899. Welcome to today’s Blog. Everyday I go through all kinds of articles, browse Facebook, read newspapers and scour the internet on the lookout for news that I find would interest you, the readers. But I’ve been thinking lately that almost every political news article coming out of the City of Superior has some weird twist, angle, motive or bizarre side to it. I have come to the conclusion that we are dealing with a bunch of dummies. So today we are going to explore some stories to back up my statement. Welcome to the Dummies Edition. Superior style. Ugh!!!

Superior City Council Still Without President

City Attorney Frog Prell continues to work on a memo telling the council if a game of chance is allowed to choose president

June 4, 2019 by Andrew Kirov

SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Superior City Council is still without a President.



This, as City Attorney Frog Prell continues to work on a memo telling the council if it’s allowed to cut a deck of cards or use another game of chance as a tie-breaker to elect the next President.

 At the June 4th meeting, the council voted to table the presidency decision until June 18th.

In the previous three meetings, a council has abstained from voting from either Ruth Ludwig or Brent Fennessy so a tie-breaking vote could not be cast by Mayor Jim Paine.



According to Councilor Dan Olson, the council elected him President in 2008 by cutting a deck of cards.

It’s something he thinks should happen this year so the council can independently elect their leader without a vote from the Mayor, to keep his power in check.



“From where I stand in politics, small town politics, the mayor doesn’t need to break a tie like that,” said Councilor Olson. “He should be a part of the process but shouldn’t be making the recommendations that he will arbitrarily make a decision for the other ten people.”

Council reorganizes following election

Councilor Brent Fennessey nominated Herrick for the post, which was seconded by Herrick. Graskey nominated Garner Moffat, with a second from Councilor Ruth Ludwig. Councilors voted 5-4 in favor of Moffat, but six votes are needed to make the selection.



After Mayor Jim Paine asked if there was an objection to proceed with another round of voting, Fennessey asked if the council could use a game of chance to decide the vice presidency.

In 2019, Fennessey won the council presidency by drawing the high card after three meetings and multiple rounds of voting failed to select a president between him and Ludwig after one councilor chose to abstain from the vote to prevent the mayor from casting a tie-breaking vote.

Games of chance have been used in Wisconsin to break a tie between two candidates. However, City Attorney Frog Prell rendered a controversial opinion in 2019 that would allow a game of chance to decide the selection of council leadership.

“I have always insisted that that is not an option,” Paine said. “That is obviously, the city attorney and I have disagreed years ago. We have not discussed that tonight, but my ruling would be that that’s out of order.”

As the parliamentarian, Paine said the council cannot waive away the rights of members, including those of councilors in the minority. Fennessey said a precedent was set when the council selected its president by a game of chance.



Paine said there’s actually very little precedent for using a game of chance. “I would like to suggest that we postpone this to the next meeting,” Graskey said. “Maybe a full council will help determine the leverage here.”

Graskey made the motion to postpone the decision, which was seconded by Councilor Nicholas Ledin, and approved by the nine members present. Councilor Jack Sweeney was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting.

901. It really is unreal that after the 2019 debacle, here they are 6 years later, same mayor and some of the same councilors trying to figure out what most 5th grade children figured out years ago. Maybe Paine should have kept his big nose out of it and let council figure it out themselves. Like his good buddy Tampon Tim said, “Mind your own damn business”. It is obvious he has no leadership skills. So, a couple of weeks later, another meeting. Here it is.

Council selects 2 vice presidents

By Shelley Nelson

May 07, 2025

SUPERIOR — The Superior City Council will have two vice presidents for the coming year.

Councilors Garner Moffat and Mike Herrick will share the leadership role after an unconventional option was presented to the council. The decision was delayed April 15 after a close vote gave neither nominee the position.

Councilors Nicholas Ledin, Tylor Elm, Ruth Ludwig, Lindsey Graskey and Moffat favored Moffat for the role April 15; Councilors Sarah Anderson, Brent Fennessey, Mark Johnson and Herrick voted for Herrick that night. Neither candidate received the six votes necessary for the leadership post, so the matter was postponed to Tuesday, May 6. Councilor Jack Sweeney was unable to attend the April 15 meeting.

