Radio KWLM Talks about city of Watson
Watson votes for change
WATSON — Voters in the small Chippewa County community of Watson voted Tuesday for a change in their city governance structure.
WATSON — Voters in the small Chippewa County community of Watson voted Tuesday for a change in their city governance structure.
In a special election, voters cast 72 “yes” to 17 “no” ballots for a measure that will make the city clerk and treasurer positions a single, appointed position.
Currently, the city clerk is elected to that position and is a voting member of the Watson City Council. The treasurer is also elected currently, but does not have a vote.
Loisjean Fossen is city clerk and Marcie Radtke is treasurer. Both will continue to serve in that capacity through the remainder of the year.
Fossen said after the count that she would likely retire at the end of her term.
Voters on Tuesday also defeated a measure that would have allowed Sunday liquor sales — 46 “no” to 43 “yes” votes. The Goose Bar had sought approval for Sunday sales.
Watson has a population of just over 200 people.
Please click the link below to listen to the MPR coverage of Watson City Discrimination issue aired
Feb. 23, 2010
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/23/small-minn-town-in-big-political-mess/
The town of Watson is located about 115 miles west of the Twin Cities. Turmoil in Watson in recent months has led to a vote Tuesday that could remake the city council, but also to civic battles that have all the acrimony of a big-city political feud. (MPR Photo/Mark Steil)
Small Minn. town in big political fight
by Mark Steil, Minnesota Public Radio
February 23, 2010
Copy and paste the HTML below to embed this audio onto your web page.
Audio player code:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/js/swfobject.js"></script><div id="minnesota_news_features_2010_02_22_watson_20100222_64s_player"></div><script type="text/javascript">/*<![CDATA[*/var so = new SWFObject("http://minnesota.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/s_player.swf", "minnesota_news_features_2010_02_22_watson_20100222_64s_player", "319", "83", "8", "#ffffff");so.addParam("quality", "high");so.addParam("menu", "false");so.addParam("wmode", "transparent");so.addVariable("name", "minnesota/news/features/2010/02/22/watson_20100222_64");so.write("minnesota_news_features_2010_02_22_watson_20100222_64s_player");/*]]>*/</script>
Watson, Minn. — Talk of political gridlock often refers to logjams in Congress or at the state legislature, but it can happen anywhere.
Case in point: the small town of Watson in western Minnesota, where resignations, lawsuits and accusations of incompetence are all part of everyday political life.
The turmoil in recent months has led to an effort to a vote Tuesday that could remake the city council in Watson, which has fewer than 200 residents, but civic battles that have all the acrimony of a big-city political feud.
At one recent city council meeting, emotions boiled over. Watson resident Bev Sailor expressed feelings held by many in town on the performance of their elected officials.
"I'm sorry, I think somebody is being very disrespectful at that table. You guys are elected officials, we pay your salaries," Sailor said during the session, captured in a YouTube video. "And I don't think we deserve disrespect when we come to a meeting."
Residents blame the city council for a series of problems. Some say they're being overcharged on their water bills. They wonder if the city's budget will balance. City Council inaction is hurting the town's development, former mayor Kylene Olson said.
"There's easements that need to be taken care of for the new wastewater and water distribution and collection lines that need to be laid," Olson said. "And that has not been taken care of the way it should be."
Much of her dissatisfaction is directed at City Clerk Loisjean Fossen. Olson said Fossen's poor management has delayed needed progress.
"I don't think she has the capacity that it takes to fulfill the job requirements right now," Olson said.
Today's vote would change the city clerk and treasurer positions from elected to appointed. If voters approve the change, Olson said the council could hire experienced people in the future and avoid a repeat of the current situation. Fossen would be allowed to serve out her term.
Fossen calls the election a vendetta mounted by political opponents who failed to make her do what they want.
"This is a town of few people with such hatred for me," she said. "And they're running me down, they're harassing me, they're belittling my name. And I shake and I'm almost in tears."
Because the clerk's job gives Fossen a seat on the City Council, her vote gives her a powerful role in city affairs.
For her critics, the primary issue is competence. Some residents say Fossen too often refuses to fulfill her duties, such as providing residents with minutes of council meetings. Fossen said she is being blamed by residents who don't follow proper procedure in filing their requests.
