Who is Maria Veach? What are her motivations?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Who is Maria Veach? What are her motivations?

Something just isn’t right with Orono City Council member Maria Veach. She has two more conflicts of interest added to her list of seven.

The Orono City Council is hiring her Long Lake Firefighter husband on Monday, October 9, 2023. Why is she not recusing herself from all Fire related voting and negotiation?

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Tell the City of Orono that our Woods don't need "Cleaning"
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Tell the City of Orono that our Woods don't need "Cleaning"

Who is maintaining Orono Parks?

Sadly, many of Orono Parks are in a degraded state because all these Park features take maintenance and upkeep. Bederwood Park is just one example. Many of the turf areas are mud, the park lot has been spray painted and the retention pond and lip by the Porta Potty are makeshift bike jumps.

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Why is Walsh Eliminating T-Ball from Orono?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Why is Walsh Eliminating T-Ball from Orono?

Why would Mayor #DennisWalsh want to take away historic T-ball away from Orono? Is it because he needs funds to develop Hackberry Park? What this means is that T-ball will be wiped away from play in Orono all together. There are no other T-ball fields in Orono.

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Is Council member Matt Johnson misleading Orono Citizens?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Is Council member Matt Johnson misleading Orono Citizens?

Orono City Council member Matt Johnson disparaged a fellow City Council member not once, but twice during the 8/28/23 City Council meeting.

Johnson belittled Citizens by making fun of their comments, their demeanor and even how they walk from the City Chambers.

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Walsh wants to spend $15-$20 Million Dollars Extra on Fire
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Walsh wants to spend $15-$20 Million Dollars Extra on Fire

Why do we need to spend $15-$20 Million or more Extra Dollars on a Duplicate Fire Department? That’s the fiscally prudent question that Mayor Walsh could not answer in the Coffee for the Mayor meeting held on 8/16/23. You can watch the entire meeting here: https://youtu.be/Rcu8c23X8qg

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How many Millions are Orono Citizens going to let Mayor Walsh run over?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

How many Millions are Orono Citizens going to let Mayor Walsh run over?

Ever heard the comment you are up to your eyeballs in debt? Well that may very well be the case already in Orono. If #spendydenny Walsh gets his new duplicate fire department this coming Monday, he apparently will spend anywhere from $7 million up to $15 million as estimated by former Firefighters.

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Long Lake, Medina, Mtka Beach, Orono You are All Invited!
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Long Lake, Medina, Mtka Beach, Orono You are All Invited!

It's Time for the All Important Meeting!

The Orono City Council Work Session at 4 pm Monday June 12th is when new candidates for the open Orono City Council member position will be interviewed. Also on the roster for the City Council Meeting is another decision about Orono Fire Service which we all know would be far less costly if we stayed with Long Lake, Medina and Minnetonka Beach.

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Where is Victoria Seals Statement to the Citizens?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Where is Victoria Seals Statement to the Citizens?

Victoria Seals, why didn’t you resign publicly? Why haven’t the citizens of Orono heard why you are resigning? Not notifying the citizens of your planned resignation under the mayor/council agenda or at the very least putting out a written resignation is not fair to those you have served.

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Orono's Apparent Conflicts of Interest
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Orono's Apparent Conflicts of Interest

Let us count some of many ways it appears there are conflicts of interest in Orono:

1) #MayorDennisWalsh will not survey the Orono citizens, nor will he listen to repeated requests for budget information regarding two of Orono’s largest projects ie: “The Taj Mahal Maintenance Shed” and the Duplicate Fire Department. Clearly, he appears to have his own agenda, and isn’t this in direct conflict with his duties as Orono Mayor to act on behalf of the citizens?

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Important Orono Meeting! 5/22/23
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Important Orono Meeting! 5/22/23

Do not miss this meeting at 6 p.m.! If you care about your taxes going up and fire service in our community ie: your insurance premiums going up please attend and make your voices heard!

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Breaking News:You Are Invited!
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Breaking News:You Are Invited!

The City of Long Lake will be holding a 'Follow-Up Forum: Long Lake Fire Service Updates' open house event on Thursday, May 18 to share the latest information regarding ongoing Long Lake Fire Department discussions, and to welcome community input from any residents of our fire service coverage area (Long Lake, Medina, Minnetonka Beach, and Orono).

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Were Orono’s Debt Promises Broken?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Were Orono’s Debt Promises Broken?

The @Vote4DennyWalsh web page Promises:

“We are on track to be debt free in 7 more years”...oh if only that were true. Now our debt won’t be paid off for 25 years with the interest payment of approximately 5 million.

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