I was recently told an Air Force quote that I thought fitting for this week's newsletter - "They say you can tell you are over the target when the Flak gets heavy".
-Alvo News-
Small Village, Big City issues
Locals open water bills to a letter from the "Chair", now the second "newsletter" during my residency here in Alvo. If you did not receive one, you may want to contact the Village Clerk and/or the Chairperson for your copy. Under item number 6, Robin LaPage makes mention of my name in conjunction with filing a lawsuit against the Board of Trustees', attorneys, and associated attorney fees. Roin LaPage is poorly mistaken. So let me set the record straight.
As many of you know I at the beginning of 2021, I began attending Alvo's monthly Board of Trustee meetings. After witnessing some of the Board members say they could use funds for things legally not allowed, and after Robin LaPage herself presented email correspondence from Culver Mason with the Nebraska State Auditor of Public Accounts notifying the Village of Alvo was in a deficit of $12,844.88 due to "not correctly allocating highway allocation", I began asking questions, MANY questions as nothing seemed to ever add up. Then at the June Board of Trustee's Meeting, Gary Marcoe, Alvo Board of Trustee member, questioned the Villages finances and why Robin LaPage was avoiding Security First Bank, which holds 3 loans for the Village of Alvo. Gary Marcoe extended an invite to all members of the community to accompany him and fellow Board of Trustee member, Larry Langer to a meeting with Jennifer Peters as well as two of her colleague with Security First Bank. Myself, Gary Marcoe, and Larry Langer were the only individuals that attend from the Alvo community. At this meeting, we were informed that the Village of Alvo's loans as a whole had a past due balance of over $35k. Immediately after the meeting Gary Marcoe, Larry Langer, and I drove to the American Exchange Bank, the Village of Alvo's primary bank in Eagle to hopefully gain knowledge as to what could have caused this. At that point in time, Larry Langer and Gary Marcoe were informed by the bank clerk that though they are members of the Board of Trustees they do not have permission to access the bank statements, only the chairperson and Village clerk did. Feeling discouraged, as I had already been requesting the monthly billing statements be added to the agenda only to have my requests ignored for months, I made the only rational decision possible, to start a petition to remove Robin LaPage from the Board of Trustees.
I gathered more than the required signatures, submitted them, and did all the laws required of me. Though unsuccessful, it's a process Robin LaPage herself should be familiar with as Robin LaPage has petitioned former members of the Board of Trustees in the past.
On 9/15/2021 I received notification from Linn Moore, the Cass County Election Commissioner that "pursuant to 31-1306(2) - the Governing Board of the political subdivision SHALL, within twenty-one days after receipt of the notification from the filing clerk pursuant to subsection (2), ORDER an election". Yet, as we all can see in the video recordings that did not happen, instead Robin LaPage uses a "scare tactic" if you will, indicating either the Village of Alvo obtains insurance or does the recall election as if there was a choice in which items should be pursued when it required BOTH. The Village of Alvo must maintain insurance and the law required the Governing Board to order the recall election. Sadly it was Robin LaPage's lack of communication with board members that left Board members scrambling last minute for replacement insurance. Robin LaPage could have fulfilled the duties of chairperson and many if not all issues could have been avoided, resigning from the position of chairperson was also an option that could have been done to avoid many lawsuits, not just the present, but Robin LaPage chooses to drag her feet on the Villages dime. But with that being said, even though having Robin LaPage on the Board of Trustees in any compacity is not in the Village of Alvo's best interest, not resigning is Robin LaPage's legal right. Just as it is ANYONE's legal right to seek counsel if their rights have been infringed upon.
Now that the backstory is a little clearer, we can properly address item number 6. During the time of my petition, another individual of the Alvo community began a petition of their own for another Board of Trustees member. When the Board of Trustees "chose" insurance over the recall election they were not only violating the law against my petition but violating the law against the other person's petition. Due to the Board's choice to not follow the law, the Cass County Election Commissioner and the Cass County Attorney were contacted, following their direction, and guidance, legal counsel was obtained by the other individual to ensure that their rights, my rights, and the rights of all individuals in the community were properly protected and enforced. The Cass County Court agreed that had this individual not filed their motion against the Board of Trustees, the Board would not have fulfilled their Governing duties to hold the recall election as the law required, thus requiring the Cass County Court to enforce the Board of Trustees to follow the law. I do not know if there is any truth in the amount Robin LaPage refers to as I never personally had an attorney or any attorney fees. What I do know is that the other individual asked that the Board of Trustees as individuals pay the attorney fees directly from their pockets because if they had done what the law required of them in the first place (setting the recall) all these additional fees wouldn't be an issue today. I find it troubling that Robin LaPage decides what the Board of Trustees' "obligations" are and apparently picking which laws to follow comes with that. I was raised differently, with no double standards, everyone, including myself, is accountable to the same laws.
vvvv MUST READ vvvv Email Provided by Robin LaPage vvvv
vvvv Email From Jennifer Peters vvvv Provided by Gary Marcoe for meeting vvvv
vvvv Correspondence from Linn Moore, Cass County Election Commissioner to me vvvv
-Job Listings-
Eagle Elementary is currently looking for
- a paraprofessional for the early childhood classroom
- paraprofessionals to work with students one-on-one, in small groups, and in classrooms
- substitutes for both teacher and paraprofessional positions
District 145 has ongoing opening across the district for
- paraprofessionals
- custodians
- district maintenance/electrician
- food service
- substitutes
- business manager for the school year of 22-23
- teachers for the school year of 22-23
If any of these positions interest you or someone you know, please head to the District 145 website to inquire about specific qualifications for each position and to fill out an application.
-Friendly Reminder-
To Schedule Your Upcoming Blood Drive Donation, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767):
Thursday, January 6, 2022
Murray Christian Church
304 W Young St
Murray, NE 68409
NOON - 6 pm
Thursday, January 6, 2022
City Building
101 W Eldora Ave
Weeping Water, NE 68463
NOON - 6 pm
Monday, January 24, 2022
VFW Post 2543
510 1st Ave
Plattsmouth, NE
11:30 am - 5:30 pm
Sunday, February 13, 2022
First Baptist Church
16220 Hwy 75
Plattsmouth, NE 68408
11 am - 4 pm
-In other news-
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