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The donated proceeds noted in the flyer above had not been turned over to the Village for 8 months. As of Jan. 22, 2008, most of the money remained in private hands. You can learn more about this below. You will find links to relevant videos and public documents. According to Keith Green, an entity called “Friends of McFarland Playgrounds” arranged the event and will dedicate 100% of funds to McFarland playgrounds. Publicly named directors and/or members of the group are Keith Green, Joanne Green, Heather Green, Gordon Kensgaard, and Linda Kensgaard. As of Dec. 31, 2007, no group named “Friends of McFarland Playgrounds” had registered with the IRS as a charitable organization. Chronology 2007-08
Feb. 26: Keith Green, Director of “Friends of McFarland Playgrounds”, announced that the Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour would come to McFarland on May 3rd, 2007 as a fundraiser for McFarland playground equipment. Trustee Gordon Kensgaard will be the Village Board’s representative, coordinating needed Village services. May 3: The Tailgate is held at Lewis Park. 722 tickets are sold at $20 each. Village services are provided, including Public Works, Police, and Fire. At the request of Trustee Kensgaard, the Village also paid for temporary phone service at the event. May 10: Keith Green writes a letter to the Thistle thanking everyone who came and who helped to make the event a success. He lists corporations who donated both money and services. He writes, “The proceeds will also pay for felt carpet in the shelter and pay for the cleaning and painting of the shelter.” May 14: Green reports to the Village Board on the successful event. It raised $20,800.00. Reading from his spreadsheet, he mentions expenses totaling $2572.00. These include radio ads, insurance, portapotties, some framed memorabilia, and miscellaneous. He explains how the “Friends” want to spend the rest of the money. He thanks all who participated, enumerating the Village-supplied services. He expresses gratitude for all the help he received from Trustee Kensgaard who was instrumental in securing a Hometown Challenge Grant from his employer, Alliant Energy. Alliant describes the Grant as follows: Hometown Challenge Grants are awarded to nonprofit community organizations and government-related entities like public schools, libraries, police/fire departments, and other 501(c)(3) organizations in communities where Alliant Energy has a presence. June 27: Green and Kensgaard bring their design for benches to the Parks and Recreation Committee. For a larger picture, click here. The name of either a Director of “Friends of McFarland Playgrounds” or a supporter of the Tailgate event would replace Saddlebrook. The Committee rejects the design as inappropriate.
Kensgaard and Green leave the meeting before the discussion has concluded. You can read the minutes of the Parks and Rec Committee meeting. The relevant paragraphs are highlighted. July 5: Village Administrator Don Peterson writes a letter to Green explaining the benches issue and requesting that the proceeds from the event be turned over to the Village as promised. July 9: Green presents two checks to the Village Board. One is a matching grant from Alliant Energy for $4,000.00. It is intended to help pay for playground safety improvements. The “Friends” check is for only $3,300.00. That is $700 short of the required match. When these two checks and the reported expenses of $2572.00 are subtracted from the reported proceeds of $20,800.00, the unpaid portion remaining in private hands is $10,928.00. Since the Alliant check was written to the Village, not to the “Friends”, it may not have been included in the $20,800. If that is the case, the amount remaining in private hands is $14,928.00. Without a clear and complete accounting of donations and expenses, the total of the donations due to the Village remains unclear.
