4A

Red Wing Republican Eagle

OPINION
into every area of his personal and professional life. No limits in any way of time or scope were placed on their investigation. I request that every member of the City Council be suspected and investigated to the same degree. Every client, business connection, family member and relationship, even if that connection has no ties to pretty Red Wing, needs to be examined and evaluated to the same degree as proposed for investigating Mayor Let me see if this is what the City Council is implying: In the future local government needs to evaluate every candidate as to see if they fit their criteria to serve in office. Doesnt sound like freedom to me. Regardless of how the City Council members view the entirely legal business of sand fracking, their actions are rather frightening. To the Editor: I have been reading the vast criticism of Mayor Dennis Egans acceptance of the position of executive director of the Minnesota Industrial Sand Council with a bit of interest. Perhaps someone can enlighten the citizens of Red Wing on where the problem lies. A weak-mayor form of government is described in the following definition from (Google Teresa Whitson Wikipedia.org Red Wing weak mayor system): In a weak mayorcouncil system, the mayor has no formal authority outside of the council; he/she cannot appoint and/or remove officials, and lacks veto power over council votes. As such, the mayors influence is solely based on his/her personal-

Saturday & Sunday February 16 & 17, 2013

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR conflict Limitless Red Wings legal coun- to hire someone tois a worry Please explain system investigation delve Egan. in weak-mayor To the Editor:
The Red Wing City Councils actions should chill the hearts of freedom-loving citizens, because of political opposition to members sought to bully and intimidate a duly elected official. I believe if Mayor Dennis Egan had recently acquired a client who wished to hire his services in opposition to sand fracking, they would have given him an award rather than move to investigate him. sel affirmed there is no standing to oppose Egans business connection and no reason to legally suspect him of wrong doing. Egans client has no to ties to pretty Red Wing. When the tax dollars spent on that investigation didnt give the City Council members the results they wanted, they pressed on to trample his character. Monday night they began the process of spending additional tax dollars with no limits

ity in order to accomplish desired goals. Simply speaking, I believe Red Wing has this type of a weak-mayor form of government. Also, refer to the Red Wing Charter on the city of Red Wing website for further definition of Red Wings powers and limitations and for stated differences in the above definition. The Red Wing City Council can overturn about everything the mayor would propose if they do not approve of it. They can override any veto. If the mayor disqualifies himself from the controversy, where is the problem/conflict? Michael Halvorson Red Wing

State of our union: Bad

To the Editor: It was interesting to hear the presidents perception of the condition of our country in the annual State of the Union speech earlier this week. So, just what is the state of our nation? $3.60-plus a gallon gas prices Unemployment 8 percent or more for over four years Annual federal budget deficits $800 billion to $1.6 trillion for over four years $16,500,000,000,000 national debt and climbing. I guess if this is the new normal, then everything is great. Paul Kampe Red Wing

You cant reconcile duties

To the Editor: First and foremost, Mayor Egan owes a fiduciary duty to the people of Red Wing, and that duty can not be limited or compromised. However, as the frac sand lobbyist, Egan now owes them a duty of loyalty and confidentiality. Recusal from Council frac sand decisions is a superficial and inadequate response to the problem. While the Mayor can recuse himself from such issues, he may be quietly lobbying for legislation that could be contrary to the interests of Red Wing,

City Council tried to do right thing

To the Editor: My wife and I moved here in 2004, excited about retiring in a wonderful community. All that changed from a knock on our door in May of 2011 when two brave citizens from Hay Creek were polling our neighborhood to see if we were aware of the impending frac sand mining wanting to establish itself in Goodhue County. After flying many trips over western Wisconsin, we became aware of the rapid explosion of sand mines there and the utter devastation to the environs and its people. Since then, after countless county and township meetings and joining Save the Bluffs, here we are. Fast forward to Monday nights Red Wing City Council meeting. Conflict of interest is so minimized by law its pathetic. Elected officials in this case, the mayor sees themselves immune. As proven that night, after much hard work on the part of the City Council, the best they could legally manage was to request an investigation of Mayor Dennis Egans motivations to become a frac sand lobbyist. I profusely thank them for their efforts, especially President Lisa Bayley. You definitely tried to do the right thing. Thank you, Mayor Egan, for the in your face arrogance of an elected official. Youve obviously let down your colleagues and citizens that elected you. Obviously you have a jaded view of whats right and wrong. Aside from the law, the bewilderment lies in your motivations. Obviously, being a lobbyist pays more than the salary of a mayor. Is it all about money? Remember that the responsibility lies with the citizens and their vote. Jim McIlrath Frontenac

such as bills to limit local government control on permitting and moratoriums, reduced funding for state agencies such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, or opposing legislation for a Generic Environmental Impact Statement to study frac sand mining and transport. How does Mayor Egan reconcile his paramount duty, that owed to the people of Red Wing, with his duty owed to his frac sand client? He can't. Kent Laugen Red Wing

