Jamestown Central

Ellendale Can Hire Their Own Police

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:41:00 CST

A story in Friday's edition of the Jamestown Sun told us how Ellendale City Council authorized the circulation of recall petitions for Jim Bohannon (archived version), who is the Dickey County Sheriff. The whole story made the city of Ellendale look a little "backwoods" or stuck in the past, in my opinion. I'm not sure if that's because of the content of the story or the way it was written, however.

Right away, I became a little more curious about this, since it just seemed like there was more to the story than was actually in the article. I wrote an email, directly to the mayor of Ellendale, Monica Peldo, and asked her a few questions.

As a pretext, I stated what I thought the story said, with a little bit of investigating on my part. I told her that I know how the press can sometimes get things wrong. I also wrote, "As I understand from the story, Ellendale pays Dickey County $70,000 per year (under a contract) for law enforcement services. Your employee (Dickey County) no longer wants the job, and has decided not to renew the contract. DCSO has a total of five employees that are responsible for law enforcement of over 1100 square miles and somewhere between 5398 and 5757 people. From what I can tell, Ellendale has somewhere between 1490 and 1559 people and is about 1.4 square miles in size... about 25% of the population in about 1% of the total area of the county."

I then started to ask questions. The first was "How come Ellendale can't hire it's own police force? With $70,000 per year being spent on contracting DCSO and that contract ending, the city would have a huge percentage of the amount of money needed for payroll and equipment."

She answered by saying "We can hire our own. The Dickey County Commissioners would like to see this contract remain, this assists in their budget."

Wait a minute... she's the mayor of Ellendale and she wants to keep assisting Dickey County with their budget? I haven't looked into this, at all, but is there some ties between the city and county that I don't know about? Have the County Commissioners said this, publicly? Wouldn't it be in the city's best interest to hire their own police? Considering the answer to my next question, you would think that Ellendale stands to save an lot of movey by doing so.

My second question was "Can you explain what you meant when you said "It is a win-win"?
What I'm having trouble understanding is how this is a "win" for DCSO. Jim Bohannon was quoted as saying "the deputies are always in Ellendale, we have no deputies out on the roads in the rest of the county". I can definitely see how this is a "win" for your city, but how is it a "win" for the county?"

She answered the second question by saying "The deputies are always in Dickey County because this is the county seat and this is where their office is. If you pick up the Dickey County Leader this week there is a list of all the calls made by the Sheriff's department in the last month. (the information was submitted by the Sheriff's office) There were a total of 10 calls in Ellendale. 2 being 911 hang ups, fire response, 2 stolen bikes, 2 noise disturbances, and 4 other misc., issues. I'm not sure that there is a real need for 4 deputies and a sheriff in the county, and then still have no time to patrol the rest of the county."

Okay, so there were only 10 calls in one month, inside the city. Being that there's only 24 hours each day, I imagine that not all 4 of the Dickey County deputies and the sheriff work at the same time. If 10 calls per month is an average (again, I don't know), that means there are about 120 calls per year. It looks like Ellendale is spending about $583 per call, then. Considering that at least 2 took a total of about 5 minutes to take care of (the 911 hang-ups), the price per call is actually a lot higher.

She totally ignored how this is a "win" for the DCSO. I still don't see it, other than the fact that they're getting around $600 per call.

According to Monica, the sheriff is the only person who doesn't want the contract renewed. My third question asks "If a new election is held, and if another sheriff is elected that also does not want the contract to be renewed, what would be your next move?"

She answers, "The contract is part of the job that they are running for. There is a pending contract and if a new sheriff is elected, that is the position that he is applying for. (As did Mr. Bohannon when he ran) If Mr. Bohannon didn't want this contract, he shouldn't have run for office in the first place."

Well, if the contract is a package deal for the sheriff's position, why is it even a contract? Shouldn't it just be in the job description? Also, if he didn't run, who would have?... he was uncontested.

