August 23, 2008: Jill W. dies of what appears to be a heroin overdose. Northfield police begin investigating immediately, even before the cause of death has been verified.

September 11, 2008: Northfield and Rice County authorities have discovered who they should be looking for, have enlisted someone to work undercover, and begin a series of controlled purchases from the suspects.

October 24, 2008: Eight individuals are arrested, and two heroin distribution rings are disabled.

OK, that’s what the NPD is doing now, and it’s working very well. But what about some of the earlier deaths? On the Faribault Daily News Web site this week, two were mentioned.

Christopher Ryan Bruno overdosed and died, albeit in Dakota County, in 2003. He was a Northfield boy.

Did his drugs come from a source in Northfield? What did you do to find out?

Further,

Nicholas Gordon Thomas overdosed and died in January 2006. He was twenty. The dealer who sold the drugs lived in his apartment building, and wasn’t even evicted. He saw no trouble.

How did your investigation proceed for this one? What had the NPD accomplished by March or April of 2006?

Now that we’ve seen what the NPD can do if they try, you can hardly call it paranoia and rumor mongering if some of us begin to suspect that you were following an explicit policy of “de-policing.” If that isn’t the case, please enlighten us on the specifics of your efforts in these two cases.

I have another question, too. Above, you posted the following:

I am also quite protective of my professional reputation so I will take strong exception to the degree necessary to keep the facts straight.

As written, that statement is ambiguous, but when it’s parsed the way I think you meant it, it’s sort of dark and vaguely threatening. Perhaps I’m associating it with the old “by any means necessary” mantra. Would you care to elaborate on what you meant?

Do know there were alot of people in Northfield who stood behind you and all your efforts including those who are (now) shaking their heads….knowing you were right all along.
Those same people enjoy taking credit for work others have done, while pointing their fingers.
tsk tsk
I think it is nice you took the time to get back to your old stomping grounds and setting the story straight!

My question has been, and continue to be -- what are the facts about drug usage, especially heroin? The consequence of the press conference seemed to be a lot of paranoia and rumor mongoring, but nothing concrete from the NPD.

Victor Summa, a candidate for an at-large city council seat, was charged late Tuesday night with taking public documents… Judge Thomas Neuville signed the complaint that alleges that on Sept. 4 Summa took portions of a petition asking the city council to hold a citywide referendum on its decision to consider selling bonds to pay for improvements to City Hall. Summa, who filed the petition the previous day, reportedly told City Clerk Deb Little that he needed to retrieve some of the petition’s pages that had “problems.” Little held the file of documents, which the complaint says Summa took from her hands.

As to Orwell: some “animals” ARE more equal than others, because they adhere to working for principle, rather than personal power.

If you think this is anything but a thinly disguised act of character defamation, during an election, against a candidate, I think you are wrong.

Let’s go back to the beginning for a moment … The petition was not sitting on a coffee table in the administrative office for anyone to peruse or “take”.
The petition was brought out from a rear office, given to Victor to peruse, discussed, and THEN a portion of it was GIVEN TO HIM in EXCHANGE for the requested RECEIPT.

Let’s at least keep the facts straight in the midst of all the hyperbole.

Would you be able to provide a timeline for your efforts between the summer of 2004, when the NPD became aware of the uptick in heroin and other opiate use, and July 2007? In particular, I would be curious to know what you were able to uncover about officers in the NPD who were acting to facilitate the drug trade in Northfield in that period.

Re: Summa, it goes back to Orwell again: “All animals are equal, some animals are more equal than others.”

“I’ll also check with Bill Everett as I thought he was a cop in Faribault and worked for the Minnesota League of Cities but I wasn’t aware of his affiliation with the FBI.”

I don’t know that Everett has any connection to Faribault or the FBI. According to this article, he is an independent investigating attorney from Buffalo:

http://northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=25036

There is no mention of the FBI in the article.

I do know that the Norfolk, NE did hire a former FBI investigator to check out Al Roder before they hired him. I’d guess Roder passed the test, because Norfolk did hire him.

David, you wrote:

“Jerold: Not to beat a dead horse, but didn’t we pay Mr. Everett, a former FBI investigator $35,000.00 to investigate this whole sordid affair, and didn’t he come up with nothing but that Lansing was advocating for his own site -which we already knew?”

