Media Alert: Tune into KFYR Radio (AM550) this afternoon at 3pm as Daryl Lies and myself will discuss this meeting, and the issue at greater length. Call in at 701-258-0550.
Last night, we held a townhall in Bismarck to discuss the situation in Burleigh County between the county commission and the county auditor.
The townhall audio was broadcasted via a live feed via Substack, due to a technical snafu, that audio was lost. (I received reports that it was hard to listen to due to high pitched noises and other interference.)
Luckily, I was recording with a backup microphone on a laptop. Most the important audio from that recording was salvageable. (A significant amount of the audience interaction was unlistenable.)
I’ve gone through it for the highlights, specifically audio of County Auditor Mark Splonskowski’s own words. There is some interaction between myself, Mark, and the audience. The event was over two hours, this “short and audible” version of the audio is just over 55 minutes.
Many of the people in the audience are people who pay attention to local government. The key takeaway from this event was that: if the Burleigh County Commission wants to convert the auditor’s office to appointed, they better be able to document all the things that are going wrong (in their view) under Mark Splonskowski’s watch.
And the concensus in the room was that the voters should decide whether to make the change from elected to appointed.
I do believe this is the first real opportunity Mark Splonskowski has had to tell his side of the story publically. While my previous writings have been critical of him, there are two sides to every story.
I still believe there is a need to restructure the county, that Mark Splonskowski is not the only problem, and that these problems did not start the day he took office.
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