The way I see this whole thing is that it's just politics getting in the way of progress. The city of Ellendale "can" hire their own police force. Because some people that work for the county don't want to stop taking the city's money, somebody gets in the mayor's pocket (or somebody else in the city council) and pushes them to circulate recall petitions.

Hopefully the people of Ellendale will realize what's going on before it's too late.

Back At It

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:36:00 CST

Well, it hasn't been quite one year, since I last posted to this blog, but I'm done with my extented blogcation, and will be getting back to it, now. A lot has happened in the past year, here. A lot of them, I won't go back to, or let you know my opinion, but some of them, I will.

Just a recap of what this place is about: I will be covering any topics that I find important, here in Jamestown, ND. Sometimes the things I write will be a little "out there", but keep in mind that some of this may be for the purpose of playing devil's advocate, and might not necessarily be my opinion.

When writing, I try to distinguish my actual opinions from sarcasm, but when reading, it may not always be clear.

Just keep in mind that I "do" live in Jamestown, and have lived here for over 12 years. I have nothing but the best of intentions in mind, when voicing my opinions. I do not classify myself as a Democrat or a Republican, and have no connection with anybody in politics.

Due to some problems in the past with spam comments, moderation will be turned on for most posts, but all comments will be approved, unless they are spam, of course. Opposing opinions are welcome and encouraged. There wouldn't be much discussion, if everybody agreed.

Whoa! Can We Get Charlie Back?

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:13:00 CST

I could not believe my eyes, this morning, as I read today's lead story in the Jamestown Sun. First, I'll admit that I voted for Clarice Liechty. Next, I'll just say that I'm already starting to wonder what made me do that. Just a few months after she took over the position of Jamestown, ND Mayor, she's starting to say some pretty "wild" things that just make my stomach turn.

I did not attend yesterday's discussion of the 2007 fiscal year budget, and I'm "really" hoping that David Maack (Jamestown Sun reporter) took something out of context. From the way it's written, though, I can't see what context a couple of the statements she made would have fit into.

Speaking about funding for the Independence Day fireworks display, she said, "You talk about it being the mayors project," Liechty said to Grabinger. "You have a new mayor and I have my own pet projects." She mentioned the arts and garden club as her two pet projects.

Here's the kicker. Liechty didnt think spending $7,000 for 20 minutes worth of fireworks was an appropriate use of taxpayer money, and suggested burning down a building. Jeee-sus! Did she actually "say" that?

This just tells me that we made a huge mistake by electing this woman to be the mayor of our city. It tells me that we elected somebody that is too lazy, closed-minded, and unpatriotic to try to come up with some kind of solution. We elected a mayor that would rather burn down a building than find a way to set aside or raise $7000.

To even "suggest" burning down a building, not even ten months after the Orlady Building fire, is simply outrageous!

Kelani Parisien was right, that it would be a shame for the city to give up the fireworks. It's also a shame that we have a mayor who wants to burn down buildings, instead.

I'll be the first to appologize for voting the way I did. I have a feeling this won't be the last of the wild, outlandish comments that we hear from Liechty. This was already too much for me to handle, though. I'm sorry! Can we get Charlie back? ...somehow?

Are You Bored? Drink!

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 12:46:00 CST

I'm definetly NOT saying that boredom should be a reason to get drunk, but a recent UPI report says that Rural Boredom Tempts Teens To Drink. I've lived here for the past 11 years, and I realized this fact, very soon after moving here.

It's not only the "teens" that are bored, though. There's a lot of adults that think drinking is the only "fun" thing there is to do, when you live in the middle of nowhere.

From the story:

"Had a kid, drunk, flipped his car going 80 miles an hour, and that killed him; and another kid, drunk, smashed his boat up against the rock just a couple months ago, killing two; and then there was this beating after a kegger -- they clubbed this kid to death," Scott Steward, the sheriff in Wyoming's Park County, told the New York Times.

These are just a few isolated incidents, and crap like this happens "way" too often. I suppose getting killed or beaten is better than being bored, though. Right?

