In recent days, Minnesotans have become aware of 2 separate situations where their Public officials have incurred penalties that Minnesota Taxpayers will have to pay. This writer is speaking, course of the Metro Gang Strike Force and the Amy Koch/Michael BrodKorb scandals.
[For those not aware, the Metro Gang Strike Force violated several people’s rights, wrongfully confiscated personal property and engaged in a myriad of what some would say was criminal activity that was never prosecuted which recently resulted in an award of almost a million dollars in taxpayer money to the victims. Read more here: http://t.co/VdzxBEdl http://bit.ly/OkGtT8 http://bit.ly/MZWGxH http://binged.it/QiHhL2 History Here http://t.co/frBnbwgf With regard to the Koch/BrodKorb matter, Mr. BrodKorb a former MN State Senate staffer was the Senate Republican Communications Director. Mr. BrodKorb is suing the State of Minnesota for sexual harassment and other employment issues relating to apparently the unwanted sexual advances of Republican Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch. Ms. Koch has since resigned. Thus far, Minnesota Taxpayers have paid thousands of dollars just for attorney fees but will likely get stuck with the tab for a Court Award. Read more here: http://t.co/zmEvLvjl http://bit.ly/Nhhuom ]
What’s wrong with this picture? This is a question that this writer has put to his employees and subcontractors over the years as a training exercise. Rather than just tell employees and subcontractors what was wrong with their performance over and over, this writer was teaching them to pro-actively recognize issues that adversely affected the customer’s experience themselves.
By the mere fact that a member of the general public has to point out “What’s wrong with this picture?”, the reasonable concern here is whether elected public servants are trainable and care enough to be concerned about the experience of their customers, the taxpayers and voters of Minnesota.
In general, our society finds that punishing and/or holding accountable the actual person(s) that perpetrated a crime and/or caused an injury is morally proper and the most effective means of deterring repetition of the crime or injury.
Why when it comes to public officials do we suddenly punish taxpayers for the wrongdoing of these public officials? How does this deter these specific public officials from repeating their crimes and/or injurious acts? It doesn’t. How does this send a message or serve as an example to prevent other public officials from committing similar trespasses, crimes or injurious acts? It doesn’t.
In both the Metro Gang Strike Force and the Amy Koch/ Michael BrodKorb scandals, the activity appears to have gone on for more than a year… More than a year, yet with many public officials who were not participating in the actual scandalous activity but aware of it, not doing anything to report or stop it. Instead, it appears they actively and/or passively participated in a cover up. How does punishing the taxpayers serve to counter-act the human nature behavior of groups to “circle the wagons” in response to perceived attacks on the group? It doesn’t.
In fact, by the manner in which the Metro Gang Strike Force was handled, aren’t the perpetrators being sent exactly the wrong message? No one gets fired and the taxpayer picks up the tab. Isn't the message being sent something to the that there is a quid pro quo arrangement whereby government agencies can protect their own regardless of whether that is in the best interests of the general public aka /WE THE PEOPLE?
It seems our elected officials are too busy covering up their own or other scandals and/or figuring out new scams and scandals for us taxpayers to pay the tab, to address this issue. Apparently it is incumbent on us taxpayers to contemplate and suggest corrective and preventative measures in our own best interests and for our own protection.
The first thing this voter and taxpayer will point out is that forcing taxpayers to pay the lawyers fees, penalties and the money necessary to make the victims whole in both these scandals will have absolutely no deterring effect on future likely perpetrators.
To have deterring effect on future incidents, the lawyers’ fees, penalties and funds necessary to make the victim’s whole must be paid by the actual perpetrators and/or members of the government organization for which they work. Perhaps all the officers of all the police departments that failed to properly oversee their Metro Gang Strike Force officers should have to pay five dollars per paycheck towards all the expenses from the Metro Gang Strike Force scandal until the taxpayers are paid off. Perhaps all the Republican legislators should also be subject to a similar deduction from their pay checks. Maybe then the peers of these perpetrators would find some motivation to speak up and act sooner, rather than years later.
