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Dear Mr. Allen, obviously Tommy Nelson's efforts to remove Mike Starck from the County Board met with failure. It looks like, even if Mike had resigned, which you thought would do the town a favor,the votes show that the community said that you were dead wrong. It seems that Tommy, you and others were wrong, when you thought it was obvious that most people in La Pointe thought Mike was doing a poor job. I don't see how you think that the 40+ people, who voted against Mike, when he ran for the County Board seat, could have been a clue. I would have thought that the people who voted for Mike would have been more of a clue. Did you personally discuss with Attorney Fauerbach his reasons why he recommended a moratorium on recent zoning ordinance enforcement? Or did your group discuss it among yourselves and decide that he wrote the letter recommending a moratorium because the people who put together the changes didn't have a clue what they were doing? The hard work that Mike and others did was obviously costly, both in money and their time. At least there were several good minds that were willing to give of their time. You stated that it was no surprise to you and others, that actually understood the law, that not one of the people who worked on the project knew it was fatally flawed from the beginning. Maybe, Mr. Allen, seeing you and a small handful of others who knows all about zoning and the law, could have offered some advice, or maybe have offered to take on the task yourselves. You state that Mike's EGO is too big to allow his brain to come to the decision to step down. You probably think your EGO is bigger than his and you are smarter than he. If you are so smart, I'm surprised you would write a such a letter. I certainly don't see Mike floundering in defeat. You said there are a lot of people who don't like Mike and would like him to go away. Far more people than he will ever know. It might have been kinder if you had said that there are people who disagree with Mike, just as there are people who disagree with you. You tend to be nasty at times Mr. Allen. Did the people, who didn't sign the petition, out of fear of retaliation from Mike and his friends, did they fear death? Were they afraid Mike would burn down their homes? What kind of fear did they express? I wonder if the people who fear Mike do so because they can't understand why he has tried for so many years to help them, and those who don't fear him know he has tried and helped to make Madeline the wonderful place it is. You stated that Mike is a "man with lots of (your wife's) money." What in Hell does that have to do with anything other than to probably show jealously on your part, and frankly it is none of your business. Mike and his wife worked for their money! Your last sentence, before your closing signature, "The Doctor," certainly proved you wrong in your effort to vote Mike out of office. One more thought, Mr. Allen, you stated you will see Mike in Civil Court this winter. About what? Maybe you fear a civil suit? In closing, Mr. Allen, it would due our wonderful community of Madeline Island a HUGE service if you and some of your friends could be kinder, a little more polite and a lot more civil, instead of writing crap like your "OPEN LETTER TO MICHAEL STARCK." Jim Rogers

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This letter is posted as it was sent to us as a single paragraph, rather than several paragraphs.).