Month: December 2016

12/30/2016 A Voice from the Gallery

12/28/2016 A Voice from the Gallery

PART THREE

“When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat…”

attributed to Ronald Reagan

“I was appalled at the treatment handed out to Alcester City Attorney Chuck Haugland in the December 28, 2016, meeting by Mayor Glas and Finance Officer Pat Jurrens in the public forum…”.

Mayor Glas is in charge of all meetings in which he is present and he is responsible for the agenda. Key word here is ‘present’. Remember that History of Events in Part One? Let me refresh:

  • May 2014- Councilwoman Pat Jurrens votes to dismiss Finance Officer Mike Kezar and is present when Mayor Rick Johnson requests the position of Finance Officer be advertised.

 I have to wonder who wrote those advertisements because the description of duties are more in line with City Administrator not a Finance Officer.

  • June 2014- Mayor Johnson asks for executive session to discuss Finance Officer position. Council votes to hire Pat Jurrens as Finance Officer with a training salary of $40K ayes-K. Johnson, M. Dykstra, D. Larsen no-M. Burke.

(Note: Councilwoman Pat Jurrens is not included in the executive session)

  • July 2014-Jurrens resigns. Jurrens starts training at $40K under Finance Officer Mike Kezar making $38K+/-.
  • September 2014-Jurrens assumes duties of Finance Officer.
  • November 2014-FO Jurrens requests permission to attend an Election Class workshop as well as Ass’t FO Halverson also be allowed to attend the Election Class workshop. Council voted unanimously in favor of the Election Class workshop.

(Note: Ass’t Finance Officer Wanda Halverson was hired to assist Finance Officer Mike Kezar and to be in the Finance Office when the Finance Officer was away so Alcester residents and taxpayers would have complete access to the city office without closing the office.)

 

  • November 7, 2016-Executive session SDCL 1-25-2-4

   SDCL 1-25-2-4: Preparing for contract negotiations or negotiating with employees or employee representatives;(Note SDCL: 1-25-2-1 “…The term ’employee’ does not include  any independent contractor…)

  • December 5, 2016- Executive session SDCL 1-25-2-4

           SDCL 1-25-2-4: Preparing for contract negotiations or negotiation with employees or  employee representatives;(Note SDCL: 1-25-2-1 “…The term ’employee’ does not include  any independent contractor…)

  • Let’s get back to FO Jurrens deleterious list:
  • In my experience, generally City Attorneys act as parliamentarians for the City mayor and council.

City Attorney failed to provide oaths for the Election workers. 

          Mr. Haugland’s Answer-He did provide the oaths for the election workers and  according to the public conversation, you at some point altered legal documents supplied by Attorney Haugland.

Vickie’s observation-FO Jurrens in December 2014 YOU attended an Election Class Workshop accompanied by Ass’t FO Halverson and paid by the city. FO Jurrens nowhere in the duties of a Finance Officer are you allowed to play kibitzer to the city                      attorney!  

City Attorney not up-to-speed.

        Mr. Haugland’s Answer-45 minutes before council meeting is not sufficient time to render an opinion sound enough to vote on.   Emergency issues are covered in the retainer document.

Vickie’s observation-FO Jurrens, as finance officer it is your duty to provide information and back stories on all warrants, bonds, and  other forms of indebtedness or projected indebtedness in advance  of the meeting so council members can research and familiarize  themselves before the expectation of voting on the issues.  To date and to my personal observation, council members are  seeing agenda issues for the first time as they seat themselves at the council table on meeting night.

          City Attorney unaware of off-sale liquor license

      Mr. Haugland’s Answer-For the past months, Mr.Haugland has been advised he is not needed at the meeting.

Vickie’s observation– The agenda has shown legal line items, yet Mr. Haugland has been apparently, deliberately excluded from the meeting to ‘save money’. According to their public discourse Mayor Glas and FO Jurrens, feel City Attorney has been over-billing the city when he revised an oath and made a necessary change in language in a contract (evidently the ones that FO Jurrens had not adjusted on her own, which has the effect of voiding them cause she is not licensed at the SD Bar not to be confused with the Alcester Bar.) Again drawing contracts is not within the scope of FO Jurrens’ municipal bookkeeping duties.

          City Attorney Haugland did not advise FO Jurrens how to get recycling on the ballot.