At one point, Fossen resigned her position, then quickly rescinded the action. But Fosssen said she won't attend City Council meetings until the mayor and council stop what she calls "citizen abuse."
"Stop letting these certain residents come in and tell us what we're going to do and make insults on me, false accusations," Fossen said. "Because our city business is not getting done. Our City Council meetings [are] a joke."
Fossen's assessment of the council's meetings is probably the only point of agreement between the two sides in the Watson debate.
Mayor Jason Avelsgard at one point also resigned because of the fighting, but he too changed his mind. Then City Council member Kevin Norman resigned. The council has canceled meetings because there weren't enough members on hand to handle city business.
Why the rancor in Watson has grown to this point is not exactly clear, but there's one factor that's unmistakable: a dispute over a vegetable garden. The city sued resident Aziz Ansari alleging the four canopies around his house that cover his vegetable garden violated city zoning requirements.
Ansari, who was born in Pakistan, said the city's action is rooted discrimination.
"There's no reason to believe otherwise," Ansari said. "They are discriminating, they take me as a different person, different religion, and treat me differently."
City officials deny there's any discrimination involved in their lawsuit against Ansari. But the dispute led to a rift in town, which continues to play out at council meetings and now may lead to a change in city governance.
Ansari said Fossun is not the only one to blame, but he hopes changing her job will result in a shakeup.
"I definitely want the system to be changed," Ansari said. "Hopefully there will be a change for the positive."
The Watson uproar has attracted the attention of the FBI. Agents have talked with Ansari about his discrimination claims.
In a separate development, the state auditor plans to review the city's books.
While today's election could settle some questions in town, there's likely more turbulence ahead for the residents of Watson. Watson voters approve changing form of government
By Staff photo by Grayce Ray
While election judge Avis Peterson (left) looks on, election judge Debra Birdsall explains the proper way to fill out a ballot to a voter Tuesday in the city of Watson’s special election. Not shown is election judge Dorothy Gustafson.
TEXT FROM KWLM 1340 am WILLMAR, MN
Watson changes government...Ansari saves couple
02/26/2010 07:47 AM
The people of Watson this week have voted to change their form of government. By a 72-to-17 vote on Tuesday, they voted to change from Plan A, to Plan B, meaning the city clerk position will go from being elected to being appointed. That affects city clerk and council member Loisjean Fossen, who will have to give up one of her positions. Grayce Ray of the Montevideo American News says Fossen has indicated she plans to retire when her term is up in November. Ray says Watson also rejected allowing the Goose Bar to have Sunday liquor sales by a vote of 43 to 46. She says it was very cold on Tuesday which may have kept voter turnout down. Ray says it looks like Watson will be filling two city council seats this fall. The turmoil in Watson began when the city ordered resident Aziz Ansari to take down his covered tomato beds, saying they were a building and against code. Ansari has refused, and is now suing the city. Ray says Ansari recently came to the rescue of John and Marilyn Handeen, both 85 of rural Milan who spent 7 hours trapped in their car when it got stuck in a snowbank in a blizzard February 14th. The Handeens kept warm using a candle and by occasionally running their engine. Aziz found them shortly after midnight and had to shovel a path in the snow to get their car door open. Ray says Ansari's first words to the Handeens, once he got the door open, was, "What are you doing here, celebrating a honeymoon?"
By Grayce Ray
Montevideo American-News
Thu Feb 25, 2010, 08:00 AM CST
Montevideo, MN -
Watson residents voted overwhelmingly, 72-17, in Tuesday’s special election, to change the city’s form of government to a Plan A from the current standard form.
What this means is that the clerk and treasurer position will no longer be elected but appointed, and that the city clerk will not have a position on the city council. That seat on the council will be filled by an additional council member after the next general election.
The special election brings to an end a tug of war between residents and the council and clerk which began months ago when residents submitted a petition calling for the change. Since then the clerk and council have delayed setting the date for the election several times.
On Feb. 9, during the regular council meeting, the council voted to have the city clerk available at the city hall on Feb. 16 and 17 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. to accept applications for absentee ballots. City Clerk Loisjean Fossen was not at that meeting and Mayor Jason Avelsgard took notes.
