Eye on Oshkosh: City Should "Can" CAN
April 4, 2004
Members of the Oshkosh Common Council and City Manager Richard Wollangk:
In light of events surrounding, and activities of, the Oshkosh Confront Addictions Now Board, all of which have recently come to light, we hereby respectfully request this board be stripped of its city charter. Our reasons for this request are spelled out in the following letter.
First, according to their own minutes - though sparse and sometimes infrequent - the CAN Board has, on multiple occasions, conducted business without having a quorum present to do so.
Second, on at least one occasion, after the CAN Board conducted business without a quorum, some members proceeded to call other "absentee" members on the phone for "after the fact" voting - something else not permitted.
Third, the CAN Board took actions and gave money to certain causes even when said actions were not formally approved and/or supported by existing minutes. Rather, the actions seem to have resulted from informal meetings.
Fourth, money was given by the CAN Board to a political cause, something clearly forbidden by a city-chartered board or commission. And the voucher requesting that money from the city finance department was written in a seemingly deceptive or misleading way (e.g., "smoke free" as opposed to "Breath Free Oshkosh.") by a man who is a former Oshkosh mayor and council representative who knows the rules, or at least should.
Fifth, CAN Board minutes do not seem to be produced in a timely fashion and in some cases CAN Board meetings were held without ever approving previous meeting minutes - something that clearly is part of one's order of business (agenda) at each meeting.
While this board performs services which no doubt benefit many members of this community, the board does not - unlike other boards and commissions chartered by the city - propose any ordinance changes or sponsor any formal recommendations to the city council for its action. In fact, we are unaware of any legislation this group has ever proposed. Even the recent smoking ban was not brought to the council by the CAN Board. It was sponsored and brought forward by Deputy Mayor Mark Harris and Breathe Free Oshkosh. Further, when Mr. Daniel O. Lynch gives his twice monthly reports to the city council of youth whom he has found smoking, he does not do so by identifying himself as a CAN Board member, nor does he say he is speaking on behalf of the group. Since he is the only one on street corners talking to teens about the dangers of smoking, it would seem this is his own personal mission, not something being done as part of his CAN Board member duties. Given all this, we are confused about why this board is even chartered by the city.
After the CAN Board was caught donating to the political cause of Breathe Free Oshkosh, and its contribution was subsequently returned, CAN Board Chairman Chuck Dinkel was quoted in the April 1, 2004 edition of the Oshkosh Northwestern as saying he was "disgusted" with the city and city fathers. He seems to feel you bowed to pressure from the restaurant owners. Telephonically, he stated to us that this is not a political issue. We fail to understand exactly what it is if not political, but if Mr. Dinkel wishes to delude himself into believing it is not a political issue, that is certainly his misguided prerogative. He also told us he was further disgusted because the city fathers did not support the smoking ban in the summer of 2003 when it was first brought to the council. Inasmuch as he is so disgusted, we feel certain he would be pleased to disassociate himself and the entire CAN Board from the city. That way city staff would no longer have to provide his group with administrative staff support, financial disbursements, etc.
Oshkosh Common Council, City Manager
April 4, 2004
Page 2
Mr. Dinkel was further quoted in the paper as saying he doesn't "know what the mission of the CAN Board is anymore." Given the fact that we have city and county public health departments and a host of other intervention programs to address public health concerns, we are not sure what this board's mission is either. Again, while the CAN Board does do some good things in the community, we fail to understand why they are a city-chartered board.
We also question how some of the CAN Board members are permitted to serve on a city board when they do not live within the city limits. Mr. Dinkel, for example, lives in the town of Algoma. City residence is, after all, a requirement for members of all other city boards and commissions, to the best of our knowledge, with the exception of the library board. We wonder why there are also exceptions made in the case of the CAN Board.
Also, on April 2, 2004 city councilman Brian Poeschl informed us that Mayor Stephen Hintz told him when appointing him as the council representative to the CAN Board, that it was not necessary for him to actually attend the meetings; that he could simply look at the minutes instead. We are not sure why a sitting mayor would make such a statement, or what possible motivation, if any, he may have had in doing so. But if our own mayor seems to deem this board insignificant enough that the council member representative does not need to attend the meetings, we again must wonder what the city is doing having itself attached to this board and providing services to it.
