RR President evicts RR commissioner from locomotive cab

[dldance]

A long running feud between W&S  president and a RR commissioner comes to a head:

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/15178538.htm?source=rss&channel=duluthsuperior_local

dd

[chad thomas]

That commissioner sounds like a real nut case.

[CopCarSS]

I don't know...it sounds that way from the report, but at the same time, it can be hard to judge a story like this without being an insider (and even then it can be tough). A similar deal that comes to mind is the CHS / GLRR battle of a couple years ago. It's easy (especially as railfans) to paint the governmental representative as the bad guy, and perhaps in both cases it may be true.

However, listening to the railroad's perspective in both cases can seem like they're completely innocent (which also may be true, but seems a bit unlikely). Personally, I think in both cases, personal feelings may be getting (or may have gotten in the case of the GLRR battle) in the way of dealing with matters in a business-like manner.

I'm not sure what the whole truth is here, but as it involves matters of safety, I certainly hope that the parties involved can get things straightened out.

[chad thomas]

I agree Chris, That's why I said "sounds like" rather than "is". The picture the article painted in my head of the commissioner is closer to a cartoon character then a person of such position. 

[BaltACD]

Give small people a little power and it goes to thier heads.

[PBenham]

Give small people a little power and it goes to thier heads.

I firmly agree!

[Poppa_Zit]

Give small people a little power and it goes to their heads.

While we do not yet have all of the details on this fiasco, I'd say that the fact the commissioner is a political appointee speaks untold volumes. It is good that the writer included this information.

It's also not strange how stories seem to change after people read in print what they are alleged to have said verbally.

And from the Bureau of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting: Nowhere in the article does it say what credentials the commissioner has to be making such subjective decisions. I think it would be important to include those qualifications as part of this story, or note that there are none, if that is indeed the case.

Pop Z

[beaulieu]

I agree Chris, That's why I said "sounds like" rather than "is". The picture the article painted in my head of the commissioner is closer to a cartoon character then a person of such position. 

So you have met Rodney? Cartoon character is an apt characterization of him. He frequently shoots his mouth off on Wisconsin Public Radio. 

[Cris_261]

I love that quote at the end of the article from the state railroad comissioner: "Railroads have a lot of people with very strong egos." The same can be said for state representatives who let their authority go to their head.

[vsmith]

Wow all this story needs is a drunken Mel Gibson to show up and start shouting racial slurs at evryone and then get into a brawl with Russel Crowe....

[Randy Stahl]

Doesn't the State of Wisconsin own about 99% of the track that the WSOR operates on ?

[samfp1943]

I don't know...it sounds that way from the report, but at the same time, it can be hard to judge a story like this without being an insider (and even then it can be tough). A similar deal that comes to mind is the CHS / GLRR battle of a couple years ago. It's easy (especially as railfans) to paint the governmental representative as the bad guy, and perhaps in both cases it may be true.

However, listening to the railroad's perspective in both cases can seem like they're completely innocent (which also may be true, but seems a bit unlikely). Personally, I think in both cases, personal feelings may be getting (or may have gotten in the case of the GLRR battle) in the way of dealing with matters in a business-like manner.

I'm not sure what the whole truth is here, but as it involves matters of safety, I certainly hope that the parties involved can get things straightened out.

Gotta agree with Chris;

    And I think Randy is right about the State of Wisconsin owning 99% of WSOR's track, but it does not excuse this politician from letting his authority go to his head. Had he a reasonable relationship with the railroad's President he could have asked and probably been given permission to ride in the cab to observe the crossings. Instead he chose to be confrontational.

    My question what is happening there in Wisconsin; first you have a college professor who is teaching his students that the 9/11 attack was planned and STAGED by the US Govt? Then you have a 6 year appointee[second term?] who thinks he 'owns' a railroad because he is a Railroad Commissioner?  It brings a whole new meaning to the term " Cheese Head." What's up Wisconsin?

[espeefoamer]

This commissioners actions remind me of a line in a song from the movie Man of La Mancha.