“This was postponed from the last meeting, so we basically pick up where we left off,” Mayor Jim Paine said on May 6. “And we have a full council now, but I think you’re all aware we’re likely heading for a tie, an impasse, or very best case, a very close vote.”

Paine offered the option to select Moffat and Herrick to share the role of vice president for the coming year.

“I guess I don’t necessarily hate the idea,” Fennessey said. “It is a little unconventional. I wanted to ask, what if we first take a crack at it. If we’re at an impasse or a tie, if you would forego your ability to break the tie, whether we do that by roll call vote or a secret ballot … first give us the chance to crack this nut.”

The mayor agreed to withhold his vote to break a tie through one round of voting. By secret ballot Tuesday, Herrick and Moffat each received five votes.

The tie vote prompted Moffat to make a motion to elect himself and Herrick to both serve as vice president, which was seconded by Ludwig.

“It is unconventional; I will agree with that,” said Graskey, who was selected to serve as council president April 15. “But I’m willing to work extra hard to make sure that this is something that is not an irritation to this council, more or less a positive.”



Fennessey said he would prefer to go without a vice president. “I just think it feels a little strange to have two vice presidents,” he said.

The council split 8-2 to select Moffat and Herrick to serve as council vice presidents; Sweeney and Fennessey voted against the motion.



“I think that was a pretty remarkable show of faith in both of those councilors,” Paine said after the vote..

903. Do you feel like you have a front row seat at an “Idiot Convention”? And if that’s not bad enough Paine said:

“If the city likes the new administration structure, they will write in a city ordinance for future co-vice presidents.” 



Are you serious? Hell, just make them all vice-presidents. And God knows, there is never enough city ordinances.

Do our friends at Soupnutz.net have an opinion on this? You Betcha!

Trading Bays and Catching Rays:

May 12, 2025

The Great Sauna Meeting of 2025: City Council Melts Down—Literally

Ah, the Superior Common Council meeting of May 6, 2025—where democracy sweated it out in real time. Let’s set the scene: the thermostat in the building had apparently declared war on comfort, cranking up the heat like it was auditioning for a remake of The Towering Inferno. Mayor Jim Paine kicked off his report by apologizing for the heat but not too much because, as he put it, he’d been “living with it all day.” Living with it? Buddy, you didn’t just live with it—you marinated in it.

And you have to wonder: was all that sweating from the heat…or from that little stunt where he allegedly tried to trade away Pokegama Bay for a family easement issue? That’s right—rumor has it, Paine was ready to swap a chunk of Superior’s waterfront like it was a Pokémon card just to smooth over some backdoor handshake. I guess when you’ve got the power to negotiate city assets like you’re playing Monopoly, the thermostat isn’t the only thing getting turned up.

But hey, he told folks to step outside if they couldn’t handle it. Nothing like a good old-fashioned civic sweat lodge to hash out shady land deals and half-baked budget reports. Who needs transparency when you’ve got steam clouds thick enough to hide all the paperwork?

“Oops, My City’s on Fire”—Mayor Payne’s Report

While the council was collectively contemplating spontaneous combustion, Mayor Payne soldiered on with his report. He casually dropped the news that the thermostat was clocked at 89 degrees below zero earlier that morning. That’s not a thermostat malfunction—that’s Narnia. I half expected Mr. Tumnus to stroll in and ask for a zoning permit. But no, the heat was on, and the Mayor just told folks to step out if they couldn’t handle it. Nothing like a good old-fashioned civic sweat lodge to really hash out the local ordinances.

Public Works: Potholes, Pump-outs, and the Death of Spring Cleanup

Councilor Ludwig delivered the Public Works Committee report with all the enthusiasm of someone reading a eulogy for road maintenance. First up: the Tower Avenue Project, which is supposed to “enhance traffic flow and improve safety.” That’s government-speak for “we’re gonna rip up the roads, and you’re gonna hate your commute.”



But the real funeral was for Spring Cleanup, which is being dragged out back and shot because the landfill is closing. That’s right, folks—your annual pilgrimage to dump all your broken dreams and rusted lawn chairs is coming to an end. A little part of Superior dies with it, right? I say we hold a candlelight vigil next spring. Bring your busted microwaves and mattresses for one last hurrah.

