The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, Jan. 5
Burgum sets the right tone for governing
Gov. Doug Burgum has the attention of the Legislature and public. In his State of the State speech Tuesday he repeated his call to reinvent state government.
While short on details, his broad explanation of his approach to governance seems to intrigue the state’s residents. He promises to release his budget proposals as the legislative session gets underway. He’s made it clear he wants to reduce the cost of government down to the local level. He plans to reform property taxes with the ultimate goal of weaning state government away from property tax involvement.
Legislators gave his speech a warm reception while saying they were eager to see his proposals. How well the Burgum administration works with the Legislature could be the key to the success of this session. As a new governor he’ll be given a little time to adjust, but not much. A lot of activity is squeezed into the 80 days or less the legislators are in session. Promising to reinvent government may sound exciting, but any proposed changes have the potential of upsetting someone. The administration will have to do a good job of selling its proposals.
It will be interesting to see if Burgum and his staff can be persuasive and build support in the House and Senate. How agreeable will elected state officials be to his plans for change?
Also in his Tuesday speech, the new governor acknowledged the concerns that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have with the Dakota Access Pipeline while saying, “Those original concerns have been hijacked by those with alternative agendas.” He has meetings this week with leaders of the state’s tribes. It’s an opportunity for him and the tribes to begin finding common ground on the issues. It’s clear from his speech that Burgum wants to reach a point where the protest camps will be abandoned. He indicated a willingness to help with the cleanup. The governor pointed out the area could flood in the spring, making it important that the area is vacated.
If Burgum and Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II can find a middle ground it will help the state and tribe improve relations. However, “. those with alternative agendas,” as Burgum describes them, will be more difficult to appease.
The governor also called for a different approach to treating drug addiction. “Jail time without rehab is not a cure for addiction,” he said.
Overall, Burgum’s speech was a good start. It’s clear that North Dakotans desire a different approach to governing. It doesn’t mean they want to throw everyone out, but they want officials to listen and be willing to try different approaches. Burgum sat down with mayors last week to share his ideas and listen. He’s doing the same with the tribes this week. These sessions will help shape his agenda that will and should get close scrutiny by the Legislature and public. It could be the beginning of reinventing government.
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Minot Daily News, Minot, Jan. 4
Commission’s action on sheriff reeks of politics
If there was an honest word spoken Tuesday during a Ward County Commission meeting discussion of the future of suspended Sheriff Steve Kukowski, it was by Commissioner John Fjeldahl.
“I think it’s wrong what we are doing,” he said. “That’s kind of making this political, which I am really uncomfortable with.”
Fjeldahl was referring to a commission decision to write a letter to Gov. Doug Burgum to request that removal action against Kukowski be dropped. Fjeldahl was the lone dissenting vote as the county effectively reversed itself on a decision made last year when the commission opted not to intervene in the efforts of former Gov. Jack Dalrymple that are supported by special prosecutor, Seymour Jordan.
The decision doesn’t just kind of make the situation political. It reeks of politics, the kind of politics that should be chilling to every county resident.
The county commission had the opportunity to oppose state action against Kukowski last year. At that time, they could have made a strong and entirely logical case for supporting Kukowski. After all, Kukowski had not been - has not been - convicted of any crime, so there should be no suspension effort. One might have disagreed with the position, but it would have been consistent to date.
Instead, the commission chose to act this week. What exactly has changed since the county commission had the contrasting perspective, you may ask? One, there is a new governor and two, Kukowski’s attorney’s efforts to get the case dismissed went nowhere. In regard to the latter, yesterday’s action looks from the outside like the political class closing ranks to protect one of its own. The former might be more nebulous since Gov. Burgum is an advocate for means testing and nothing about this case or Ward County Jail in general can be characterized as “working” properly.
The county commission has, thus far, adeptly avoided any responsibility for the death of Dustin Irwin, which set this series of events in action. This, despite the fact that Kukowski asserted that he continually advised the county commission about the over-crowding situation. Furthermore, one can wonder if the commission in aggregate has any sense that responsibility for Irwin’s death must rest somewhere. Otherwise, the commission only supports the culture cited as existing in Ward County Jail - one in which the lives of prisoners simply aren’t all that important. That’s the message being sent by the county, beneath the surface of blatant politicking.
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Williston Herald, Williston, Dec. 30
Donation is good news, but stronger protections needed for workers
Christmas Day was a fitting day to finalize an anonymous donation that will pay former WCE Oilfield Services employees most of the back wages they’re owed; however it also points to the need for bankruptcy reform.
When workers for WCE were notified in 2015 that the company was closing, they were left with wages owed to them totaling nearly $750,000 that remained unpaid. While the state’s Department of Labor filed judgments in court for the affected workers, the way certain types of bankruptcy work means that there was hardly any chance workers would see a dime.
The work done by the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota and Labors’ Union Local 563 is truly commendable, as is the generosity of the donor. It is gratifying to see such generosity of spirit and care for fellow human beings.
The shame of the matter is that such generosity was required in the first place. As Kevin Pranis, marketing manager for the Laborers International Union of North America, put it, “The workers shouldn’t be the last ones in line to get paid for the work they did.”
Because of the type of bankruptcy filed, employee wage claims were not first in line, but were rather behind secured creditors and company trustees. In the case of WCE, which appears to have been nearly insolvent when it closed its doors, a change to the law might not have made much of a difference, however it still points to the need to make sure employees are protected when companies fail.
Investors deserve to get their money when a company goes into bankruptcy, but investors also put their money into a company understanding that there are risks involved. Employees show up and work, not expecting that what they do might go uncompensated.
The donation and the Secret Santa aspect of the timing give this story a happy ending. A worker who was on leave for cancer treatments and lost his insurance will get some money to reimburse his costs. Other workers will receive anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000, covering most of what they’re owed.
We should not forget or gloss over the effort putting this donation together took, nor the willingness of someone to step in and meet someone else’s obligations.
Neither should we forget that a change to the law could make it so the company had to meet its own obligations. That could have offered a happy ending to this story and not had it drag out over more than a year.
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