The organizers of a recall of the Paris Town Board say they will challenge the decision of town Clerk Beverly McCumber that the petitions calling for a recall of the Town Board were insufficient.
Said recall leader Joseph Kolnik via a Facebook post:
Elections are the method in which an elector’s voice is heard. This action denies that voice. Why are they refusing to let the people have a voice?”
McCumber found that the number of signatures collected were sufficient, but rejected the petition as insufficient because of statements in the recall petition that she said could have misinformed signers. From the certificate of insufficiency:
The misleading statements that the officeholder did not follow the law in carrying out his official responsibilities in the reasons for recall could have induced a person to sign the petition who would not have otherwise signed the petition. I find that the misleading and untrue statements make the petition insufficient.”
A written sworn complaint about the finding of insufficiency may be made to the Wisconsin Elections Commission within 10 days of the Aug. 5 finding. A spokesman for the recall group said Tuesday that the group does intend to file a complaint.
Petitions asking for a recall were filed by Kolnik, Paul Terry and Robert Fliess on July 6. The incumbents each filed a challenge to the recall on July 15.
The recall organizers were mobilized by the board’s handling and approval of an intergovernmental agreement with Somers, which includes the mass transfer of 2,500 acres from Paris to Somers.
Town officials say the agreement will help the town secure its boarders while sharing in revenue from development along I-94.
Opponents object to what they see as a forced relocation that will diminish the value of their property.
I’m against higher real estate taxes which will result if Paris allocates $10 million to the agreement with Somers. I wouldn’t have paid $10 million to stop the Uline development and I’m not interested in paying $10 million to stop the next Uline building.
The agreement with Somers is not worth the cost.
The Town board is not being a good steward of Town Resources. The decision to stop Uline has passed and the decision to stop the next Uline building isn’t worth $10 million and 2,572.6 acres.
Should my well ever become contaminated, I want access to an alternate water supply. The City of Kenosha is the only municipality that can supply water west of the subcontinental divide.
Mr. Baliga may stop the Town of Paris from allocating 2572.6 acres of land and $10 million to Somers.
* Per the terms of the agreement between Paris and Somers, if the land is not transferred to Somers by December 31, 2016, the agreement is null and void. If Mr. Baliga’s land is in the City of Kenosha, it’s not able to be transferred to Somers.
* Further, if the 2,572.6 acres of land is not continuous, the agreement with Somers does not meet state requirements for annexation.
The Town Board of Paris is attempting to forcibly annex several residents into the Village of Somers against their will.
Today they come for us, tomorrow they come for you.
Yes….”Northwestern Mike” had to make sure we all knew that he is a college educated engineer, not a dummy like the rest of us.
Paris Pundit,
That is a spot on comment. But I think us dummies are proving some valid points as to why this IGA shouldn’t go through.
Dear ‘Paris Pundit’ and ‘go figure,’
I have been using the alias Northwestern Mike for 8 years now. Where have you been hiding?
An auto parts guy gave me that alias after I told him I graduated from Northwestern. I hate to burst your bubble but I also have a Masters in Management from there.
What backgrounds are you hiding behind your aliases?
Dear ‘go figure,’
I thank you for noticing how an engineer reasons instead of reacting emotionally like most.
Dear ‘who is this guy?’
I guess you don’t get sarcasm.
I know who I am and I am not hiding anything. I am a college educated Paris resident who lives down the street from Uline who supports the IGA. It does not matter, but I did not grow up in Paris.
The bigger question is who are you? Are you the same poster using a different alias?
Who knows?
Ok folks. Move on up to the new story. More people not so intimately involved as you will be reading your comments on the top page for a while. More people reading, more interest and opinions for all sides.
Thanks Darren.
NW Mike
Hahahaha, you definitely won’t burst my bubble. Degrees are just a piece of paper to me. Engineers usually design things that the rest of us must fix later on. Anything can look go on paper. Making it actually work is another story.
Since you have studied the IGA. If any development is done in the next 10 years is the town going to pick up 75% of those taxes like it does for the rest of us? If they are, then the town will run out of money very quickly.
Northwestern Mike’s obsession with making sure we all know he is a COLLEGE EDUCATED resident(Northwestern, no less) includes his informing us “dummies” that he has a MASTERS DEGREE in MANAGEMENT!!! I suppose next will be getting a report on his GPA and various classes he excelled in. Poor me, I’ll I earned was a BS degree. (Pun intended)
PLEASE DROP THE CHARADE AND LET’S WORRY ABOUT OURSELVES AND WHAT WE CAN CONTROL! For gods sake, enough already.
