NEWS BLOG (WSAU) - There's a land and revenue sharing dispute between Weston and Rothschild. But there's also a dispute between personalities.

Consider this quote in the Wausau Daily Herald. Weston Village Administrator Dean Zuleger said this of Rothschild Village President Neil Tourney:

"I just know him to be a guy that takes advantage of other communities."

That's a loaded quote to say to a reporter, especially without any further explanation or examples. It's also something that a public official shouldn't say. It means two leaders -- and the communities they represent -- are digging their heals in. And settling disputes like this in court are expensive.

The big push in recent years has been for municipalities to save money by combining and sharing municipal services. Such a negative, loaded quote makes those kinds of a agreements more difficult to reach. There may very will be blame on the other side too. If Rothschild can't follow through on their agreements, then they are a bad partner. That will hurt chances to partner with neighboring communities.

The big losers are the taxpayers. If Weston is owed $114,000 in revenue sharing from Weston Four, it stinks that tax dollars will be spent on a lawsuit. If Rothschild really does owe, it stinks that that legal recourse is the only way to get them to honor their agreements. A judge will have to decide.

Chris Conley
Operations Manager, Midwest Communications-Wausau
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