The Skate Park Saga: A Million Bucks for Concrete Glory

Now here’s where it gets spicy. The Parks and Recreation Committee pushed through a $1,012,000 budget for the Heritage Skate Park rebuild. I didn’t know skateboarding was this lucrative. A million bucks to essentially recreate what every kid in the 90s did with a wooden ramp and a half-broken BMX bike. But wait—it’s going to be made of “better materials.” So, concrete instead of splinters and prayers, I guess.

There was a whole debate about whether skateboarding is going to be relevant in ten years. Councilor Sweeney wanted hard numbers, like it was some sort of Skateboarding GDP Report. Spoiler alert: it’s now an Olympic sport. So yeah, it’s probably going to outlive most of the councilors debating it.

The Great Co-Vice Presidency Gamble of 2025: Now with Extra Clowns

And finally, the pièce de résistance: the council couldn’t decide on a Vice President because of a tie vote. So what do they do? They elected both nominees as co-Vice Presidents. That’s right—five card-carrying members of the Clown Posse, still in power, still juggling city business with the grace of a three-legged giraffe. Among the honk-nosed elite: Garner I Want a Raise Moffat, who managed to squeak into the co-VP spot, probably promising to approve any motion as long as it includes extra sprinkles on his donut.

But wait, the circus isn’t over. Oh no, the Big Top’s still up, and Lindsey Open Meetings Violation? Never Heard of It Graskey somehow kept her throne as Council President. You’d think multiple slaps on the wrist for skirting transparency laws would be a dealbreaker, but in the political funhouse that is Superior, breaking the rules is basically a resume booster. It’s like failing upwards is the official city sport—commit a few violations, and you don’t get benched; you get promoted.

I mean, why punish incompetence when you can reward it? It’s practically a tradition at this point. Graskey’s got more second chances than a sitcom character, and now she’s calling the shots while eyeing $600k in taxpayer dollars to paint a grain silo. Because nothing screams fiscal responsibility like turning agricultural storage into a vanity project.

So now we’ve got two Vice Presidents, one president with a rap sheet for open meetings violations, and a council that collectively believes the best way to fix gridlock is to double the steering wheels. Democracy in action, folks. Or maybe it’s just the dress rehearsal for the next season of American Greed.

One of the weirder discussions was about the taxi cab licensing disaster. Apparently, taxis from Duluth can drop people off in Superior but can’t pick them up. It’s like they have a restraining order against their own business model. The Licensing and Fees Committee decided to do absolutely nothing about it, blaming it on Uber and Lyft. Because when in doubt, just point at Silicon Valley and shrug.

904. Thanks again to Soupnutz,net, always on point! Speaking about on point, our next story is from our friends at the Duluth Monitor. Most of the complaints I’ve gotten from our readers have to do with unsatisfactory dealings with the city and this article from the Duluth Monitor is one that many of you can relate to.

City of Superior ignored complaints about houses cracking on Ohio Avenue, neighbors say

In February 2024, construction of three new Superior homes began on the 1500 block of Ohio Avenue. After the foundation holes were dug and filled with sand, a compactor was used to tamp down the fill. The last step is required prior to building; if the base isn’t compacted properly, it will create structural issues when it settles after the house is constructed.

The compactor, operated by contractor Joe Kimmes, was large and noisy, and its vibrations shook the neighboring homes. Cheryl Nelson, who lives across the road from the construction site, observed bread bags vibrating in the kitchen as Kimmes operated the heavy roller.



Shortly after the compacting began, Nelson (who had recently had her kitchen repainted) observed two new cracks on her freshly painted walls, running from the corners of door frames toward the ceiling. She found additional cracks in her basement walls; drywall was separating at the seams.

Nelson visited the City of Superior Building Inspections Office to report the cracking, where she spoke to an employee named Brian. The city’s Chief Building Inspector is named Brian Bustrak, and he did not offer much help, according to Nelson.



“All he said was … [for me to] contact my own insurance,” Nelson told the Monitor. “And I said, ‘Why would I file a claim on my insurance, [and make] my rates go up, for something that was damaged from this builder and the equipment he was using?’”