On Feb. 13, Avelsgard sent Watson residents a letter telling them when, where and at what time the election would be held.
Three days later Fossen sent residents a letter stating that the city office would be open for walk-in absentee voters Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a requirement of Minnesota Statutes, but she did not refer to the days and hours set by the council vote.
She explained that she did not know about the council’s vote and did not receive Avelsgard’s letter until after she had sent hers. She said Avelsgard had not turned over the minutes of the Feb. 9 meeting although she had left him messages asking for them.
Fossen has said she will not attend meetings until Avelsgard stops the “abuse” she has been subjected to by council and residents. In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio, she said, “Our City Council meetings are a joke.”
Tuesday’s vote will not make any change in the council until the general election in November. Recent council meetings have been marred by resignations tendered and withdrawn from both Fossen and Avelsgard, and one resignation by council member Kevin Norman on Feb. 9. Further resignations would leave the council with only four members and problems reaching a quorum if anyone is absent.
Despite the vote for change, the city still faces a horde of problems; the 2010 budget is still being worked on, the new water meters are still not working satisfactorily, the council has still not set a base rate for water consumption, easements have not been completed for residents who will be getting sewers installed this spring, treasurer’s reports have not been adequately presented in council, and residents want an accounting of city finances.
In addition the city is working through a lawsuit against resident Aziz Ansari for his gardens which the city maintains violate city ordinances, and a second lawsuit against the city brought by Ansari claiming discrimination.
A second measure on Tuesday's ballot to allow the city to issue liquor licenses allowing eligible establishments to sell liquor on Sundays was defeated by a narrow margin of 46 no to 43 yes
By Grayce Ray
Montevideo American-News
Thu Feb 18, 2010, 08:00 AM CST
Milan couple spends hours stranded in car
A Milan area couple spent more than seven hours trapped in their car stuck in the snow during Sunday’s whiteout conditions.
John Handeen and his wife, Marilyn, both 85, were en route about 5:30 p.m. from his farm to Milan along a county road when he lost control of the car after hitting a patch of ice under a snow drift and ploughed into a deeper drift at the side of the road. The car was half-buried and would not move, John said Tuesday.
Marilyn said he was determined to walk to his farm to get a tractor, but she insisted that he stay in the car. Marilyn, generally a soft-spoken woman, said “That’s when I got a little demanding. I told him we’d always been told to stay with the car in case of a winter accident, and he was not to leave me alone. We couldn’t even see a yard light in the dark and the snow drifting.
“So then we started calculating how much gas we had and John figured out how long we could run the car on that.”
“I figured we could run the engine for 15 minutes every hour to keep warm,” John said.
Marilyn found candles in the back seat, left from decorating her church at Christmas, and matches. They located a tin can, put a candle in it, lit it and scrounged for anything else that might come in handy. John, a dedicated reader, had some books picked up at the Goodwill and Marilyn hoped he’d have something she’d like.
“With him it’s usually algebra or physics or chemistry, but I found something nice — a book about friendship,” she chuckled. “The candle we’d lit was a scented one, vanilla, and it gave enough light to read and it smelled good and we were warm enough. It was kind of romantic.”
The hours passed, with John running the engine every so often, and they noted that the temperature had risen two degrees from 12 to 14 degrees. Finally around 12:30 a.m. a bright light shone behind their car.
A figure appeared in the swirling snow, shoveling a passage to the front doors of the car.
Aziz Ansari from Watson, a friend of the couple, had been searching for them for about three hours when he spotted the car deep in the drift. When he had cleared a way to the door, he wrenched it open, looked in at the two sitting calmly, lit by candlelight, and his first words were “What are you doing here — celebrating a honeymoon?”
Ansari helped the Handeens into his four-wheel drive truck where their son Paul waited and ploughed his way to John’s farm, then to Marilyn’s in Milan.
John, a survivor of a heart bypass and due for his third pacemaker, has always been a stubborn and self-reliant Norwegian. Early Monday he was out clearing his lane and the county road.
He said Tuesday “I don’t believe in taking it easy. I’m just getting my tractor out to go get the car; it’s still stuck out there.”