"The cucoo bird is singing in the cucaberra tree,If he insists that that's a helmet.I suggest that you agree".

[Randy Stahl]

I don't know...it sounds that way from the report, but at the same time, it can be hard to judge a story like this without being an insider (and even then it can be tough). A similar deal that comes to mind is the CHS / GLRR battle of a couple years ago. It's easy (especially as railfans) to paint the governmental representative as the bad guy, and perhaps in both cases it may be true.

However, listening to the railroad's perspective in both cases can seem like they're completely innocent (which also may be true, but seems a bit unlikely). Personally, I think in both cases, personal feelings may be getting (or may have gotten in the case of the GLRR battle) in the way of dealing with matters in a business-like manner.

I'm not sure what the whole truth is here, but as it involves matters of safety, I certainly hope that the parties involved can get things straightened out.

Gotta agree with Chris;

    And I think Randy is right about the State of Wisconsin owning 99% of WSOR's track, but it does not excuse this politician from letting his authority go to his head. Had he a reasonable relationship with the railroad's President he could have asked and probably been given permission to ride in the cab to observe the crossings. Instead he chose to be confrontational.

    My question what is happening there in Wisconsin; first you have a college professor who is teaching his students that the 9/11 attack was planned and STAGED by the US Govt? Then you have a 6 year appointee[second term?] who thinks he 'owns' a railroad because he is a Railroad Commissioner?  It brings a whole new meaning to the term " Cheese Head." What's up Wisconsin?

Don't forget , Jeff Dahmer is/was a cheesehead......

[jeaton]

Be careful, Sam.  You may find yourself reassigned.

CINCSCOCOM

 

[samfp1943]

I agree Chris, That's why I said "sounds like" rather than "is". The picture the article painted in my head of the commissioner is closer to a cartoon character then a person of such position. 

I think that this 'Comissioner' is pretty much toast, was a political hack appointed by a previous administration, and so far not reappointed by the present administration. Anyway, this is a cut and pasted from 2 Aug 2006 TRAINS  NEWSWIRE which says pretty much the same ting as the original posted article, and confirmed in the threads comments;

Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner cited for disorderly conduct

Print | Email | Contact Us

August 2, 2006

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner Rodney Kreunen, known for his colorful quotes and sometimes flamboyant behavior, has been cited for disorderly conduct and had an ethics complaint filed against him after a confrontation on the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad on July 2.

Wisconsin & Southern was offering free passenger excursions at McFarland on July 2 to help the city celebrate its sesquicentennial. William Gardner, president of Wisconsin & Southern, told Trains News Wire that Kreunen arrived in McFarland and said he was going to use his executive authority to ride the locomotive to inspect grade crossings. After the train crew contacted Gardner, he told them to not allow Kreunen on board. "I told him it wasn't the day to be doing this," Gardner said. "He then tried to get on the engine again saying he had permission, but he was not allowed on board."

Gardner said he was handing out passenger tickets when Kreunen approached him and said, "We gotta talk." Gardner then said he told Kreunen, "You don't do anything for my railroad." In response, Gardner says, Kreunen poked him in the chest, used abusive language, and stormed off saying, "See how long you get along without my safety funds." Gardner then called over a police officer and told him the story. As a result of a follow-up police investigation, McFarland police cited Kreunen July 28 for disorderly conduct. He is scheduled for a court hearing later this month.

Following the incident, Gardner wrote a three-page letter of complaint to the Wisconsin Ethics Board. "Kreunen has taken advantage of me and my organization for years, and I decided enough is enough," Gardner told Trains. "I have both employees and former employees who will testify about his actions," he said.

The Capital Times newspaper of Madison reported that in his complaint, Gardner said that Kreunen pressured him to hire a friend in 1998 to serve as a political liaison for the railroad. Gardner said he hired this individual at an annual salary of $36,000, but fired him after nine months due to "incompetence." He also said that during the years 2000 to 2002, Kreunen would invite himself and several guests to ride the annual Great Circus Train, which the railroad handled out of Baraboo, Wis., and expected his guests to get free meals and beverages. He also said Kreunen once flagged a train to come to an emergency stop simply because he wanted to get on board.