When Paris negotiates, Paris wastes money on attorney’s and negotiate “deals” that don’t bear fruit (note the last deal Paris negotiated with Kenosha AND the last deal Paris negotiated with Somers).
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/somers_paris_plan_proposal_in_response_to_lawsuit_over_i94_land_deal_489537673.php
IS PARIS PAYING THE LEGAL BILL TO NEGOTIATE ON SOMERS BEHALF?
* If Paris is negotiating sincerely, Paris will negotiate one on one (Paris and Kenosha).
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/somers_paris_plan_proposal_in_response_to_lawsuit_over_i94_land_deal_489537673.php
Let’s see what this proposal looks like. Unfortunately, Paris likes negotiating on behalf of a bankrupt and dry village to our east.
Paris was required by law to receive money from Kenosha for Kenosha annexing the Uline land (required by state law)
http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/66/II/0221/3
If Paris did nothing, they would have been paid (and we wouldn’t have paid attorney fees to negotiate what we were entitled to).
But Paris town board got cute and wanted more money and they wanted such money sooner. So they paid attorney’s to negotiate on their behalf and get a better deal than required by Wisconsin state law.
Paris was able to negotiate for $500,000 but ended up with nothing because the deadline for building permits wasn’t met. That’s dumb. Stop negotiating. It’s obvious you don’t know what you are doing.
You can blame Kenosha but I blame Paris.
http://www.doa.state.wi.us/documents/DIR/Municipal_Boundary_Review/Annexation/Resources/Annexation_Basic_Introduction_and_Review_Rules_of_Thumb.pdf
* Nearly 100% of all annexations are land-owner driven.
* Nearly 100% of all annexations are submitted as either “unanimous consent petitions,” or by “notice of intent to circulate petition”.
We are a town. We can be annexed by neighboring cities and villages.
We’ve both researched the requirements for becoming a Village or a city and we both know that ain’t happening.
You have tried to negotiate your way out of our town status but all you’ve done is waste time and money and irritated the electorate.
Any chance you’d reconsider?
If you won’t reconsider, would you at least stop supporting Somers and only worry about Paris?
Another way a town may become a city or village is by consolidating with an existing contiguous city or village.
http://www.lwm-info.org/DOCUMENTCENTER/HOME/VIEW/91
* See Page 4 consolidation
I believe the Town of Paris will propose merging the entire town into the Village of Somers. Why? Because the Town Board will stop at nothing.
* Remember, Somers has a municipal tax.
* Somers is the lowest rated municipality in Kenosha and if Somers can’t develop land, they’ll go bankrupt but not before bankrupting us as well (via higher taxes).
Basically, in the IGA, any transfer of land eliminates the town payment of the 75% county taxes.
So if I would like to move and sell my single family home to a nondeveloper or developer, the new owner doesn’t get the 75% of the county taxes paid. So it hurts my resale value.
Or in another scenario, I die. If my family transfers title in someone else’s name, their taxes go up.
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/somers_paris_plan_proposal_in_response_to_lawsuit_over_i94_land_deal_489537673.php
Just more closed doors and secrecy.
Dear ‘Affected resident,’
Just conducting business like they are supposed to. Too bad you don’t like it.
If they negotiated in my best interests like elected officials should, I would like it. But we have seen how they threw the affected residents out the window with the Paris-somers IGA.
The only way this negotiation is worse (unless they figure out a new way to screw us) for the affected residents is if they make us come Kenosha immediately rather than negotiating a 30 or 50 year agreement to become Kenosha. So hopefully, they don’t do that or they will have another lawsuit.
The pending agreement between Kenosha and Paris being negotiated “behind closed doors” will prove to be an acceptable alternative to the current IGA that is “locked up” in the courts. Somers and Northwestern Mike won’t be happy, but I suspect most of us in Paris will be satisfied with the agreement. Stay tuned.
Don’t hold your breath.
If town board was reasonable, they would have a town wide VOTE on the IGA or on anything with so much negative feedback.
Instead, they hire lawyers.
Lawyers don’t come up with “acceptable deals”.
The Town Board isn’t doing any of us favors. We don’t want anymore of your “deals”.
Stop wasting our money on attorneys.
Why would Paris Town Board negotiate with Kenosha? Paris Town Board made an agreement (allocating $10 million to Somers and 2,572.6,acres of land to Somers) specifically to stop Kenosha from expanding.
