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 Post subject: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:01 am 
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ST. JOHN | A five-year run has come to an end for the president and vice president of the St. John Town Council.

Michael Fryzel has served as president, and Jerri Teibel has served as vice president for five years, but the two were not re-elected to those seats when the council chose officers Thursday.

Mark Barenie was elected president of the council, and Mike Forbes was elected vice president. The decision to elect Barenie was unanimous, but Fryzel and Teibel abstained from voting on whether to elect Forbes as vice president. Teibel nominated Fryzel as vice president, but Fryzel declined.

Fryzel, Teibel and Barenie are members of the Citizens Party, and Forbes and Councilman Greg Volk are Republicans.

Fryzel said he was in charge when a lot of improvements were going on in town, and now he is looking forward to spending time with his grandchildren.

During his tenure, the town built a new public safety facility, public works building and expanded and renovated the Town Hall. The town also began community events, such as Christmas in the Park, the haunted house and farmers market.

Fryzel said he might try to regain the president position next year, after taking a year off.

Teibel said things are slowing down in town, and, without the duties of vice president, she'll be able to spend more time with family.

Barenie commended Fryzel and Teibel, saying they've done a great job for five years and will continue to do a good job for the town.

Barenie said his leadership style embraces collaboration and communication. The more knowledge the town leaders have, the better their decisions will be, he said.

Forbes, who said he is very happy with the leadership changes, said all of the council members have the best interest of the town in mind. But, he hopes having a new president and vice president will relieve some tension among department heads and on boards and commissions.

He said he'd like the council to continue focusing on the town's finances. And, road repairs are going to become a big issue once spring hits and everything thaws, he said.

http://nwi.com/articles/2009/01/16/news ... 1850d9.txt

So I guess when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I for one am glad a change in leadership of that council was desperately needed.


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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:38 am 
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wow wow wow, I for one am thrilled. Amazing though that Fryzel and Tiebel couldn't graciously step aside and show unity for the board by placing a vote for Forbes. Goes to show that although they want to spend time with family, HA, that they still were power hungry people and couldn't really do what's right for the town. As far as all of their buildings they put up, festivals they arranged, etc., Those buildings were b/c they got in bed with developers, it had nothing to do with their insight. Those new developments have put a strain on our water, streets, schools, etc. Now the true citizens have to pay more in taxes, water and a new garbage fee. Well, that's what I think of Fryzel and Tiebel (I heard they were sleeping together too), GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT


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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:00 am 
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Garbage in, garbage out...LOL. :D Shame it took a garbage fee in and longevity and job cuts out to actually get rid of that garbage. Mr. Volk and Mr. Forbes for years have been saying," they spend too much money, they act as if we have a money tree, before long there's not going to be any money left," but knowone would listen. Rather hard to do anything about it when the votes were always 3-2. Shame Mr. Barenie didn't see through this sooner rather than later. I guess he fell for the smooth talking bullshizter. Over the past year Mr. Barenie has slowly but surely been veering away from the Citizens Party. I think the town will welcome this change as he said he will offer more collaboration and communication, as this town should be run. I know Forbes and Volk have always felt this way and have tried to change things. People are starting to wake up, but, look what it took to do so. How many times has the Citizens Party attempted a complete take over of this town council? Just imagine if that would have occured? :wink: We now have fiscally responsible people in charge who will put all residents first. :wink: May Mr. Barenie run for office as Mr. Barenie this round and not Mr. Citizens Party!!!!! Ahhh.....let the coup begin....! :wink: I can smell the fish "fry" from here! :wink: :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :lol: :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:18 pm 
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Its about time this Town Council started doing its job. Who cares which party you are in, your job as a Town Council member is to help run this town efficiently and fiscally. Too many times things were agreed upon that where not fiscally responsible. I have been to the town council meetings and let me tell you Mike Forbes has always tried to get this people to stop spending so much. I have heard him question expenditures that were excessive and not necessary. Mark Barenie has recently been questioning the actions of some members of the council also, as he should. Its time we put some belt tightening measures in place. Its also time the town council put the residents first and the politicial parties second. Hey if you need some suggestions, let me see your expenditures, I'm sure I can find places to cut some cost. LOL!!!


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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:37 pm 
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mrbsmom wrote:
Its about time this Town Council started doing its job. Who cares which party you are in, your job as a Town Council member is to help run this town efficiently and fiscally. Too many times things were agreed upon that where not fiscally responsible. I have been to the town council meetings and let me tell you Mike Forbes has always tried to get this people to stop spending so much. I have heard him question expenditures that were excessive and not necessary.


Say, if you don't mind, if there's ever any good scoops from the meetings or anything important going on, would you post up what happened? The meeting minutes take months to come up on line. Thanks, Comedian :D :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 8:45 pm 
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Sorry to burst the bubble here....It makes zero difference that Barenie is the Town Council President. The puppet master is Fryzel. Always will be.......

He will tell Barenie what to do, what to say, and how to act. Don't be snowed!!!

The lack of class shown by both Fryzel and Teibel is just another cold day in January - same ol' same ol'......

The residents of St. John will continue to be spent to death via contests, festivals, splash pools, and other crap that we don't need!


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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:44 pm 
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newt_fan wrote:
Sorry to burst the bubble here....It makes zero difference that Barenie is the Town Council President. The puppet master is Fryzel. Always will be.......

