Sunday, October 18, 2009
Isanti County officials and residents
Questions regarding resent statements I’ve heard from various Isanti County officials and residents-
1. “Isanti County needs to - Balance the Budget with NO INCREASE in 2010”
*In the Isanti County PRELIMINARY Budget discussion they/WE passed a 2% increase in taxes on a 3-1 (note, don’t we have more than 4 folks who should be voting?)
The County will make a FINAL budget vote in early December 2009 - we need two more votes to balance the budget. (k, silly thought- “would anyone vote NOT to balance a budget?”)
Below are some items to note:
*We are approx. $300K away in reduced spending from balancing our budget.
Q. What do we see as far as line items we can Delete or postpone?
Q. Where can folks ‘VIEW’ a ‘Detailed’ list of expenses for 2010 ‘Line item’ per “Line item’ so we can respond to the above question?
*Most local levels of government have balanced their budgets for zero increases
in 2010. (“Most”… that’s soo vague… ‘Who has balanced their budgets for zero increases
in 2010’ is what I wanna know)
Q. Can we list them?
1. Isanti City
2. Chisago County
3. Bradford Township
Q. The others are? …
Q. What Line items did THEY delete, postpone or cut expenses for?
*The County gives out approx. $100K in charitable contributions.
Q. Where can we find the list of each contribution In Detail –
To whom?
For what?
And how much$$?
*County employees receive a 3% INCREASE in pay for 2010 as a result of union
negotiations two years ago. This is resulting in about $500K in additional
salaries to pay for next year out of our 280 employees.
Q. Given the current economy, a 1% increase was requested by Isanti County, via Commissioner Daudt, the unions refused our offer. The Unions Opted for 3% or nothing. What’s wrong with Nothing? Can we look into other unions or use the difference / Savings to hire Non-Union workers to do the work?
*The County Commissioner's budget is approx. $250K for pay, training and various
other items. –
Q. Can someone ‘Breakdown’ - meaning ‘List” the Departments and list the specific ‘Training' scheduled?
Q. Specify if the training is mandatory? i.e., mandated by the state and fed, or whether its stuff the ‘county deems’ necessary 'training'?
Q. Someone Please Define –“various other items”
Isanti County has NO caps and/or guidelines on per diems - last year the average per diem per was over $5K per commissioner.
Q. Aren’t all per diem guidelines mandated by the Federal government?
(if ya can’t legally write ‘em off, ya sure as hell can’t claim them right?)
In addition to County Commissioners’ salaries of approx. $27K, Commissioners get paid $75 for attending each meeting outside of Isanti County and $60 for attending each meeting within our county.
Q. Attending ‘Meetings’ ARE what Commissioners are paid $27K to do.. Right?
Q. What is the $60.00 and $75.00 per meeting additional pay for?
Q. Where are the Itemized Annual County “Expense” reports published?
Q. May we request copies of the Itemized “Expense” reports submitted broken down by payee?
Commissioners are also paid mileage for attending meetings and some commissioners get reimbursed for driving to regular meetings
Q. Isn’t this against the law according to the IRS?
As Far as I know - NO ONE gets reimbursed for driving to work. However, one may be able to write off mileage for commuting between meetings and running work related errands on their own time….
Q. I thought Commissioners were Never off the clock, are they paid $27K to work a specific number of hours?
Q. How many hours does that $27K workout to?
Q. Exactly how does the Job Description for an Isanti County Commissioner read?
Q. May we access a copy of the signed County Commissioners JD / Employment contract?
In order to balance the budget, Isanti County will likely need to streamline services
Q. Where can we access a list of ALL the services Isanti County provides that we pay for and the Detailed Conditions / TOS and Cost for each service per year?
Q. What services CAN Isanti County streamline without the state & fed jumping down our throats?
*We Could Hold 2010 Meetings in the NIGHT so People can Attend -" Well Duh, that's a no-brainer"
*Isanti County will determine what day/time to hold our regular meetings at the first meeting in
January. – ‘The public can participate’ – Oh Lets Do!
“During this year, the county has had very few people attend meetings and here are the reasons given”
*Meetings are during the day (every other Tuesday @ 9:00 am) when we are at work.
