Open Letter to Menomonee Falls Residents from Scott Krause

Editors Note: I read Mr. Krause's letter and asked his permission to post it, He graciously allowed me to do so. FYI, Mr. Krause submitted papers to run against Trustee Mike McDonald and is on the ballot. Recently he announced he would no longer continue his campaign. His open letter explains his decision.

Open Letter to Menomonee Falls Residents from Scott Krause

Submitted By Scott Krause

Posted: Feb. 6, 2010

Open Letter to All Menomonee Falls Residents,

Over the past several years I have quietly sat on the sidelines as Menomonee Falls slowly fell from its once highly regarded standing as a community where companies of all sizes wanted to do business.

As a lifelong resident of Menomonee Falls, I care deeply about the future of this community. It is for that reason, and that reason alone, that I decided to run for Village Trustee in December, 2009. For the record, I was the first person to file my papers with Village Clerk. Mr. McDonald filed his papers shortly after I did. If anyone forced a primary election, it is Mr. Davis who filed his papers at the very last minute, on the very last day.

When I first decided to run for Village Trustee, I had every intention of running a clean campaign without any mudslinging or innuendos. I wanted the focus to be on restoring the good name and reputation of Menomonee Falls. Sadly, in this day and age of modern technology, I guess that’s no longer possible. Twenty years ago I was in a bad marriage that resulted in some legal problems. That’s all water under the bridge, and totally irrelevant to the future of Menomonee Falls, but a reporter from a local newspaper felt it was responsible journalism to dig up the past and open old wounds. To save my family and friends from being hurt, I decided to withdraw from the race. There was no collusion with Mr. McDonald and I was not promised a seat in local government as Mr. Davis has claimed. I have never met, nor have I ever had any dealings with Mr. McDonald personally or professionally. If people still want to vote for me, fine. If not, I ask that they vote for Mr. McDonald because I feel he has the best interest of Menomonee Falls at heart.

Since Mr. Davis has fired the first volley I think it’s only fair that I return a few salvos of my own. In a letter dated February 1, 2010 to Joan Hintze, Menomonee Falls Village Clerk, Mr. Davis references his ability to obtain public records as stated in Wisconsin State Statute Chapter 19. In broad terms this chapter of the state statutes defines the general duties all elected officials whether they are at the state, county or municipal level. In true Jefferson Davis fashion, he picks and chooses the parts of the law that he can cobble together for his benefit and blithely turns a blind eye to the parts that make him look bad. In particular, I think Mr. Davis needs to re-examine Wisconsin State Statute 19.41

19.41 Declaration of policy. (1) It is declared that high moral and ethical standards among state public officials and state employees are essential to the conduct of free government; that the legislature believes that a code of ethics for the guidance of state public officials and state employees will help them avoidconflicts between their personal interests and their public responsibilities,will improve standards of public service and will promoteand strengthen the faith and confidence of the people of this state in their state public officials and state employees.

Mr. Davis you can’t play by some of the rules. You have to play by all of the rules. Doesn’t anyone in Menomonee Falls remember Jefferson Davis being arrested and resigning from office just a few short years ago? He has sent out e-mails to all the major news outlets stating that my resigning from the race doesn’t pass the smell test. Well isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black! In 2005, as part of a plea agreement, Mr. Davis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and civil violations and resigned as Village President instead of doing jail time. Originally Mr. Davis had been charged with 29 counts of breaking the state’s campaign finance laws including three felonies. Had he been convicted he could have potentially received up to 12½ years in prison and up to $45,000 in fines.

And still people vote for him. Why?

He claims what I’m doing is a waste of tax payer money. It pales in comparison to the $9,000 the village had to pay out to investigate the two gender harassment complaints that were filed against Mr. Davis during his tenure as Village President. As part of the investigation it was found that Mr. Davis was replacing women with men on village boards and commissions. Between April, 2003 and November, 2003, 31 people were appointed to such positions, five were women. None of the eight women appointed by the previous administration were retained by Mr. Davis.

