State's Attorney Murphy Says Oppression Must End

This Notice was posted by Foster County State's Attorney Paul Murphy in the October 6, 2014 edition of The Foster County Independent. We want to thank SA Murphy for publicly infoming the community of their legal rights to address their grievances to the Foster County governing body. Hopefully, this will make a difference in the way Chairman Straley runs the next Commissioners Meeting on Tuesday. (October 7, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. at the courthouse)

However, I feel like the community needs to know that at last check, Auditor Risovi has sent denials to everyone who has asked to speak at Tuesday's meeting. In particular, we had hoped that Straley/Risovi would give permission for Hope Carr to continue with her presentation about the Game & Fish "missing" funds. Many people at the last meeting, even two of the commissioners had questions that they wanted to ask her before Chairman Straley had her escorted out by a deputy sheriff.

I personally have been denied the right to speak at several of the last commissioners meetings, and have been given no reason for the denials. I suppose they don't like the topic of my presentation: Common Protocol Used at Effective Board Meetings... the result of research that I've done in an effort to find out how effective government meetings are run.

From what we understand, the main topic for Tuesday's Commissioners meeting is the Foster County Budget for 2015. The preliminary budget which Chairman Straley and Auditor Risovi presented at the special meeting on September 29, 2014 lacked many important details, and as former commissioner, John Murphy stated, "It doesn't make sense."

Please attend the meeting on Tuesday.

PRELIMINARY BUDGET WOES for the Straley/Risovi Team

Why wasn't the special Preliminary Budget Meeting for Foster County noticed to the public in The Independent (the official newspaper of Foster County) the week before the meeting took place on Monday, September 29, 2014? If you watch this video clip taken from that meeting, you just might figure out why Chairman Straley and Auditor Risovi didn't want anyone to attend.

At the meeting, John Murphy, former Foster County, North Dakota, commissioner said that something is seriously wrong with the preliminary budget presented by Chairman Straley and Auditor Risovi for 2015. According to him, it just "doesn't make sense!" Something is drastically wrong with the way the preliminary budget is put together. Important details are missing, like for instance, the county evaluation that the mil levy is based on. How can anyone understand the budget and figure out how much the taxes are without that information?!

According to Murphy, the fact that it takes a million dollars more to run Foster County than either Eddy County or Griggs County is not right. Griggs County is actually larger with the same offices; yet it is being run on much less than Foster County. Murphy says that he tried his best to make some sense out of the budget figures, but there just aren't enough details to do so.

Watch the video to see other problems with the preliminary budget for Foster County. At the end of the video, Doug Zink agrees with John Murphy and adds the fact that even though the State helped out the county and townships last year with a large amount of money, "Foster County was the only county in North Dakota that did not pass that tax relief on to the taxpayers."

Risovi's Typical Solution to Problems - Call the BCI

As usual, Foster County Auditor Risovi has NO CLUE where many important items are in her office.  This scene took place at the Foster County North Dakota commissioners meeting on August 19, 2014.  She is explaining to the commissioners that over $5,000 worth of ND Game & Fish money cannot be found, and she has NO CLUE where it is.  This money should have been paid to the State at the end of the 2013 season, but according to her, it is simply missing.  

Of course, Risovi's solution to the problem is, as usual, turn it over to the BCI (ND Bureau of Criminal Investigation).  There must be some criminal element involved!  Funny thing is, after some terrific investigation by Hope Carr, a great deal of the money seems to still be with the vendors who sell the licenses... maybe all of it.  It was Risovi's job to collect the money at the end of the licensing year, but she didn't do it.  

This is just another example of Risovi's incompetence as Auditor.  Of course, Risovi blames the whole thing on someone else, just the way she did with her absentee ballot fiasco.  In her mind, she can do no wrong, and she keeps trying to convince others that she is doing a good job.

Interestingly enough, after listening to the excellent investigative report by Hope Carr to the commissioners, Risovi seems to have found some of the missing Game & Fish money.  Strangely though, neither she nor Chairman Straley want Hope Carr's help.  In fact, as many of you saw and know, Straley actually called a sheriff's deputy in and kicked Hope out of the commissioners meeting, even though many citizens wanted to ask her questions about her investigation.

