Along with all of the usual variety of local news about weather and Santa and singing for the holiday, you will find some very interesting information about the city of Isle and the latest antics of the soon to be previous mayor Mike DeCoursey.
Apparently, DeCoursey held a little personal fundraiser where he is the beneficiary and the tax payers of the city of Isle are the donors. DeCoursey out-smarted the people again as he finessed the city council members into believing the city should pay for his legal fees in his criminal court case earlier this year when he was accused of assaulting a police officer. The cost to the tax payers of Isle — $29,500.
I have got to hand it to DeCoursey. His rough-hewn smooth talking had the council believing that the city attorney advised them to pay the bill. When in actuality, DeCoursey himself told our Messenger reporter Diane Gibas after the meeting, that his private attorney suggested he try to get the city to pay the bill. DeCoursey did not consult the Isle city attorney on the matter.
Way to go, DeCoursey. Good thing he got that taken care of a mere three weeks before his term as mayor of the city of Isle is over.
As for the city council, I cannot believe only one of them questioned this latest move by DeCoursey. Even arch enemies of the bearded bureaucrat voted in his favor. As for the vote, DeCoursey himself should never have been allowed to vote on this issue. He should have abstained from voting as he was the direct subject of the vote. It would not have mattered, as it turned out there were three aye votes without DeCoursey's (and one nay). It is perhaps a potential matter of ethics.
DeCoursey merely said he has no personal financial gain from voting. Excuse me? The vote resulted in a chunk of change for DeCoursey. Whether he gives it to his attorney to pay for his own personal legal fees, DeCoursey still benefits from the money. He received a top-rated attorney for his personal criminal defense — for FREE.
Maybe each citizen in Isle should have just written out a check payable to DeCoursey for about $42.15. Not each household, each citizen — men, women and children. I am sure that in these tough economic times, they would be happy to give the mayor an early Christmas present.
Apparently, DeCoursey said he is pursuing a civil case against the officer and "any money" he receives will be turned over to the city. They got that in writing. So, if the people of Isle don't remember anything they should remember that DeCoursey said any money. The civil suit, by the way, the city already agreed to pay for out of their pocket, too. Remember the $5,000 down payment to an attorney for a lawsuit on behalf of the city for plaintiff's they couldn't even tell you who they were.
The story in this weeks paper says the council decided to press charges against officer Connolly for the Isle days incident. Ok, a couple of things are wrong with that statement. Diane said they were the words of the council and DeCoursey so she didn't want to correct them. But I will just point a couple of things out.
First of all, the city council cannot press charges against anybody. Only the County Attorney can file charges after a complaint has been made and then investigated by law enforcement such as city police, or county sheriff's office. An investigation by a private firm does not count in a criminal case. Basically, the city wasted the money they spent on that private firm when it comes to any criminal case.
If you remember, the city paid for that private firm because they said they had asked several law enforcement agencies to investigate it and none of the would do it. Just a thought here, but maybe because they didn't think there was a case to investigate.
Secondly, the city still didn't say what the allegations against Connolly are. Nobody has said publicly what the case might be.
When speaking of DeCoursey and the Isle Days incident, Russ Jackson got it right when he said, "In my opinion he wasn't acting in any official capacity for the city." DeCoursey himself testified on the stand under oath that he was protecting his wife. He didn't say, "as mayor of this city I am protecting this citizen." He said he was protecting his wife.
Good thing he got the money before the end of the year and the end of his term.
Peace.
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4 comments:
am I the only one who finds this to be INSANE! my hopes are high that a new mayor will be different. time and again we have seen Decoursey benefiting from his position as mayor. there are so many conflicts of interest that you cant even count them anymore. maybe the universe will smile upon us and give us a true and honest mayor who will think of the citizens of his city before his own pocketbook.
Dear MoonDog,
Apparently there are a few people who feel the same way as you do. Read some of the comments on the Messenger website. Unfortunately, it appears that most comments are coming from people outside of the city of Isle. I don't know if there is anything the city can do about recanting their offer to pay the $29.5K, but they should try. The people were snowed. And not by Mother Nature.
Good article, Viv. And welcome to MY world. The difference is that in Onamia, apparently I was the only one outraged enough to stick my neck out about the Nexus scam - which I did, and promptly got my head metaphorically chopped off. Whether uninformed or for lack of caring, voters rewarded the malfeasance here with yet another term for the perps... as if to say ... "they might be CROOKS, but their OUR crooks."
I once played a concert down by New Orleans with former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, the poster child of corruption. He narrated Copland's "Portrait of Lincoln", giving such a convincing performance that it gave me chills and brought tear to my eyes. He was also reelected after his crimes were exposed (and before people finally wised up and stuck him in jail).
Please urge Brett and Kevin to stand up against the intimidation and fight the corruption. It begins at the small town level. You folks in the press have the real power - you just don't realize how much you have. I wish you would all don capes and let the people know what is really going on in Mille Lacs County. That's all you have to do. Let the people know. Thank you for speaking up about the Isle mayor.
Your friend,
Hannabelle
http://bradburybuzzz.blogspot.com
Hi Hannabelle,
It's been a while since we've chatted. So, Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Yes, there really is corruption in Mille Lacs County. And it is not just within our little cities. I will stand up to any intimidation and fight against corruption wherever I see it. I am pretty sure that Kevin and Brett will have my back.
I will not back down from a red-bearded mayor or a corporation bully or a tribal government. But I can't rely totally on hearsay. Whatever documented proof people have for anything, if they can give it to me, I will investigate. I can offer anonymity.
There is good in everyone. I truly believe that. Sometimes, however, the good isn't enough to keep them off the naughty list.
Apparently, there is some paperwork floating around out there from the Isle City Council meeting that implicates the mayor may have stretched the truth a bit. If I could just get a copy, that would help a lot. Did I mention anonymity?
In the meantime, Hannabelle and everyone else, Merry Christmas. Peace on earth and goodwill to all.
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