Q. In the interim, may we use the 2 New laptops the County purchased for Commissioners ?? & ?? to stream the meetings to the web in Real Time with chat?
Q. May we have access to the County Buildings High Speed internet connection Via hard-line to stream the meeting to the internet in real time?
*All the decisions are made during the ‘committee’ meetings before the board meets in public to simply reveal its decision. If a decision has been agreed upon during committee why bother to give input.
Thought #1. We could post the topics the county will be addressing in ‘Committee’ so the locals can be heard regarding the issue to take into consideration PROIR to being discussed during committee meetings.
How – Use the net polling options – post the ‘Committee’ topics on a site for 3-5 days before taking ‘em behind closed doors to discuss. This will allow folks to electronically voice their opinion via E-Polling –thoughts on this?
*People don't care as the elected officials don't listen anyway.
This is no longer an issue, we have commissioners who are much more approachable these days … not to mention we are mostly underemployed or unemployed and have more time to get involved – Heads up folks – “it’s time to rumble!” hehehe
No Doubt - we need to have meetings at night so that the public can get more involved. Duff gets many hits per day on his web page - http://www.alanduff.net/ - from people who want to listen to the Isanti county board meetings but are unable to attend due to the current inconvenient scheduled meeting times.
Here’s a great site to Compare County to County – Granted its only Historical data, but beats nothing – http://www.osa.state.mn.us/Search/CountySearch.aspx - Choose Isanti - Choose County to compare us to – interesting stuff there.
I’d love to hear Your/OUR thoughts regarding these topics
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Things that make ya go .. huh?
09/02-24 Motion by Larson, seconded by Morris to approve cell phones for Sheriff=s Department Employees (list on file), effective 1-1-09, per County policy; further that any future requests and approvals will be handled through the administrators office as the designee. Motion carried unanimously. http://www.co.isanti.mn.us/brdmin/2009/mnfeb3-2009.pdf
2/3/09 ICB approved cell phone allowance for about 15 additional Sheriff Dept employees. Annual cost will be about $11,700
http://twitter.com/IsantiAT
Hello! How about funding for Video and Audio recording devices in their vehicles FIRST? WTF
12/29/08 ICB had approved cell phone allowances for 7 in the County Attorney's Office. Cost is about $5,900 annually.<-- When was the last time you called an Isanti County attorney on their cell? … Why aren’t the county funded cell #’s listed?
http://twitter.com/IsantiAT
2/3/09 Also delegated further approvals to the Administrator’s Office. Future cell phone allowances will not be in board minutes. WTF?
“As of 12/31/08 the "Recorder Technology Fund" had a balance of $388,000.”
http://twitter.com/IsantiAT
Do ya think we could use those funds for stuff like … linking folks to the Forms the 10th Judicial requires file to get fricken ANYWHERE? … Naw, that would bust the county groove. “You can’t afford to buck our Good Old Boys” system… F$%^%&! Yup, we pay these folks to be Poopheads … WAKE UP!
This is just the Crap I can relate to … Do tune into http://twitter.com/IsantiAT
And- Alan Duff @ http://www.alanduff.net/
Listen in folks …http://www.alanduff.net/ lord knows they are counting on us NOT listening.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The scoop on my latest poop
In March 2007 I looked online to see what was available – I was unable to print the PDF online so I picked up a copy from the county – a General application for medical assistance. When I applied I was under the impression the application would be used to determine what if anything we qualified for. i.e., -MinnesotaCare, TEFRA, General Assistance Medical Care.
My circumstances were unique and did not accurately fit into the application mold. I opted to bring my partially completed application into the county office to have an intake interview. I “verbally” reported to this intake person that I had closed my business as of December 2006 and expected no further income/revenue, and that the company group health insurance account had a credit balance so my children would not require coverage until May 2007. I disclosed my assets biz and personal financial information.
