To the Editor,

As I stated two years ago when I ran for city council it was because I wanted to see improvement on the way the city was operating. I also stated that the council members needed to get on the same page as the mayor. 

When I found out that two city council members went behind the mayor’s back and hindered the work he was doing on the Ottertail water agreement, I knew it was time to get involved. Since getting on the council, these same two council members also caused havoc with our ambulance.

For three years Mayor Wiese did not give up on getting the City of Ottertail to see that they needed to pay their fair share for the water that Henning ships to them. After 22 years of Henning residents getting the short end of the deal, Mayor Wiese relentlessly never wavered from his determination to see that the remaining years to come on the water contract would be beneficial to Henning. Over the next ten years it will be about a half million dollars coming in.

Our ambulance is a vital part of our city, we have a large demographic of older citizens who could need our ambulance at any time. Our ambulance is currently Basic Life Support (BLS) service and we have the ability to take it to Advanced Life Support (ALS)—offering life saving medicines at the point of contact with the patient rather than waiting to meet up with a different ambulance that can offer the ALS.

When you are voting, take into account that the good ol’ boy mentality of making decisions over a drink is exactly what has gotten us into having problems. We as a council are voted in to vote for the best for Henning, not what is good for our buddies.

It is very important that when you get in the ballot box to vote that you remember you are alone in that ballot box and only you know how you vote. This isn’t a popularity contest and whether it be a mayor or a council person I ask that you please vote for Henning first.

Wes Johnson

City Councilman