EAA: More Taxpayer Fleecing Discovered

Last year T2T reported that a 1986 waiver granted by then Oshkosh city manager Bill Freuh resulted in the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) not paying sewage treatment fees. While all other special events paid the fee, EAA in 2007 was able to get taxpayers to pony up $10,758. Thanks to the efforts of councilor Paul Esslinger, EAA in 2008 will finally start reimbursing the city for sewage treatment.

The self-proclaimed advocates of openness and transparency, the Oshkosh Northwestern, refused to report on or get outraged by the special treatment shown to one of their major clients. (Notice how the Northwestern can "report" on "Hops & Props" at the same time being listed as one of the event's sponsors on the EAA website.).

But it gets worse. At the Jul7 27, 2007 meeting of the Winnebago County Board Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, Sheriff Mike Brooks reported that the total cost of covering 43 special events in 2006 was $184,586.27. Total reimbursement from all the events came to $141,476.75. Total amount not billed/reimbursed came to $43,109.52, of which $40,758.85 was from EAA.

Sheriff Brooks told the Committee EAA was not billed due to the agreement/contract between Winnebago County and EAA. In other words, Brooks was under the impression that the County's lease with EAA included a provision waiving them from paying fees for traffic services. The minutes indicate that Oshkosh Northwestern reporter Jennifer Woldt was at the meeting, yet no attempt was made to verify Brooks' comments.

We now know that Brooks was in error. In an April 1, 2008 letter to Russ Meerdink of Meerdink & Associates, Inc. (given to T2T by Mr. Meerdink), the Sheriff says this:

As you will note, traffic services are not included in the current contract. At the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee meeting, I had advised my committee that it was my understanding that traffic services were [emphasis in Brooks' letter] covered in the contract and that I would research this issue.

In early September of 2007, I had a conversation with the Head Security of EAA and informed him that I was unclear as to why previous sheriffs, including me, had provided this service without billing the EAA. I further informed him that we would be billing the EAA for this service effective in 2008.

We do not yet know for how many years the EAA has been erroneously exempted from paying the fee for Sheriff Department services. Chances are that county taxpayers have been fleeced for hundreds of thousands of dollars at a minimum.

What's needed at this point is a complete investigation of the Winnebago County/EAA lease to find out if the proper amount of rent and other payments owed to the county have been made over the years. Regardless of what benefits EAA brings to the region, principles of transparency and openness require that a full investigation be done immediately. The Oshkosh Northwestern clearly has no intention of pursuing transparency when a story involves a client (at least not when the client is EAA), so it will be left for independent media to find the truth.