Nelson heard nothing further from the city. Every time she looked at her cracked walls, she grew more frustrated. She said the vibrating continued for approximately two more weeks, at which point Kimmes brought in a smaller roller and her house finally stopped vibrating.



“I had just paid all of that dang money … to have someone come and paint it for me—and I work hard, you know? I saved and saved for it—and then to have the cracks happen, and then there was no [response from the city], you know? Nothing. I was very mad,” Nelson said.

Of the seven neighbors who live on Nelson’s block, the Monitor was able to contact four of them. Two neighbors, in addition to Nelson, reported cracking in their homes. The fourth neighbor—whose home was nearest the construction site—reported no damage.



Mike Flaten lives on the opposite end of Nelson’s block. A large crack appeared on Flaten’s kitchen ceiling when the vibrating began, near the skylight. Flaten also discovered a new crack running from a door frame to the ceiling. Flaten told the Monitor that the cracks appeared shortly after Kimmes began operating the large compactor.

Mike Flaten: They dug everything out and hauled it away. Then he started bringing in sand, and when he had so much to compact in there, that’s when it started. It had to have been [operating for] at least a month.

Monitor: And when did you start noticing it was cracking—right away or did it take a while?

Flaten: Oh, right away. It was within a couple, three days. Because when he was down below, when he was down in the hole doing it, it wasn’t so bad. It was rattling all over, but when he got just a little bit higher up, that’s when we noticed it.

Monitor: I notice you got glass stuff and things [in a cabinet]. Was that all rattling around?

Flaten: Yeah, it was a rattle-trap. It shook everything.

Like Cheryl Nelson had reported, Flaten said the house-shaking vibrations ended when a smaller compactor replaced the large one.



Andrea O’Flanagan, another neighbor, told the Monitor she had discovered new cracks in her walls and ceiling as well. She said she had called the city to register a complaint at that time.

Lack of city response

When Cheryl Nelson visited the City of Superior Building Inspection Office in February 2024 and registered her complaint with “Brian” (presumably Brian Bustrak), Mike Flaten happened to be conducting business in the adjacent office of the Superior Municipal Employee Credit Union office, which shares a waiting area with the Building Inspection Office. After overhearing Nelson speaking to Inspector Bustrak about the cracks in her home, Flaten joined Nelson at the counter to add his own complaint.

According to Flaten, Bustrak showed them the project’s building plans and informed them that the project had secured all the required building permits from his department.



The Monitor first learned about the complaints at the Superior City Council meeting on Sept. 3, 2024, from 8th District Councilor Mike Herrick, as councilors were discussing an unrelated, nearby project on Iowa Avenue.

Councilor Mike Herrick: Is there going to be any basement put in this particular area? The reason why I’m bringing that up is because there was some new development on Ohio Avenue where a lot of homes, their walls became cracked because of the type of work they had to do to build these particular homes there …

Superior Mayor Jim Paine: I’m not entirely sure I follow all of your concerns, Councilor … You were hoping there would not be a basement?

Herrick: I was just wondering if they were going to do any type of rough construction … [and] hopefully doing it in a manner where it will not damage any of the homes—because, like I said, I’ve gotten calls on a project that was just built on 16th and Ohio where … people [had] their walls shaking and cracking and things like that.

Paine: From nearby construction?

Herrick: Yes.



Paine: Okay. That is an issue that I think our building inspection can pay attention to, but I’ll alert them to the complaint that you’ve had.

Herrick: Okay. All right. Thank you.

A public records request submitted to the city by the Monitor failed to produce any evidence of the following:



1. That the neighbors’ complaints were ever documented by the Building Inspection Office;
2. That any city employee ever visited the site after the complaints were made;
3. That anyone contacted Joe Kimmes to inquire about the large compactor being used on the site; or
4. That Mayor Paine ever notified the Building Inspection Office about Councilor Herrick’s complaint.

In fact, our public records request produced no responsive data whatsoever.

Documenting the damage

The Monitor visited Ohio Avenue on Sept. 4, 2024, to document the cracking. We also submitted questions to Building Inspector Bustrak via email:

Was this event investigated?

Was the builder notified that these complaints had been made? Did the builder suffer any repercussions?