In an interview with the Capitol Times, Kreunen denied he poked Gardner or swore at him in McFarland. "I didn't curse; I didn't touch him," Kreunen said.

Kreunen also disputed threatening Gardner with retaliation. "I stated that we're going to spend a lot less time on his railroad and that would affect his safety funds," Kreunen said. "But I did not threaten to cut off safety funds. I said we're not going to spend much time on them if we didn't get cooperation," he told the newspaper.

Kreunen told the Times he has had ongoing problems with Gardner, whom he describes as often moody and belligerent. He said they often have differences of opinion over questions of safety. "Neither this office, nor the state of Wisconsin, is going to be bullied by any rail baron," Kreunen said.

As the commissioner of railroads, Kreunen is responsible for grade-crossing safety issues on the state's rail lines. He has been commissioner since 1996 when he was appointed by then Gov. Tommy Thompson. His last term expired in March 2005, and the current governor, Gov. Jim Doyle, has not submitted his name to the state Senate for confirmation.

[Poppa_Zit]

"Colorful quotes and sometimes flamboyant behavior..." Boy, now that's putting it mildly -- like calling Ali vs. Frazier a "disagreement." From his actions, sounds like this guy is a misguided railfan on a power trip. I wonder if he has a badge in his wallet. Maybe the Wisconsin attorney general needs to examine his outrageous behavior.

Time for Rodney to find himself a real job, methinks. Who does he think he is, a Chicago alderman?

[zardoz]

Don't forget , Jeff Dahmer is/was a cheesehead......

If memory serves, so are/were you. 

As was Ed Gein. 

As is most of the staff at Kalmbach. 

As am I. And not very proud of it, either.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

He's really too self-centered and flamboyant to be an effective alderman.  All of the best ones (Vrdolyak, Burke, Beavers, etc.) were low-key and knew that the residents of their ward were aware of their status and power.  They did not have to advertise that fact, we all knew it instinctively.

[Randy Stahl]

Don't forget , Jeff Dahmer is/was a cheesehead......

If memory serves, so are/were you. 

 

Oh .... ummmm ..... yea  ( imagine my sheepishness )

[CNW 6000]

What's wrong with being from WI?  Besides the Packers, Badgers, Bucks, and Brewers?  None of which I'm a fan of, I might add.

[eolafan]

He said he called Gardner a "flakey nuthead"?  Give me a break, nobody talks like that.  I suspect strongly that in reality the first word did begin with the letter F but that's where the similarity ended. The Wisconsin RR Commissioner sounds like a real head case to me.

[n012944]

Doesn't the State of Wisconsin own about 99% of the track that the WSOR operates on ?

 

 I think that you are right about that.  I remember reading somewhere that WSOR leases most of the track from the state.

 

Bert

[Noah Hofrichter]

The State owns most of the track that the WSOR leases, however, I'd say approx 75 miles (one subdivison, a yard, and a relatively short spur) of the 600 miles the WSOR runs on is leased from the UP too. So 99% probably isn't as accurate, but about 90% probably would be. They also have about 100 miles in trackage rights on various other railroads in Wisconsin and Illinois.

The WI Railroad Comissioner is one really odd duck, and the articles that have been posted explain most of it. A little more of the fun of having him as comissioner can be explained in there articles on the incident as well. To save space I'll simply post the links:

http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/index.php?ntid=93172&ntpid=1

http://www.wkowtv.com/index.php/news/story/p/pkid/24564

And I have confirmed from a very reliable inside soruce at the WSOR that all of the events written in those two articles did indeed happen, and many more. Pretty weird guy alright....

Noah Hofrichter

Fellow Cheesehead

[Poppa_Zit]

Let's take a closer look at a couple of things that jump out of The Capital Times story, excerpts in italic:

Kruenen also disputed threatening Gardner with retaliation.