The intake person stopped me from pulling out more papers and informed me immediately that after reviewing my asset titles, bank statements .. that I personally did not qualify because I was over the asset limit, but my dependant children do. I informed him that one of my sons was Special Needs and had an existing county case worker. The intake person stated he would talk to the case worker to see if we qualified under any of the special needs programs. (my son is EBD / ADHD, ODD, and at the time we were looking into possibly BiPolar.. ) I continued to update, via fax, the information as requested by the intake person through April 16, 2007, including a lump sum payment of $2,690.00 I’d received March 28, 2007 from the ex catching up past due child support.
My two Sons were placed on MA immediately starting April 1 2007. (Although the paperwork I received reads as of May 2007)
Immediately in April my sons CMH Case worker began billing MA TCM fees for attending IEP and face to face meetings - Prior to my son receiving MA, the county services were not billable, the county was unable to bill private insurance, there were no parental fees, therefore, the county was forced to absorb the expense. I’ve since learned that MA is the only entity a county can bill CMH/TCM services.
In August of 2007, I was sent a renewal form. I did not complete the form and mail it in.
Late in August 2007 I was in the county office talking with my sons CMH worker when a financial worker informed me she had taken over our MA case and that I was due for renewal. I started to complete the form in the office, I informed the worker that I would have to go home to get the balance of the information, I also disclosed my assets again. The financial case worker seemed surprised that I owned land and a utility truck. I explained to her that the land and the truck were both for sale and had been for some time. I returned home to gather the balance of my financial information and called in and verbally reported my June July and August ‘earned’ income. I asked the financial case worker if I should include myself on the renewal, the worker said “sure, it can’t hurt, the worst they could do is deny you” I received a notice stating that my children’s coverage was renewed and that I personally was ineligible do to being over the asset limit.
On February 21, 2008, I received a notice stating I had missed an appointment with a County worker on February 12, 2008 and that the children’s coverage was suspended. I called immediately and made a same day appointment to meet with the MA auditor. I brought my financial information directly to her to go over, she made a list of other information she would like to see, YE 1040 2006 & 2007.. I complied. I was told that the children’s insurance was going to be suspended pending her audit.
Over the following 5 months I called the county on a regular basis inquiring about the status of the audit. I was repeatedly told that they were working on it. July 22, 2008 I learn the “Audit” was actually a full blown criminal investigation. The only reason I knew this was because I made my regular monthly call to check on the status of the audit.
I was told by the MA Auditor that my file had been turned over to the County Attorneys office and that they think I was hiding income (because they saw deposits). I was told to call the County Attorneys office for further information. I told the investigator, “I’m getting an attorney, I’m scared of these folks” She said, “No, don’t get an attorney” I hung up and called the County Attorneys office. I was told I was being charged with felony welfare fraud as of July 16, 2008 and was scheduled to appear in court in September 2008. I informed the County Attorney that I had not received the document and she told me to call the Administration office to get a copy. I called the Administrators office and not knowing a case # I just give her my name. I learn that there is a warrant for my arrest and that it looks like an accident. “A Typo”. I inform the Administration worker that I will be in to pick up a copy of the summons and ask for a letter to carry with me stating the warrant was a mistake and has been quashed. I also requested the certified copy of the summons. When I arrived, the certified copy of the summons was not available to me because it was at the Sheriffs, ready to be served as a warrant. I asked the county worker if that meant that the Sheriff was scheduled to come and arrest me by accident? She said, yes, it’s possible.
Now, keep in mind this is July 22, 2008, one day after I faxed the court ordered letter of apology for the Connolly case. I faxed the letter to 3 different departments on July 21, 2008 exactly the 14th day, as ordered.
I return home with my Quashed Warrant document and my Summons to Appear and start surfing the net looking an attorney. I run across this -
http://www.millelacscountytimes.com/2008/january/16assault.html
http://insidethemessenger.blogspot.com/2008/03/dan-mike-betty-and-me.html
http:///isanticountynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2953&Itemid=35
I see Connolly’s name, I’m thinking holy cow… I’m not the only one. I call DeCoursey at home. He’s a bit skeptical and asks me to tell him about my run in with Connolly, I did. He says holy cow, that’s exactly like what happened to he and his wife.