ND Internet Radio

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 20:13:00 CST

Rob Port, who is a blogger from Minot, has created a streaming radio show that you can call into with questions and comments. For instructions on how to contact them and a schedule of shows, click on the "Listen Live" button:
On tonight's show they had ND Ag Commissioner candidate Doug Goehring on to talk about agriculture disaster aid, ethanol and his recent claims that his opponent, current ND Ag Commissioner Roger Johnson, has been push polling North Dakotans. Archived files of previous shows can be downloaded from the BTR site.

Rob runs the Say Anything blog and Brett Narloch runs TakingBackND.com.

Both of their blogs focus on conservative views that are held by most people in North Dakota. Whether you hold the same views, or not, you'll want to keep an eye on both of them!

It's Called "Illegal" Immigration For A Reason

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 01:15:00 CST

Margaret Bitz recently wrote a wonderful letter to the editor where she compared the residents of North Dakota to illegal immigrants from Mexico. I urge you to pay no attention to anything that she said in it. Using words like "time to reflect on how Jesus would do this", "opportunity for us to live out the Gospel", and "show the face of God to the desperate" do absolutely nothing to hide the obvious "very" left wing view that she is trying to make everybody believe.

There are legal steps to take, to become a citizen of the United States. There always has been, and hopefully there always will be. Our country was built on immigration, and most of the people that live here are decendents of "legal" immigrants. I would love to have Margaret, or anybody else who thinks this way, explain to me how thier view is fair.

How come my family had to go through the legal steps of becoming a citizen of the United States, after leaving Europe toward the end of World War II? How can any "citizen" think that breaking the law is alright? What other laws are people willing to ignore? Can I "become" an illegal alien, so I don't have to pay taxes and can receive other "benefits"?

Margaret asks:

Why is crossing over the Mexican border to feed ones family or, even to make a better living, any different than crossing over a border into another state for a better way of life?

The answer, Margaret, is that it's not "illegal" to move around the United States if you are a US citizen! Try going to Mexico or even Canada, just for a "visit", without any proof of identity, claiming belongings, or giving an itinerary. They won't let you in.

I truly think that there are some citizens (real ones) who need to learn a lot more about why these kinds of laws were set up, and why they have remained in place for so long. It looks like some are starting to believe that a "world government" is a good idea. It's a shame, really.

Drug Dangerousness

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 22:53:00 CST

Anybody who has read my past entries, knows how I feel about smoking bans, and how stupid I think it is to bad one "harmful drug" from public places, while totally ignoring another. Of course, there are many other things in this world that will hurt you, but most of them that are included on this list are already illegal.

Would somebody please tell my why there are so many people against smoking in public places, when we allow the free flow of alcohol?

The UK goverment commissioned psychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt and neuroscientist Professor Colin Blakemore to rank recreational drugs by their dangerousness.

The list has just been published on August 1st in The Independent and gives some surprising results. The drugs were ranked by ratings which took into account a combination of their physical damage, social harm and addictive properties.

In rank order of harmfulness:

1. Heroin
2. Cocaine
3. Barbituates
4. Street methadone
5. Alcohol
6. Ketamine
7. Benzodiazepines (e.g. Vallium)
8. Amphetamines
9. Tobacco
10. Buprenorphine
11. Cannabis
12. Solvents
13. 4-MTA
14. LSD
15. Methylphenidate (Ritalin)
16. Anabolic steroids
17. GHB
18. Ecstasy
19. Alkyl Nitrites (poppers)
20. Khat

Though both of them are on the list, notice "where" on the list alcohol is, in relation to tobacco. These "anti-smoking" hypocrites shouldn't try shooting down one unhealthy lifestyle, in favor of another. The other being even "more" dangerous, according to this study.

Why Aren't They Reporting This?

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 10:48:00 CST

I wrote an entry about a dangerous sex preditor that will be moving into Jamestown, after he is released from jail, on August 13th. Here is the story about how a judge is letting him out, early.