Are there no city codes to enforce with regard to construction damaging others’ property?

When we looked up the properties in question (1513 Ohio, 1517 Ohio, and 1521 Ohio), it appeared that the New Construction permits had expired for all three dwellings. Is this the case?

We received the following response from Assistant Public Works Director Chris Carlson the same day:

All the permits are current and remain active for two years from their issuance date … To the best of our knowledge, the projects are being built in compliance with all applicable building codes.



The Monitor responded:

Is the city’s only response going to be that the developer has permits? The Monitor‘s readers will want more. Does having a permit mean that someone can bring a giant roller onto the property and vibrate everyone’s homes for several weeks? Does the city have no guidelines regulating the size of the equipment that can be used on residential projects? …

I am pretty sure Mr. Bustrak is the person who took the neighbors’ complaints [back in February], so I would certainly like to speak with him. Did he make a record of these complaints? What did he do in response?



Two months passed without a response. On Nov. 18, 2024, Monitor Publisher John Ramos visited the Building Inspection Office in person and spoke with Bustrak. Bustrak was unable to recollect that Cheryl Nelson and Mike Flaten had ever visited him to complain about the damage to their homes.

Ramos: Hey. John Ramos, with the Duluth Monitor.

Bustrak: Uh-huh.

Ramos: I sent you some questions about the Ohio Ave. project.

Bustrak: Yeah … I forwarded that on to my boss …

Ramos: All right. That’s the last word on it? You’re not going to tell me anything else?

Bustrak: That’s about…that’s about all I can do, is…

Ramos: I mean, you could answer my questions.

Bustrak: Some of your questions were rather loaded and have pre-suppositions in them.

Ramos: Like what?

Bustrak: Do you have a copy of that? I can pull it up.

Ramos: Of my questions?

Bustrak: Yeah.

Ramos: Well, they were: Did you receive complaints from residents of Ohio Avenue? Did you make a record of those? And then I requested the record of those. The only answer I was given was from Chris, and he said something like, “They have their permits” or something.

Now, what the residents were telling me was there was a massive roller on that site—like, for interstate construction or something—which is why everybody’s houses were vibrating. Now, after they complained, it turned into a smaller roller and the problem stopped. But my question was about that massive roller. What governs that kind of thing? …

Bustrak: I can try to answer questions that are factual. To the best of my knowledge, I have only secondhand information [that] somebody called. They didn’t speak to me directly, but there was a complaint. When there is a phone call complaint, if there’s follow-up, we do keep a record. So say somebody called and talked to somebody, there is not necessarily a phone record.

Ramos: I was told that two people were down here, in person, and they talked to a Brian.

Bustrak: Ah, ah, Brian Waldoch is the owner of the project.

Ramos: No, I was told that they came [here]. One person came down to do a complaint—they talked to a Brian. A second one, who was doing business here [in the credit union]—he heard them talking and he was like, “Hey, I live on that block and my house is cracked, too” …

Bustrak: I have no recollection of speaking to somebody at the counter about that …

Although Bustrak could not recall discussing the matter with Nelson and Flaten, he downplayed their concerns.

Ramos: So I have pictures of three different people’s houses with cracks in the walls and the ceiling, and I’m like, “How come the city doesn’t care about this?” I don’t get it. Like, it all happened at the same time.

Bustrak: I…I—to say there’s a building that has cracks in it and to say that there’s a building that has cracks from a compactor running across the street, you know, that’s like saying one plus one equals three.

Ramos: Well, they all told me that’s when it happened. So, okay, you’re saying that they’re not telling the truth?

Bustrak: I’m saying…

Ramos: I have video of their houses, stuff vibrating—so, I mean, I don’t have video of the crack appearing, but I have video of their bread bags vibrating like this.

Bustrak: I can really not speak to that.

When Ramos attempted to take Bustrak’s picture, Bustrak ran—literally—into the back office.

The Monitor heard nothing further from the city for six more weeks. On Dec. 31, 2024, Ramos emailed Public Works Director Todd Janigo:

I have had this story sitting on my desk for a while now. A few weeks ago, I stopped in and spoke with Brian Bustrak about it. He denied that he had ever spoken with the Ohio Avenue neighbors or taken a complaint from them. I have two neighbors who tell me that they did speak with Mr. Bustrak, in person, in his office, back in February.