We believe that city council members - both past and present - bear a small amount of responsibility in this matter. The minutes are provided to city council members and no one has ever questioned the fact that this board continued to do business after it was determined there was not a quorum present to do so. Nor was the point ever made by any council member that the business this board was doing without a quorum should have been voided and reported to proper authorities. But the bottom line is that citizens serving on boards and commissions are entrusted with the responsibility of understanding the rules and the charge they are given when they accept their appointment. They also have the city attorney and his staff at their disposal if they have questions about the manner in which they are to perform their duties. While some of this may not have been preventable by city council members or the city manager, now that these egregious acts have come to light, it is the responsibility of this city council and the city manager to take the appropriate - and very necessary steps - to right these wrongs, or at least prevent them from happening in the future.
When someone volunteers to serve on their city's boards or commissions, it is one of the greatest gifts a citizen can give to his or her community. The selfless act of participation in the governmental process is what helps make our community better, except when things like this happen. Activities the CAN Board has engaged in cannot be dismissed simply because the board members may step forward and say they are volunteers and didn't know differently. While the majority of this city's boards and commissions are comprised of lay people who volunteer their time and talents and who may not understand all the nuances of the laws and rules, they all still seem to be able to follow the rules and laws. Why don't the CAN Board members? Moreover, the "we didn't know better" argument is laughable in the case of the CAN Board because several of its members are past or present elected officials - seasoned politicians who should or do know better. At a minimum, if they did not know better, they ought to know that if something is in question they have a city attorney's office to guide them.
This board clearly failed to follow the law on many occasions; failed to follow the rules governing it; and failed to rely upon the resources and legal counsel made available to it. Further, we believe that this board - by the action of member Don Kutchera - intentionally misled city staff by making a request for money for a "smoke free Oshkosh" as opposed to the political cause of Breathe Free Oshkosh.
Oshkosh Common Council, City Manager
April 4, 2004
Page 3
As a former elected official of nearly 12 years in this community, and as a
citizen appointed to various boards and commissions in this community since
1993, we are outraged by the blatant disregard and contempt this group has shown
for the various laws and documents governing it. We are further dismayed by
the fact that all other boards and commissions chartered by the city follow
the laws and rules to the letter, yet this group essentially thumbs its nose
at them.
Since the CAN Board members have broken the law and rules governing city boards on multiple occasions; since they are disgusted with the city and its fathers; since they are not advisory in any manner and operate pretty much on their own; and since they seem to want to operate in a vacuum, regardless of the fact that they are supposed to adhere to the same laws and rules as all other city boards and commissions do; since the current sitting mayor seems to feel the meetings are not worthy of the city council representative attending them; we again request that this board be stripped of its city charter. The group can certainly remain a viable organization and continue its work in the community, but it should be done independently from the city.
In the alternative, should you decide not to remove their charter, we would ask that at a minimum, every board member who has participated in illegal and unethical activities - not just in the Breathe Free Oshkosh campaign, but in any and all other matters - be immediately removed from the board for cause. In addition, we request that certain measures be put into place to ensure that these types of activities clearly do not take place in the future, including attending regular training sessions on laws and ethics conducted by the city attorney. All other elected and appointed officials participate in this kind of training and it is apparent this board's members need to as well. You also might want to consider having the city attorney each month review the board's previous monthly meeting minutes to ensure they are being produced in a timely fashion and that this board is operating legally every step of the way.
Finally, we request that a review committee be put in place immediately to review each of the CAN Board's past meeting minutes to see how many offense have been committed, by whom and for how long a period of time. Again, those members should be held accountable for their actions by being removed from the board.
Respectfully submitted,
Melanie Bloechl, former Oshkosh mayor and Oshkosh Common Councilor
Cheryl Hentz, member of the Oshkosh Board of Appeals
Cc: Oshkosh Northwestern
WOSH Radio, News Department
Eye on Oshkosh
Tony Palmeri, Commentary