      Mr. Haugland’s Answer–He was in his office and save Councilman Mark Dykstra’s appearance in his office on December 27, 2016, neither FO Jurrens or Mayor Glas has stopped in to talk to him with regards to city business.

Vickie’s observation-FO Jurrens and Ass’t FO Halverson attended Election Class Workshop in 2014, did they not take notes or bring  the syllabus home with them. Did they not attend the Election Class Workshops held in 2015 and 2016?  Hey, they could have  asked me, I know how to get an Initiated Measure or referral on the ballot. Shoot, I know the process to recall a bad mayor! 

Now that should make ya’ll hearts go pitty-Pat!                   

I had to tutor the Mayor and FO Jurrens about adopted Ordinance language and how it affects Election Wards and unfortunately FO Jurrens failed to understand the ballots must be PUT BACK INTO THE BALLOT BOX AFTER THE COUNTING PROCESS AND LOCKED if they are left over-night.  Kinda messed up any recount opportunity on the recycling vote outcome, Right?  Not an over-sight, just a municipal Finance Officer failing to know her job!

VICKIE’S LIST

Since FO Jurrens felt it was necessary to present her ‘list’ in open meeting painting the kettle black. Let me paint the PAT!

Ø FO Jurrens’ duties as Finance Officer is to supervise the accounting system.  Yup and according to what I hear, she’s a real Wiz on the computer and programs. So when she short paid our local accountant Dwight by the $500 up-charge for the extra time it took him to audit the city’s books because she failed to correct the Quick Books anomaly with the excuse Dwight didn’t notify her of the anomaly. It is her responsibility to KNOW the program and be aware of the updates. Dwight’s only duty was to make sure accounting procedures and SD laws were followed, NOT to take a $500 hit. Shame on the council for allowing her to get away with stiffing Dwight!      

Ø FO Jurrens’ duties as Finance Officer is to keep accurate records of all moneys received by the municipality or owed to the municipality (this especially includes special assessments and utilities. This would include operating under Banking 101 rules as to NSF checks and not acting on gut-feeling a water bill check might be NSF. Like Schrödingers Cat, the check is not bad until you open the box by depositing it. According to banking rules a teller or any other banking official can only release funds information on an account at the specific time of the telephone call. Certainly not justification for shutting a resident’s water off! Again part of your duty to know!

Ø FO Jurrens’ duties as Finance Officer is the chief officer of all local elections (including handling all petitions for nomination, initiative, or referendum).  That means when the council globally adopts a book load of ordinances, the same book you had former Mayor Peter Larsen order for you, ya’ll should sit down, read it and understand all consequences of adoption into the city  ordinances and not just cherry-pick those you want to inflict on residents. I guarantee, if you don’t it will come back and bite you. Just like the Ward III boundary issue three days before a city election when the Union County Attorney and the Union County Auditor schooled you in elections and semantics after I had already told you and Mayor Glas two monthly council meetings before the election. Also when a candidate asks how many signatures they need for their petition for Ward III council position, the response you gave me, “if you have 10 or 12 you should be okay”-just doesn’t  cut it!

Ø FO Jurrens’ duties as Finance Officer do not include being a seventh council member and participation in executive session UNLESS the executive session involves indebtedness of the city and only to report moneys received.

Ø FO Jurrens’ duties as Finance Officer do not allow her to sit in executive session and interrogate council candidates and police officer candidates or make recommendations of their fitness of holding office.

Especially when FO Jurrens as Councilwoman Jurrens voted to dismiss former Finance Officer Mike Kezar and then applying for his job.  It is not proper for FO Jurrens or Ass’t FO Halverson to present a, list of people we would like to see on the council…people we work with on other committees…” as candidates for Ward I City Council member, especially when one of those ‘preferred people’ is a BFF of Ass’t FO’s daughter.

It is not proper for FO Jurrens to make comments as to the male-female make-up of the council.

It is not proper for FO Jurrens or Ass’t Halvorson to present a list of people, “we would like to see on the council…people we work with on other committees…” as candidates for
Ward I City Council member, especially when one of those ‘preferred’ people is a BFF of Ass’t FO’s daughter.

It is not proper for a biased FO Jurrens to sit in Executive session during the questioning of Ward I candidate Mike Kezar, a man she voted to dismiss from his Finance Officer job with the city and then applied for his replacement. Nor is it appropriate for FO Jurrens to remain in executive session to discuss the fitness of Mr. Kezar, a several decades veteran of city employment versus the neophyte young woman with no experience but a BFF of Ass’t FO.  FO Jurrens who spoke for at least 10 minutes of the twenty minute executive session advocating her pick.