Apparently, Everett made sure his investigation didn’t overlap with the Goodhue investigation. More info here:

http://northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=24189

The Goodhue County Attorney is currently investigating various allegations brought to his attention in order to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that criminal violations have taken place. The County Attorney is conducting his investigation independently, using the investigative resources of that office. The County Attorney has specifically requested that Mr. Everett avoid conducting a concurrent civil investigation of these same issues, so as to avoid undermining the integrity and efficacy of the criminal investigation. Accordingly, Mr. Everett’s Report does not examine issues within the scope of the County Attorney’s investigation. The Goodhue County Attorney’s investigation has not concluded. However, no one should presume that the pendency of that investigation suggests a particular outcome. All questions about that investigation must be directed to the County Attorney.

I wish that I could share your optimism. Until Goodhue concludes, I don’t assume to know what it will conclude.

The only difference between Everett’s report and what Goodhue County has is whatever Gary Smith put together. Given Mr. Smith’s credibility on the herion numbers, and his steadfast refusal to offer any evidence on those numbers, I doubt Goodhue County is going to tell us anything that we didn’t already know.

Motive plays a significant role in most crimes. Killing another human for profit or self-defense is treated differently. Motive is also important at sentencing.

Any time a citizen organizes a petition, I think it’s presumed to be a matter of public interest. Because the petition was to take the renovation matter to the public for a vote has me certain that it’s a matter of public interest.

We agree that Victor and all drivers should obey the rules of the road. What should we do when that doesn’t happen? Should we treat the street racers the same as the commuter who is speeding to get to work on time? Should we treat both the same as the parent speeding to the hospital with a sick child?

I don’t know all the facts in Victor’s controversy. From what I’ve read here and in the Northfield News, Victor is not a threat to the public, nor is he likely to repeat what he allegedly did. If you carry through with the speeding analogy, some jurisdictions have traffic school as a diversion for people who break traffic laws. Again, acknowledging that I am unaware of what actually happened, I think that anyone acting for the public’s benefit who makes a mistake should be given a similar opportunity.

Last I saw, Victor will be charged with a gross misdemeanor or a felony. Felonies have different definitions in different states, but they are generally the crimes where those found guilty are sent to state prison.

Back to David’s point, equating Victor’s alleged crime with Lansing and Roder, I am not prepared to equate them at any level. David might be right, that any crimes alleged by Goodhue should be forgiven and Northfield should move forward. But I can’t agree with David until I see what Goodhue concludes. For me, if Lansing and Roder were street racing or driving their sick kid to the hospital will make all the difference.

It is virtually unbelievable to me, that some of the things that have been said in this election period, can be said and not challenged. Has the angst with our national politics, our global view, poisoned every aspect of our political scene? And has our fear of reprisal silenced us too often?

One of the best examples of working together has been the four 2 YR at-large candidates, at their forum at the Cow as well as other fora (thank you Jerold F.); they have consistently been able to disagree with each other without making noxious statements to, or about, each other… and not having a primary for those four has put them in a position where they could be much more contentious with each other.

Victor’s problem, if he has one, is that he knows too much and is feared in some sectors for that reason. I hope voters can get beyond rumor and innuendo his detractors have been putting out and recognize how valuable he would be as a voting member of the Council.

But as far as the “public interest” goes … there were more signatures collected than needed for the referendum (gross #) so considering that it was done in approximately two weeks, and over Labor day, I think it VERY safe to say the public interest was being served.

As far as “at what point does an individual get to determine the value of a council action” … one individual didn’t, but way over 400 did …

And as a matter of FACT, having watched all the council candidate forums, those city hall renovations are not coming up anywhere near the top of the priorities of any candidate, so whoever thinks it IS a good idea, better get ready to make YOUR case in January…

I take the same position if I am elected. I am under a greater responsibility to do the right thing as a public official than as a random joe.

Even though the two cases aren’t related, we need to decide how we are going to treat these useless lawsuits. I just don’t see how the results in either case is going to change how we govern the City.

Frankly, I can’t imagine anything the Goodhue County Attorney is going to tell us is going to change anything helpful. The prosecution of Victor is going to get us nowhere. It is time for the City to take some control over these lawsuits. They are just a waste of time.