Bustrak also downplayed concerns about cracks in houses, saying that I could show him a crack, but there was no way to prove how it happened.

Be that as it may, I feel he is avoiding the issue.

1) I am concerned that no record exists of the neighbors’ visit to Bustrak in February. Doesn’t the city have a process to document complaints?

2) Even if everything on the building project was legitimate, wouldn’t the city at least go to the site to verify this, once complaints were received?

3) The issue here is that the compactor being used on the site was enormous and vibrating houses all around. I have photographs of cracks in three houses … It seems to me that the city should have at least looked into this. Isn’t there a city policy governing the size of machines that can be used on residential construction?

4) The issue, it seems to me, is the lack of response from the city. As far as I can tell, nobody did anything when neighbors complained—didn’t visit the site, didn’t contact the developer for more information, didn’t write up a formal report. Why not?



I would like to get to the bottom of this, but so far the city has been very unresponsive to my concerns—which is the same thing the neighbors have experienced.

After hearing nothing for two weeks, Ramos sent another email to Janigo and Bustrak on Jan. 13, 2025—this time copying Mayor Paine on the exchange.

I have been looking into the matter of houses on Ohio Avenue which cracked during nearby construction activities last February. The response from city staff has been minimal, both in regards to my public records request and my questions. Brian Bustrak actually denied to me that neighbors ever expressed their concerns to him, and (apparently) no record of such complaints exists.

I am concerned by what appears to be a complete disregard of citizens’ concerns. The neighbors continue to contact me, wondering why the city refuses to acknowledge them. They have also raised their concerns with Councilor Herrick.

I reiterate the questions earlier in this email exchange, and restate two of them here:

1) The problem, as described by the neighbors, is that the contractor used a compactor far too large for the site, which vibrated buildings for a block around and cracked some of them. Does the city have guidelines regarding the size of machinery that can be used for residential construction—or are there no guidelines?

2) Did anyone from the city speak with the builder after the neighbors made their concerns known? Who? When? What did the builder say?



I would also like a substantive response to my public records request, which I submitted four months ago.

The mayor responds

On Jan. 13, 2025 (four-and-a-half months after Councilor Herrick believed Mayor Paine had referred the matter to the Building Inspection Department), the Monitor received the following email from Mayor Paine.

I’ve looked briefly into your questions to get you some immediate answers.

To my knowledge, neither city nor state law regulates the size of machinery used in residential construction. The building code governs design and construction, not means and methods. I don’t have a thorough knowledge of the building code, but our public works staff weren’t aware of any regulations on machine size either. We have some restrictions on the size of vehicles that can travel city streets but there are several exemptions and contractors can receive permits for construction sites. We’d have to know the weight of the machine (or the make and model) to determine whether there was a possible violation, but it seems unlikely. Most construction equipment is under weight. The limit typically applies to much heavier trucks.

I don’t know whether anyone spoke to the builder about this specific concern, but it’s important to remember that we can’t regulate construction or impose requirements beyond the code. Obviously, I would hope that the contractor would be respectful of the neighbors but, if they are otherwise following the law, we have no authority to intervene. We have occasionally asked contractors to change methods based on neighborhood complaints, but it seems these complaints came after the fact.

As I read through the chain of emails, it seems you are saying that the neighbors have collected evidence that damage to their homes was directly attributable to the construction methods. If that is true, it’s possible they would have a civil claim against the builder, but I certainly can’t give legal advice. Like Councilor Herrick, I’d like to help these neighbors any way I can, but I can only impose existing regulations and legally permissible consequences on the builder.

Mayor Paine also personally visited Ohio Avenue, spoke to neighbors, and observed the cracks in Cheryl Nelson’s home.



On March 4, 2025, Ramos asked Mayor Paine a few questions after the regular Common Council meeting.

Ramos: So was there a follow-up on Ohio Avenue?

Paine: Yes. Yes.

Ramos: And I heard you visited some of them.

Paine: Yeah, I called…I don’t know if it was everybody, but a few people. And then I went out there to…

Ramos: Cheryl’s house?

