Tag Archives: Politics in Dickinson North Dakota

Does ND District 37 Know Or Care How Inappropriate And Corrupt It Looks?

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On Saturday January 7, I saw a Facebook post made by former North Dakota Representative Luke Simons, explaining that the ND District 37 Republican Committee was having a District reorganization meeting this morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Blue 42 Sports Bar & Grille in Dickinson. Luke Simons’ complaint was that he had not seen or heard any notice beforehand that this meeting was taking place, as if there was an attempt at secrecy going on.

I read the Dickinson Press newspaper every day. Most articles, notices, and announcements are repeated in the Dickinson Press newspaper for several days, but I never saw an announcement for the ND District 37 Republican Committee meeting. Nor did I see any announcement on Facebook, or anywhere else. I have to agree with Luke Simons, this does look like there was no notification published where ordinary citizens would see it, as if they didn’t want ordinary citizens to know.

This lack of notification, may in itself not seem so bad, but if you become aware of a few more elements involved here, it gets worse. Back on September 20, 2022 former ND Representative Luke Simons obtained a copy of the ND District 37 Republican Party by-laws. In reading these by-laws, Luke Simons discovered several elements which appear to be inappropriately exclusionary:

    • In order to become a member of ND District 37 Republicans, and vote at District 37 Republican Committee Meetings, for such things as election of officers, you must first present yourself in-person at a meeting.  But how can you present yourself at a District 37 Republican meeting in-person, if there is no Public Notice beforehand when and where these meetings will be held?
    • When you present yourself at a ND District 37 Republican meeting, and pay your $60 dues, you can’t vote at that meeting, not until your application has been reviewed and approved at a later date after the meeting is over.
    • A person’s ND District 37 Republican Party membership application can be rejected, at the discretion of the ND District 37 Committee.
    • A person’s ND District 37 Republican Party membership can be revoked, for such reasons as “putting the Republican Party in a bad light”, at the discretion of the ND District 37 Republican Committee.

In my opinion, the absence of a clear Public Notice ahead of time when & where the ND District 37 Republican Committee meeting will take place, combined with the necessity of going to this meeting to be able to join the ND District 37 Republicans, not being allowed to vote at the ND District 37 Republican Committee meeting until the next meeting, if your application is approved at the discretion of the Committee, if your membership isn’t revoked at the discretion of the Committee, are barriers that attempt to block, control, and limit who participates in Dickinson politics.

Further, this ND District 37 Republican Committee meeting held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, was held at a Bar & Grille owned by the District 37 Republican Committee Chairperson, Mike Lefor.  Chairperson Mike Lefor and the other Committee members might have felt comfortable at the Blue 42 Sports Bar & Grille, it may have been convenient for them, but I question the appropriateness of this location for several reasons:

What if a group of Republicans in Dickinson, say for example Evangelical Christians, did find out where the ND District 37 Republicans were having a meeting, arrived on time, completed their application for membership, paid their membership dues, were approved for membership, weren’t revoked, and had the intention of challenging Mike Lefor in voting for a new chairperson, or bringing opposition to a position Mike Lefor supported.  Is opposition to Mike Lefor or his positions possible in Mike Lefor’s restaurant, with his customers, supporters, bar staff, wait staff, cooks?

It’s probably convenient and comfortable for the ND District 37 Republicans to have their Committee meeting at Blue 42 Sports Bar & Grille, owned by their Chairperson, in part because it’s just one more additional barrier to the Committee members being opposed.  But in my opinion, this shouldn’t be, there can’t be such a strangle-hold on participation in politics in Dickinson.

Why am I reporting this, why am I pointing this out, why am I explaining this?  Maybe because the Dickinson Press newspaper office in Dickinson is owned by the ND District 37 Republican Committee Chairperson Mike Lefor, and you aren’t going to hear about this anywhere else.

