Letter: Critical of Sicard

Dear Editor,

Over the past two years of Ryan Sicard’s representation of my district on the St. Croix County Board, I’ve come to the reluctant conclusion that he represents no one and clearly has his own agenda. He seems completely disinterested in hearing from his constituents.

The first time I contacted Mr. Sicard about an item coming before the board, I went to the St. Croix County website. He hadn’t listed an e-mail, just a phone number, so I called and left a message that I live in his district and wanted to talk with him. I asked him to return my call. After more than a week, I left another message, only to receive the same silence.

Finally, I went to an Administration Committee meeting (held during workdays). I introduced myself and explained I’d left messages with no response. He gave an excuse about not always listening to messages on the number listed on the website. He provided me with an e-mail address. I suggested he list that e-mail address on the website. It was all friendly.

As it turns out, it doesn’t matter how you contact Ryan Sicard. He doesn’t respond to e-mails, either. I sent e-mails in October regarding an issue. They were respectful and contained information pertinent to the issue. No response.

I happened to run into him in the hallway of the government center one day and begged him to call me to discuss the issue. This was on a Friday. He said he would be gone for the weekend, but assured me he hadn’t yet made up his mind on the issue, and promised to call me on Monday. I later e-mailed him my cell phone number. I was completely shocked when he failed to call.

Tuesday morning he voted on the matter. I was there. That night I sent him a simple, one sentence e-mail: “Please explain why you didn’t talk to me about this issue.” Once again, I’ve received no response.

I’m happy to see this IT professional has now managed to provide a contact e-mail address on the county website. Fair warning, though: Don’t expect a response. Is this the kind of treatment we should expect from our elected officials?

Tags: opinion, letters, government