Paine: Yeah, with the cracks? So I looked at the cracks and I gave her some advice. I was pretty cautious about it, because I’m not in a position to give any legal advice. I’m not an attorney, so I can’t advise her on her legal options, but one piece of advice I gave her was to talk to an attorney … I wanted to be real careful about [giving legal advice], but, I mean, small claims court works for stuff like that, if you can’t have direct mediation with a contractor and the contractor damages your home … Usually, I advise people to call that contractor first ….

Ramos: I did talk to one person who said, when [builders] do these kind of projects, they have to go around and take pictures of the neighbors’ foundations and things prior to vibrating the earth, so they’d have a Before, and, in case something happens, an After picture.

Paine: I mean, that sounds like a really reasonable thing to do. I don’t know if that’s code.

Ramos: It’s not, like, required or anything?

Paine: Doing residential work in residential neighborhoods, we run into quite a few problems. You know, nobody likes a construction site. Even roofers can really irritate people. And so we try to push a certain amount of courtesy in neighborhoods. But, like I told you before, to a certain extent, the law is the law, and so we can’t, like, pull a permit.



There are some things we can do if somebody’s, like, making a lot of noise in the middle of the night. I guess the biggest complaint is contractors starting work too early.

I wish I had a better answer, but I talked to them.

Kimmes comments

On March 24, 2025, the Monitor spoke with Joe Kimmes for more than an hour. Kimmes said he had not heard about his compacting work cracking houses in the vicinity. He also questioned why he was hearing about it for the first time from a reporter, more than a year after the job had been completed.

Kimmes vehemently denied that his compactor could have cracked the homes. He stated that the houses were likely cracking because soil correction had not been completed properly before they had been built.

“They didn’t do the soil correction correctly, like I did,” said Kimmes. “If you don’t do the soil correction, of course there’s going to be cracks in your foundation. It has nothing to do with a little bit of vibration from a roller.”

Kimmes repeatedly explained that soil correction had to be completed for new construction. “What would you have liked us to do?” he asked. “I guess that’s my question. Would you have liked us not to compact the ground at all? We do it on every single site we ever go to.”

“I’m not disputing that the ground needs to be compacted,” said Ramos. “I’m just wondering if you take any responsibility.”



“It’s not my responsibility at all,” said Kimmes. “The houses move when you don’t do the soil correction right. So it had nothing to do with the fact that we rolled.

 They’re Karens looking to get paid … I’ve been doing this since I was twelve, so if there’s some Karen that thinks that it’s my fault, that I rolled the ground and that caused her house to move, it will never get proven in court—never in a million years—that I rolled it with my little, tiny roller and I made her house move.”

Ramos mentioned that the neighbors had said he used two rollers—a big one initially, which caused problems, and a smaller one later, which didn’t.

“If the city felt like I did something wrong, they would have contacted me right away,” said Kimmes. “We didn’t do anything wrong. The reason that those houses are failing is they’re sitting on top of an old landfill and so they’re not dug down 18 feet into the ground for the soil correction, where it had to be.”

Kimmes also pointed out that the home closest to the work site had reported no cracks.

Later in the conversation, Kimmes speculated that the neighbors simply might not want to have new houses in their neighborhood.

Joe Kimmes: They’re just being difficult because they don’t want a house there. That’s the only reason why they’re not happy. It happens everywhere we go, John. It’s got nothing to do with what’s actually going on there. It just has to do with the fact that there’s a house going in and there used to be a nice field there where their kids could play. Now there’s another house there and now they got a neighbor in it and … they don’t want it there.



The Monitor appreciated Kimmes taking as much time talking with us as he did. More than once, Kimmes expressed concern that the Monitor was going to portray him as a “bad guy.” He insisted that the opposite was true.

Kimmes: I’m not a bad guy, man. I try to do my job to the best of my ability. I don’t want neighbors mad. I don’t want my customers mad … It does bother me that anyone was even mad at all, and that I hear about it a year later … We’ve been here [in Superior] forever. We like everybody to back us. We’re good people and we do a good job. We’ve been doing this for a long time and we want everybody to be happy … I would go a long ways just to get somebody to be happy … I just don’t want people mad. There’s no reason for it. I’d try to work with anybody I could, if I knew there was a problem.

