LETTER: City officials can’t be trusted for factual data center info

To Ozaukee Press: 

I found it disappointing that the mayor in his opinion essay in last week’s Ozaukee Press tries to discredit concerns of town and city residents by insinuating that those residents are relying on social media for their information. The mayor asks that people get their facts from “us.”  By “us,” I’m not sure if he means himself, the Common Council or Vantage. And I’m not sure why he thinks people should trust any of them for facts.  

That trust was broken:

When council members signed nondisclosure agreements keeping their constituents in the dark about plans for land purchases and chip factory developments. 

When Port Washington Town Board members met in closed session to do away with border agreements.

When the city allowed a 24/7 work schedule after the developer decided that it didn’t want to stick to the agreed upon reasonable work schedule.

When the DNR somehow issued permits to a data center developer without the legally required environmental study after being told by the developer and local government that an environment impact statement would kill the project (as revealed in open records).

When the county Sheriff’s Office entered into an agreement with the private company to help manage their traffic problems caused by development.

When a developer waited nearly a year before holding a “community conversation.”

After trust has been broken, people look for information wherever they can find it. Don’t blame social media. Blame poor planning, lack of transparency and closed-door meetings. 

The mayor speaks of regret over divisions between people because of the development, but then looks at the bright side of how the classic charm of Port has been preserved. These divisions between city and town and between Port and surrounding communities are a direct result of decisions and actions made by the city government. It seems that rural property had to pay the price for city charm. 

And now town residents who depend on wells for their water have been chided for not trusting that the city, the mayor and Vantage have been honest about limited well usage. Once bitten, twice shy.  

Dean Wiegert

Port Washington