There is much, much more to the story about politics in Dickinson.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  With the help of either the ineptitude or blind-eye of the Dickinson Press newspaper, there is so much going on in Dickinson that has crossed the line of small-town politics into what should be half a dozen different investigations by the North Dakota Attorney General or the U.S. Justice Department into legal impropriety.

A tangled web, but not so tangled that its strings can’t be seen for where they start, where they meet, where they end:  Federal funding, State funding, County funding; Federal legislation, State legislation, County legislation; Advance planning, scheming, support, politicking, alliances, collusion, strong-arming, manipulation, quid-pro-quo, payoffs; individuals, businesses, organizations, associations, non-profits, committees, commissions, directors, employers, employees; all part of and involved in transactions that cross the line of legality, into illegal, improper, unethical activity.

More Response About ND Armstrong, Cramer, And Hoeven Not Objecting To Presidential Electors

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A few days prior to the January 6 session of Congress to certify Presidential Electors, North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer, Senator John Hoeven, and Representative Kelly Armstrong published a statement that they would not speak out and oppose any Presidential Electors.

In their statements, they said things such as it was not within the scope of Congress to object to Presidential Electors:  https://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/government-and-politics/6827170-All-three-members-of-North-Dakotas-Republican-congressional-delegation-will-officially-accept-Bidens-victory

I have seen the evidence of vote fraud, this fraud is very well documented, it has been proven beyond any doubt. What I have also seen, beside the vote fraud, is a conspiracy among the mainstream media, many local, state, and Washington politicians, and all of the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, to wrongfully prevent President Trump from serving his second term as President.

Here is what I want to say to Kelly Armstrong, Kevin Cramer, and John Hoeven:

Kelly Armstrong:  If and when you are up for re-election, would it be O.K. if thousands of dead people voted against you, if made-up non-existent people voted against you, if out-of-state non-residents voted against you, and you lost your election?

Kevin Cramer:  If and when you are up for re-election, would it be O.K. if Republican observers were blocked from watching the vote count, and hundreds or thousands of the same Democrat ballots were run through the voting machines multiple times, resulting in a vote count that far exceeded the number of registered voters, and you lost your election?

John Hoeven:  If and when you are  up for re-election, would it be O.K. if Republican observers were sent home due to a “water leak”, several large pieces of hidden luggage containing thousands of ballots were pulled from under a table, and you lost your election?

These things would certainly not be O.K. with you, when you lost your election.  So why would you stand by, let these things happen to President Trump, and not protest or dispute this?

Regarding the statement that it is not within the scope of Congress to dispute Presidential Electors, this behavior of Kelly Armstrong, Kevin Cramer, and John Hoeven, is the same as what went on in Germany prior to World War II, as described in a famous quotation by Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

I Couldn’t Believe That Sarah Trustem Wasn’t Re-elected, But Then I Learned Why

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I couldn’t believe that Sarah Trustem was not re-elected as a Dickinson City Commissioner on June 9, 2020.  Sarah was probably the most well-liked City Commissioner, even more so than the Mayor Scott Decker.  I didn’t even think that she needed to campaign, everyone liked her.

The reasons why Sarah Trustem was seemingly universally liked are as follows:  She was even-tempered, mild-mannered, friendly, pleasant, approachable, willing to talk to anyone and answer their questions, moderate, didn’t hold grudges, good intentioned, knowledgeable, well-informed, and she did not appear to have any ulterior motives.

Sarah seemed to have a calming effect on the City Commission.  She was a voice of reason, and I think that she influenced the Mayor and the other City Commissioners to not go off-track or in the wrong direction, kind of like a border collie.

When I first read about Sarah Trustem a couple of years ago, I was suspicious of her for several reasons.  She was the Director of the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce, and that group of people are some of the biggest deceivers in Dickinson, they will constantly talk Dickinson up no matter what is happening, and not tell the truth.

Another reason why I didn’t trust Sarah Trustem was because she graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck, and you can’t trust Catholics.  The third reason why I didn’t trust Sarah Trustem was because she had been a bartender at Maverick’s Saloon in Dickinson.

