Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Ethics Complaint Filed Against West Band Mayor and Alderman

I have a couple of comments on this.

The Maziarkas, who also called for the removal of Dobberstein from the city’s Library Board, claim the District 4 alderman abused his authority because he forwarded to friends e-mailed information from a city resident about a Web site promoting a petition counter to one the Maziarkas are circulating. They also call it inappropriate that a later email from Dobberstein mentioning the Maziarkas’ petition referred to a blog site that had commentary critical of the Maziarkas’ efforts to restrict some books at the library.

   The Daily News ran a more detailed article on that Maziarkas complaint in Saturday’s paper.

   In their call for an ethics complaint, the Maziarkas write, “Alderman Dobberstein’s choice to petition against the WBCFSL while acting as library board member, and representative of the taxpayers, is completely malapropos. We feel this is a hindrance to any decision the library will be making concerning our group’s requests for policy creation, an inappropriate misuse of his aldermanic position, and shameful behavior of a library board member, whom we had hoped would remain fair and impartial, acting as an advocate on behalf of ALL citizens.”

The issue is that Dobberstein, who is an alderman and sits on the Library Board, sent an email to people advocating for keeping the allegedly pornographic books in the library.  Here is his actual email (I’m on a lot of lists).

—————Forwarded Message—————
From: “Nick Dobberstein”

To:

Subject: Fw: West Bend Citizens for Free Speech News-Sign the Petition
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:58:28 -0500



——- Original Message——-
From: Maria Hanrahan
To: Maria Hanrahan
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 9:41 AM
Subject: West Bend Citizens for Free Speech News-Sign the Petition

Dear Community Members:

As you may or may not know, I have been publicly speaking out against the library complaint and petition that has been circulated by Ginny and Jim Maziarka.  I believe their requests to reclassify or move books in the collection are attempts at censorship.

I have started my own petition and invite you to visit my website http://westbendparentsforfreespeech.webs.com/ to access either a downloadable petition you can print and collect signatures with, or an online petition you can sign and forward the URL to other citizens.  (Please sign only one petition.  The petitions should only be signed by users of the West Bend library, but this can include patrons who use the library through the shared libraries system/live within the county.)  We will likely have the petition available to sign at a local spot, such as one of the library meeting rooms, soon.  If you can help promote the petition in any way, we need all the help we can get, so please contact me about how you can help.

If you have been concerned about the Maziarkas’ complaint, please visit my site and consider signing the petition to protect the library’s collection at attempts at censorship.

Thank you, and please contact me if you have any questions!


Maria Hanrahan
262-306-3461
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Dobberstein, as a member of the library board, is ethically obligated to hear the complaints objectively before rendering a decision.  By advocating one way or the other, he has abandoned the notion of objectivity and prejudged the issue prior to it being officially heard by the library board. 

The members of the library board are appointed by the Mayor.  There is a meeting tonight at 6 PM regarding the appointments.  Overall, Dobberstein has been one of the more liberal alderman, but he’s generally a good guy.  Based on his actions, I think it is appropriate to remove him from the library board.  He’s supposed to be a representative - not an advocate. 

On another note, this just ticks me off:

A call for an ethics investigation into the mayor’s and an alderman’s handling of a citizens group’s protest of allegedly sexually-explicit books at the library needs to be notarized before it can be considered a formal complaint, West Bend City Attorney Mary Schanning ruled Monday.

Here we have a citizen who wants to complain about government.  It is ridiculous that the city would make them jump through hoops (especially ones that cost money) just to file a complaint.

(12) Comments
Posted by Owen at 0717 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. So simply forwarding an email without additional comment constitutes advocacy?  Perhaps he was just trying to promote citizen involvement.  Did the other side send him an email with a link to a petition?  Perhaps he would have forwarded that as well.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on April 21, 2009 at 1021 hrs


  2. So simply forwarding an email without additional comment constitutes advocacy?

    Um, yes.  When people forward emails, don’t you generally assume that they agree with the content?

    Perhaps he was just trying to promote citizen involvement.

    Is that why he’s not pushing fr a public hearing on the matter? 