Here is his page on the North Dakota Sex Offender web site and part of the information that the page contains:

CONVICTION DATE: 9/22/1992
CASS COUNTY DISTRICT COURT, ND
DISPOSITION: 10 YRS EACH CNT, CREDIT 106 DYS

Am I wrong, or does that mean he was supposed to serve 10 years for each count? From what I can tell, there were four counts against him, and he was convicted in September, 1992. My calculations say that he is supposed to remain locked up until 2032. So...why is he only going to serve 14 years, instead of 40? This is a lot less than had been originally reported, also. The original stories out of Grand Forks and Fargo said that he served "two-thirds" of his time. 35% is NOT two-thirds!

Another thing that has me "really" upset is that our local newspaper, The Jamestown Sun, did not report the original story on June 30th, and hasn't mentioned anything about this! Why is our local mainstream media, the newspaper that was "voted" to be the official newspaper of Stutsman County, not reporting this?

Words like "Four Time Serial Rapist", "Serial Rapist Moving To Jamestown", "Living Next Door to a Serial Rapist" might be a pretty good headline to run, any day now! I don't care if this guy wears a GPS locator, or not. This is somebody that has broke into people's houses, raped and beaten his victims, moving in to our town, and hardly anybody knows?

ADDED: Public Meeting Set:

The Jamestown Police Department will conduct a public information meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Exchequer Room of the Jamestown Civic Center on a high risk sex offender who is moving to Jamestown. Police Chief David Donegan said the meeting will be held to review the offenses of the offender as a public safety message.
The offender, Gero Mahto, 36, was convicted of forcibly raping four women in Fargo in 1992. He is incarcerated in the James River Correctional Center, according to the states Sex Offender Web site, www.sexoffender.nd.gov, and is due to be released Aug. 13 to Jamestown.
Doors will open at the Civic Center at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

I plan to be there with the camera rolling. I'll post the video here (in a new post), when completed.

Opinions On Parking Lot Project

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 15:41:00 CST

There are many people in Jamestown that have objected to putting any kind of "park" next to the railroad tracks, downtown, for (what would seem like) obvious reasons. Travis Dillman from Interstate Engineering keeps bringing back a plan to include "green space" next to the busy railroad tracks, though.

The design Dillman presented to the council provides 267 diagonal parking spaces, down from about 300 available in the present layout. He said the design allows for todays larger vehicles. It also eliminates some parking from the lot across from the Gladstone Inn, turning the area into a green space.

The City Council discussed options for the parking lots at 3:00pm, today. I did not attend the meeting, so I'll have to wait to see the outcome, myself. I do know that I have some opinions about the revised plan that Dillman presented, though.

First, we don't need a "reduction" in parking spaces. With a lot of the buildings downtown that are empty, it's "already" hard enough to find a place to park, there. What happens when we actually start getting "more" businesses down there?

Second, why does he want to "eliminate" parking in the lot across from the Gladstone Inn? Drive by this area on any weekday after 1:00am or 2:00am, and you'll see that it is the only lot that actually has vehicle parked in it.

These are only a couple of my opinions. I'll wait to see the outcome of today's meeting, before making any more comments. What are your opinions?

Monster Truck Heading This Way

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:30:00 CST

A huge "superload" truck is making it's way toward the new ethenol plant in ND. The 229 ton load is being carried through Wisconsin, right now, and will roll through Minneapolis early Tuesday morning.

The vehicle is more than 200 feet long, about 18 feet wide, and 14 feet tall. There is one tractor pulling the load and one pushing it from behind. The monsterous load has 94 wheels, overall.

The load that's being carried is an industrial dryer that will be used in the new ethenol plant that is being constructed, East of ~~Jamestown~~ Dickenson, in Richardton, ND [map] (the original construction site that I listed was incorrect). The truck company says the vehicle can travel at about 50 mph on the interstate, but will slow down, to about 5 MPH, when it makes turns. [Read More...]