To top it all off, from what we understand, Hope has asked to be on the agenda at the next commissioners meeting which takes place on October 2nd, and she has been denied!  

Of course, at the last meeting, Hope did a great job of pointing out that Risovi wasn't doing her job, that she lied, that she withheld important information from the public, that she was responsible for missing documents from the Auditor's office and that Risovi was basically unfit to be Auditor... and Hope had a book full of documents to back up her assertions!  

So... I guess we can kind of understand why the Risovi/Straley team won't allow Hope's basic right to freedom of speech at "their" meeting.  Nothing can be allowed that might diminish their power.

WHY FOSTER COUNTY AUDITOR RISOVI FIRED ASSISTANT EM MANAGER JESS EARLE

We have recently come in possession of Jess Earle's contemporaneous notes which outline Risovi's abuse of her office and her wasting taxpayers' dollars on a daily basis. As you will discover, the notes start on June 19, 2014, nine days after the Primary Election, in which Risovi was trounced two to one. At that point Risovi apparently decided she wanted her fulltime EM job back and started on the process of trying to make Jess Earle quit her job so Risovi could re-assume her previous position.

According to Earle, Risovi's discovery of these notes were the reason her computer was taken away and replaced with a typewriter. 

Read these notes and judge for yourself if Risovi is anything other than a fraud who has more experienced/capable people doing her work for her - all the while claiming their efforts for herself. Apparently, Risovi sits around wasting taxpayer dollars, playing on the internet, and gossiping with her courthouse friends throughout the day. Yet, she constantly complains to the public about being so overworked. As always with Risovi, there is the Risovi reason for her actions ... in this case for firing Jess (the unathorized use of a county vehicle), and then there is the REAL REASON (as stated above).

There will be more documents forthcoming as they become available to us.

Here are copies of the notes that Jess started and continued taking as Risovi began making it harder and harder for her to do her job and continue working as Assistant EM Manager:

(Please click on each image for a larger view.)

Hope Tries To Aid Foster County Commission - Straley Kicks Her Out!

Hope Carr presents a well-documented report regarding the ND Game & Fish funds that Auditor Risovi reported missing at the last Foster County, ND commissioners' meeting. Hope points out that Risovi has been lying all along and and that she is to blame for the "supposedly" missing money. The auditor  simply has not been doing her job of collecting the fees from the vendors who sell the licenses.  Yet, Risovi and Straley turned the investigation of the missing money over to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation...as if it were the fault of the former auditor, Roger Schlotman.  (One begins to wonder if Schlotman is guilty of anything with the main witness against him being perjuring/lying Teresa Risovi!)

Hope called for the resignation of Auditor Risovi due to her inability to do her job, possible tampering with records,  using inappropriate language, constant lying and slander.  Chairman Paul Straley then pushed his panic button and called in a deputy sheriff to banish Hope from the meeting, although many community members wanted to ask her questions about her investigation. Commissioner Carr asked Straley to allow Hope to continue, but Straley would have none of that! Carr than went on to make a motion to have Hope continue with her presentation, and asked Greger for a second. As always, in the end Greger always backs Straley and Risovi, no matter what. You can hear the concerned citizens voicing their disappointment and disgust.

More Information Regarding Auditor Risovi's Actions... Misappropriation of Public Resources?

More information has come to light about Auditor/EM Manager Risovi's uncalled-for firing of Jess Earle, her EM assistant.  It looks like Risovi may have purposely created a hostile work environment to get rid of her assistant.  Not only did Risovi cut Earle's work hours, but believe it or not, she took away her computer and gave her a typewriter instead!  One could consider Risovi's act of taking away the EM Assistant's computer a misappropriation of our county resources.  It was the same as if the head of the road department, took away necessary equipment from an employee who blades the roads, and instead gave him a shovel to do the same work.  Deplorably inefficient!

