They said it: - “T
They said it:
Looking back on ‘Quotes of the Week’ from the past 12 months
he prudent thing to do would be cut their losses and dismiss the case and quit wasting resources, this has been going on for almost 6 years now.”
— Steve Bowers about the outcome of a state appeals court decision saying the county erred in not getting a search warrant
know that I am really cheap. That is why I am delaying on this, I get that.”
— Scott Mildbrand, chairman of the county forestry committee expressing concern over higher than anticipated bids for the Camp 8 and Chelsea Lake dam projects.
here is a lot of turbulence in the department right now.”
— Bob Kirkley, director of the Taylor County Ambulance Service to members of the Law Enforcement and Emergency Services committee.
ight minutes means a lot when you are trying to get shoes on preschoolers.”
— Medford school board member John Zuleger objecting to a plan to start the school day 15 minutes earlier for Stetsonville Elementary School. He supported starting the day seven minutes earlier than previously.
didn’t think that I had great abilities, but I know I had the will to continue striving for higher goals.”
— Rib Lake Hall of Fame inductee Richard Parks during his acceptance speech.
overnment is a business, in business you either increase revenue or you cut costs.”
— County Clerk Andria Farrand to members of the Taylor County Executive Committee about making cuts in the budget
have tried to stay professional, but the lack of trust keeps rearing its ugly head.”
— County Veterans Service Officer Dan Judnic announcing his resignation to members of the Veterans Service Committee
hat we are hoping for is a recovery budget.”
— Audra Brooks, Medford Area Public School District finance director about the need to bring more state funding to schools
he men and women of the U.S. dairy processing industry are exceptionally passionate and dedicated to crafting quality products, and that commitment shines through in the high caliber of this year’s winners.”
— John Umhoefer, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association
y expertise is not bats. They fly, they live in trees and they eat bugs.”
— Forest administrator Jake Walcisak about new rules for protecting endangered bats
his is an employee driven idea. When employees come up with an idea that consolidates and makes it run more efficiently, I think they deserve the chance to make it work.”
— Lester Lewis, about a plan to combine the real property lister office and surveyor office into a land information office.
ou call it tying their hands. I call it extreme motivation.”
— School board president Dave Fleegel speaking in support of a plan which would require school to not go past Memorial Day weekend.
ou just knock the first domino over and see where it goes.”
— Medford city council member Dave Roiger about the private developers looking to bring housing to Medford
e want kids to improve. You are the experts. We need to get out of your way.”
— Rep. Patrick Snyder of Wausau to a room of school officials and board members during a legislative meeting held in Medford on Monday night
ur girls made Rib Lake proud. Not how they played, because they played well, but
how they acted as human beings.”
— Rollie Thums during the public comment at last week’s Rib Lake school board meeting commending the players on the Rib Lake Softball team.
certainly want the partnership to continue, I just want it fair for both sides.”
— Budget review committee chairman Chuck Zenner in response to suggestions that the Medford Police Department should be paying more to the county for facility and services in the courthouse.
iterally as soon as Father Patrick was announced as one of the dancers it sold out.”
— Erin Wojcik of Feet-N-Motion Dance studio about their Dancing with the Stars event held May 18
don’t think you should have to do that.”
— Budget review committee chairman Chuck Zenner to Register of Deeds Jaymi Kohn about Kohn paying for office items out of her own pocket
f they get a retention bonus once, they will expect it every time.”
— Gilman School Board Member Tammy Weir opposing using grant funds to pay staff a retention bonus.
ur goal is long-term change.”
— Judge Ann-Knox-Bauer about the intent of the drug treatment court program.
e mow more goose feces there than grass.”
— Joe Svejda, county buildings and grounds director about the goose overpopulation problem at Miller Dam.
ou are making fools of us.”
— Rod Mayer of Mayer Farms to members of the county’s forestry committee in response to the members opposing a land swap and easement proposal at Chelsea Lake Dam
don’t like being a scapegoat.”
— Supervisor Rod Adams about the public perception of the county board
See LOOKING BACK on page 9 They said it:
Looking back on ‘Quotes of the Week’ from the past 12 months
Continued from page 8
e have to stop saying it is because of COVID.”
