As a member of our Greenwood community, I am disappointed again by the distorted comments of JoAnn Bassing in last week’s paper. She mistakenly believes you and I are gullible enough to fall for her old message. Thankfully, our community has moved beyond the chaos, ineptitude, pettiness, and deception of past regimes. 
By law, township personnel matters are private. They are not for discussion in public.  Bassing drags private matters of others into the public domain under the guise of “transparency.” The laws exist to protect the person she claims was wronged. If that person chose to, they could open the records for all of us to see all of the facts. Trust me, transparency is not their goal. Our current board has protected the privacy of those involved. I commend them for handling the situation with honesty and integrity, not making things a public spectacle.
She writes about $35,000 in legal fees. This is the unfortunate cost of poor decisions of previous boards, and a few persistent troublemakers. Thankfully, the majority of our current board has demonstrated the ability to make the tough decisions to move us forward.
The concern for our EMS team is real. The state of Minnesota, particularly in rural areas, is struggling with this issue. Statewide, it’s become difficult to hire and retain EMS staff. Sadly, Bassing’s conspiracy theories do nothing to address our needs and provide solutions. Our focus must remain on the continued rebuilding of our EMS and fire department. I believe we need to look at incentives and examine the level of pay and benefits we offer if we expect to recruit and retain quality staff.
Clearly, the majority of our community has chosen the path forward. One can sense the energy and positivity. We have no desire to return to chaos and dysfunction. Our energy is best spent bringing the community together and working towards positive solutions.
Paul Thompson
Greenwood Township