Looking back on this, Sarah didn’t have a lot of money, going to the University of Mary, working as a bartender, accepting a job as the Director of the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce, she did what she had to do in order to support herself and her daughter.  In spite of all the evil that Sarah was surrounded by, she didn’t turn out evil herself, she was able to put all of this behind her, and become an ethical person.

The final turn away and departure from evil was when Sarah resigned as Director of the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce and accepted a job as some kind of community liaison for the Dickinson Public Schools.  From that point on, Sarah seemed to make decisions based on doing the right thing, being moral, fair, and ethical.

However, doing the right thing, being moral, fair, and ethical was not what the puppet masters in Dickinson wanted from the City Commissioners.  Sarah Trustem had to go.  The fix was in.

Who is Suzi Sobolik?  You mean Suzi “Steffes” Sobolik?  I am fifty years old, I have lived in seven states, and I have never seen in any election, not even for governor of a state, the amount of people clamoring to make an “endorsement”, like they did for Suzi Sobolik.  In half of these endorsements, I have never seen people in these types of positions make such an endorsement, I thought that some of these types of positions were restricted from making political endorsements.

I looked at Suzi Sobolik’s Facebook campaign page, and here is a sampling of her endorsements:

  • John Suzukida, Co-Lead Board Director Steffes Company
  • Rhonda Dukhart, former City Commissioner
  • Guy Moos, Baker Boy President
  • Shirley Dukart, former City Commissioner
  • Zach Keller, Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
  • Jen Grosz, Owner and VP Ebeltoft Sickler Law Firm
  • Steve Glasser, President Trinity Catholic Schools
  • Michelle Orton, Dickinson Public School Board member
  • Dennis Johnson, former Mayor of Dickinson
  • DeAn Scheeler, Director of Mission Advancement at Trinity Catholic Schools

Like I just said, I thought that some of these people in the positions that they are in, they are prohibited from making political endorsements for a number of different reasons, such as incorrectly appearing to be speaking on behalf of their organization, or appearing to have a political bias or favoritism in an organization or agency that is supposed to be or legally required to be politically neutral.

In the endorsements for Suzi Sobolik, there are three common themes that either the endorser brings up themselves, or sets it up so that Suzi can respond in line with these three themes:  Suzi and her family have been here longer;  Suzi and her family have more money; therefore with more money, more invested here, more experience with money, Suzi is better for business and prosperity.

Here are some of the common code words and phrases, which mean that Suzi Sobolik and her family have been in Dickinson longer:

  • “I have known her and her family for many years.”
  • “I’ve known Suzi for decades and I’m thoroughly impressed with how well she has evolved into a wonderful community leader.”
  • “Her ties in the Dickinson community run deep, and she is heavily invested in improving the future of all.”
  • “I have known Suzi both personally and professionally for over 8 years. In that time, I have witnessed her dedication to her family, to her profession, and to the city of Dickinson.”
  • “I have known Suzi since grade school…”
  • Suzi’s response to an endorsement, “What an honor, a man who helped shape me as my teacher and coach is endorsing me for City Commission!”

Here are some of the common code words and phrases, which mean that Suzi Sobolik and her family have more money, are more experienced with money, are more invested in Dickinson, and will be better for business and prosperity:

  • “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Suzi Sobolik in her role as Steffes Company’s Owner Representative…”
  • “Suzi has strong leadership skills and understands the critical difference between management and governance.  Suzi possesses extensive business knowledge…”
  • “Suzi’s experience and wealth of knowledge in the business sector…”
  • “Suzi has dedicated herself to many projects/causes with the sole purpose of being an agent for prosperity and growth in the community.”
  • “Her understanding of business and …..will make Suzi an ideal addition to our City Commission.”
  • “Her ties in the Dickinson community run deep, and she is heavily invested in improving the future for all.”
  • The Dickinson Press headline, “Business leader Suzi Sobolik runs for Dickinson City Commission”

When I go to the website LinkedIn, where people post their own resume and experience, Suzi Sobolik’s resume says:  “Physical Therapist/Rehab Director at RehabVisions”  2005-present.  How does this make Suzi Sobolik a “Business Leader”, and Sarah Trustem is just nothing?  Is Suzi Sobolik a “Business Leader” because her family has more money?

