LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor, Arrogance.

It only took him a day – it was totally predictable and totally despicable.

Gov. Evers gave his budget address on Wednesday and Friday Sen Marklein came out with this: “Governor Tony Evers delivered his budget address. This is the Governor’s list of ideas. It was not the state budget. The legislature will write THE state budget as we always do. The state budget will fund our priorities, address our obligations…”

The arrogance of Marklein is sickening. THE budget, indeed. And THE “budget

Dear Editor,

Village residents of Arena need to pay attention to what was/is happening in our community.

Here are a few examples of the current administration’s shortcomings. 1.) Over spending of taxpayer monies without consideration of future implications. 2.) Not planning properly for Village projects resulting in cost overruns. 3.) Voting against being more open by video and audio recording meetings even though it has the technology to do so. 4.) Misleading residents by not wording the recent refer-

Dear Editor,

Here is my response to the letter from Steve Jahnke:

1.) We welcome and encourage the residents of Arena to come to our meetings. We welcome them to sign up for Public Comments and voice their ideas and concerns. We encourage them to call the members of the board, the president, the committee chairs and/or the clerk to discuss concerns and ideas and get on the agenda for the meetings!

2.) The EMT Referendum was approved for the ballot in a well publicized special meeting 8/23/22. The wording used was the same as that which was used in 2020 for the same referendum. The wording was checked in 2020 by the village attorney. The dollar amounts continued from page 1 serious, adverse health consequences or death. However, the DATCP states no illnesses have been reported as a result of consuming these products.

"The classes are decided on the federal level, and there is no gray area within these classes. Even though our recall was solely based on a misprinted number on a label, it is considered a Class I since will fund our priorities, and address our obligations,” Marklein says. Oh, don’t think for a minute that “our” means us, the taxpayers and residents of rural Wisconsin. It means him, his rich buddies, his rich donors, and the corporations that buy his favors sending most of our tax dollars their way or socking them away until a Republican governor will let them give those funds to another Foxconn.

“The last budget was arguably one of the best state budgets in recent history,” the senator says. In saying so he means the budget that left our schools underfunded, our roads and bridges in disrepair, and endum properly and not following proper procedure with the referendum. The referendum should have been approved first by the DOR, then voted upon by the Village. Not the other way around. This is one example of the administration and Clerk either not knowing or, ignoring procedure. Things have been done by this administration but not planned properly. One example, the construction of the Village shop cost more than projected. Just one of the additional costs was over $30,000 more being added to Village debt as the were changed to reflect the current economy. Some additional explanatory wording was included to make sure the voters knew the effect of their vote. The Village of Arena residents approved the Referendum by 2 votes on 11/8/22. The Department of Revenue (DOR) put the Referendum in question due to a wording issue. The Village of Arena 2023 budget was passed after a Public Hearing on 11/15/22 without the Referendum because the DOR indicated that it wasn't likely to approve it. The DOR approved the Referendum after the Public Hearing. A resolution to amend the budget to include the Referendum failed at the 12/6/22 Village of Arena Board meeting because the budget had already been posted. The Board did pass

'mislabels' are included in the Class I category. The discovery was made during a label audit," added Marty Prem.

The DATCP advises that consumers who have purchased these products should discard them immediately and that anyone with signs or symptoms of a foodborne illness should contact their doctor. Consumers with questions about this recall can contact Gavyn Prem, Prem Meats, at (608) 588-2164.

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Interested? Send us your area(s) of interest and a resume to: editor@valleysentinelnews.com thousands still without broadband. The legislatures budget left our schools, local, and county governments resorting to referendums forcing residents to vote to increase their property taxes because Sen. Marklein and his Republican buddies in the legislature refuse to give our tax dollars back to our communities.

We dare not forget that the majority of the improvements we have seen in the last months and into this year are a result of federal dollars put into the hands of Gov. Evers by Democrats in the U.S. Congress. Thank whatever god you believe in that the legislature was not able to get their cost of laying the driveway was not considered in the original plan.

Certain residents were either ignored or had to follow different procedures when expressing interest in becoming involved and asking for seats on committees because of who they were.

The funding for Well #2 also includes monies for maintenance for Well #1. Why? Because there were no monies set aide for Well #1 maintenance. It was spent. This also adds to the Village debt load.

What this administration does not understand is that every decision made to- the 2023 EMT Funding Agreement for 2 full-time EMT employees. In addition, Village of Arena Trustees participated in and collaborated with Fire Board members at the January 2023 Fire Board Meeting where funding for a third EMT position was provided through rate adjustments.

3.) The population of Arena Village is 847 people. The Village can't afford to fund everything. We had to eliminate a police officer position to meet the needs of the community and stay within the levy limits. We fund the entire police department even though the Town of Arena and all of the surrounding municipalities get the benefits without contribution. Perhaps the Town of Arena should contribute to the police, and the hands on these funds – they sure tried. And if any of us forget that it is THE budgets that Sen. Marklein and his Republican buddies in the legislature have written over the years that have resulted in the demise of UW-Richland and possibly other campuses to come – then, I guess we deserve to lose them.

“The budget will be skinny,” he says. This in the face of a $7.7 billion surplus. I can’t even think of a response to that that could be printed.

Beverly Pestel Rockbridge, Wisconsin

day, affects Village taxpayers for years. The Village is essentially broke. In a Village of 800 people, politics has no place in Village government.

Common sense and inclusion does.

So, get concerned and pay attention. Get a CF-1 form, fill it out and run for office in April as a write in candidate. In Wisconsin, you need to be registered for a write in candidacy. You have until the Friday before the April election to do so.

Paul Pustina Arena, Wisconsin

Village could then afford to contribute more to Fire/EMS.

4.) The snarky comment about who is running the Village is patently ridiculous. Our Clerk/Treasurer does a wonderful job of managing the day-to-day workings of the Village. She is incredibly knowledgeable and professional, and is doing exactly what she was hired to do. We are lucky to have her.

5.) Never forget that the Village President and every Trustee is a Village resident, unlike Mr. Jahnke, so everything we do affects us as well. We do our very best to always act in a way that will result in the best for our Village.

Kristen Shea Arena, Wisconsin