The Bane of Bullies is someone with a backbone and the courage to rebuke bullying and the evil that they stand for.
It is little more than 1 year after the January 12, 2012 state of the cities address, where Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker issued a threat that he would use the front page of the Fargo Forum to point fingers toward opponents of the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion.
In a recent interview on Prairie Public News, Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker seemed upset that North Dakota citizens have the right to provide testimony in front of the state water commission that is contrary to the will of Fargo.
More specifically that they had to stay through the testimony of the opponents…, with the key words being “HAD TO”.
Listen to Prairie Public interview with Dennis Walaker:
ND Gov Jack Dalrymple WARNS USACE Army Corps of Engineers
Here is a transcript of the interview:
| Prairie Public:The mayors of Fargo and Oxbow were among those testifying this week for funding for the state water commission budget. That budget includes money for the Red River Diversion project mayor Walaker said the process made him feel unwelcome.
Walaker: Y’know and he gave us an opportunity to make a statement…we did and then I introduced…uhh…mayor Nyhoff and he made a statement then what they said is you gotta stay and to listen to the three negative guys that are against the diversion. Prairie Public: Walaker said they were specifically told they had to stay through the testimony of the opponents. He says the group the group is trying to derail funding for the project and they also levied personal attacks in their testimony. Walaker: Y’now shots at me was no big deal. They weren’t to…uhhh…forward flaming arrows but boy they sure give Jim a hellauva, I mean I thought we were supposed to work for resolving problems and that’s what I think I’ve been doing, whatever, it wasn’t pleasant. Prairie Public: Subcommittee Bob Skarphol of Tioga says it’s unfortunate that Walaker feels that way about the hearing. Skarphol: I didn’t want to get it to be a shouting contest where…y’know…when proponents are there and the opponents are there and then we go back to the proponents we coulda spent all day talking about one issue. I wanted to hear both sides…uhh…and I thought we did that in a fair manner. Prairie Public: Skarpohl said no opinion has been made by the subcommittee he says the subcommittee will support what Fargo needs but the issue will require continued discussion. For Prairie Public, I am Todd McDonald. |
Curious that Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker made the statement “I thought we were supposed to work for resolving problems and that’s what I think I’ve been doing” when in reality, Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker has avoided nearly every meeting wherein opponents are assembled to redress the immoral project that Fargo, Cass County, the Diversion Authority and the United States Army Corps of Engineers is proposing.
The temerity of Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker’s seeking sympathy for matters that he’s done little to resolve is shameful.
The solution isn’t that hard…Mr. Walaker.
Instruct the Corps of Engineer to remove the multiple class 1 high risk dams that exist as components of the proposed project and leave the natural flood plain storage in tact. Any engineer worth their salt can provide viable working alternatives.
Upstream interests don’t have a problem with Fargo seeking flood protection.
We simply refuse to allow Fargo to build dams on the Red River and Wild Rice that will relocate a natural flood plain onto upstream interests so Fargo developers can line their pockets with undue enrichment at the expense of taxpayers.
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Mr. Walaker’s Imperial arrogance, at it’s worst.
It is not remakable we have come to this point.
Poor Denny.
Being ambushed by the diversion, no, the dam opponents.
Kind of like being ambushed by eight feet of water right after a sales tax vote!
His interview paints a pretty clear picture of his true character and how he views himself.
I had an opportunity to share a 1 floor elevator ride after a Diversion Authority meeting with Mr Walaker.
In “1” floor, he complained about Nancy Otto and Moorhead and accused / attacked them:
“Nancy Otto, blah blah blah, Moorhead doesn’t have a dime into this thing and they think they’re calling the shots.”
WOW! (eyebrows raised)
Personally, Walaker is just a coward with a title looking for headlines to push his agenda. That’s not an attack, that’s just a valid observation of a mediocre city official.