Sarah Trustem has a Bachelors in Political Science, a Masters in Public Administration, was the director of the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce for four years, was a City Commissioner, was on the Stark County Planning and Zoning Board, as well as the Stark County Development Corporation Board, so how is it that Sarah is so naive about business in comparison to Suzi Sobolik who was a physical therapist for the past fifteen years?

I am fearful that there was this extreme coordinated effort by certain business people in Dickinson to get Sarah Trustem replaced by Suzi Sobolik because there is some agenda that they want achieved that they could not accomplish with Sarah in the way trying to do the right things in a moral, fair, and ethical way.  What is it that they want, that a normal, moral, fair, and ethical City Commissioner would not support?  This should scare most people in Dickinson.

When is the Dickinson mayoral election?

Preliminary Overview Of Complaints On The Erik Odegaard Blog Post Article

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On February 28, 2020 I published an article titled, “What Happened To Erik Odegaard Is A Tragedy That Is Everyone’s Fault”.

I had met Erik Odegaard and his father Mike back in 2014 in Dickinson, North Dakota.  I worked with Erik and his father on many occasions in 2014, 2015, and 2016 while Erik was still in high school.  Erik had a very good attitude, he worked hard, didn’t complain, was always respectful to adults, he had many friends his own age, and he was generally well liked by everyone.

After Erik graduated from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and he eventually became an Army Medic.  Through some kind of program with the Army Reserves or Army National Guard, Erik was able to return to Dickinson to complete the final years of his enlistment.

I wish that Erik would not have returned to Dickinson.  Any normal, working, unmarried male could have told Erik that yes, it was slightly easier to get a job in Dickinson because of circumstances such as there still being a shortage of labor after the oil boom, but the Police in Dickinson don’t allow people to go out to bars at night, and there are no women.

But Erik did return to Dickinson, where there is a shortage of women, and nothing to do.  Erik, being a 19-20 year old male, he did seek out companionship, and he eventually did find it, with a girl who was still in high school.

I am so tired of trying to explain sex to the people in Dickinson.  If the ratio of men to women in Dickinson is 3:1, three men to every one woman, there are going to be problems.  How this type of problem is handled in the rest of the World is by houses of prostitution such as this one http://www.escortofitaly.com/Travel/Gallery .  Please look at and read this Escort of Italy website to understand that this is a normal thing in the rest of the World.

It is miraculous that Dickinson doesn’t have even worse problems due to the shortage of women, but then again it does, please read this Grand Forks Herald newspaper article about men in Dickinson having sex with horses and cows https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/2187378-dickinson-officials-investigate-sexual-assault-horse .  A quote from this article reads, “…an illegal act ranchers suggest happens all too often in this area, but rarely gets reported.”

Because Dickinson is cold, barren, desolate, uneducated, with nowhere to go and nothing to do, attractive women will not come here, and the attractive women who are born here try to leave as soon as they are able.  Historically, this created another problem, the men who were here mated with the women who were here, and now look at what you’ve got.

In my blog post article about Erik, I tried to explain that this was bound to happen, with the shortage of women here, and the unattractiveness of the women who are here. I also tried to explain that through the entire 15,000 year recorded history of mankind, 19-20 year old males have been having sex with and marrying teen-aged girls.  Why are the people in Dickinson trying to act like this is some kind of abomination, that a young man needs to be persecuted for?

But the purpose of this blog post article is to address the complaints, not re-argue the points of the article that I first wrote about Erik.

The complaints that I received about the Erik Odegaard blog post article are not what you think.  Something entirely different than what you think occurred.