Nov. 12: Green sends a letter to Village Administrator Don Peterson requesting specific ordinance numbers, dates, and descriptions relating to Village authority over a variety of issues. He requests documentation of when the Village Board gave its approval “...to the Friends of McFarland Playgrounds to purchase the shelter house amenities, specifically the carpeting, the painting and the hook-ups for the Verizon phone service.” He writes, “To disburse any monies without this information, the Friends of McFarland Playgrounds and our legal representation feel this could be illegal or amoral.” Dec. 19: Village Administrator Peterson responds to Green. He details what the Village spent to upgrade the Lewis Park shelter in time for the Tailgate event. Peterson also documents by what authority the Village may determine what can be erected in Village parks. The final paragraphs of this letter are highlighted. You can watch a 6 minute video of Green and Kensgaard at the Village Board meetings of Feb. 26, May 14, and July 9. Jan. 17, 2008: Village President Harried sends a “Demand for an Accounting and Payment of Funds” letter to each publicly named director and/or member of “Friends of McFarland Playgrounds”. These include Keith Green, Joanne Green, Heather Green, Gordon Kensgaard, and Linda Kensgaard. The closing paragraph states: “If this accounting and the appropriate amount of funds are not received by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 25, 2008 the Village Board will consider at our meeting on January 28, 2008 the commencement of legal action. Rest assured that the Village considers this betrayal of the public trust a very serious matter and will pursue all legal remedies available to it against the Friends of McFarland Playgrounds organization and liable individuals.” Jan. 23: The Parks and Recreation Committee meets. The failure of “Friends of McFarland Playgrounds” to turn the donated funds over to the Village is on the agenda. Trustee/Chair Jennifer Heaton-Amrhein recaps the history of the Tailgate. Village President Mike Harried is meeting with Keith Green in another room. When his meeting concludes, President Harried reports the following to the Parks & Rec Committee: Keith Green turned over 4 different checks. They total $10,087.42. Harried was asked if Green turned over an accounting of expenditures with the checks. He replied that receipts are expected once personal information, such as a credit card number, is masked. Harried also reported that the public funds had been in a non-interest bearing account, according to Green. Asked if Green gave him any documentation regarding how many donations were made and in what amounts, Harried replied that he did not. You can watch part of the discussion at the Parks & Rec meeting of Jan. 23. Jan 28: Village President Harried reported to the Board on his Jan. 23 meeting with Keith Green. He said that he expects a full accounting within the next two weeks, prior to the next Board meeting on Feb. 11. Trustee Dave Crane asked that the issue be put on the Board agenda for the Feb. 11 meeting. Trustee Kensgaard was absent. Jan. 31: Here are two pieces from today’s McFarland Thistle. One is a Letter to the Editor from Julie Connor, President of Friends of McFarland Parks. The other is a Guest Editorial written by resident Maria Selsor. Feb. 27: The Parks and Rec Committee discussed the Packer Tailgate issue. You can read the Thistle article headlined, “Tailgate wake brings benches, policy changes”. Mar. 6: Here’s the article that appeared in today’s McFarland Thistle, headlined “Village still awaiting Friends’ accounting”. It describes the brief Village Board meeting of Feb. 25 wherein the Board discussed the continued failure of Keith Green to provide a full accounting of the finances involved in the Packer Tailgate event. Trustee Gordon Kensgaard, candidate for County Supervisor, was absent. Kensgaard is/was a member and/or director of the Friends of McFarland Playgrounds as well as the Board’s representative throughout the event’s planning and execution. In lieu of his attendance, he submitted a letter of explanation to the Board. This article describes Kensgaard’s claims. Mar. 8: You can read this morning’s Wisconsin State Journal article by Patricia Simms here. March 10: Here’s the video of Channel 27’s report on this issue. April 4: The following information comes from the April 3rd edition of the McFarland Thistle. At the March 25th Village Board meeting, President Mike Harried presented two different spreadsheets purportedly showing the revenue and expenses of the Packer Tailgate event. One shows what Green reported to the Village; the other was given to Alliant Energy Foundation as a condition of their matching $4,000.00 grant. The declared revenues are different as are the missing funds’ totals. You can see them both here, but you’ll need to rotate them.
Both Kensgaard and Green have said that the Village is not entitled to an accounting because this was a “private fundraiser”. The Village now has two different accountings, neither of which is supported by actual receipts, which Green has refused to produce. In lieu of his attendance at the Board meeting, Kensgaard sent an e-mail that was read into the official record. In it, he accuses the Village Board of hiding facts, not telling the truth, telling different groups different versions, and altering minutes to “suit their own agendas” the major one being “...to support their chosen candidate in the next election...”. He repeats his claim that this was a private fundraiser. You can read the e-mail in its entirety. August 21, 2008: To read the latest on this issue, go to http://mcfarlandthistleonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=5&SubSectionID=5&ArticleID=349. The Village Board has written a letter to the McFarland Thistle describing where things stand. Wisconsin State Statutes 440.42(1)(a) Prohibited Acts under this Statute: 440.46(1)(a) 440.46(1)(d) Page compiled by Sheila Plotkin www.forwardmcfarland.info
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[Packer Tailgate] [History] |