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1/14/2011
Did John Bergstrom get special treatment?
The Journal Sentinel does a good job explaining the situation. 1.65 acres of a 21-acre retail development project close to Lambeau field is a wetland. You know what that means – red flags, delays, huge costs. And all the more time to wait for a new Bass Pro Shop near Lambeau.
Bruce Baker, administrator of the DNR’s water division, approved the project (important to note!), which included a promise by Fox Cities businessman John Bergstrom to create or restore 4 acres of wetland nearby. A DNR water regulation specialist and wildlife biologist disagreed. And environmentalist challenged the DNR ruling.
So legislation proposed by Governor Walker tries to speed up the development process. Oh my. The left is not happy.
"We have a lot of problems with this kind of legislation, which treats wetlands in one area of the state differently from wetlands in another area," said Becky Abel, executive director of the Wisconsin Wetland Association.
But Walker thinks that state regulatory agencies have become too powerful. In his run for governor, he often railed against unelected bureaucrats who he said often ignore the economic consequences of their decisions.
Walker has vowed to streamline the state's regulatory system to be more business-friendly and sympathetic to property owners.
"To me its kind of backwards," Walker said in an interview on Wednesday with the Journal Sentinel's editorial board. "There should be more power in the hands of elected officials."
Walker's wetlands legislation asks the Legislature to address a specific environmental dispute in Green Bay.
The bill would exempt disturbing wetlands that are 3 acres or smaller from being reviewed by the DNR if the wetlands are within a tax incremental financing district in Brown County.
Read the Journal Sentinel article; it’s got the complete scoop. Not a surprise, I know, but I agree with Walker and John Bergstrom – who, by the way, contributed more bucks to Tom Barrett than to candidate Walker in 2010. Hmmm.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
"Oh my the left is not happy"? What? I would think that anyone who opposes earmarks and other special privileges should be unhappy. At least an earmark is usually a public purpose project. This kind of stuff goes on at the national level to a greater degree. Special bills are made where the only beneficiary is a single company or narrow group of companies. It is not right and certainly isn't right for Wisconsin. If "Wisconsin is Open for Business" means that small business will play by the rules and have to lobby for overall changes in the law but big business will be able to get their own special laws than that's more like Chicago style business. Not here I hope. If the DNR wetland rules are too restrictive and can be eased then lets debate it right now, at the legislature, in public, in the newspaper and in forums like this. That is how democracy is supposed to work.
dave allen (Fri Jan 14 07:30:33 2011)
I agree Dave. But it seems that some of us can tolerate certain pork projects but not others, even if they ALL result in increased taxes. If Walker passes on it you can be assured that the right wing will wave their flag. (The same occurs when the D's are in power.)
Jack Lohman (Fri Jan 14 08:01:31 2011)
Jack, I'm not sure what you mean with "if Walker passes on it"?
dave allen (Fri Jan 14 08:09:14 2011)
I think as long as we continue to pigeon hole these people as dems and rep. we lose. They are people who need to be held accountable for their actions and that is it. Fueling the fire by lumping them in with thier constituents time and time again is great fun but puts a crutch under their arms and somehow justifies their actions. For the greater good I think it would make sense to judge them by their actions and not because they ran for office through a political party that they thought would get them into office. If we do this and their actions are not right for the majority of the people than their political party loses just because their actions do not reflect the populations needs. Plowing them back into their party every time they make a decision justifies the move they just made and the next one coming. Now that they are elected it is for the people not for the dems and reps. That is the message I think we need to send them every time they make a decisuion. They are elected now not running.
Mike (Fri Jan 14 08:21:41 2011)
Dave, Walker has a lot of plans, and I agree with some of them. But we must watch him closely. IF his plans are to repay contributors at taxpayer expense we are in trouble. I am not willing to carry that flag, and it would be a great shame if the righties put on a blindfold.