See: http://agalsgottavent.blogspot.com/2008/08/details.html
I ask him how much it cost him to fight his case, he stated about $30,000.00. I know there’s no way I can afford that. A ask if he knows an attorney that works well with Isanti County. He informs me there was an attorney working on taking Isanti to court for other cases like mine, he confirmed that Connolly and a few other officers have been overstepping their authority and that cases like mine are not so unusual. I call the attorney office he refers me to. I get grilled a bit, and learn that because my case was older, 2006, and that I chose to plead out, that I could not help him with his case. I asked him what it would take “UnPlead” and he informed me that it would cost at least $5,000.00 and it was not likely I would win. Also, to go on to trial would cost as well and if he lost the case they would likely enforce the strongest sentence possible for me.
Ugh! I’m pissed as hell, mixed with scared to death, for my own safety, the safety of my children, I start working on getting my youngest son out of here to keep him from messing up and digging us deeper into the county system, My oldest son is leaving for college in a month .. I’m scheduled to meet my PO officer for the first time since my plea in 6 days.
- July 29, 2008, Before I meet with my PO I talk with my sons juvenile PO about how well he’s doing and I request that we release my son from probation because we plan to move to a new state and it would be good for him to have a fresh start. The PO agrees that my son has been doing well and says if the school says ok, he’s ok with it.
I go onto to meet my PO, I’m informed of my rights, or lack there of, as well as
informed “THAT letter was not good enough.” I was handed an outline / format from my PO officer, listing the subjects I was to address. I was told that it should be hand written and more than 1 page long with no spelling errors and turned into her within 14 days.
So, as I’m being told I’ll need to write another letter, I’m absolutely biting my tongue because I know Isanti County has some scary issues in their police department, abuses of power, sexual harassment … I’m pretty sure they know this officer has a history. Why are they insisting I declare this officer my victim and apologize to him in writing, making certain I admit I’ve done something wrong and that I deserve to be punished? Surely it’s not going to make the officer feel better … He knows he was way out of line, and making me feel worse, well there’s no benefit to the county there. I’m assuming they need it on record because they know they have an up coming issue. And already know I’m not gonna help ‘em. So, I used the writing opportunity as therapy, which is what probation is about, rehabilitation.. I felt much better after writing it. No Blood, no foul I figured.
I jump through all the hoops, drop of the letter, I’m thinking.. Done. I should be out of MN in no time. See: http://agalsgottavent.blogspot.com/2008/08/violation-my-ass.html
I learn from my attorney on the Felony charge that the County Attorney told him, off the record, that they would not usually prosecute a case like this but because they don’t like me they are going forward, (of course he won’t put that in writing) later as my trail date grew closer, my attorney tells me the county is not calling him back, he’s having a hard time getting my records, documents, and that they are seemingly not willing to communicate. They insist on me pleading to a criminal charge, no matter how much documentation we have to prove otherwise. I refuse to EVER plead out again. I also know it will cost $10,000.00 min to go to trial. I have a probation violation hearing coming up, I’m still trying to go after the former consultant who ripped me off blind, hence the closed business, I’m in the process of filing bankruptcy, looking for f/t work, my son having a cow because I’ve sent him to live with his uncle to keep him out of trouble. It was a freaking nightmare.
I tell the Attorney there’s no way I can pay him $10,000.00 right then and ask him to please stop working on the case. I decided to file a continuance so I could search for a cheaper attorney, or hold off until I qualified for a PD, either way, I couldn’t go further.
My requests for continuance were denied. I was forced to represent myself Pro Se and in the middle of a complete nervous breakdown. I have ADHD, it’s usually not a big deal but, the more stressed I am the harder it is for me to focus and think clearly. I start taking the ADD meds I hate, and when that prescription ran out I decided to try a new med on the market, Vyvanse … at first it seemed to help … but after a while if your not sleeping, not eating and melting down, that stuff does more harm than good. I was a babbling idiot representing myself in a 12 person jury trial .. needless to say that didn’t go well.
Its 2.5 months later .. I’m off the meds… still stressed as hell, but I’ve reconciled that I may just have to be a Felon and get on with it until I can afford to fight this properly.