Would this not serve as a deterrent to future scandals and provide an incentive not to cover up future wrong doing? And for future incidents, all law enforcement and elected officials should be required to carry their own personal insurance policies that cover incidents which fall outside of the scope of their authorized duties and obligations. (Things like theft, embezzlement, beat downs, sexual harassment, creating a hostile work environment, gross violations of a citizen’s rights, etc.)
In the both cases, perhaps we should consider that the current system of having the fox guard the hen house is not working. Putting law enforcement officers in the position of policing other law enforcement officers simply isn’t working per the example of the Metro Gang Strike force Example. And apparently legislators can’t hold each other accountable either.
The same is true of the Minnesota Legal and judicial system, where the Minnesota Legislature has unconstitutionally abdicated its constitutional duty to oversee and discipline the Judiciary (aka checks and balances from high school civics). The Minnesota Board of Judicial Standards (BJS) and the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (MLPRB) both are essentially Lawyers Policing Lawyers. Allegations abound of these 2 organizations being nothing more than PR firms and cover up machines for the wrongdoings of Minnesota State judges and lawyers. (Perhaps the Police learned how to cover up the misdeeds of officers through the example of the BJS and MLPRB?)
The best solution to this problem of government organizations being unable to oversee and discipline themselves is restoration of access to Citizen Grand Juries by average citizens as the original Minnesota Constitution provided. Trying to get to Grand Juries these days is comparable to running a gauntlet. Government Attorneys and Judges do everything possible to prevent citizens directly communicating Government Corruption to the Grand Jury. The allegation is that Government Attorneys and Judges now work to protect government officials from the allegations of citizens rather than protect citizens from government corruption.
Nevertheless, this writer submits that oversight of any government organization by that same government organization is just plain foolhardy and ripe for abuse. Presuming that elected officials will never give up their own protection from Grand Juries , all of these organizations should be overseen by civilian review boards comprised of 6 randomly selected and regularly changed citizens (from the registered voter rolls), 4 government appointed members and 1 non-accused member of the government agency for whom the accused works. Let the accused make their case to this civilian review board and let the civilian review Board render judgment pursuant to the Rule of Law properly applied freely admitted, non-machinated, relevant facts in evidence.
With regards to these 2 scandals taxpayers get to pay for, the final defining thought process for each reader should be this:
Is our Government designed and administered to set up to protect WE THE PEOPLE, or
Is it designed an administered to protect public officials that screw WE THE PEOPLE?
Please remember your answer to that question at the voting booth this fall when you are deciding whether to vote for any incumbent. Each incumbent politician is responsible for the current design and administration of our Government? http://GOOOH.com
Please remember that not one single elected official considered it wrong to punish taxpayers for the wrongful acts of public officials nor did they design and/or administer rules and/or pass legislation which would block any attempt to punish taxpayers for the wrong doings of Public Servants.
But, then again, as most incumbents would point out this writer is just another stupid, irrelevant taxpayer who will forget their role in these scandals before its time to vote.
Please join with me this fall in proving them wrong about our forgetfulness.
Just say no to all incumbents, regardless of political party.
Those were my thoughts.
In Closing:
Thank you, my fellow citizens, for taking your valuable time to read and reflect upon what is written here.
Please join with me in mutually pledging to each other and our fellow citizens our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to our mutual endeavors of restoring liberty and economic opportunity to WE THE PEOPLE as our Founding Fathers envisioned and intended. [Last Paragraph, Declaration of Independence http://bit.ly/ruPE7z ]
This article is written with the same intentions as Thomas Paine http://ushistory.org/paine. I seek no leadership role. I seek only to help the American People find their own way using their own “Common Sense” http://amzn.to/kbRuar
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Keep Fighting the Good Fight!
In Liberty,
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
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Critical Thinking Notice - This author advises you as no politician would dare. Exercise Critical Thinking (http://bit.ly/ubI6ve) in determining the truthfulness of anything you read or hear. Do not passively accept nor believe anything anyone tells you, including this author... unless and until you verify it yourself with sources you trust and could actively defend your perspective to anyone who might debate you to the contrary of your perspective.
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