— Gilman School Board member Tammy Weir about COVID being given as a reason students are not meeting benchmark levels
have no concerns about our ability to deliver the project. It simply has been a matter of shoring up the financing on this project.”
— Vice President of Development at Commonwealth Development Corporation Tyler Sheeran assuring the city council of his company’s commitment to the housing project
o me, the issue of shared revenue has always been about doing the right thing for Wisconsin.”
— Gov. Tony Evers on signing into law increases in shared revenues
o me it means a lot that you came here in person”
— Forestry Committee chairman Scott Mildbrand to Ayres Associates President Bruce Ommen who hand delivered the settlement check to make the county whole from a missed dam grant deadline in 2020.
t is getting disgusting. People want to know why nothing is getting done about it.”
— Rib Lake Trustee Russ Bullis calling for the village to crack down on people using McComb Ave. as a raceway
e are a long way from making decisions.”
— Medford School District Administrator Pat Sullivan about discussions regarding switching to a self insurance model for the school district employee healthcare coverage
e should be more inclusive in our county board giving out committee assignments.”
— County Board member Scott Mildbrand during discussion about committee assignments
e keep coming back to the same stuff over and over.”
— County health director Michelle Cahoon about discussion at the strategic planning meetings being stalled while talking about committee structure.
hy are we giving them special privileges?”
— Council member Mike Bub questioning why the city would waive Walmart’s objection to its property tax assessment to circuit court.
o employer wants to take away from employees.”
— Eric Twerberg of USI Insurance Services presenting benchmarks about paid time off to the county.
t is time to bring this self funding thing to an end right now. We are just wasting time.”
— Medford School Board member Brian Hallgren calling for an end to discussion on self funding employee health insurance.
e are in it for the long game.”
— Forestry Administrator Jake Walcisak about timber market fluctuations.
e need to set some guidelines so folks know what they should or should not be able to do.”
— City planner Bob Christensen calling on the planning commission to create rules for yard signs
hat is a pretty big roll of the dice.”
— Medford School Board member John Zuleger about the possibility of potential health insurance savings in the future.
o most people it will be a new thing.”
— Rib Lake school board member Rollie Thums about the possibility of getting a therapy dog to have at the school buildings
orty years is nothing to the trees because they are only half grown.”
— County Forestry committee member Gary Beadles about the length of time for a proposed carbon credit program
hat is the point of this?”
— County board member Mike Bub about the questions being asked regarding the ambulance proposals.
ou don’t have to be friends. You don’t have to be drinking buddies, but at the end of the day you need to know what they are going through.”
— Attorney Jacob Curtis advising members of the Veterans Service Committee about their role in working with staff.
don’t think anybody disagrees that it would be nice. There will always be people that have things that are nicer than us. I don’t see a sign on the side of the building being worth $13,000 worth of nice.”
— School board member Steve Deml speaking against spending money to add a lighted sign to the outside of Medford Area Senior High School.
don’t want to be a pain about this, but I feel this has to go through the right channels.”
— Forestry committee chair Scott Mildbrand about a request to fund a portion of an updated aerial mapping of the county
n human services we used to have an ebb and flow seasonally. Now in 2023, we have seen no ebbing, only flowing. We keep going up, up and up.”
— Jen Meyer of Taylor County Human Services about the number of people in crisis coming into their office.
e often say that it takes a village to raise our special friends and it also takes our special friends to help raise us up as a village. We are made better and rewarded each day by them. “
— Joseph Greget in reaction to being named an outstanding educator
e have used every single room we have including a closet.”
—Dan Miller, principal at Medford Area Elementary School about the need for additional space in the elementary school building.
e are trying to make it as easy and uncomplicated as we can.”
—Mayor Mike Wellner about proposed changes to the city’s sign rules regarding temporary yard signs.
orty years is too long.”
—County board member James Gebauer opposing the county enrolling forest land into the carbon credit registry.
“T he elephant can be eaten piece by piece.”
—Jason Decker of Complete Controls about upgrades to the courthouse fire alarm and emergency alert system.
