June 1, 2023 at 11:17 a.m.
County supervisor disrespects constituents
Having just finished watching the recorded live streaming of the county board meeting on May 16, I was impressed by the turn-out of 26 concerned citizens who spoke in favor of the Pelican River Forest easements. There was tremendous support for it from citizens.
There was something else in the recording. This is transcribed from the recording on the County YouTube channel. At 2 hrs. 39 min. and 21 sec. into the recording, Supervisor Roach speaks the following: "...I respect the people in here [motioning to the audience]. But, I don't do necessarily what my constituents want. I ran in the paper, [laughter] It's funny. But when I ran for election, I told exactly what I am. I represent Jesus Christ [audible rumbling from the audience.] I run on a conservative ticket [raising his voice and pointing to the audience]. These people that came here, there's 50 people here. And there's how many people, thirty-eight or thirty thousand that live in Oneida County? Thirty-eight thousand. This is zero point [trails off, then pointing to the audience]. These are the people maybe that aren't working that keep showing up."
Yes, that's right. He claimed he respected the people there, and then insulted them. Mike, many of those people took time off work, just like you take time off your full-time WIDOT job to attend county meetings. I would think you would have praised them for being engaged citizens and speaking to the full board.
Like you, they show commitment. But instead, you denigrate them. Working, retired, or unemployed, these are engaged citizens, and they do not deserve to be treated this way.
And yes, that's right.
He said he does not always listen to his constituents. That should appall his constituents. In a representative form of government, the constituents are to be represented by their elected officials. Mike just admitted that representing them is not important to him and he will sometimes not listen to them, or not do what they want. Mike, you do not seem to understand what it is to serve your constituents as an elected official. I encourage readers to check it out yourselves. Here's the link to get to the recording of the county meeting: https://www.youtube.com/@oneidacountyboardwi/streams. I hope his constituents remember this come next April.
There are other conservatives to choose from who will represent you and who will actually respect you.
Dan Butkus
Waunakee and Crescent
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