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MEMEL
<br /> MINUTES OF THE
<br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING
<br /> April 24,2023
<br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m.
<br /> when,the how,how much and more importantly,the why--a lot of these questions have come my way
<br /> recently,because he is a retired firefighter. Some of those,just to name a few, are the why. What's wrong
<br /> currently with a Long Lake Fire Department?Eighty percent of the costs are covered by Orono,but 80
<br /> percent of the calls are served by Orono.What's wrong with that?Does Orono have an oversight of the
<br /> budget?And if so,have they ever looked into the budget?Has anyone ever been asked to increase the
<br /> CIP?And if so,what was their response to that?And do they do it regularly?Why are the citizens paying
<br /> for two Fire Chiefs?Right now you're paying 80%of Long Lake's Fire Chief, and a Fire Chief that
<br /> currently is being paid with no Fire Department.And on that note,he's doing a needs assessment with no
<br /> Fire Department. So there's a need for a Fire Department.That's an easy assessment. You guys have made
<br /> an offer to Long Lake to purchase their station,the rolling stock and equipment.But that's already been
<br /> paid for by the public. So why should the public do that twice?Let me just move to a quote that I thought
<br /> was really interesting. "I feel very strong about the need for more transparency of how,when and to what
<br /> our taxpayer dollars are being spent.As a business owner and operator, I've always found it very
<br /> important to have and ask a lot of the right question,so when you make a decision, it is a well-educated
<br /> decision,resulting in a better success rate or a solution the first time. These types of dialogue sessions
<br /> need to be well-documented at the City Council level so all have a better understanding of the specific
<br /> votes that are being cast.When there are major projects to be done,we need more public open houses and
<br /> more public input. When citizens come to the Council Members with questions.I feel they deserve a
<br /> better answer than what is currently at the City Council. That way we all have a better understanding of
<br /> where our tax dollars are being spent."He really liked that quote and thinks it an awesome quote.And
<br /> that was from you,Mr.Mayor.
<br /> Chelsea Wetrick said she's not disappointed that he had a nice quote to read.It was from your slave
<br /> owner this time. Yeah,roll your eyes. She finds it funny that he says that people shouldn't swear or attack
<br /> personally when you two are the ones that call people out from your podium.And then you call people
<br /> out and then run away for months at a time.It's very interesting.As you can see,everybody wants you to
<br /> figure this out. So,what is your game plan?Are you just going to sit and wait for it to end,because it's
<br /> not going to end?You're going to need to do something to fix it. Pay attention here.You're going to have
<br /> to fix it,your poison you spread. You find this funny to all these other people who listen to you and your
<br /> poison and you with your January 6 stuff.And you know,it's just, it's bull.And you want to talk about
<br /> not swearing?Give me a break. We need new people in the Council. Everybody wants you to answer this,
<br /> to figure it out.Again, it's not gonna go away. Figure it out,man up.
<br /> Brad Erickson, 2485 Independence Road,said he has got a proposal this evening.We'll get to that in a
<br /> minute.He did a Freedom of Information Act request and has no less than five emails here that came in in
<br /> December,2020 regarding his links to the Proud Boys. Okay, so Victoria knew about it. You knew about
<br /> it, of course you knew about it. You were there.And some other folks.And nothing was done. So, a lot of
<br /> people up there knew and are sheltering this guy. So,my question is,who knew about the J6 stuff?And
<br /> why isn't anyone coming forward and talking about that?His proposal this evening has to do with Mr.
<br /> Walsh. This is his proposal--700 mayors across the country have spoken out against growing anti-
<br /> semitism.He'll read some of the ones from Minnesota and he would challenge you guys to sign up on
<br /> this.As a City,as a mayor, as an elected official,do the right thing for once.Blaine,Brooklyn Center,
<br /> Burnsville,Edina,Golden Valley, Jordan,Mendota Heights,Minneapolis,Minnetonka,Plymouth,
<br /> Richfield,Rochester, St.Louis Park--your alma mater, and St.Paul. We need to add Orono to this list.
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