In light of all the recent events in this town, isn’t it about time that we look at things more evenly?

The ADJ article can be found here.

{edited}

*********************UPDATE 3/16/2012**************************

The BTK Billiards property is now listed for sale by White Water North Realty – you can find the listing HERE.
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Impartial District Attorney needed also

Last time I checked, Mr. Uttke, the District Attorney of Langlade County, works for us, the taxpayers.

Not only is the whole drug case being downplayed by the local newspaper and Judge Kawalski, it is being made a complete mockery by the DA.

I am still in shock that Mr. Uttke did not even ask for a cash bond for ANY of the figures in this drug case, but, he also was recorded by the media in doing so.

I realize that Uttke had opposition in running for District Attorney last election, and he obviously won that race, but, maybe with the current cases, more people of Antigo will realize just how crooked he is, along with all the rest of them.

I recall at some point that someone made reference to our Langlade County court system as Mickey Mouse court, or something to that effect, and I would certainly agree now.

The world is watching and these elected officials STILL are playing their favoritism games.  Unbelievable!

***CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE BLOGS ON THIS TOPIC***

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How Will the School Board Deal With Employees in Criminal Complaint?

After looking at the criminal complaint for the Principal/Coach, John Lund, it seems as though there are a few names in there that are currently working at the school.  One name that sticks out to me is Jeff Neufeld, isn’t he a teacher or coach? Are there others also?

Is the school board going to put those people on Administrative leave with pay also?  Are those people also being investigated? How many people are we going to pay to stay home and do drugs while they are investigated?  Is there a better way to handle this?

I understand that the names mentioned in the complaint have not been charged with anything, but, neither was Mr. Lund when they sent him home.

All this going on when the School Board is trying to pass a referendum, I would hope at this point they would rethink their plan.  I feel that it is a total waste of time and money for another referendum vote ANY time soon.

Names mentioned in the criminal complaint:
Joe Adams
Anthony Crabb
Robert Hurlbert
Mark Incha
Bradley Maahs
Peter Miller
Jeff Neufeld
Chris “Gumby” Nicholson
Jay Peterson
Mike Peterson
Scot Peterson
Dan Witman
Paul Fermanich
Tim Smith

Links to the criminal complaint:
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT – PART 1
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT – PART 2

Other AntigoBuzz blogs related to this:
Looks Like Antigo Coach/Principal Finally Charged

Antigo Principal/Coach on Admin Leave for What?

Repeat of Certain Antigo Police Officer Cover-Up?

****CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE BLOGS ON THIS TOPIC***

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