"I stated that we're going to spend a lot less time on his railroad and that would affect his safety funds," Kreunen said. "But I did not threaten to cut off safety funds. I said we're not going to spend much time on them if we didn't get cooperation."

Sounds like a threat to me. Since when should an official's personal views have an effect on inspection time?

"Neither this office nor the state of Wisconsin, is going to be bullied by any rail baron," Kreunen declared.

Translation: I have a huge ego, and I'm not gonna take any crap from a taxpaying railroad owner who won't kiss me on my wallet.

As the commissioner of railroad, Kreunen is responsible for safety issues on the state's rail lines.

He has been commissioner since 1996 when he was appointed to his first two-year term by then Gov. Tommy Thompson. His last term expired in March 2005 and Gov. Jim Doyle has not submitted his name to the state Senate for confirmation.

Whoops! Since his term expired over 16 months ago, he no longer has any statutory authority. Why are they still issuing him paychecks? 

In his ethics complaint, Gardner says that Kreunen pressured him to hire a friend in 1998 to serve as a political liaison for the railroad. Gardner said he hired this individual at an annual salary of $36,000, but fired him after nine months due to "incompetence."

The implication here is that "the friend" would somehow -- for $36,000 a year -- get Kreunen to do his state job more efficiently for one "special" taxpayer, the Wisconsin & Southern. "We treat everyone fairly," once said a Chicago alderman convicted of taking bribes for political favors. "We just treat some people more fairly than others."  

He also said that between 2000 and 2002, Kreunen would invite himself and several guests to ride the Circus Train and expect his guests to get free meals and beverages. He also said Kreunen once flagged a train to come to an emergency stop simply because he wanted to get on board.

How is any of this related to the job?

Kreunen ... denies exacting special favors for himself or his guests on Wisconsin & Southern trains.

"When I've had any meals on board, which was infrequent, I would always pay for it," Kreunen said. "I was very specific about that."

This one is easy. Let's see the receipts, Rodney.

[edbenton]

This is one guy who needs to get his head out of his ######E.  Just because you are the state railroad commisaner does not give you the right to run ripshod all over a railroad.  This guy needs to be fired or the next time he forces a train into ermergancy to stop just so he can get on board sorry I could not stop.  That is one way to put an end to him for sure. 

[CNW 6000]

He has been commissioner since 1996 when he was appointed to his first two-year term by then Gov. Tommy Thompson. His last term expired in March 2005 and Gov. Jim Doyle has not submitted his name to the state Senate for confirmation.

Whoops! Since his term expired over 16 months ago, he no longer has any statutory authority. Why are they still issuing him paychecks? 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught that.  If he's not working for the WIDOT, WTF is he doing acting like this?

[Clutch Cargo]

I would still prefer living in Wisconsin to living in Duluth.

Wisconsin nuts just taste better.

Kurt.

[Poppa_Zit]

He has been commissioner since 1996 when he was appointed to his first two-year term by then Gov. Tommy Thompson. His last term expired in March 2005 and Gov. Jim Doyle has not submitted his name to the state Senate for confirmation.

Whoops! Since his term expired over 16 months ago, he no longer has any statutory authority. Why are they still issuing him paychecks? 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught that.  If he's not working for the WIDOT, WTF is he doing acting like this?

Well, if I lived in Wisconsin and was a curious taxpayer, I'd want to know exactly from where in the state budget the money to continue funding the job of this public official is coming [please see Freedom of Information Act]. I mean, what are we supposed to believe here? That even though his position, technically created by law, has not been renewed, he just keeps showing up and picking up a paycheck for almost a year and a half? How much is he costing taxpayers? Who does he account to? Who originally sponsored him for the job? Would anyone here like to apply for a job like this?

Consider this: he has no current official standing as a state employee, which means any of his official actions would probably not be upheld in any court of law. Is that how they want the regulatory process to work in Wisconsin? It leaves the state wide-open for appeals on anything he's done in the last 16 months. Guess who'll pay for the lawyers?