His advice after the adventure? “Everybody should carry candles in the car. You can get more heat out of candles than anything. We only used two in all that time. Oh, and be sure to take matches. We were all right. We had three-fourths tank of gas and I figured we could run the car 15 minutes every hour and stay comfortable.”
Marilyn is less blase. “I have never seen that road so deep. It was luck or something else watching out for us. The only reason they knew we were missing is because I didn’t call my son Paul as I always do, and the only reason they found us was because they turned the wrong way.”
Paul, worried when he did not hear from his mother by 9:30 p.m., called Ansari because he knew Ansari and the Handeens had been at a presentation in a Willmar church earlier in the day. Paul has a small car so Ansari insisted on taking his four-wheel truck to look for the missing couple.
The men rushed off with a borrowed cell phone, no shovels and no idea where to look. At John’s farm first, they were stuck in the deep drifts in the lane and scrounged a shovel of Handeen’s to get the truck out.
Ansari said he doesn’t remember how long they shoveled. “The wind kept blowing — we moved the snow and it kept blowing back with the wind in our faces. The four-wheel drive was lifted off the ground by all the snow under it. We took turns shoveling and finally got moving.”
They made their way through blizzard conditions down the farm lane, then made a turn to the west, instead of the east as they had intended. Unable to turn, they continued toward the next cross road.
“By golly, there they were. All we could see was the red glint of their tail lights because it is a white car, half buried in the snow. It had piled up enough I don’t think they could have got the doors open,” Ansari said.
Ansari, a native of Pakistan, said he did nothing unusual in rushing into the night to look for the couple. “I just had to go. God pushed me and I went. We (the Handeens and I) have had more than three cups of tea together, and in Pakistan when you have shared three cups of tea you are family.”
Letters to the Editor February 25, 2010
Thu Feb 25, 2010, 08:00 AM CS
Judge by action
I have heard it said, as I believe, that one should judge a person by their actions. I was reading the story in the Feb. 18 edition of the Montevideo American-News about the couple stuck in their vehicle during the recent storm, when a familiar name popped up in the story.
The name was Aziz Ansari of Watson. This man had spent three hours and risked his own safety to search out this stranded couple. He also brought their son with him to help. This speaks volumes about the character of Mr. Ansari.
This is the same gentleman whose vegetable gardens caused the city of Watson such consternation. I have seen him labled as a troublemaker and as causing a blight on the city of Watson.
I suggest he is none of these things, as illustrated by his selfless behavior in finding his friends who were lost in the storm.
This incident should show the perspective of what Mr. Ansari is trying to do in Watson. I think the city should be proud to have someone like Aziz Ansari living in their community, rather than keeping an ongoing battle with a man growing vegetables.
—David Dvorak
Montevideo
-
Milan couple spends hours stranded in car
A Milan area couple spent more than seven hours trapped in their car stuck in the snow during Sunday’s whiteout conditions.
http://www.montenews.com/archive/x925448349/Milan-couple-spends-hours-stranded-in-car
Thu Feb 18 00:00:00 PST 2010
- Petitions await action
Watson residents hoping to see some changes in city government are in for a surprise. Two petitions submitted by residents have yet to see any action.
http://www.montenews.com/archive/x1802478954/Petitions-await-action
Thu Dec 17 00:00:00 PST 2009
- Information request leads to complaint
Five Watson residents who Monday asked city clerk Loisjean Fossen for a copy of a city council meeting found themselves facing Chippewa County Sheriff Stacy Tufto on Tuesday to respond to a complaint that they intimidated the clerk.
http://www.montenews.com/archive/x896785205/Information-request-leads-to-complaint
Mon Nov 2 00:00:00 PST 2009
- Sanford Elementary students learn about tomatoes
All the students at Sanford were given the opportunity to try red and yellow tomato varieties with cornchips and asked to indicate which they preferred.
http://www.montenews.com/archive/x1991986692/Sanford-Elementary-students-learn-about-tomatoes
Fri Sep 25 00:00:00 PDT 2009
Watson mayor decides to withhold resignation
By Grayce Ray
Montevideo American-News
Thu Feb 11, 2010, 09:55 AM CST
|
Montevideo, MN -
In a telephone conversation several days after his expected resignation from office, Watson Mayor Jason Avelsgard told the American-News he had decided not to hand in his resignation.