Ø FO Jurrens’ duties as Finance Officer do not include input on concrete repair (outside of her scope of duties and expertise) nor to solicit advice from Kevin Pies of Pies Construction without advising the council of conflict of interests  because Mr. Pies is Ass’t FO’s so-in-law. NEPOTISM?

Ø It is not among FO Jurrens duties as Finance Officer to contact Beresford City           Attorney Tom Frieberg to participate in a legal conversation with Mr. Frieberg               about contempt charges or the divorce details of Loren Fischer,  contractor for Alcester garbage pick-up. She is not an attorney, she is not the Alcester city attorney, she is not the Mayor nor is she a city administrator and as Alcester Finance Officer, FO Jurrens has no standing in such a conversation as she spoke of in open session of the December 28, 2016, Alcester City Council Meeting.

Ø FO Jurrens’ duties do not include advising sitting Councilwoman Julia Sundstrom she should make the motion to adjourn!

Ø It should be FO Jurrens’ duties to establish a city website where all ordinances are on-line available for review, meeting agendas are published, minutes of meetings are published and city notices published. After all, FO Jurrens is a  Wiz at computers.

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12/29/2016 A Voice from the Gallery

12/28/2016 A Voice from the Gallery Part Two

I was appalled at the treatment handed out to Alcester City Attorney Chuck Haugland in the December 28, 2016, meeting by Mayor Glas and Finance Officer Pat Jurrens in the public forum. I watched and I heard. I have been on the receiving end of the Mayor and FO but I have not given my professional time at a reduced rate to the city of Alcester only to be kicked in the gut by an over-reaching finance officer and a Mayor who doesn’t have a clue!

Assistant Finance Officer Wanda Halverson hand-delivered a notice of tree violation on the 09/07/2016 me.

On October 3, 2016, I sent a written FOIA request:

 

10-03-2016-foia-req

I received a letter of denial date October 4, 2016, but carrying a postmark of October 11, 2016.    

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I rebutted the denial on October 17,2016

  •    10-17-2016 REBUTTAL.jpg
  • 10-17-2016-rebut-page-2
  •  I receive no answer from the city. November meeting, I remind the Mayor and FO Jurrens of my FOIA and I was told two lawyers were consulted. My take, first contact was with Beresford City Attorney Tom Freiberg working with Compliance Officer Geoff Fillingsness and then as an after-thought the FO Jurrens spoke with Alcester City Attorney Chuck Haugland.

On November 22, 2016, I contacted the SD Office of Hearing Examiners for review of my FOIA request.    

 

  •  11-22-2016-req-review-of-foia   11-22-2016-hearing-exam-page-2

November 29, 2016, I received notice the SD Office of Hearing Examiners had contacted the City offices.

sd-office-hearing-examiners-11-29-2016-fo-jurrens

On December 7, 2016, the City acquiesces to my request.

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My response to city.

12-08-2016 REPLY TO CITY ACQUIESCE.jpg

On December 13, 2016, I examined and finally obtained copies of the documents I requested. 

I received the information I requested and found at least two addresses conspicuously absent.  Cherry picking seems to be the term best applied.  As you can see in the denial letter, Mayor Glas invited me to drive around and take pictures.  I had already done that but took a second look two months later.  It must be who ya’ll know or who ya’ll work with. Just sayin’

Take a good look at the hoop jumping and time expended in showing me my place!

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2016-11-07-08-45-57

 

 

12/28/2016 A Voice from the Gallery

PART ONE

     Mayor Tom Glas called the December 28, 2016 special Alcester City Council meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited, followed by Approval of Agenda, the first item on the agenda. And…

“…with the rocket’s red glare, the bombs burst in the air…”

Retainer agreement (Independent contractor for legal services) discussion agenda item! Ya’ know the discussion BEFORE the motion.   Yup tha’d be the one!