I’m scheduled to be sentenced February 4th, 2008 on the MA Fraud charge, still Pro Se. I lost my probation violation hearing and that sentencing is scheduled for February 26, 2008, which means they will likely lift the stay of adjudication and I’ll have a criminal gross misdemeanor “obstruction of justice” on my record. I may have to spend time in jail, which is no big deal, beats writing a letter of apology. The sad part is that my neighbors here in the county are footing the bill to house and feed me for 10 days. It makes no sense to me at all and if it ever does … shoot me please.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The “Adjustment” period
Under the “Violation” section (See: “Violation my Ass”) is the “Adjustment” section.
“Adjustment” Section reads as follows:
The offender has no previous criminal history. This is her first violation of probation since being sentenced on 7/X/08. The offender has plans to move to
Offender’s Thoughts: Ok, we have validated I’m not dangerous. Yes, I want to leave MN and get outta their hair. It cost’s the State and County absolutely $0.00 = (nothing, nada) to stop this insanity. The “Agent” could simply say, “ok, done, have a nice day.”
But NOOooo, they’d rather spend OUR money feeding, clothing and housing me!
Consider the paperwork, the return court dates, the time via man-hours and $$ taken away from us as a community. WE are paying these individuals to document and process this chaos … Holy cow!
I personally have spent hours on the phone, writing letters, faxing, mailing, delivering, reading, documenting and literally thousands of dollars that could have been used toward boosting our local economy, or simply applied to SOMETHING more constructive …. Arrggggh **@#4$%$%^&…
The folks at the “
K, back to What IS:
This offenders Rebuttal: (according to This Offenders lil pea brain)
Noun S: (n) rebuttal (the speech act of refuting by offering a contrary contention or argument) S: (n) rebutter, rebuttal ((law) a pleading by the defendant in reply to a plaintiff's surrejoinder)
A: “Conditions of Probation” I agreed to, and signed, line 13:
“Write a letter of apology to officer & provide to
Done: I faxed it to both Officer Jackass and the Probation department exactly 14 days later.
The “Agent” requested an additional detailed hand written letter of apology, written as stated the outline the “Agent” provided as part of her duty as the “agent” assigned to punish the” offender” for up to two years at the “agent’s” discretion, the “agent” allotted 14 days.
Done: I provided the additional document ordered by the “Agent” on the 13th day
C: The “agent” states”- “the offender is refusing to take any responsibility for her offense.”
See: “Apology Letter” line one - I am truly sorry “I spent the first 40 years of my life completely oblivious to the inner workings of our judicial system”
(How much more “Responsible” can I get?)
Can I make Adjustments?
Monday, August 25, 2008
Feeling the Love
Today I got an Email from a family member. We talked on the phone for a good hour before I read the email. My family, up until now, was not aware of all the other cases, battles … I’ve been working on over the past couple years. I finally unloaded the Full Monty on ‘em…poor things. It’s exhausting to sort it out as I live it, it’s gotta suck trying to keep up with all the details in a crash course. It feels too weird to be real, but it is.
Here’s my response to: Family member;
Dear Family member,
This letter rocks! Can I post it? (see below)
Now that you have the BIG picture, i.e., all the other cases एंड
issues folded together, timing, typos, accidental warrants .. you
see, I'm doing the best I can, they want to eat me no matter what, and
all the smiles and nods on earth aren't gonna help me at this point.
I just have to tackle each issue methodically and hopefully I have the
kind of attorney/s that CAN help. I spent this past weekend documenting
EVERYTHING. I’ve created a Dated Chronological detailed document.
It's fricken insane actually.
Thank you for all your support, whatever is going on here I will get through it and I WILL find a way to pull something good from it. Hey, maybe I'll go to law school hehehe,
Now THAT would be funny!.
I'm so sorry you guys are having to feel my pain. I've been taking it
and keeping my mouth cuz it just FEELS crazy. I figured I could handle it
alone. Not to mention it's exhausting having to explain all the various
issues and details in play here. And listening to it is a chore in
itself, I mean gads! .. how long were we on the phone? ...Holy cow.
I love you all very much, I'm gonna come through this. Hopefully on Christmas Day 2008 we can ALL be hanging out in our pajamas shooting Nerf balls outta big plastic helmets and drinking Espresso!
Wooo Hoo, I wanna come home.