Plus, he really must be quite dense. Despite skating on both legal and ethical "thin ice" he continues not only to throw his weight around, but he does it in a highly questionable fashion that calls way too much attention to himself -- and creates nasty headlines. This does not make the state of Wisconsin -- or its leaders -- look good.

Time for the current governor to do the right thing and surgically remove this bozo from the public trough immediately. And if his job needs to be filled, put someone in there who is more low-key.

Frankly, I'm also surprised no Wisconsin-based newspaper journalist isn't all over this story beyond the superfluous reports. Does this guy have that many friends?

[solzrules]

He has been commissioner since 1996 when he was appointed to his first two-year term by then Gov. Tommy Thompson. His last term expired in March 2005 and Gov. Jim Doyle has not submitted his name to the state Senate for confirmation.

Whoops! Since his term expired over 16 months ago, he no longer has any statutory authority. Why are they still issuing him paychecks? 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught that.  If he's not working for the WIDOT, WTF is he doing acting like this?

Well, if I lived in Wisconsin and was a curious taxpayer, I'd want to know exactly from where in the state budget the money to continue funding the job of this public official is coming [please see Freedom of Information Act]. I mean, what are we supposed to believe here? That even though his position, technically created by law, has not been renewed, he just keeps showing up and picking up a paycheck for almost a year and a half? How much is he costing taxpayers? Who does he account to? Who originally sponsored him for the job? Would anyone here like to apply for a job like this?

Consider this: he has no current official standing as a state employee, which means any of his official actions would probably not be upheld in any court of law. Is that how they want the regulatory process to work in Wisconsin? It leaves the state wide-open for appeals on anything he's done in the last 16 months. Guess who'll pay for the lawyers?

Plus, he really must be quite dense. Despite skating on both legal and ethical "thin ice" he continues not only to throw his weight around, but he does it in a highly questionable fashion that calls way too much attention to himself -- and creates nasty headlines. This does not make the state of Wisconsin -- or its leaders -- look good.

Time for the current governor to do the right thing and surgically remove this bozo from the public trough immediately. And if his job needs to be filled, put someone in there who is more low-key.

Frankly, I'm also surprised no Wisconsin-based newspaper journalist isn't all over this story beyond the superfluous reports. Does this guy have that many friends?

Poppa Z

Believe me these are all important questions.  Our governor, however, is currently embroiled in scandal due to his unique talent of taking the term "pay to play" to new levels.  His political appointees are questionable (and that's after a strong bottle of scotch).  Our A.G. (we actually voted this 'gem' into office) showed up at an illegal immigrant rally to declare that she will not enforce WI law with regards to illegal immigration.  This from the chief law enforcement officer of the state.  Doyle's administration has suffered increased scrutiny after it was revealed that the state's travel agency contract was directed to a travel agency that made substantial campaign contributions before and after the contract was rewarded - and they weren't the lowest bidder.  (By law government agencies in Wisconsin have to accept the lowest reasonable bid on contract work). 

As for this Doyle appointee - rest assured he will keep his job.  As long as he remains a 'yes' man for Diamond Jim Doyle he will keep his job.  Screw ups like this will blow over in a week or two.  It is already out of the news cycle.  Doyle has a history of backing anyone who agrees with him to the end, no matter how embarassing that is. 

State politics here are deplorable, and both parties are to blame.  The current democratic government has a great number of problems, but past republican administrations have had an equal number of difficulties at leading.  I guess this state is poor at turning out potential political leaders.  Our senator Russ Feingold, althought I disagree with him one thousand percent of the time, at least is able to say what he really believes.  I guess in a state where there is a such a lack of capable leaders in our government at least that is one of a very few admirable qualities. 

When political favors are fulfilled with perceived meanial appointments (like the state RR comissioner) this is the quality of leadership we should expect.  The sad thing is that railroad safety at WSOR and accross the state on the publicly owned tracks will potentially suffer, just because this guy has a screw loose.