And still people vote for him. Why?

People of Menomonee Falls, please send a loud and clear signal to Jefferson Davis by casting your vote for someone else. I’m writing this open letter because no one has called out Mr. Davis and asked him to stop making a mockery of Menomonee Falls. Every time he takes out his pen and writes a letter of half truths and twisted facts it takes the focus away from what matters most. Don’t play into Mr. Davis’ petty politics. If you wish to contact me and hear my ideas for Menomonee Falls, send me an e-mail at skrausesells@hotmail.com.

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UPDATE! SCOTT KRAUSE SPEAKS

Thank you Ted.  Before I share my ideas with your readers I’d like to set the record straight on a few things.  Have I made mistakes in the past?  Absolutely.  Do I regret them?  Most definitely.  However, the damages incurred during a failing marriage 20 years ago were not repaired overnight.  I’ve had sole custody of my son since he was seven years old and I’ve work very hard to keep a roof over his head, food on his table and a good education his head.  I’m proud to say he will be graduating in May from UWM, almost completely debt free. I am a longtime member in good standing with Holy Cross Church. I have worked for the same man for the past 25 years, and have received many regional and national rewards for excellence. Most importantly I have been proud to call Menomonee Falls my home for over 50 years.

Let me begin by saying that any at a trustee level who says they are going to lower taxes is being ridiculous. However there are actions trustees can take to ensure the village will not have to raise taxes to preserve the quality of life our residents have come to enjoy. In the current economy my business, as well as many others in the community, have had to re-examine expenses. In my company alone, we were amazed at the amount of non-essential expenses we were able to cut without taking away the high level of service expected by our customers. I am sure the village has been focusing on trimming expenses too.  Instead of over-promising and under-delivering with a tax cut, let’s be realistic.  I feel that we can cut more non-essential expenditures without taking any of the services away from the residents that they are used to.

My main reason for running was to work with the village to bring back business to the Falls. Last week I walked the downtown area. Within a block or so in each direction of the four corners there are 21 empty store fronts. That doesn’t take into consideration the vacancies in the strip centers scattered around the village. For a long time we were guided by the old Village of Dreams (“Build It And They Will Come”) philosophy. Look where that got us. Someone asked me where the business district is in town. Is it the four corners? Appleton Avenue? Main Street? County Line Road? We spent a great deal of money to hire outside consultants who know nothing about Menomonee Falls to come up with a plan to fix things.  None of them have worked. Why don’t we use the talents and education of the board and business leaders in the community to come up with a plan for Menomonee Falls? Who knows the town better than those who live here and run businesses here?  I feel that we have the ablity to go after the business and fill the empty store fronts.

We need to make the village a destination, not a place to slow down and stop when the light turns red at Appleton and Main. To say people won’t come to the Falls to spend their money is not true. A great example is Robin’s Nest. Most of her clientle comes from the North Shore and East Side. If they come that far into the Falls they will go farther if the right businesses are there for them to go to. The naysayers that complain about insufficient parking are wrong.  There is plenty of parking. What we don’t have is clear signage to let the public knows where it is and that it is free. We also need to slow traffic down on Main Street and Appleton Avenue to make them both more pedestrian friendly. I am truly excited about the redevelopment of the old Stoper Steel property. Bass Pro Shop should be a great anchor for our village. However we can’t stop there. We need to show people that Menomonee Falls as a destination is a complete package. We either need to get the old Holiday Inn project completed or tear it down. The Hwy 45/Main Street interchange is the gateway into the Falls from the east. It should be one of our WOW! points, not one of our ‘hang our head in shame’ points.

Thank you again Ted for giving me the opportunity to present a positive side of the story. These are just a few of my ideas. If you or anyone else would like to hear more they can contact me at krauseformenofalls@gmail.com. 

Thank you,

Scott Krause