On April 18, 19, 20, and 21 my blog website received a total of 43,000 views, which is much greater than normal.  Though there were many “shares”, “comments”, and “referrals” from Facebook, this high number of views was not likely caused by the casual or even angry discussion of my Erik Odegaard blog post article on Facebook or elsewhere.

To explain that there was something else going on to cause a high number of blog website views, take note that there were fewer than sixty actual complaint comments posted to the Erik Odegaard blog post article.  This means that only 1.4 viewers per thousand actually left a complaint comment about the Erik Odegaard blog post article.  This doesn’t mean that more viewers didn’t like this article, it does reflect that actual viewers were indifferent and not incensed by it.

The second thing to take note of, is that if someone were truly outraged and disgusted by the Erik Odegaard blog post article that I wrote, why would they make such a dedicated effort to get as many people as possible to visit my website?

A third thing to take note of, is that it is doubtful that just one person could have spontaneously decided to complain on April 17, and whoops, over the following four days they caused 43,000 views to my website.

In a future blog post I may discuss the main “haters” on Facebook that each hosted up to fifty “comments” and fifty “shares”, and some of the individual Facebook users, but I don’t want to lose sight of the big picture.  The big picture is, that the sudden large number of views to my blog website doesn’t appear to be caused by outrage at the Erik Odegaard article, nor was it spontaneous, nor was it caused by a group of angry readers, though the whole thing was disguised as if it were outrage at the Erik Odegaard article.

Keep in mind that my Erik Odegaard blog post article had been published for almost two months with very little comment or attention prior to this sudden “outrage”.

Altogether, it looks like someone or a group decided far in advance to try to find some way to launch an attack against me in order to keep me from continuing to write.  They wanted to attack me anonymously, instigate other people to do their work for them, and make it appear as though it was caused by something that I wrote.

Because of the level of planning, the implementation of “smart mob” tactics, and the outcome that was sought, there are only a few groups in North Dakota that would have this type of knowledge and experience.  These are: The Democrat Party; College professors with marketing/media/political experience; The Forum Communications Company.

I didn’t explain it yet, but the outcome that was sought was not to criticize any particular article of mine, or discredit my writing, but to arouse so much hatred and anger towards me, combined with the publication of what was supposed to be my name, photograph, phone number, and street address, that the threats, harassment, altercations, and possible physical attacks would force me to stop writing.

Again, this is not something that an individual angry over a blog post article would do or even could do.  An individual angry over a blog post article would not seek to or have the ability to drive 43,000 views to a website in a period of a few days, stir up as much anger as possible towards the writer, then post the writer’s name, photograph, phone number, and home address, in hopes that harassment and assaults would follow.  This is something that the Democratic Party does to someone like Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Initial Reaction To Dickinson Being Dumped By Theodore Roosevelt Committee

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For about one year, I have been reading in the Dickinson Press newspaper and elsewhere, about plans and proposals for building a Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum in Dickinson, North Dakota.

In Dickinson, a group of people with backgrounds in business, politics, academia, marketing, and fundraising, appeared to me to be the ones who came up with this idea for the Library and Museum in the first place.  In order to proceed in the best, most organized manner possible, this group of people who came up with this idea in the first place, created an exploratory committee, a board of directors for the foundation, and hired a marketing company to perform market research and handle public relations.

In an effort to be above board, hear different people’s opinions, and have a broader reach for support, donations, and fundraising, the original group of people in Dickinson sought to include people from elsewhere in the foundation and exploratory committee.  However, this approach backfired, as the members with no connection to Dickinson, in effect committed a coup, hijacking, or a mutiny.

This coup, this hijacking or mutiny, didn’t occur in just one step.  Unbeknownst to the original planners of the Library and Museum in Dickinson, there were some people of great influence in North Dakota, that became involved in the project through surrogates, who planned to never, never, ever allow a Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum to be constructed in Dickinson.

