Stacking the deck or the pier

The Wisconsin League of Conservation voters is rightly calling foul on a move by a State Senate committee meeting in Arbor Vitae. A notice was sent around early to folks that could help pack the meeting with people wanting to bash the DNR for doing their job protecting our lakes and public lands. You can find the text of the email below.

At first blush, it looked like they accomplished the job because the 'hearing' took mostly complaints. However, a closer look at the story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows that most of the written comments sent to the committee praised the agency for doing a good job. A total of 110 out of 158 comments were positive about the DNR.

From: lorraineseratti
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 4:34 PM
Subject: NOTICE OF SENATE HEARING ON DNR- ARBOR VITAE

NOTICE OF IMPORTANT MEETING

THE ATTACHED ARTICLE PROVIDES DETAILS ON A SENATE HEARING TO BE HELD IN ARBOR VITAE ON JANUARY 4, 2006.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS SENATE HEARING IS TO TAKE COMPLAINTS FROM CITIZENS REGARDING THE DNR AND ITS MODE OF OPERATION REGARDING REGULATIONS.

THE COMMITTEE WILL THEN ANALYZE THESE COMPLAINTS AND SEEK TO FORMULATE REGULATORY REFORMS THAT BETTER REFLECT THE PUBLIC’S INTEREST AS IT RELATES TO PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL MEMBERS TO ATTEND THIS HEARING AND ENCOURAGE FELLOW CITIZENS IN YOUR COMMUNITIES TO ATTEND AS WELL.

SENATOR ALAN LASEE’S OFFICE HAS GIVEN ME ADVANCE NOTICE OF THIS HEARING SO THAT WE CAN EFFECTIVELY MOBILIZE A SOLID TURNOUT. PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

LORRAINE M. SERATTI