Taking a Stand

The cities of Marinette and Peshtigo, and the counties of Marinette, Brown and Door have taken a stand against the Back Forty Project, Aquila Resource's open-pit sulfide mine that many believe will end the quality of life here by polluting our water supply.

I'm not a mining expert. I avoided science courses as best I could in college, a decision I now regret. But like most people I know, I suspect the Back Forty Project will hardly leave our area pristine and untouched. More likely it will turn us into Flint, Michigan.

I hope I'm wrong, because the mine will probably come to fruition. Sadly, taxpayer opinions don't seem to matter with the state of Michigan, which controls the permitting process.

And increasingly, they are not mattering across the entire country. We live in sorry times.

Here is a good explanation of what the mine project could mean for our community.

Here is the opinion of a former mayor. Smart, savvy and unafraid to speak out, Doug Oitzinger is the only former elected official with the guts to take a stand on this issue.

(It appears Menominee Mayor Jean Stegeman, poised to leave her part-time job to direct the Tri City Area United Way, is also opposed to the mine.

Fortunately, we have other elected officials not in top leadership roles who have proven their integrity by standing against the mine.)

Here's the opinion of Al Gedicks, a UW System emeritus professor and executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, or WRPC.

The Menominee County Board seems headed for some sort of resolution, regardless of Chairman Charlie Meintz's silly statement about the state withholding funds if Menominee takes a stand against the project. (Meintz always seems to operate as a shill for someone else. I sat across from him for 18 months on the airport commission: He's the King of Bizarre Excuses.)

Assuming Menominee County mans up and takes a stand in the next week, that leaves the city of Menominee. We cannot predict how the city council will vote, but we won't know until the council actually addresses the matter.

The council meets the third Monday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Municipal Complex on 10th Street; the next meeting is Aug. 21.

If an anti-mine resolution is not on the agenda, the second public comment period at the end of the meeting will give mine opponents a chance to speak out. They have been diligent and relentless in their efforts to date. I know they will continue. So will those who support the mine.

Let's see the Menominee City Council take a stand one way or the other. Area residents deserve to know what their elected representatives think.

If elected officials don't put the greater good of the community first, they must be replaced.

Come Together: When Will Our Two City Councils Meet Jointly?

The Menominee and Marinette city councils were slated to meet jointly in late May to review information on the Back Forty Project, the controversial open-pit sulfide mine foisted on us by Aquila Resources, a Canadian exploratory mining company.

The scheduled meeting fell apart when Menominee Mayor Jean Stegeman invited Al Gedicks, a UW-LaCrosse emeritus professor of sociology and executive secretary of Wisconsin Recourses Protection Council.

The only scheduled speaker prior to Gedicks' invitation was Joe Maki, U.P. District geologist with Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Maki backed out when he learned Gedicks had been invited.

Then the Marinette City Council backed out, although several council members were ultimately in the audience.

TLDR: In other words, a bunch of adults acted like teenagers and there was no joint meeting.

(I can only imagine that Stegeman probably felt real chagrin when it all backfired. I do not think she meant to sabotage the meeting.)

You can read more here about the meeting, which Menominee alders attended in small numbers. Most claimed schedule conflicts, although the meeting had been planned for some time.

My question is: When will the two councils schedule another joint meeting to talk about other issues our two cities share?

Discussion topics abound: Crime, tourism, special events, emergency management, recreation, homelessness, drug use, elderly services, and I'm sure, many more.

There's enough common ground for at least two joint meetings a year, probably alternating at a school gym or auditorium on either side of the river. I'd suggest Blesch in Menominee and W.J. Jones in Marinette.

The right hand needs to know what the left hand is doing. Ideas need to be shared. Relationships need to be built.

It just doesn't make sense not to communicate across state lines.




TLDR: Internet-speak for "too long; didn't read"