If the truth be known, the influential people behind the coup or hijacking, do not care about the success of the eventual location of the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum, nor do they care if the Library and Museum never get built at all.  They were determined to not allow the Library and Museum to be built in Dickinson, in order to not take visitors away from Medora.

The first step of the coup, was to promote discussion and receive input on the best location for the Library and Museum.  Then, when it was established that there was some difference of opinion on the location, surrogates started to advocate the possibility of the whole thing being built in Medora.  There was a lot that went on, and many more things happened, but phase one of the coup achieved the result that the Museum would be built in Medora.  The coup or the hijacking was half way complete at this point, which was approximately January 2018.

Today, May 15, I read in the Dickinson Press newspaper that the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum committee has suddenly dumped Dickinson as the location for the Library, after already taking the Museum location away from Dickinson, and moving it to Medora.

These were some of my initial thoughts, which were too narrow a view of what actually was occurring:

My reaction was, Fuck Them!

From now on, those fuckers can fly into the airport in Medora for their meetings, oh wait, there is no airport in Medora, the closest commercial airport is in Dickinson, one hour away, when the roads are clear.  In the winter with snow, it’s more like a two hour drive from Medora to the Dickinson airport.

Tell all of the committee people, all of the board members, all of the benefactors, everyone involved, to go conduct all of their business in Medora from now on.  If you force them to do this, they will realize and understand, what they apparently didn’t know, that Medora has a population of less than 200 people, and there is nothing in Medora!

There is a reason why Medora has a population of less than 200 people.  Medora is isolated, it is out in the middle of nowhere, there is nothing there, it is an hour drive on the interstate from Dickinson when the roads are clear, and it shuts down in the Winter!!!

Medora is about 1/2 mile long by 300 feet wide.  There is one gas station, that has two gas pumps.  There is no grocery store.  There is hardly anything in Medora.  Common things that a person might need while conducting a business meeting in Medora, such as a package of copy paper, a box of paper clips, a stapler, a printer ink cartridge, envelopes, you can’t buy in Medora, the closest place would be SBM or WalMart in Dickinson.

Staying in Medora to conduct business, anything that you forgot, ran out of, and now need, like socks, underwear, a pair of walking shorts, a winter jacket, foot powder, Q-tips, eye drops, over the counter medications, prescription medications, or non-restaurant food items, you will have to drive to Dickinson.

If your car breaks down in Medora, the closest repair facilities are in Dickinson.  If you need to rent a car, the closest car rental places are in Dickinson.  If you are sick or get hurt, the closest medical facilities are in Dickinson.

There are only about three small restaurants in Medora, one being a cafe, and the others are more like bar restaurants.  Only one restaurant in Medora stays open in the Winter.  Most of the motels in Medora close in the Winter.

Dickinson should just wash its hands of any involvement with the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum.  No one in Dickinson should waste any more time, energy, money, or thought on it.  Just let the state of North Dakota and donors from elsewhere spend as much money as they want, and do whatever they want down in Medora.

I am sure that whatever they build will be very nice, and impressive.  But it will also be vacant, outside of a couple of months in the Summer when the Medora Musical is open.

What I didn’t think about, or completely understand right at the moment when I read the latest Dickinson Press newspaper article, was that the people behind the coup or hijacking to take the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum away from Dickinson and move it to Medora, they don’t care about attendance numbers and success of the Library and Museum, they don’t care if it gets built at all, their goal was just to make sure that it did not get built in Dickinson.

The people in Dickinson who came up with the idea for the Library and Museum in the first place, they thought that this would increase the prestige and importance of Dickinson, which it would have.  They thought that this would have benefited the reputation and stature of Dickinson State University, which it would have.  That it would have increased the number of people visiting Dickinson, flying into the airport, renting cars, staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, and spending money all over town.

A Dickinson location would have allowed easy, safe, and convenient year round access to the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum.

How could it make any sense to locate the Library and Museum in Medora, which shuts down in the Winter, and has terrible accessibility in the Winter?