He will tell Barenie what to do, what to say, and how to act. Don't be snowed!!!

The lack of class shown by both Fryzel and Teibel is just another cold day in January - same ol' same ol'......
The residents of St. John will continue to be spent to death via contests, festivals, splash pools, and other crap that we don't need!

Don't worry I'm not being snowed. I'm just willing to give him a chance.
You know what really sucks is alot of the residents will complain if they don't have these festivals and other amenities. And then they will complain because the roads aren't fixed and they have a flooding problem etc. Then they will complain their taxes are to high. If you want all this crap i.e. festivals, splash parks, you are gonna have to pay for them. I for one get tired of people complaining to themselves and not going to the Town Council meetings and complaining to the people that should be hearing it. You want to know how many people showed up when they were voting on the garbage fee? 2 to be exact and 1 went up to the podium and complained. Thats what the people in St. John are like, they bitch behind the scenes, but do not have the balls to bitch to the people that could possibly make a difference. The meetings are usually pretty empty, because people do not want to take the time or seem to care what these people spend our money on. The residents have given them free reign by staying home and not making their voices heard.

Here is a list of amenities the town has provided to us, tell me how many of these are necessary. This was pulled from the new website http://www.stjohnin.com/

The Town Council is committed to providing activities in our own Town for the enjoyment of our residents, especially our children. We believe in offering the families of St. John opportunities to make memories that they will carry with them throughout their lives. Some of the community events established in the past 4 years have been:

The Annual St. John Festival
Christmas Festival of Lights
Easter Egg Hunt
Spooktacular Fest
Farmer's Market
Annual Town Parade
Contributions to the development of the Tri Town Safety Village
Construction of the state of the art Baseball Complex
Upgrades to the Girls Softball fields
Established an active Parks Department to provide programs for our residents
Upgrades to all parks and equipment
Installation of a handicapped accessible fishing pier at Lake Hills
Installation of a Tot Splash Park at Lake Hills
Installation of a Splash Park and Sledding Hill in Heron Lake Subdivision
Installation of a Bathroom for a future Splash Park at Prairie West


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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:02 am 
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Newt wrote :
Quote:
Sorry to burst the bubble here....It makes zero difference that Barenie is the Town Council President. The puppet master is Fryzel. Always will be.......

He will tell Barenie what to do, what to say, and how to act. Don't be snowed!!!


I don't know, fryzel may be the puppet master, but I'm hearin' that Barenie is tired of him and may be snipping his strings. I'm not sayin that you're wrong, but let's wait and see.


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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:57 am 
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Chuckles wrote:
Newt wrote :
Quote:
Sorry to burst the bubble here....It makes zero difference that Barenie is the Town Council President. The puppet master is Fryzel. Always will be.......

He will tell Barenie what to do, what to say, and how to act. Don't be snowed!!!


I don't know, fryzel may be the puppet master, but I'm hearin' that Barenie is tired of him and may be snipping his strings. I'm not sayin that you're wrong, but let's wait and see.


Don't worry newt. I would think the members here are very well aware of the nature of the beast. Not only us but many town employee's too, as I heard Fryzel promised not to have their longevity pay cut. The morale amongst the employee's is at an all time low and they are very pleased with the recent developements! I also heard that the budget was discussed in executive session and one or two members started leaking information out that created all kinds of rumors. Heard Mr. Barenie discussed this at a town meeting and was quite visably upset. Upset because he started getting intimidating phone calls and e-mail and then a letter in the mail that his wife opened which Mr. Barenie considered to be a threat. When things start hitting home it's time to come up to the plate and I hope Mr.Barenie hits one out. Mr. Barenie also stressed at that meeting that he is an "independent" thinker. Time will tell. Interesting Fryzel declined the Vice President option. Not good enough for him....LOL. There are two sides to this beast as Mr. Barenie is starting to see. Shame Ms. Teibel just don't get it. I guess she's "not the only one." :smt006

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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:36 am 
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I appreciate all of your points of view.

Mr. Barenie is a Citizens Party representative. Don't forget that up until just recently, he voted with Fryzel, Teibel, and Pearson (4-1) on every spending option, every development, every festival, etc...Later he voted with Fryzel and Teibel - creating a 3 -2 majority.

Now you're telling me that he has a "change of heart"??? The damage has been done! By the way, Mr. Barenie already got what he wanted - The Heartland Sports & Baseball Complex - via the deal cut with Olthoff.

I will remain skeptical on Mr. Barenie's conscience.....


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 Post subject: Re: 5-year leadership tenure ends in St. John
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:23 pm 
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newt_fan wrote:
I appreciate all of your points of view.

Mr. Barenie is a Citizens Party representative. Don't forget that up until just recently, he voted with Fryzel, Teibel, and Pearson (4-1) on every spending option, every development, every festival, etc...Later he voted with Fryzel and Teibel - creating a 3 -2 majority.

Now you're telling me that he has a "change of heart"??? The damage has been done! By the way, Mr. Barenie already got what he wanted - The Heartland Sports & Baseball Complex - via the deal cut with Olthoff.

I will remain skeptical on Mr. Barenie's conscience.....


I'm glad you brought that up. It does make me come back to reality especially after the word Olthoff!! Very good point. Still, don't worry..... :wink: :smt006

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