There’s a very interesting paragraph in James Rowen’s January 4th post about the public hearing to be held on the Assembly mining bill in Hurley on January 11th.
An aide for Williams, Charlie Bellin, said the committee tried to locate the Jan. 11 hearing in Ashland County, closer to the proposed Gogebic Taconite mining site, but Hurley had the “best venue available,” he said.
The Hurley Inn is the best venue available? What about the Bad River Casino and Lodge in Odanah, on the Bad River Reservation? They have a convention center that can seat between 400-450 people. And the Bad River Tribe stands to lose the most if the mine becomes a polluter.
And Mary Williams certainly knows Michael Wiggins Jr., Chairman of the Bad River Tribe. He testified at both the show hearing in Hurley last October and at the West Allis hearing in December.
But the word in northern Wisconsin is that the Bad River Casino folks never got a call from Williams office about using the convention center, which appears to have more space than the Hurley Inn.
Is there some reason Mary Williams doesn’t want to hold a hearing on the Bad River Reservation in Ashland County?
What about Northland College? They have spaces that can handle this type of hearing. The Bad River folks also appear to have plenty of space.
I’m certain that for the good people of the Northwoods, any venue would be fine, including the out-of-doors.
Heck, I say have the hearing directly at the proposed site. Get the media out there walking it so they can see what’s at stake. Let the land speak for itself.
Occupy the Northwoods!
Thanks for posting that.
James,
You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.
And I’d like to add that after one telephone conversation with the front desk person, one voicemail message left for the manager, and one email sent to whomever, the folks at the Hurley Inn are either unable or unwilling to tell me what the capacity of their conference room is.
Seems like a pretty simple request. How many people can fit into that joint?
Ask the fire marshall…
Ed,
No call back yet from the Fire Chief in Hurley. I left a message for him first thing yesterday morning.
If I was conspiracy minded I’d say……………….