He said several Watson residents had called and pleaded with him to stay on the city council and that he will continue to serve for the time being.
Avelsgard said he would attend the Feb. 9 council meeting. He added that city clerk Loisjean Fossen had informed him she would not be there as she will be on vacation.
At the council meeting Tuesday night, Councilman Kevin Norman submitted his resignation, which was accepted.
The seat will remain vacant for one month while council decides what action to take.
Published February 09 2010
Voters in Watson to decide governance; special election may settle town dispute
WATSON — Voters in Watson will soon have a say in one of the disputes that has divided the community.
By: Tom Cherveny, West Central Tribune
WATSON — Voters in Watson will soon have a say in one of the disputes that has divided the community.
A special election will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 23 to decide whether to change the city’s form of government.
Watson council members set the election date and ballots have been printed for the special election, according to Jon Clausen, Chippewa County auditor-treasurer.
The election was triggered by a petition from citizens in the community.
They would like to see the city clerk and treasurer positions combined and that position be appointed.
Currently both positions are elected.
The city clerk also is a voting member of the city council, while the treasurer does not have a vote. Loisjean Fossen serves as clerk and Marcie Radtke as treasurer.
If the petitioner’s proposal is approved by a simple majority of voters, the two officer-holders would complete their terms. At the start of the new year, the council would appoint a person to the position as an employee.
The special election will also feature a second ballot question on whether or not to allow Sunday liquor sales in the community.
The dispute over city governance has also led to two separate petitions asking for a state audit of the city’s books.
A representative from the state auditor’s office will be meeting with petitioners on Friday to determine the scope of the audit.
The citizens who brought the initial petition seeking a state audit have a two-page list of questions they’d like to see answered.
The initial petition was followed by a second petition- this one including the names of current city council members- asking that the period to be audited be extended to cover three prior years.
Chief among the questions raised in the initial petition is a request to know how much the city has spent on legal fees with the Kennedy and Graven law firm of Minneapolis.
The community of 211 people has retained the firm to serve as its city attorney, and the firm is managing the litigation against Aziz Ansari, also known as the Tomato Man for his roadside vegetable stand.
The city has accused Ansari of violating city ordinances by erecting plastic covered, hooped structures on his residential property to raise tomatoes and other vegetables.
Ansari disputes that the structures are in violation of the city ordinances, and has answered the city’s litigation with his own: He filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city charging a number of current and former city officials with discrimination against him as a person of color and Muslim.
The lawsuit alleges that the city has aggressively prosecuted him for alleged zoning violations while ignoring far more egregious violations elsewhere in the community.
Both the city’s and Ansari’s cases are moving forward.
Last month, Ansari answered questions during a full day of deposition.
More recently, defendants in the discrimination lawsuit met with legal staff to prepare answers to questions posed by Ansari in the discrimination lawsuit.
Watson mayor resigns position
By Grayce Ray
Montevideo American-News
Thu Feb 04, 2010, 08:00 AM CST
Print This |
ShareThis
Montevideo, MN -
Citing irreconcilable differences with the city clerk, the mayor of Watson has resigned his office one year into his term.
Former Mayor Jason Avelsgard dated his official letter of resignation Jan. 29 and effective immediately. It will likely be formally announced at the next city council meeting on Feb. 9.
Avelsgard was absent from the last two council meetings and acting Mayor Mark Radtke said at the last meeting on Jan. 28 that he believed Avelsgard had resigned.
Avelsgard said in a phone interview Jan. 29, “The main reason I resigned was our city clerk (Loisjean Fossen). All the things I wanted to accomplish have been undermined by Loisjean. As mayor there was nothing I could do about it.
“I was getting very tired of doing her job. I’ve spent a lot of time and my own money doing the job. I left her phone messages she wouldn’t return. I’ve been working to push through getting easements signed by residents after she tried once and then wouldn’t do any more. I’ve worked to get a date set for the special election and she’s blocked that time after time.”
Avelsgard said he had received a letter from the city attorney warning that the special election could be jeopardized if the city clerk did not take care of her responsibilities regarding the election.