Jack Lohman (Fri Jan 14 08:34:30 2011)
Jack, No argument from me. Agree 100%
dave allen (Fri Jan 14 08:36:32 2011)
And Dave, here's a piece I wrote on the issue. Can we make this public-private thing work? In some cases moving to private may make sense, but in others going to public ownership has worked well. Look at the State Bank owned by North Dakota taxpayers, and their 3.8% unemployment rate. Could that be because they had a public-option bank? I think so.
Jack Lohman (Fri Jan 14 09:39:39 2011)
Why don't you do us all a favor and move your dumb butt to Canada....A 'Pork project ", I'm sorry but a Bass Pro Shop being built by the private sector doesn't quite qualify as such.
Why don't you invest some of your money in a project that you feel is worthwhile that will contribute jobs and cash to the local economy. If you do you, will then find out the power of the bureaucracy and how they can undermine the very best of intentions. One thing Walker can do to improve this situation is to cut ALL agencies by 25%....Their number one goal in life is to justify their jobs, and because there are way too many of them, there is way too much time for them to come up with asinine rules and regulations !!
Guido (Fri Jan 14 09:47:01 2011)
It's pretty important to recognize that the DNR signed off on the agreement here. The Packer organization is attempting to develop - and apparently regulatory delays have been great. This doesn't have to do with campaign contributors, but rather with opening Wisconsin for business. There's a balance required here - and in some instances, environmental objections have been allowed to go too far. That's the analysis here - has the developer proposed appropriate mitigation - is it the right compromise and an acceptable balance? No need to be throwing accusations around. Every one is an important decision - how to balance growth and development with protecting the environment. Certainly can be argued that balance has been achieved in this case.
Jo (Fri Jan 14 09:53:54 2011)
Give me a break. A "Bass Pro Shop built by the private sector" is the least of our worries. Have you ever lived under single-party rule? You are soon to have your chance.
Jack Lohman (Fri Jan 14 09:54:23 2011)
Without regard to any of the above comments, Bergstrom is getting treated (by Walker) they way we all should be treated. The State of Wisconsin should get some of these crazy rules that stifle doing business off the books. It is private business and individual investors that move our economy forward and not the restrictive bureaucrats. Bergstrom has been an excellent and fair businessman in our community for decades. His willingness to invest his assets into another business venture that will create even more jobs should be applauded. I hope he’s successful. Thank you Governor Walker for making the changes needed to put some of these overpaid and self-aggrandizing bureaucrats in their places.
John Z (Fri Jan 14 10:40:09 2011)
The point here is that under the the 14th amendment to the Constitution (Equal Protection)every Citizen has the same rights under the law. This proposed law is for the benefit of one citizen essentially. I am astounded that anyone in this forum or elsewhere would try to defend the proposed law as summarized in this forum as as the proper way to proceed because it was good for business. Where does that slippery slope end when you can just have private law because it is good for business? What would people think if the previous legislature attempted to have a private bill to allow the ACLU to establish national headquarters in Green Bay by abrogating some wetland laws? I suspect that a few hundred high quality ACLU jobs would be better for the Green bay economy than a Bass Pro Shop?
dave allen (Fri Jan 14 10:46:53 2011)
High quality ACLU jobs? What? More trial lawyers? That's laughable!
***At least an earmark is usually a public purpose project****
I give you the Kelo decision to start with. And that was taking private property away from the owner and giving it to another for private purposes which property, if memory serves, still sits undeveloped.
I thought the problem in Wisconsin was lack of private sector jobs which are paid for by private sector businesses, not more public sector jobs paid for by the taxpayers.
May I suggest that the DNR, for the most part, has been extremely overbearing in their say-so over private property. Ask any farmer around here.
John Bergstrom is a businessman who makes things happen. I have no idea of how many people are on his payroll, but I would suspect more than a few.
I carry no water for John Bergstrom. There are a couple maneuvers of his that I disliked intensely but the fact remains he does "git 'er done".
How this came down to politics I have no idea except for the usual railing against wealth.
Please keep this in mind. Our economy needs jobs, jobs, jobs. Bottom line.
C. R. Stevenson (Fri Jan 14 13:51:51 2011)
Being curious about the Bass Pro Shops I went to their website. This is not Mom & Pop's Bait Shop. Here's the link. Look for yourself. I think this will provide quite a few jobs.
