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Letters to The Platteville Journal for Nov. 13
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UW and Act 10

University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics ought not to be included in Act 10 and stripped of all union rights.

I recently received specialist care at a UW clinic. The quality of care was superb. It is not uncommon for people in our geographic area to use UWHC services, specifically because of that high quality of care. But  when politicians made the hasty decision to include UWHC in Act 10, they put that quality at risk.

Anyone who has been provided care by a professional nurse, or whose loved one has been provided care, knows how important it is that that nurse be alert, unhurried, and at the top of his/her mental  and emotional capacity. When nurses are required to work overtime hours and double shifts, or work with too few staff for the number and acuity of the patients, errors in judgment, medication errors, and sloppy care can result.

Patient care will suffer if UWHC employees lose their union rights.

Unions have played a key role in keeping workplace standards, and thus quality of care, in an excellent state. For example, they have not allowed forced overtime, which puts patient safety and well being at high risk.

Many important factors in addition to wages and salaries are included in bargaining between employer and employee. Hours, nurse to patient ratio, working conditions, and non wage benefits are some of those factors.  It is the on site worker who understands all of these factors, and must have a voice in setting standards, responsibilities, and limits. Unions help make sure that this happens. A union employee is more apt to speak up when issues of quality arise. UWHC needs to continue to recognize unions as the voice of the employees and commit to continue policies embodied in collective bargaining agreements.

Barbara Meyer
Argyle

Another Kendall view

Re “Kendall and the law” Nov. 6: Transparency, Ms. McCarthy? Really?

I have been a resident of the Town of Kendall for 25 years and a very active attendee at town meetings for both the currant administration and the previous ones. The current board is heading in the right direction.

I take offense to McCarthy’s statement of no citizen involvement. Chairman Bahr on several occasions has asked for input from the audience. Theresa McCarthy was our treasurer in Chairman Bahr’s first administration. In Chairman Bahr’s first term, his top priority was to set a better record-keeping system. I attended several meetings where Ms. McCarthy was asked by Chairman Bahr to see the town-owned laptop and was flatly denied. She claimed she was legal custodian of the records that the laptop contained and Chairman Bahr could not see it. Her version of transparency?

At a subsequent meeting, the current board passed a resolution making the town hall the official record retention place. Even after the resolution was passed by the full board and registered letters were sent to McCarthy, full records did not come to the township until the end of her elected term. Is that transparency?

Our town clerk, Ray McDonald, who also happens to be Theresa McCarthy’s father, was served the same notice of records to be placed at the township and also refused. It is my understanding that there are still some records that have not come back to the township. It has been six months since Ray McDonald has been out of office. What are they trying to hide?

After McCarthy’s term of office for the Town of Kendall, I witnessed several times her attendance at meetings was always followed by disruptive behavior. This includes interruptions and outbursts at meetings even after several attempts by Chairman Bahr to bring the meeting to order. I guess proper protocol doesn’t apply to her?

The current administration has been very transparent with records and town business, unlike the last town board, which had been borrowing money and not doing their statutory duty of reporting it on an annual report. This was not a one-time mistake, but a pattern that lasted several years.

Prior to Chairman Bahr’s election, the county bill was $140,000, the past fuel bills were in excess of $14,000, along with other outstanding accounts. I have watched the current board tackle those outstanding balances and come up with a balanced budget. We are now current with all our vendors, including the county. Last year we even prepaid our fuel. It is very refreshing to no longer be considered the poorest town in Lafayette County.

About non-resident meeting attendees: often times our past chairman, Dennis McDonald, who put our town in the position it was in and who is no longer a resident, offers his opinion on what the board should do. He refuses to accept that he has no vote whatsoever in town business. He was voted out because of the condition of the township and some of the things that were going on smelled fishy. Is that why he is at every meeting? To see what might be discovered?

About residents not being able to speak: There is a procedure to be on the agenda. Town board meetings are not for personal grievances between residents. Nor is wanting to discuss the same thing at every meeting appropriate. Those with town business have been allowed to speak. Chaiman Bahr has been very tolerant of outbursts at the meetings so far. In my opinion, he should have called the sheriff into the meeting in the past. McCarthy and her family have been disruptive to the point of yelling, swearing and lying when they do not get their way. I assume that is why it was included on the notice.

Enough is enough; the voters have spoken. Donald Schultz and Theresa McCarthy have run for board positions and were defeated by large margins. The people have had their say on the current administration; however, some people refuse to listen and instead continue to try to undermine the currant board with spewing untruths and allegations. Now that the people of the Town of Kendall and Lafayette County have learned the truth, I guess they are trying to peddle the lies to the people of Grant County.

Mark Kieler
Darlington

The Platteville Journal will print most letters to the editor, regardless of the opinion presented. The Journal reserves the right to edit material that is libelous or otherwise offensive to community standards and to shorten letters the Journal feels are excessively long. All letters must be signed and the signature must appear on the printed letter, along with a contact number or email for verification. Some submitted letters may not be published due to space constraints. “Thank you” letters will not be printed. All letters and columns represent the views of the writers and not necessarily the views of The Platteville Journal.