The special election comes after Watson residents signed a petition seeking to have the city’s form of government changed from its current Plan B which has the clerk elected and sitting on the council, to a Plan A which would call for the clerk to be hired and not be a council member.
The city council had failed to set a date for that election since the petition was presented to the council in October 2009. Finally, at the Jan. 28 meeting, the council voted and approved Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, for the special election.
Fossen must advertise time and place for voting, send out absentee ballots and appoint three election judges. Chippewa County Auditor/Treasurer Jon Clauson said ballots and equipment will be ready by then.
Relations between Avelsgard and Fossen have been strained for months as evidenced by several outbursts from Fossen during council meetings when she refused to set office hours after Avelsgard and council member Kevin Norman asked her to. She said she was an elected official, their equal, and did not have to take orders from them.
At one point she resigned, then rescinded the resignation and remained on the council. Two weeks ago she said she would not attend any meetings until Avelsgard ran meetings according to the agenda and she was not “abused.”
She attended the Jan. 28 council meeting and said later that she thought her “problem was taken care of,” with Avelsgard’s absence.
During the last council meeting, Fossen made a motion that Radtke go to Avelsgard’s home and collect all documents that belong to the city. The motion was carried but Radtke cautioned that nothing should be done until Avelsgard’s official resignation was received.
Avelsgard said that he believed residents were not informed about city business.
“There’s definitely a look of people not knowing what is going on,” he said. “If Loisjean had resigned I would not have, because then I would have had a fighting chance.”
He said he had no city documents at his home.
City council can now appoint someone to fill the vacancy.
The peasants are revolting
Grace Ray Column
By Grayce Ray
Montevideo American-News
Thu Jan 28, 2010, 08:00 AM CST
Print This |
ShareThis
Montevideo, MN -
Who would be a politician? It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it. Cities and counties, big and small, have multiple issues to deal with. Maintenance of streets and roads, zoning and building codes, health and welfare of citizens, permits and licenses, just to name a few.
In the main, people who run for positions on the councils which govern municipalities are amateurs, willing to give their time and plenty of energy at personal cost for little reward. But seeing a well-conducted city where things run smoothly and residents work together to make it happen is a handsome payment.
Some cities are proud enough of their government to showcase it on local TV, to welcome citizens in to watch it at work, to invite school classes to sit in and see how it operates, to publish minutes of meetings to keep people informed.
This amazing country was founded by a bunch of amateurs, willing to give their time and energy and hopes and with no blueprint for a democracy, but look how well it generally functions.
And no, we don’t all hold hands and sing Kumbayah, but we do hold our hands out to each other in time of need, to help others up, to clap at joyful events, to clasp strangers’ hands so they know they are welcome. And we know many hands make light work.
In the old movies, evil rulers frequently meet their ends when the angry mob comes, armed with pitchforks and torches, and the trusty servant warns, “The peasants are revolting!”
Watson has no peasants but residents are angry. Their elected officials seem to have forgotten that their job is to serve the people, to respect their needs, and to see that the community’s affairs are conducted reasonably.
Squabbling around the council table, sniping at residents who ask for explanations, attempting to keep people away from public meetings, not attending to business affairs in a timely and open manner — none of that accomplishes anything constructive. People who complain that they are being made to look like fools, mostly don’t need any help doing so.
Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams et. al., were amateurs at building a government and they had no Google or Internet or Wikipedia to consult. So give civility a try. Remember why you ran for office and get on with it. Do the job and you just might get the respect you want.
Watson special election date still up in air
By Grayce Ray
Montevideo American-News
Thu Jan 28, 2010, 08:00 AM CST
Print This
Montevideo, MN -
The city of Watson seems to be stuck in a quagmire. A special election requested by a petition from residents in October is still pending. City council members have tentatively set one date after another for that election, but so far nothing has happened.
First, it was supposed to be on Jan. 19, but the council forgot to vote on the matter; next, Feb. 2 was proposed, but council again failed to vote on the date. Now, Mayor Jason Avelsgard has said the election will take place on Feb.23, despite both council meetings scheduled for January having been cancelled.