SEND LETTERS TO:

letters@republican-eagle.com R-E, Box 15, Red Wing, MN 55066

City Council certainly waffled, but mayor must go

To the Editor: The Red Wing City Council was called upon Monday to respond to a critical issue regarding Dennis Egans astonishingly bad judgment in entering into a contract for lobbying services with silica sand companies, while being mayor, getting paid by both to engage in conflicting jobs at cross purposes. Citizen input by virtue of emails and letters to the council as well as the R-E clearly reflected their disgust. The facts were not in dispute. Egans decision three weeks ago was found in a publication rather than informing the council directly. He gave a great campaign speech about his accomplishments as the mayor for 20 minutes, which was hugely selfserving and not relevant, and the council spent the next hour and a half dancing around the periphery, unwilling to label his conduct or confront him on it. They spoke of turning it over to the attorney general or having a committee study it for them. They seemed unfazed about spending taxpayers money. Several on the council finally asked the mayor to pick one of the jobs and quit the other, to which he arrogantly said no. The strongest language they used in describing the issue was ethics and conflict of interest. Words are the ammunition of a democracy and it was apparent that the council was out of ammunition. Although I attended the meeting as an opponent of sand mining in Goodhue County, as did most of the many attendees, I had no intention of speaking and did not do so at the appropriate time provided. Finally, after 1 1/2 hours of what I would call apologetic reluctance by the council, I could see it would not be possible for me to leave the meeting without confronting and labeling the mayors conduct. Although out of order, I told the council they needed to do that for the communitys and citizens sake. I said this man is corrupt. The fact that I spoke at an inappropriate time finally gave the president and several members the courage that had been sadly lacking. They erupted in a common voice: Sit down. You are speaking out of order. You are breaking our rules! They jumped from their chairs, threw their arms about, excited that they could now show their courage and pursue a common goal: my ejection from the council chamber, which was accomplished by signaling two big and fit police officers, who hastened me down the aisle and figuratively threw me down the council chambers steps. Now, I am 77 years old, 5 foot 6, and have missed too many exercise sessions. Their conduct was a gross overreaction of the task assigned to them. The oldest woman on the council could have successfully escorted me out as I was complying. At least I had managed to get consensus on a common goal from an otherwise indecisive, confused council, utterly lacking in courage and conviction. If they had not been so abrupt, I would have next told them that had each one stood and told Egan they personally were appalled by his conduct and judgment, that he had brought embarrassment upon them and the city, that he must resign, and that, if he wouldnt, they would, then Egan would have resigned then and there, finding no comfort for his inexcusable conduct and seeing that he had no one to talk to. But I couldnt, they didnt and he didnt. There are two lessons to be learned. One, if you are chairman of a public meeting, change your calendar to accommodate the 100-plus people there and table the mundane to the end of it. Two, do not be afraid to have the courage of your convictions and to act on them. Trust your voters. Dont get too far out in front, but also dont lag too far behind. For the restoration of respect for the community, Egan must go. Remember, silica sand mines will damage health, quality of life, the environment, the tourist industry, property values and our fresh water resources. Richard Johnson Wacouta

Members of the editorial board include:

Steve Messick, Publisher Steve Dzubay, Associate Publisher Anne Jacobson, Editor A division of Forum Communications Co.
(USPS 145-760) Founded in 1857 Vol 127 No. 48 Published daily Wednesday and Saturday except postal holidays by Rivertown Newspaper Group, Box 15, 2760 N. Service Drive, Red Wing, MN 55066. Phone 651-388-8235. Owing allegiance to no political party and serving only what we conceive to be the best interests of community, state and nation.

Subscription rates
Periodicals postage paid at Red Wing, MN 55066 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER send address changes to the Republican Eagle, Box 15, Red Wing, MN 55066.
Area mail Out-of-area mail 2 years $147 $182 1 years $84 $105 6 months $47.50 $70

Contact us
Obituaries are taken through 4:30 p.m. weekdays at 715-425-1561 or obits@rivertowns.net The toll-free number is 800-535-1660. The fax number is 651-388-3404. The e-mail address is: news@republican-eagle.com. If you have a news tip, call 651-301-7870 or 651-301-7871. Anne Jacobson, editor ajacobson@republican-eagle.com, 651-301-7870 Joe Brown, Sports editor

sports@republican-eagle.com, 651-301-7878 Becky Wagner Ruka advertising billing bwagnerruka@rivertowns.net 651-301-7805 Circulation Billing - Hugh Howard, circulation hhoward@republican-eagle.com 651-301-7851 Division Managers Steve Messick, publisher smessick@republicaneagle.com 651-301-7801 Steve Dzubay, associate publisher sdzubay@rivertowns.net 715-426-1054

Corrections
This newspaper tries conscientiously to report news fairly and accurately. When we fall short of this objective, we welcome complaints from our readers. Please direct your complaints to our editor, Anne Jacobson at 651-301-7870 or ajacobson@ republican-eagle.com. Corrections will appear on the FYI page.

To subscribe, residents call (651) 301-7840; out-of-area residents call 800-284-3402.

Missed paper?
Call subscriber services between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at 301-7840 or 800-284-3402.