We welcome letters to the Editor, a chance for members of the community to comment on issues of concern to them. All letters must be original, not duplications of letters addressed to public officials or written by others. The views and opinions expressed are those of the letter writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication, its publishers, Editor, or staff.
To the Editor:
Many of us were a little stunned by how successfully Don Friske not only got his “Jefferson Project” candidates elected to the County Board–promising accountability, accessibility, and transparency!–but also by how the newly-elected Supervisors were persuaded to consent to their collective disempowerment by voting to give the new Chairman of the Board–none other than Don Friske himself–the power to appoint all Committee Chairs, a radical new thing for Lincoln County. And, while they were at it, the new Board voted to strip the County lawyer, the Corporation Counsel, of her role as parliamentarian, a move that enabled the County Board Chair–Don Friske again–to be his own parliamentarian, ruling as he sees fit on anything under procedural challenge.
Is it sheer coincidence, in the same week that the “Jefferson Project” pulled off its power plan, that the Foto News editor, Ms. Tina Scott, announced the curtailment of any letter to the editor “designed to influence future political votes or decisions”! (Well, you can still submit such a letter. It’ll just cost you forty bucks.)
Apparently Board members who conform can have accessibility to a Chairman who’s transparently accountable to no one but himself. I realize that Thomas Jefferson was, besides his passion for small-scale agrarian democracy, an autocratic slave master. It seems the “Jefferson Project” enthusiasts like the slave master more than the small-d democrat. I’m still a little stunned.
– Paul Gilk
Merrill, Wis.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The recent change to the Letter to the Editor policy, rolled out after the Spring election, was made companywide by our publisher, Multi Media Channels (MMC), and was not a Foto News decision. Some of the publisher’s other newspapers already had this policy in place for some time, and the publisher opted to incorporate that policy for all papers going forward.
Letters To The Editor Policy:
*Letters must be 250 words or less. (There will be no exceptions to this. Any letter longer than 250 words will not be printed.)
*The writer must include their full name, complete address, and a phone number where he/she can be easily reached for verification. Phone numbers and street addresses will not be published, but will be used for verification purposes, if necessary. Letters must be signed and the name, city, and state will be printed.
*Letters may be edited for style, grammar, and length. Form letters or those we determine to be libelous or slanderous will not be accepted. Any letter deemed derogatory, inflammatory, or involving vulgar language will not be published. We reserve all rights to reject material submitted to this publication.
*Letters will be published on a “first come, first served” basis. Any letters which we are unable to publish in the printed newspaper may be run online at www.merrillfotonews.com and/or may be printed in the paper at a later date.
Political Letters To The Editor Policy:
All letters submitted as an endorsement for a political candidate, referendum, or political agenda will carry the same guidelines as above; however, they will be charged $40.00 per letter of up to 250 words in length. Longer political letters will be accepted but will be charged $10.00 per additional 50 words. All political letters must be prepaid prior to printing. Letters to the Editor will not be accepted from candidates running for election or representatives of an organization endorsing their own referendum, as these are clearly advertisements and not opinion letters; those submissions will be referred to our Advertising Department to be run as paid ads.