The Watson City Council seems to be disintegrating. Members are at each others’ throats, the city clerk refuses to attend meetings or keep regular office hours, residents are disappointed and angry, unsure where to turn for information about the city budget, escalating water bills and mounting legal fees incurred in the city’s legal battles with one resident.
The council appears to dodge the issue, cancelling meetings, not showing up for meetings, refusing to make minutes of past meetings available to residents, delaying preparation of a budget, and abruptly terminating meetings rather than answer residents’ questions.
The petition asked for a special election to change the form of government from the current Plan B, which has the city clerk elected and also serving as a council member, to Plan A, which calls for the clerk to be hired and not on the council.
The council finally agreed to contact Chippewa County Auditor/Treasurer Jon Clauson for advice on when the election could be held. Clauson said early February would allow time for his office to prepare the ballots.
Avelsgard said then that the election could take place Feb.2, but council meetings scheduled for Jan. 12 and 19 were cancelled and so no date has yet been set by vote.
Last week Avelsgard said he had again met with Clauson and tentatively set the election date for Feb. 27. Clauson said preparation of the ballots is already underway, and special equipment which will allow voters who are visually impaired or otherwise unable to deal with a written ballot should be ready by Feb. 27. That equipment will use an optical scan ballot as an alternative to marking a regular ballot.
“The process should be transparent to the voters as well as maintaining their privacy,” Clauson said. “I expect the printer and programmer should have the ballots ready for the election February 23rd.”
City clerk Loisjean Fossen did not attend last week’s meeting, which was cancelled for lack of a quorum. When this reporter spoke to her at her home that evening, Fossen said she would not attend any council meetings until Avelsgard assured her she would not be subjected to abuse from him or anyone at meetings and that he would conduct the council meetings correctly and follow the agenda.
City treasurer Marcy Radtke said Avelsgard has not signed city checks for several weeks and that honorary Mayor Mark Radtke has been doing that.
Watson special election possible Feb. 2
By Grayce Ray
Montevideo American-News
Thu Jan 14, 2010, 08:00 AM CST
Montevideo, MN -
Watson residents could be voting at a special election as soon as Feb. 2 to change the form of government in the city from a Plan A to a Plan B.
The city council has been wrestling with issues around setting the date for the election since Oct 13, 2009, when they were presented with a petition signed by a group of residents asking for the change which would eliminate the city clerk’s position as a council member and call for a clerk to be hired.
Council members discussed a date of Jan. 19, 2010, at an earlier meeting, but did not vote on the matter and the issue came up again and again at later meetings.
Residents who attended a special meeting two weeks ago were adamant about having the council set a date and vote on it. After some heated discussion, Mayor Jason Avelsgaard said he would take the petition to Chippewa County Auditor/Treasurer Jon Clauson and get his advice on the earliest date available for the election.
Clauson said his office would not need much time to prepare for the election. His office will need to prepare a roster of the registered voters and prepare ballots.
The city of Watson will have to notify eligible voters by advertising the date, place and intent of the vote.
“They need to set a date and I advised them that sometime in early February would be acceptable,” Clauson said. “Preparation of ballots can be done very quickly now since it’s all automated.”
In addition to the question of changing the form of the council, the ballot will also ask voters to approve or deny granting a Sunday liquor license to the Goose Bar.
A second petition by residents asking for a state audit of books, minutes and transactions by the city of Watson for the past several years is in the hands of the state and no information is available on its status to date.
Residents can expect to see a change in water bills at the end of January when bills will be based on actual usage rather than the old flat rate of $62.
Ever since water meters were installed several months ago, the meters have shown an estimated number of gallons, rather than actual amounts, due to a “glitch” in the computer system. Banyon Data Systems of Burnsville, which installed the meters, has made several efforts to fix the problem, City Clerk Loisjean Fossen said.
The meters are supposedly working correctly now and will be metering actual household consumption. Marcie Radtke, city treasurer, informed residents of the coming change in billing with a note enclosed with last month’s bills.
Fossen said the city paid Banyon for training in programs for the meters and that the company had made several efforts to fix the problem. The city has retained Banyon to maintain the system at a cost of $700 a year.
Fossen said she will ask the company to reconsider charging the city for the repairs.
|
|
