Doug Jones, in his editorial yesterday in the Northfield News, says I ought to participate! What a novel concept! If only he’d participate, he’d know that I am… sigh… there he goes again, shooting himself in the foot because he can’t be bothered with obvious facts.

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Who is this guy and what’s his interest? Doug Jones came here from somewhere else, bought a chunk of Wheeling Township, built a house that has people gawking, was instrumental in the Valley Grove Church restoration, but isn’t overt or visible in his political activity. I can’t tell if he’s a “legend in his own mind” or a close personal friend of Karl Rove’s who is pulling strings and getting folks to toe the party line. He’s got money, no doubt about it, and I’ve heard rumors of a connection to Enron — maybe… he knows a few things about transmission regulation and understands the importance of state, not FERC, control — he looks and carries himself like an absent-minded professor or electrical engineer — so maybe he’s from the electric industry. Jones contributes to many political candidates (do a search), hosts political fundraising and civic shindigs, and when Rep. Ray Cox performs he quietly watches from the sidelines. Now and then comes out with truly bizarre ideas that make it seem he doesn’t care about his credibility — I guess I won’t complain! Anyway, here’s his latest:

Don’t sue; do participate

To the editor:

Rice County needs a director of planning and zoning with the depth of experience and professionalism of Arlyn Grussing.

Unfortunately, the woman who is again suing Rice County because she thinks the Rice County Board of Planning and Zoning staff should be sentenced to “remedial training â?¦ regarding environmental review,” (Northfield News Nov. 19) is at it again!

Something called Rice County Land Use Accountability Inc. has already cost Rice County taxpayers over $10,000 to defend against her suit, which was dismissed by District Judge Bernard Borene. Perhaps her on-going lawsuits contributed to Rice County losing its highly experienced chief civil servant for planning and zoning.

In her insinuation that Rice County should appoint someone acceptable to her personal environmental philosophy, she leaps over to a Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) criticism of the Interstate 35 “rezoning scheme” because the infrastructure is not already planned or implemented. Question: Shouldn’t zoning planning come before infrastructure?

Why doesn’t Carol Overland help by participating on one of the county’s land use committees? Instead, we have continuing lawsuits by Carol Overland’s Rice County Land Use Accountability Inc., which does not have one single known Rice County land owner on its board of directors or among its officers, including Carol Overland, a resident of Goodhue County.

Doug Jones
Nerstrand

Here’s the DOT comment on the AUAR. Download file What do you think???

Here’s the membership of Committee 1

I’ll upload my comments after the paper publishes it. Stay tuned…

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