Commentary Update for February 8, 2002: Thiel And The Northwestern

Commentary Viewers:

We will tape our first program of the Spring semester on Monday, February 11. Guests will be our regular pundits Dr. Jim Simmons (UWO Political Science Chair and President of the Faculty Senate) and former North Dakota legislator and Grand Forks Herald editorial page editor Dan Rylance. We'll talk about a variety of local, state, and national issues. The program should air on Monday at 7 p.m. if everything goes smooth with the taping.

Meanwhile, some of you may have noticed that the Oshkosh Northwestern in an editorial called on School Board member Teresa Thiel to resign today (then they wonder why so few people run for office around here!). Because Thiel is married to a teacher in the district, there are certain areas of Board business that State Statutes allegedly render her unable to vote for. Last Wednesday all Board members except Thiel voted on budget cutting measures; she was apparently advised by the Board's attorney not to vote. Without her vote, the Board was caught in a 3-3 deadlock on some important measures. Well, Dan Rylance went and looked up the State Statutes governing situations like these, as well as an important 1997 Wisconsin Ethics Board opinion on this matter. I found these items on the web, and have placed them on the Commentary web site for all to see. The conclusion I have reached is that Thiel should have voted on the budget cutting measures--I believe the Northwestern is using the narrowest possible interpretation of the statute and the ethics board opinion in order to justify the call for resignation. But hey, you can all draw your own conclusions:
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/tt.htm#top

-Tony