What was Rivosi thinking when she denied an important county resource to an employee who needed it to perform her duties?  How could that employee have possibly connected to the township supervisors and the state officials that have to be contacted by email?  Does Risovi think that one can log on to an email with a typewriter?  Risovi  essentially told her assistant to go stand in a corner like an errant school child. 

How many more law suits does Risovi plan for Foster County?  Does she think it's lawful to create a hostile work environment?  Better still, since when does she have the authority to hire or fire anyone in the Emergency Management office?  Didn't she have to get approval/permission from the commissioners prior to her assistant being employed? Did she get the commission's permission to fire her?   Also, if Earle was such a bad employee, where in any of the Foster Couty Commisssion minutes is it noted that Ms. Risovi was having problems with this employee?  

Lastly,  how fair was it to have some person who was obviously qualified like Jess Earle, move to our town to take this position, when Risovi knew that since her election chances for Auditor were dim, she would be reassuming the EM position herself.  In other words, did Risovi disclose to Earle that her Assistant EM position was incumbent on Risovi being elected as Auditor in November?  It looks like Jess Earle has the makings of a good lawsuit against Foster County... if she so chooses.

What many of us cannot understand is why hasn't Ms. Risovi been fired herself!  Commissioner Carr has emphasized over and over again that she is not qualified for her job and should be fired.  However, Chairman Straley, Risovi's buddy, always talks loudly over Carr and basically tries to belittle his comments.  And, with Commissioner Greger cowtowing to Straley and excusing Risovi's incompetence, our county is in for even more trouble.  As we've stated before, we have quite a team - the Straley/Risovi team - continually working for their own egocentric interests, NOT the interests of the taxpayers of Foster County. 

Auditor Risovi Strikes AGAIN! (Part 2 in the Continuing Saga)

Foster County Auditor Risovi has once again proved her gross incompetence to hold any position of authority or responsibility. As you may have heard by now, Risovi fired Jess Earle (Assistant Emergency Manager), the very same person that she touted as the most qualified candidate for the Emergency Management job for Foster County. In this particular case, Risovi was right about Jess' qualifications. Her qualifications far exceed Risovi's! Jess has a B.S. in Emergency Management from NDSU, as well as another advanced degree! Let's see... does that compare with Risovi's online degree in psychology?

So, why did Risovi fire Jess? When you're dealing with Auditor Risovi, or people of her ilk, there are always two reasons why they do something. There's the REAL reason, and then there's the reason they tell you.

In this case, the reason Risovi tells you (and which she has posted online)  is that someone, a friend of Jess, at his own expense took the county vehicle that Jess uses as Assistant Emergency Manager, to be detailed (without Risovi's permission). According to Risovi, his act of kindness and consideration allegedly caused the county some extraordinary insurance issue. It seems that Risovi has now become an expert on insurance coverage. Did she not realize that this driver undoubtedly has his own insurance which extends to every vehicle he drives if there is no underlying coverage?

Now to the real reason that Auditor Risovi fired Jess. As we all know, Risovi's lack of votes in the June Primary Election just didn't work out for her. In other words, come November, Risovi is NOT going to be Auditor, so she thinks she will fall back to her old Emergency Management job. In fact, Commissioner Les Greger in one of the commission meetings, suggested that if she loses the November election, she might be able to keep the EM job full-time. Therefore, Risovi may be thinking that if she eliminates the one person who is more qualified/experienced for the job, then she will be more likely to keep the EM job after she loses her Auditor's position.

Once again Risovi puts her selfish interests above that of the taxpayers of Foster County. As you recall, when Auditor Risovi was voted in by Paul Straley and Les Greger, she immediately fired Sarah Aberle, the one person who was more qualified for her job and who knew the in's and out's of the Foster County Auditor's office. Yes, Risovi is one "public servant" who always puts the public second to her own interests.

(Let's see... how many more days till November 4th? Stick around, Jess. We're predicting the EM position will be opening up again, and we would love to have someone who is truly qualified for the job.)