Take-home messages

Throughout this investigation, it is Chief Inspector Bustrak’s repeated denial that he discussed the matter with Nelson and Flaten, in conjunction with the city’s overall lack of responsiveness, that we find most concerning. Had Bustrak taken the matter seriously in February of 2024, when Nelson and Flaten registered their complaints, city staff could have notified Kimmes about the complaints and prevented additional damage, at the very least, by having Kimmes use the smaller compactor sooner than he had planned.



Instead, Bustrak appears to have done nothing after speaking with Nelson and Flaten. He didn’t even bother to document that the conversation had occurred. When he was asked about it nine months later, Bustrak simply denied that he’d spoken with the two neighbors.

The Monitor believes that Nelson and Flaten spoke with Bustrak in February 2024. There were no discrepancies between their stories (which we heard separately, and on the same day). Bustrak either really did forget about speaking with them, or he lied to protect himself—neither of which reflects well on the City of Superior.



The fact that Bustrak fled from the Monitor’s camera was eye-opening.

On March 4, 2025, when the Monitor followed up with Mayor Paine on how the issue was being addressed, Paine stated the following:

Paine: It was kind of a long time ago, so it’s tough to know exactly what was said and in what tone it was said in, but I did talk to Building Inspection about, like, listen, when folks come in—even if it doesn’t feel within our wheelhouse, even if it’s not something we’re able to help with—we do what we can to help. We offer whatever advice we can and try to at least explain the rules in a way that people can feel heard, at least.

As previously noted, the mayor himself also appears to have failed his constituents, by failing to notify the Building Inspection Department of the matter, after telling Councilor Herrick he would do so, during the Sept. 3, 2024 meeting of the regular Common Council.



This story underscores the importance of documenting events and exchanges with City of Superior staff and elected officials. When lodging a complaint with the city, recording your conversation can prevent problems like this in the future. It is difficult for people to deny their comments when you have a recording to help them remember.

 UPDATE TO THIS STORY

The Superior City Council appointed Brian Bustrak to fill the top position in the building inspection division at its July 18 meeting. Bustrak will take over when the current chief, Peter Kruit retires. Kruit’s last day on the job will be Jan. 4, 2024. 

905. Wow, now that’s how you write an article. Take note “Cut and Paste” Shelley “The Hack” Nelson” and the Superior Telegram. Of course they didn’t pick up this story, but that’s no surprise. It doesn’t fit their left wing ideological Democratic agenda. And they rarely ever print any stories that reflect negatively on their cherished little Man-King, Jim “The Dummy” Paine.

Speaking of Mayor Paine. Another failure. While your too busy endorsing failed candidates, changing names of holidays, going to “Safety” conferences in Washington, shutting down or making it difficult for businesses, endorsing BLM and many other stupid things like trying to cancel NTEC, a billion dollar energy project, investing or pissing away taxpayers money in what are likely to be failed projects like Disconnect Superior, the Princess Theater and The Carnegie Library, you seem to have forgotten one thing. You are the Mayor of the city, not the whole country.

You stick your nose in things that have little or nothing to do with running the city. You couldn’t handle the voting in of a council vice president and in this story by The Monitor once again exposes your lack of leadership and understanding of what your job as Mayor entails.



Your job is keeping people safe, making sure the roads and infrastructure in good condition, creating an environment that is conducive to businesses. Basic stuff. That’s what the people want. 

You don’t seem to have any understanding or instincts about what your constituents want. You really are not cut out to be a mayor in my opinion. I think it’s a safe bet that you will go down as the worst or one of the worst Mayors ever in Superior. And guess what? You’ve earned it. Your inability to deal with problems which results in making them worse and more complicated is epic. 

And now we have this bizarre and strange story and now lawsuit with the police dept that involves breastfeeding of all things. We will deal with that on the next Blog.

906. I just wanted to say that none of my statements today are geared towards our newest councilor Sarah Anderson since she wasn’t part of most of the events that we covered today. 

That’s it for today. I hoped you enjoyed it and I’ll see you next time on the Blog.



Thanks,

Brian