Did Paris Town Board have a change of heart?
You ain’t fooling me – I know Paris Town Board won’t put reasonable alternative on the table (not their style).
Paris Town Board will claim to put “Acceptable Alternative” to Kenosha.
When Kenosha doesn’t accept “reasonable deal”, Paris Town Board jumps up and down about how unreasonable Kenosha is.
It’s all for show.
At this point, Paris residents have spoken to the Paris Town Board and said they don’t agree with their direction.
The term Lame Duck comes to mind.
My guess is Kenosha will wait to negotiate with new administration. An administration that speaks for its residents.
“Sipsma said the bike plan (putting signage on bike routes) took about 3 years of committee work, with input from the city of Kenosha, every village and town in the county and members of the local biking community.”
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/countys_bike_plan_gets_a_push_from_grant_489647069.php
In Comparison
* The Paris Town Board allocated $10 million to Somers, gave away 2,572.6 acres of land and transferred 120 residents into Somers in 30 days.
*The Paris Town Board doesn’t want the involvement of it’s own residents.
Dear ‘Perplexed in Paris and all others’
It sounds like you are sharing information discussed in a closed session. Shame on you.
If you want accurate information talk to a Paris board member. They are still the office holders.
Yes they are still talking to the city of Kenosha.
Why? Because the Paris-Somers IGA and the law suits have focused everyone’s attention on getting something done. A deal with the city could stop the law suits and still allow for development along the Interstate. The law suits could take years. It has taken 11 years for the IGA lawsuit to come to trial.
The city’s agreement with Pleasant Prairie involved land for a boundary agreement. I would bet the same arrangement would be discussed. I would suspect a land swap to the city of Paris land from the interstate to MB and from County K to Burlington Road for a boundary agreement might be discussed.
Yes, I might not be happy but I would understand as it would be best for the rest of the town.
I could always sell and move on.
Where is my post?
@Northwestern Mike “If you want accurate information, talk to a Paris board member”(your words, not mine!)…..HILARIOUS!!! We needed a chuckle today, and your have provided some “comic relief” for those of us stressed out about being
SHOVED out of Paris…..Mike..the Comedy Club is HIRING!!!! Please try to stifle your guffaws folks, wouldn’t want to upset NW.
@Northwestern Mike…….how “noble” of you to “understand” the pending deal with Paris and Kenosha…since it would be “best” for the rest of the town. Why the sudden change of heart? You have been PRO IGA/Paris/Somers from DAY ONE!
READ YOUR POSTS!!!!!! As those “negotiations” behind Monty Hall’s “door number 3” have deteriorated, and the very real possibility that a Paris/Kenosha IGA is imminent, you have now hitched your horses to that wagon. Unfortunately, most of us “non college educated” see through your smoke screen!! Keep those chuckles coming, Mike!
Narayan and Vidya Baliga continue to try to control their own destiny – something we all wish for.
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/city_panel_oks_annexation_plan_489852371.php
A tip of the hat to the Baliga’s for standing up to a BIG GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER…unprecendent in our town’s history. Unethical as well, I might add.
Somers village president George Stoner laments that due to the pending lawsuits, Paris residents living in the “Twilight Zone” cannot be annexed into Somers via the IGA, but now Paris residents(i.e. the Baligas)want to annex into Kenosha. Stoner states “you can’t have it both ways”. Conveniently left out of Mr. Stoner’s assertions is the FACT that literally NO ONE living in the Twilight Zone WANTS to be annexed into Somers, in fact are being FORCED to do so by their local town board. The Baliga family WANTS to annex into Kenosha, and are being prevented from doing so by that same local town board. A tad bit of an ironic twist, George. If Mr. Stoner wants to play “BIG GOVERNMENT” games in Somers, he is free to do so. Keep it out of Paris!
Preliminary estimates for the 2017 Somers village budget include a proposed property tax levy increase of nearly 6%.
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/somers_village_tax_levy_should_rise_489927758.php
6% won’t be enough as Somers is cooking the books to keep the rate increase lower than it should be.
* Somers is estimating $105,000 in fines when they only collected $10,000 in 2015. I wouldn’t speed through Somers if I was you. Maybe best to just avoid Somers all together – advice I wish the Town of Paris would heed.
Americans have lost faith in the Constitution’s power to restrain the wrecking of their way of life.
http://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/after-the-republic/
We are seeing this on a local level – hopefully we have the power to undo their errors.
