You may already be familiar with a letter that I sent to Northfield about corruption in the City’s Building Department. If you’re not, I encourage you to read the letter.
I wrote the letter because I had heard that the Building Department was conducting a covert investigation of me and my residence in an attempt to get “dirt” on me because I am running for City Council. The problem with it is that salaries of city employees is paid for by taxpayers (you and I) and is supposed to be bipartisan and neutral.
In addition to spreading lies about me being an illegal renter (which Mr. Jim Dickinson in the Building Department told me to my face) and being ineligible to run for office, Northfield employees were digging through city archives looking for building permits about my Geothermal installation in my home, which was featured in The Current.
I caught them in the act when I stopped into the Building Department one day to address the lies that were being spread about my residency status. Sitting out on the counter in the Building Department was a copy of my the Building Permit issued for the Geothermal heating system installed at my home in 1999. That’s right, an eight year old building permit for my residence happened to be sitting on the counter waiting to be picked up. What a coincidence!
When I asked Jim Dickinson who requested it, he lied to my face and said that he “didn’t know.” Um, right.
Did I mention that Jim Dickinson is the Treasurer of the Northfield Republican Club?
When the City Administrator investigated the issues brought up in my letter, Mr. Dickinson immediately “lawyered up” and had union representation at the meeting. His response? The building permit wasn’t there!
Jim Dickinson lied to the City Administrator.
I know what I saw and I saw a copy of the building permit for my residence sitting on the counter. Mr. Dickinson fears losing his taxpayer funded cushy job because of his deception, lies and his use of municipal resources for political gain. He may have been able to lie to the Administrator, but a lot of other people are aware of what he did and are starting to pay attention.
I would like to see a full investigation of the security tapes from the hallway outside the Building Department between August 22 and September 24 to see if that helps Mr. Dickinson “remember” who requested a copy of my building permit.
I have my theories about who is behind this heinous taxpayer-funded witch hunt, but you be the judge. Here’s a time line:
- A certain “green” resident of Northfield and member of the Republican Party Executive Committee gets some PR in The Press and on HGTV about his solar panels. He also calls certain radio programs every day to boast about his solar panels.
- A nice piece written about the Geothermal heating and cooling system in my house in The Current on August 22, 2007. (Geothermal is a renewable energy source and very environmentally friendly. Dare I say that it’s “green?”)
- Many Northfield residents read The Current and probably read the story about me.
- A couple of days later I hear rumblings that I am being smeared and covertly investigated by members of the Northfield Building Department that are also on the Republican Party Executive Committee.
I can’t prove who was investigating me on the taxpayers dime, but I have my suspicions… Stay tuned.
City workers should should be bipartisan and impartial, especially when our taxes are paying their salary. I’m wondering why the Building Department has so much extra time on their hands that they can conduct investigations of private citizens?