• He lost when the county charter was passed, weakening his powers.
• He lost when he ran for county council chair.
• He lost when his hand-picked successor — state Rep. Liz Pike — got thumped in her bid to become county council chair.
Remember, Madore has fought with just about every elected body out there. And if there’s anything that grinds community improvement to a halt, it is an ongoing fight.
So how exactly will things change? And will there be enough change to swing the county back on the right path?
Let’s look at what was and what will be.
What was
Madore and his sidekick, Republican Councilor Tom Mielke, have controlled the county government ever since both were elected three years ago. At first, the M&M boys bullied Democrat Steve Stuart, the third county commissioner.
With only three members on the county commission, all the votes the M&M boys needed were themselves. They did a bunch of stupid stuff almost immediately, including hiring their crony, state Sen. Don Benton, as the $115,000-a-year director of the county Department of Environmental Services.
Boss Hog Benton couldn’t tell the difference between pollution and pig roast, but no matter. They hired him anyway.
After a while, Stuart simply up and quit.
What is
Residents were so furious over their stupid stuff they passed a new form of government, which included increasing the board from three members to five members.
Republican Councilor Jeanne Stewart — elected after Stuart quit — has proven to be a strong advocate for reasonableness and has opposed the M&M boys on many occasions.
Council Chair Marc Boldt comes on board as an independent. He’s still a Republican, but Madore fought hard against Boldt’s election. He hung a number of labels on Boldt, including the “L” word. Bad blood and all.
Boldt isn’t (too) much of a vengeful guy, but look for him to oppose the M&M boys whenever possible.
So that would leave a bunch of votes at 2-2. Enter Republican Julie Olson. When Olson ran successfully for the final council seat, she tight-roped around the issue of Madore. She had no interest in running against him — his supporters’ votes were needed to get her elected — but that left the impression that she might be with this guy.
She’s really not.
If you look at her positions on many of the controversial issues Madore is behind, she opposes them.
So that ultimately swings the power away from the M&M boys and toward logic and reason.
This — by the way — is not to say that the M&M boys are completely on the outs. Remember, we still have five conservatives on this council. This council will not suddenly turn into clones of state Rep. Jim Moeller. Moeller, you see, has fallen in love with every tax increase known to man. But I digress. Still, the weird, stupid stuff — most of it at least — should be a thing of the past.
So if someone could wrap all that up and give it to me as a present, I’d be grateful. And OK, I’ll take a full house every now and then.