On September 10th, you couldn’t wait to tell the world how “in the know” you were. Yet, all I saw was a Paris Town Board that tells secrets to people who can’t be trusted with secrets.
http://westofthei.com.customers.tigertech.net/2016/08/11/paris-town-board-recall-organizers-to-appeal-decision-rejecting-recall-election/58589/comment-page-3#comment-190254
Nearly a month has passed and nobody else has blabbed regarding this “acceptable deal”. There are people who do right when no one is watching and there are those who don’t (some hide behind anonymity to protect the world from knowing how untrustworthy they are).
Possible Kenosha-Paris settlement announcement coming on Tuesday.
Another “secret” meeting behind closed doors, Mike?
No, a negotiation session that BY LAW are allowed to be done behind closed doors with results to be announced maybe Tuesday.
Go read the Open Meetings law.
I’d created an annuity for my personal retirement with Town of Paris monies. How would I do that?
I’d negotiate an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement with Somers on April 7, 2016.
http://www.somers.org/?q=node/548#.V_uzjT8VBaQ
I’d use Town of Paris monies to pay Somers $1.25MM on December 31, 2016 (Section VII.C).
The IGA would require a Commission staffed by people I would appoint (Section VI.C.H).
The appointed people to the Commission would serve indefinite terms (Section VI.C.J).
The appointed people would not be paid a salary on day 1 of the agreement (Section VI.C.G).
Right before I was recalled from office, I would vote in a salary for those serving on the Commission.
I just can’t figure out why the Town Board of Paris wants this deal.
Somers doesn’t have water.
Somers doesn’t have money.
Somers doesn’t control the land.
Yet somehow, Somers is able to convince the Town of Paris to give them $1.25 million, loan them $8 million more, pay their legal bills and allow Somers to control 2,572.6 acres of Paris land.
I know why Somers wants this deal. I just can’t fathom why Paris wants it.
The Village of Somers has passed an ordinance that requires businesses pay $500 for each shoplifting or theft call exceeding 20 calls in a month and pay $500 for each call above 2 that did not result in the filing of charges.
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/somers_oks_ordinance_regarding_excessive_police_calls_489911399.php
Was Somers not aware of the impact a Wal-Mart would have on their town services prior to approving the Wal-Mart in 2005?
* Isn’t the Town of Paris banking on Somers knowing a thing or two about development?
The City of Kenosha agreed to provide water to this Wal-Mart store even though it was in Somers. Why? Because the City of Kenosha knew that if Wal-Mart opened a store in Somers, that Wal-Mart would close the Kenosha store. And closing the Kenosha store was a win for the City of Kenosha – therefore, the City of Kenosha agreed to provide water to a new Somers Wal-Mart.
“If plans for the Town of Somers Wal-Mart Supercenter store are approved, the 52nd Street store will be closed after the new store opens, city officials were told, Wilke said.”
https://www.biztimes.com/2005/12/16/wal-mart-could-leave-kenosha-holding-the-bag/
Who would make a better development partner? The City of Kenosha or the Village of Somers?
NW Mike,
Tell us about the “possible” deal.
http://westofthei.com.customers.tigertech.net/2016/08/11/paris-town-board-recall-organizers-to-appeal-decision-rejecting-recall-election/58589/comment-page-3#comment-203549
“Revenue” Sharing is misleading. What’s really being shared is profit but they won’t call it “Profit Sharing” because then we’d truly understand – it won’t amount to squat.
Somers will “attribute” as much “governmental services” and “capital Costs” to the former Paris land as possible. For instance, Somers will decide to pay commission members appointed by Somers a salary equal to the revenue Somers would otherwise have to “share” with Paris.
The Village of Somers has promised to share 50% of the revenues “OVER AND ABOVE THE COST OF GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES AND CAPITAL COSTS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THAT AREA”. Sections VII.a
http://www.somers.org/?q=node/548#.V_uzjT8VBaQ
press conference Oct 11 at 2 pm at paris town hall. check out paris website.
“Town officials say the agreement with Somers will help the town secure its boarders while sharing in revenue from development along I-94.
2nd to last paragraph in West of the I article:
http://westofthei.com.customers.tigertech.net/2016/07/27/paris-supervisor-proposes-debate-with-recall-candidates/58435.
A) If we can negotiate permanent boundaries, we won’t need Somers to secure our borders.
B) Revenue sharing is really Profit Sharing and to prevent a profit, Somers will build a fire station, hire a secretary, add a lift station, buy a new snow plow, etc, etc.