We welcome letters to the Editor, a chance for members of the community to comment on issues of concern to them. All letters must be original, not duplications of letters addressed to public officials or written by others. The views and opinions expressed are those of the letter writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication, its publishers, Editor, or staff.
To the Editor:
It’s taken a while to sort things out but, as far as I can ascertain, the Jefferson Project Mike Closser referenced in his mid-May letter is a water study of Lake George in New York and has nothing whatsoever to do with quite another “Jefferson Project” that is (or was, prior to the April elections) a political action committee associated with the Lincoln County Republican Party.
Former Merrill Mayor Derek Woellner went to the Campaign Finance Information System website (cfis.wi.gov) and discovered that the contributors to the local “Jefferson Project” were:
Don Friske–$255
Republican Party of Lincoln County–$2000
Citizens for Tiffany–$1000
Karen Karow–$200
Friends of Mary (I presume Felzkowski)–$500.
This adds up to a total of $3,955.
Of this sum, $2,218 was spent on:
Don Friske–$255
Vista Print (glossy mailers out of Reno, Nevada)–$1023.91
WJJQ Broadcasting (radio ads for George Brixius)–$650
Sam’s Club (“event”)–$228.86.
It’s rather interesting that a PAC on behalf of Republican operatives, in what was supposed to be non-partisan elections, got to hide behind the skirts of a (deliberately misidentified?) out-of-state clean water project. This PAC took over the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors with over $1700 left in its kitty. That’s quite an accomplishment for an outfit that promoted itself as a paragon of transparency, accessibility, and accountability—and even as an antidote to “chaos.”
– Paul Gilk
Merrill, Wis.
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