C. R. Stevenson (Fri Jan 14 14:02:27 2011)
>>>Please keep this in mind. Our economy needs jobs, jobs, jobs. Bottom line<<<
I agree...
Then why is Walker pushing this?
>>>Keith Reopelle: Walker's wind power bill is a jobs killer
A special session bill recently proposed by Gov. Scott Walker includes many provisions that could hurt Wisconsin's economy and environment, but one of the most perplexing proposals in this package is a new regulation that would effectively ban wind energy projects in Wisconsin.
The regulatory reform bill proposed by Walker would close Wisconsin's doors to clean, renewable wind power and cost our state thousands of jobs. Our state legislators elected on the promise of real job creation and economic recovery — should reject Walker's bill.
<<<<
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/article_8f7ea0bc-1fed-11e0-8efd-001cc4c03286.html
Dean Weichmann (Fri Jan 14 15:06:09 2011)
Need I say this Dean: Follow the Money!
Jack Lohman (Fri Jan 14 15:12:46 2011)
Dean, wind power isn't what you imagine. You never lived near a wind farm, or you'd know they aren't too environmantally friendly.
First, they take a lot of inputs just to be built, and they're usually built OUT of the USA.
Second, they cause a lot of problems with the vibrations/low level noise/whatever you want to call it. People who live near them feel crazy; especially kids. Sometimes they can't sleep all night long.
Third, numerous bats and night-flying birds are killed by them: they EXPLODE if they fly too near. My daughter met someone who was doing research on this--funded by the wind company, so you know the research will be buried. But she told my daughter that she was horrified by how many were killed.
And, C.R. the DNR had its hands tied for far too long re. factory farms and the problems they cause. Did you know that a whole section of western WI have wells poisoneed by Larson Acres? Thatthe DNR was going to make them clean up their act, but Doyle called them off?
BTW, factory farm often promise jobs but then import their own workers. They spray liquid manure on frozen field, where it runs off into ground water. Small farmemploy vastly more people per acre than factoriy farms.
emily matthews (Fri Jan 14 15:29:34 2011)
CR,
You're in favor of special laws, private laws when you think it's in the best interest of something you believe in or someone who you respect. And you oppose them if it is someone you don't respect. Obviously you prefer a society that doesn't have a 14th Amendment or one that simply ignores the 14th Amendment. I can suggest a number of 3rd world countries and second world kleptocracies where you'd feel quite at home. Good luck . In our society we are supposed to have laws that apply to all people equally.
dave allen (Fri Jan 14 15:48:20 2011)
>>>First, they take a lot of inputs just to be built, and they're usually built OUT of the USA.<<<
Gee, and everthing you buy is made here.
If you read the article you would know that components are made here. If wind energy was encouraged here more components will be made here too.
>>>Second, they cause a lot of problems with the vibrations/low level noise/whatever you want to call it. People who live near them feel crazy; especially kids.<<<
Do people go crazy with the sound of wind in the trees? How about the sound of traffic on the roads? Should we stop building roads?
>>>Third, numerous bats and night-flying birds are killed by them: they EXPLODE if they fly too near. My daughter met someone who was doing research on this--funded by the wind company, so you know the research will be buried.<<<
I already read about that, some burial. The fix to that problem appeared to be one of timing, the mills can be shut down when the bats are flying in the early evening.
Dean Weichmann (Fri Jan 14 15:55:34 2011)
“As part of a larger proposal ostensibly to create jobs, Governor Walker unveiled new restrictions on wind energy development that, if adopted by the Legislature, would drive development activity worth $1.8 billion out of state,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin.
So...Open for Business.....EXCEPT for HSR, wind energy and what else? Jack is right about "follow the money". We need to speak up about this and not let big money just steamroll over us.
Dean Weichmann (Sat Jan 15 06:04:46 2011)
I find it ironic that they want to build a “Bass Pro Shop” on “wetlands”
Tractor (Sun Jan 16 17:11:13 2011)
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