Sen. Larson To Hold Oak Creek Town Hall
The mining debate will likely be a focus of Monday night's meeting at the Oak Creek Public Library.
Photos
The debate over mining is likely to be a major focus of a town hall meeting Monday night hosted by State Sen. Chris Larson.
The town hall will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28 at the Oak Creek Public Library, 8620 S. Howell Ave. Larson says the event will allow him to talk about issues facing the community and state and listen to the concerns of residents.
In recent days, Larson has expressed his opposition to the controversial mining bill introduced by Republicans earlier this month.
He said the legislation "ignores the public input heard during the bipartisan committee hearings, does not take into account the concerns raised by federal regulators, and was drafted without input from Democratic legislators."
"Mining can be done right, but it requires working with key stakeholders and maximizing opportunities for public input, particularly in the affected areas," Larson wrote in his weekly newsletter.
"Despite receiving significant testimony on mining legislation last session, (the bill) does not address the serious problems that plagued the widely-criticized, partisan mining bill that failed last time around. Unfortunately, promises by the bill's authors to integrate new ideas have been broken."
Oak Creek's other delegate to the state Legislature, Republican state Rep. Mark Honadel, is a co-sponsor of the bill. He argues the bill would help grow jobs in southeastern Wisconsin, in addition to jobs in the northern part of the state.
"Not only will this provide family-supporting jobs in northern Wisconsin, but it will have a direct impact on businesses in the Milwaukee area such as Caterpillar and Joy Global," Honadel said.
Larson said he supports an alternative mining bill introduced by Democratic state Sen. Tim Cullen and Republican state Sen. Dale Schultz, which he called "common sense legislation Wisconsin's middle class families demand."
That legislation differs substantially with the Republicans' bill in terms of change to environmental protections, how much money would go to communities affected by mining, and the amount of time given to the state Department of Natural Resources, according to a Wisconsin State Journal report.
Larson, now the Senate Minority Leader, hosted a similar town hall meeting in Oak Creek last June.
He has several other town halls throughout his district scheduled for January and February; see a full list on his website.
Mike in OC
1:03 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I hope a bunch of Caterpillar employees show up for this....
Mark B
2:37 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Hang on to your valuables...
Andy
4:47 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Isn't Larson's time up yet ?? When can we vote this clown out ???
vocal local 1
3:30 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Are you going to run against him Andy? Seems to me that we don't have much choice when we go to the polls. last election one of our choices was a homosexual or Thompson. Which way did you vote?
Andy
11:17 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Anyone can flee to Rockford and try and spend money that doesn't exist. What the hell has this man accomplished for this City ?? One thing ?? Not for liberals in Bay View.. For Oak Creek ??????
Patriot
6:39 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Not soon enough thats for sure
Mike in OC
10:03 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
unfortunately i think he has 4 more years.... this is a classic example of the grass isnt always greener case....
Mark Schaaf
10:30 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
he'll be up for re-election in 2014.
vocal local 1
3:27 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Whats the opposition to Larson? HE doesn't want out of state/country mining companies moving into the state to strip mine and destroy the environment most importantly the water tables. Honadel is a republican. A parly line man who supports mining. Big money that will support Walker's run for President in 2016 just like the Coch Brothers. Big business doesn't care about you or your community. Next we'll send Lake Superior water all over the state and you'll pay for it and the clean up.
Chris
8:13 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Your name says "local" in it. Chris Larson's job is to represent the residents of his district, not those of northern districts, hence the whole form of representative govt. The question on mining comes up is it in the best interests of HIS constituents. If it's not, then vote no, but you can't bring up water tables, or lake superior water in defense of his vote on this.
Marty
10:39 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
My problem with Sen. Larson is that he doesn't respond to e-mail or voice mail - unless you are in complete agreement with him. I was promised a phone call to discuss an issue - and he never called. Whenever I left a message for Sen. Plale - he would always call back - even though we were in disagreement.
It must be that Sen. Larson is so much busier than Sen. Plale was...
yeah right!!
Franklin Resident
8:46 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
The problem with Sen. Larson is that he's trying his hardest to get our state back to the old Doyle days of budget shortfalls, high taxes, and rising unemployment. He should tone down his union-backed rhetoric and support what the voters and taxpayers in Wisconsin have overwhelmingly directed in BOTH of our last two gubernatorial elections.
Andy
11:11 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Too bad it's not up to Oak Creek or he would never of won... East side and Bayview has us out numbered... Re Draw the lines and he will never win here....
vocal local 1
2:21 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Look who has won here. Doesn't say much about the enlightenment of the OC voter in my opinion. In OC the people voted in our council and mayor that have committed us to millions of dollars of debt and rising taxes. As for election of state officials are you sure were moving in the right direction? Do you really believe we as a state are in good financial standing? Wheres our production? Why ae we sending state work out of state? When you blue collar workers wake up where are you going to be without collective bargaining? Wanta bee's is my best guess.
Dirk
7:37 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Is he driving from Illinois? Or taking the train in?