by Dennis Dalman
Once again, Sartell resident Peter Wilson addressed the city council at its Nov. 28 meeting with a series of barbed complaints.
Wilson spoke during the Open Forum session before the council meeting. The forum gives people up to three minutes each to address the council. According to the rules, items brought up cannot be discussed by the council at that particular meeting, but any concerns can be relayed to staff or discussed at subsequent meetings.
Complaint 1
Why, he asked, were candidate yard signs not allowed to be displayed in the city until 45 days before the last election, Nov. 8? Many people, he noted, cast their votes before that time.
“That may seem small,” he said, “but it seems odd to me.”
Then Wilson, his voice swelling with sarcastic irony, attributed that rule to “our wonderful secretary of state and his deficiency,” meaning Minnesota’s Secretary of State Steve Simon, who was re-elected on Nov. 8.
Complaint 2
Wilson’s second topic concerned how he went to the police department to file a complaint about Sartell-St. Stephen Superintendent Jeff Ridlehoover putting in place mask requirements despite the fact that, according to Wilson, Dr. Anthony Fauci who led the battle against the Covid-19 virus, had sent emails that said masking did not work. Wilson said those emails were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The masking mandates led to the potential arresting of people and the shutting down of businesses, Wilson said.
“I don’t see any consequences for that,” he added. “Hopefully that will change when the next baboon pox or chimpanzee pox or squirrel sneeze comes out.”
Complaint 3
Wilson’s third complaint had to do with the CR 133 realignment plan favored by Stearns County and the City of Sartell.
After driving by the area in question recently, Wilson said he cannot even imagine the city agreeing to that plan.
“It makes no sense to me,” he said. “I do understand long-term planning.”
Then with acidic irony he added, “I’ve seen the results of planning with the president (Joe Biden) selling off strategic oil reserves.”
Wilson advised the council that poor designs come into play when government entities bite at money like fish biting bait.
“It’s like narcotics,” he said. “You have to be able to say NO.”