Where are those damn Ruby Slippers?!
(From Family member to me)
Dear Sloan,
Hey you, I have really debated with myself this weekend on if I should send this or not. Let me preface this with I love you and grew up in a small town with issues, so, I get it.
I believe in what you are trying to do, but timing is everything, now is not the time or place to fight this battle especially publicly. Just step outside the box for a moment and see what the rest of us are seeing. The whole family is frightened that you are burning bridges before you even get across......then what?? Burn them all you want but get across first!
That being said............ you know I love you RIGHT??? And I would not put so much thought and effort in if I didn’t truly see something bad coming from the depths. So, I am going to tell you straight as I see it because I think everyone is genuinely worried about you and this situation, they just hope you will handle it accordingly. So... my question is do you ever want to leave? Play nice in the sand box until they release you to go to KC with your probation then vent and blog away, put up the fight of your life and file all the bad mojo claims against Captain Jackass that you want ,but you're letting your emotions run the game right now and being the court jester is not how to win with the "dukes of hazard" mentality they have there. Some one has the "Boss Hog syndrome" and they want to break that hard-on off in someone and You are on the menu, you cant win with that.
You have to be logical and smart in your self preservation, not emotional. As your brother would say, "Keep poking the dog and it will bite". Do this by there letter as much as it pisses you off to do but take the slap on the wrist and GTF out!!!!!!!!!! Cause if you dont they will find ways to keep you there.
With your goofy sarcasm and hippy chick wit that you put into everything its just going to piss them off more (just like a sarcastic kid who doesnt want to listen to their parents even if they are wrong). It is the respect and acknowledgement of that authority that they are looking for. Quit stirring the pot and let it got stagnant, or they will box you up right or wrong because they can, to make an example of you by flexing their muscle!!!!! Once you are here then we can tackle all the bad with good backup that is not swayable because they live there. Fight it from a safe distance. They will find every reason to make an example of you the more you fight. Just buckle down, grit your teeth, smile and nod then get the hell out of there! Then rant all you want for therapy but you cant help yourself or anyone else, especially your son who needs you to do what you have to do right now, not what you want to do. How do you expect to help him stay on the right path and get through this change if you are "in the system" having a sit in to prove your point? Didn't you just get him out of their systems?
Court is this week, give them what they "want to hear" and lets roll out. MN is no longer a good or healthy place for you all any more. I love you............. finish this chapter and come home, we are waiting for you.
All my love and support
Sunday, August 24, 2008
“Violation my Ass”
I’ve been served papers via snailmail AND Handed to me, at my home, by an Officer. Wow, they like me! they really like me!
I am to appear in Hazard County Court Mid September 2008.
According to my Probation Officer, Whatsherface, I’ve violated the conditions of my probation. She is recommending that the “Stay of Adjudication” be revoked, impose Stay of Execution, Serve 10 Days in the Hazard County Jail and discharge from probation upon receipt of the balance of my fine.
From what I gather, I'm assuming the topic we are to address is the one in big bold letters on the front page of the papers I was handed;
1. “Failure to write a letter of apology to the officer and provide a copy to probation with in 14 days.”
I suppose what we are to submit is called a rebuttal.
Noun
S: (n) rebuttal (the speech act of refuting by offering a contrary contention or argument)
S: (n) rebutter, rebuttal ((law) a pleading by the defendant in reply to a plaintiff's surrejoinder)
See below, my amateur ideal of a “Rebuttal” as defined above:
I have written TWO letters of apology.
The first in compliance with Line13 on of the “Conditions of Probation” I agreed to and signed which reads: “Write a letter of apology to officer & provide to PO within 14 days.
Done: I faxed it to both Officer Jackass and the Probation department exactly 14 days later.
The Second in compliance with my probation officers request for a detailed hand written letter, written in accordance with an outline she provided, the document was to be turned in within 14 days as part of “probation stuff”
Done: I hand delivered the detailed letter to the Probation officer exactly 13 days later.
Both documents were submitted on time and in the manner they were ordered.
So how does “Failure to write a letter of apology to the officer and provide a copy to probation with in 14 days.” apply?
Any thoughts?