    Did the other side send him an email with a link to a petition?  Perhaps he would have forwarded that as well.

    Actually, he has.  I have been copied on those emails too.  Plus, it’s been all over the local paper and the web.  Yet, I haven’t seen any emails from Nick promoting that position.  Furthermore, this has been brewing since last week and Dobberstein hasn’t offered any such defense. 

    You’re fishing for excuses.  Why is it so hard to accept that we have a board member who is advocating his personal opinion instead of attempting to be impartial?

    Posted by Owen on April 21, 2009 at 1036 hrs


  3. Um, Owen. We don’t elect legislators to be impartial. That would be judges, sort of. Is this really an issue deserving of so much attention? As a taxpayer, I’m angry that these nut jobs have cost the School District and now the City so much time and money. And “pornographic”? Really? Have you looked at a Cosmopoltian lately? HBO? I’m sure you’ve got the Taliban in your corner.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 21, 2009 at 1106 hrs


  4. Well now we know where Nick Dobberstein stands on this issue. I’ll work hard on his opponent’s campaign in two years. We need a change in District 4.
    As for now, hold him accountable constintuents!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 21, 2009 at 1116 hrs


  5. Charlie,

    In this case, Dobberstein is not elected.  He is appointed, and yes, he has an obligation to at least hear the arguments before rendering a judgment - even if he is predisposed to a particular point of view (no, there’s nothing wrong with that).  His activity is an act of advocacy which he should not engage in. 

    I’m not sure where the school district comes into this issue, but that’s your issue.  As for “pornographic,” I know that the term is subjective, but I think the graphical descriptions of sex fall into the definition.  You might disagree.  That’s fine.  That’s why we should have a public hearing on the matter.

    Posted by Owen on April 21, 2009 at 1119 hrs


  6. You’re the one assuming intent, Owen, not me.  And we all know what they say about assuming.  I’m just pointing out that there’s no explicit proof of advocacy, at least with that email.  Dobberstein didn’t tell anyone to do anything with the message he forwarded, at least with the given example.

    And actually, I forward articles/editorials/columns that I disagree with all the time, usually because I think a particular individual will find them interesting.  So no, I wouldn’t assume anything based on what somewhat forwards.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on April 21, 2009 at 1124 hrs


  7. Fair enough, I am assuming intent, but I think it is a reasonable assumption.  Given that Nick hasn’t offered any other intent, I think my assumption is valid.

    Posted by Owen on April 21, 2009 at 1129 hrs


  8. Owen, I appreciate your well thought out logic with regard to this.  As I have read this smut (several times as it is so good), I have a couple or three comments:

    - That city attorney is simply an obstructionist.
    - I love seeing good clean moral outrage over this, and not taking no for an answer.
    - Charlie will not be babysitting for my family if he is going to let my kids watch late night HBO.
    - These people are elected or appointed to represent people.  When they cause such outrage, people have the right to take this as far as they so choose.  This stuff takes a lot of time and effort ... again, I love to see this pursuit.
    - What happened to conservative West Bend?  Maybe we need a tea party at the library….

    Smeety

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 21, 2009 at 1630 hrs


  9. ooooo where’s my chair   :zpopcorn:

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 21, 2009 at 1932 hrs


  10. “That city attorney is simply an obstructionist”

    No, the city attorney is following the ordinance, which requires a sworn complaint.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 21, 2009 at 2024 hrs


  11. Anotherjed,

    So a city attorney cannot under any circumstances talk with city residents without a sworn complaint.  Can you provide me with a city, state, federal or United Nations law that states this?

    Fact of the matter is, this woman has been obstructing from the start.  The sworn complaint requirement is just the latest…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 21, 2009 at 2130 hrs


  12. Your city attorney’s comments are worse than the actual allegations.  This is a clerical error that would have been a 2 minute fix that could have been handled right in her office.  And even without a “formal” complaint, you would think that a competent CA would think it their duty to look into charges of impropriety. 

    You guys pay her to wait until you catch someone, document it, and force her to do her job.  Next you’ll actually have to get it on the court calendar for it, after you check her schedule.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 22, 2009 at 0949 hrs


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