Auditor Risovi Erupts Again and Fetches the Sheriff To Intimidate Public Observers

Auditor Risovi Erupts Again and Fetches the Sheriff To Intimidate Public Observers

Auditor Risovi let her temper get the best of her again at the Monday, August 11, 2014, re-canvass meeting at the Foster County Courthouse. She had no patience with an observer who asked her to speak up so the public could hear her answers to Recorder Hoppe's questions. She seemed to be mumbling her answers intentionally and verbally criticized Hoppe when the Recorder insisted on getting answers from her. Several times during the meeting, Risovi completely ignored Hoppe's questions, as if the Recorder weren't speaking to her.

When State's Attorney, Paul Murphy, spoke up to defend the public observers, saying they weren't interfering, Risovi objected to his opinion and accused him of not doing his job. That statement hit a nerve with the State's Attorney, especially since the whole election fiasco can be laid at Risovi's feet. When Murphy raised his voice to tell Risovi exactly what he thought, she ran out of the room to get the sheriff. What the sheriff was supposed to do, I'm not sure (and the sheriff wasn't sure what to do either). 

RISOVI ERUPTS and Calls Out the Foster County State's Attorney at the Recount Meeting

RISOVI ERUPTS and Calls Out the State's Attorney at the Recount Meeting

The Foster County, North Dakota, election recount meeting which took place on August 4, 2014, produced some big surprises. The major surprise? There seemed to be 300 ballots missing!! The truth of this still hasn't been determined. However, on Primary Election night, Auditor Teresa Risovi announced to the media that there were 1453 ballots cast, a count which she certified with the Secretary of State's office. As well, at the time, she knew how many votes were cast for the position of County Auditor, close to 1400. Now, after the recount meeting, there seem to be only 1153 ballots in security boxes and only 1153 valid voters who were checked off in the official poll book as having voted. Risovi seems to be blaming this huge discrepancy on a "computer glitch", occurring in three separate machines which counted the votes... and the fact that the county failed to train her.

For people who hadn't dealt with Risovi before, another surprise was watching her temper tantrum. She actually erupted, yelled at State's Attorney Paul Murphy, and called him out - like someone who wanted to fight. Actually, Risovi challenged him to call the Secretary of State's office to clear up a rule for the meeting. Murphy responded to her calmly saying she was "making a mountain out of a mole-hill." When Risovi got what she thought was a response from the Secretary of State's office in her favor, she couldn't wait to point her phone toward Murphy in an effort to humiliate him. In the video you'll notice how all the adults completely ignore her like they would a child who is having a tantrum. What really bothers some of us is the way she sat, smiled, giggled and talked to herself after the incident, as if she'd won a great victory. Is this the type of personality that you want to continue dealing with as Auditor of Foster County?

300 Election Ballots Missing! Where Are They?!

[Pictured here are the members of the Recount Board: State's Attorney Paul Murphy, Recorder 
Lynelle Hoppe, George Topp,  with Auditor Teresa Risovi and Assistant Auditor Heather Martin]

300 Election Ballots Missing! Where Are They?!

Today, August 4, 2014, Foster County held a recount for the contest of the Foster County Commission which took place during the June Primary. Donnie Theis, close to Paul Straley in the Primary election count, requested a recount of the commissioners' votes. Little did he know that his request would turn up some horrendous results... 300 ballots unaccounted for!!

How could 300 ballots just disappear?! After counting all the ballots which had been kept under lock and seal, the total ballots inspected at the meeting totaled 1153. The official number of votes for Foster County that the Election Board sent in to the Secretary of State for the June Primary was 1453.

State's Attorney Paul Murphy contacted the Secretary of State's office to find out what to do about this highly unusual situation. He was told to tally the votes on the 1153 ballots that were at the meeting.

In the chart below, the first number is the official vote count sent in to the State during the Primary. The second number is the count which the members came up with today (with 300 ballots missing).

Commissioners:
Bill Bauer: 696/559
Jim Carr: 686/540
Pat Copenhaver: 417/331
Paul Straley: 353/295
Donnie Theis: 340/270
Joshua Dreher: 160/133

What is to be done about this huge discrepancy no one knows at present. Check back for more information. Hopefully soon, someone will solve the mystery of the missing 300 ballots.