WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News: Clintonville Crew Drives Over Red Tape to Help Mississippi
by Sarah Thomsen
Since Hurricane Katrina, help from all over the country poured into the Gulf Coast, including volunteers from Clintonville. In their line of public service, utility workers are used to taking on big, messy jobs. So when Clintonville employees saw the hurricane's devastation, they offered their services.
Steve Yaeger of the Clintonville Water and Electric Department said, "Backups in sinks and people's bathtubs and stuff like that, don't want raw sewage coming back in like that."
In order to help as soon as possible, they had to bypass the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, and pay for the trip themselves.
"We hit a lot of bureaucratic red tape with trying to go through FEMA, the Red Cross, Wisconsin Emergency Management, and really found that there was no avenue for us to quickly respond," Lisa Kotter, Clintonville city administrator, said.
They didn't wait for the government, knowing they would soon be too busy to leave Clintonville during the fall and winter. "We chose to go through this in a little bit of a unique way," Public Works manager Mike McCord said.
They looked at a map, randomly picked a city, and offered six workers and three trucks for ten days. "And one of public works engineers from Gulfport, Mississippi, said, 'We'd love to have you come down,'" Kotter said.
But bypassing FEMA and the Red Cross meant no federal money to reimburse the workers. When the city realized it needed $18,000 to pay for the workers, it turned to the community for help -- and got an overwhelming response.
"As of today, between pledges and money in-hand, we have approximately $27,500" from local businesses who wanted to do their part, Kotter said.
"All the money in the world wouldn't have helped these people. It's having people and equipment down there doing work. That's what they need," John Klein, owner of Klein Auto, said.
Help in all shapes and sizes from a little community in Northeast Wisconsin. "It says a lot," said Klein, "about the people here. We're good people, we care about people. I think it's a good testament to our small community."
Since Hurricane Katrina, help from all over the country poured into the Gulf Coast, including volunteers from Clintonville. In their line of public service, utility workers are used to taking on big, messy jobs. So when Clintonville employees saw the hurricane's devastation, they offered their services.
Steve Yaeger of the Clintonville Water and Electric Department said, 'Backups in sinks and people's bathtubs and stuff like that, don't want raw sewage coming back in like that.'
In order to help as soon as possible, they had to bypass the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, and pay for the trip themselves.
'We hit a lot of bureaucratic red tape with trying to go through FEMA, the Red Cross, Wisconsin Emergency Management, and really found that there was no avenue for us to quickly respond,' Lisa Kotter, Clintonville city administrator, said.
They didn't wait for the government, knowing they would soon be too busy to leave Clintonville during the fall and winter. 'We chose to go through this in a little bit of a unique way,' Public Works manager Mike McCord said.
They looked at a map, randomly picked a city, and offered six workers and three trucks for ten days. 'And one of public works engineers from Gulfport, Mississippi, said, 'We'd love to have you come down,'' Kotter said.
But bypassing FEMA and the Red Cross meant no federal money to reimburse the workers. When the city realized it needed $18,000 to pay for the workers, it turned to the community for help -- and got an overwhelming response.
"As of today, between pledges and money in-hand, we have approximately $27,500' from local businesses who wanted to do their part," Kotter said.
"All the money in the world wouldn't have helped these people. It's having people and equipment down there doing work. That's what they need," John Klein, owner of Klein Auto, said.
Help in all shapes and sizes from a little community in Northeast Wisconsin. "It says a lot," said Klein, "about the people here. We're good people, we care about people. I think it's a good testament to our small community.' "
Since Hurricane Katrina, help from all over the country poured into the Gulf Coast, including volunteers from Clintonville. In their line of public service, utility workers are used to taking on big, messy jobs. So when Clintonville employees saw the hurricane's devastation, they offered their services.
Steve Yaeger of the Clintonville Water and Electric Department said, "Backups in sinks and people's bathtubs and stuff like that, don't want raw sewage coming back in like that."
In order to help as soon as possible, they had to bypass the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, and pay for the trip themselves.
"We hit a lot of bureaucratic red tape with trying to go through FEMA, the Red Cross, Wisconsin Emergency Management, and really found that there was no avenue for us to quickly respond," Lisa Kotter, Clintonville city administrator, said.
They didn't wait for the government, knowing they would soon be too busy to leave Clintonville during the fall and winter. "We chose to go through this in a little bit of a unique way," Public Works manager Mike McCord said.
They looked at a map, randomly picked a city, and offered six workers and three trucks for ten days. "And one of public works engineers from Gulfport, Mississippi, said, 'We'd love to have you come down,'" Kotter said.
But bypassing FEMA and the Red Cross meant no federal money to reimburse the workers. When the city realized it needed $18,000 to pay for the workers, it turned to the community for help -- and got an overwhelming response.
"As of today, between pledges and money in-hand, we have approximately $27,500" from local businesses who wanted to do their part, Kotter said.
"All the money in the world wouldn't have helped these people. It's having people and equipment down there doing work. That's what they need," John Klein, owner of Klein Auto, said.
Help in all shapes and sizes from a little community in Northeast Wisconsin. "It says a lot," said Klein, "about the people here. We're good people, we care about people. I think it's a good testament to our small community."
Since Hurricane Katrina, help from all over the country poured into the Gulf Coast, including volunteers from Clintonville. In their line of public service, utility workers are used to taking on big, messy jobs. So when Clintonville employees saw the hurricane's devastation, they offered their services.
Steve Yaeger of the Clintonville Water and Electric Department said, 'Backups in sinks and people's bathtubs and stuff like that, don't want raw sewage coming back in like that.'
In order to help as soon as possible, they had to bypass the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, and pay for the trip themselves.
'We hit a lot of bureaucratic red tape with trying to go through FEMA, the Red Cross, Wisconsin Emergency Management, and really found that there was no avenue for us to quickly respond,' Lisa Kotter, Clintonville city administrator, said.
They didn't wait for the government, knowing they would soon be too busy to leave Clintonville during the fall and winter. 'We chose to go through this in a little bit of a unique way,' Public Works manager Mike McCord said.
They looked at a map, randomly picked a city, and offered six workers and three trucks for ten days. 'And one of public works engineers from Gulfport, Mississippi, said, 'We'd love to have you come down,'' Kotter said.
But bypassing FEMA and the Red Cross meant no federal money to reimburse the workers. When the city realized it needed $18,000 to pay for the workers, it turned to the community for help -- and got an overwhelming response.
"As of today, between pledges and money in-hand, we have approximately $27,500' from local businesses who wanted to do their part," Kotter said.
"All the money in the world wouldn't have helped these people. It's having people and equipment down there doing work. That's what they need," John Klein, owner of Klein Auto, said.
Help in all shapes and sizes from a little community in Northeast Wisconsin. "It says a lot," said Klein, "about the people here. We're good people, we care about people. I think it's a good testament to our small community.' "
posted by Gareon | 4:01 PM
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