History of Events

  • May 2014 May Rick Johnson appoints Finance Officer Mike Kezar only to September 2015 at a wage of $38K with Councilwoman Pat Jurrens voting to approve the limited appointment. Mayor Rick Johnson declares advertisements be placed for Alcester City Finance Officer position.
  • June 2, 2014, Mayor Rick Johnson declares executive session to discuss Finance Officer position. Upon exit from executive session Mayor Johnson and the Alcester City Council offer Councilwoman Pat Jurrens the position of Finance Officer at a training salary of $40K per year.
  • July 7, 2014, Pat Jurrens resigns Councilwoman position to start training under Finance Officer Mike Kezar. Ironic, Ms. Jurrens is making a training salary of $40K per year to be trained by a decade’s veteran Finance Officer making $38K per year.
  • September 3, 2014, Pat Jurrens assumes Finance Officer duties.
  • November 5, 2014, Finance Officer Pat Jurrens asks the council for permission for FO Pat Jurrens and Asst.FO Wanda Halverson to attend an Election Class Workshop. Council voted unanimously to send the FO’s to Election Class workshop.
  • November 7, 2016, Executive session 1-25-2-4 Contract Negotiations.
  • December 5, 2016, Executive session 1-25-2-4 Contract Negotiations.

 

 Duties of the municipal finance officer (generic)

»Supervise the accounting system of all departments and offices of the municipality-no city manage. Finance officer draws and countersigns warrants, bonds, or other forms of indebtedness, all contracts, and keeps records of amounts and to who they are issued.

»Keeps the official seal of the municipality, all papers, records, must record all proceedings of the governing body.

»Keeps all official documents and destroys only those which the record retention board deems no longer of value.

»Keeps accurate records of all moneys received by the municipality or owed to the municipality (especially includes special assessments & utilities).

»Finance Officer aids the governing board with budget preparation.

»Finance Officer must report to the county auditor and the state an annual report of the financial statements and each department must turn in an inventory to be on file with the finance officer.

»Finance Officer must act a clerk to the local equalization board.

»The Finance Officer is the chief officer of all local elections (including handling all petitions for nomination, initiative or referendum).

Now to the ‘discussion’ in open session. Alcester City Attorney Chuck Haugland was finally invited to the party! You see folks for the past months City Attorney Haugland was told his presence was not needed at the council meeting or he was only needed for 30 minutes even though the printed agenda indicated lawsuit discussions or contract negotiations. The consequence of this action by Mayor Glas and/or FO Pat Jurrens was that Alcester City Attorney Haugland was kept in the dark about actions and discussions of the Alcester City Council and then blamed for slow response when the feces-hit-the- fan legal-wise.

At the beginning of the ‘discussion’ I noticed City Attorney Haugland and members of the council were holding what appeared to be a type-written, 4-5 page document. Yeah, it appears this document was a listing complied by FO Pat Jurrens and Mayor Glas of their perception of errors and omissions attributable to the city attorney.

Under the current legal services agreement Attorney Haugland stated his fees since 1975+ were based upon usage with small incremental raises to the current rate of $105 per hour. Attorney Haugland went on the address a partial list of sins (before Councilmember Audri Carlson called for executive session) that FO Jurrens and Mayor Glas compiled:

  • His obligations during tax season, January 01 through May .

Mr. Haugland’s Answer: The City of Alcester is a client just as the tax clients, the City of  Alcester has no pre-emptive status over the other clients of Mr. Haugland which is spelled out in the services agreement.

  • Emergency services, the definition of an emergency service i.e. the Ives Bankruptcy lawsuit as it related to city condemnation of the Broad Street property and 911 dispatch lawsuit.

Mr. Haugland’s Answer: Both of these items were ongoing actions and dependent upon timing of procedural process, outside of the control of City Attorney Haugland.

  • 45 minute warning before legal advice from City Attorney Haugland was expected to give legal opinion.

Mr. Haugland’s Answer: 45 minutes to hear about an issue, get the details of parties involved, a recitation of actions city employees have taken concerning the issue, researching legal precedent on the issue is inappropriate and far from reasonable.

  • FO Pat Jurrens question on getting recycling on the ballot, delayed paperwork for election, and oath for election workers 2016.

Mr. Haugland’s Answer: The paperwork was delivered but called into question FO Jurrens’ apparent amending legal documents drawn and provided by the City Attorney, noting that FO Jurrens was the bookkeeper not an attorney! FO Jurren’s amendment of a legal document was practicing law and “over-stepping” her position! FO Jurrens contacting Beresford Attorney Tom Frieberg for legal advice about Loren Fischer,garbage collection provider for Alcester without contacting Alcester City Attorney Haugland. FO Jurrens fired back, “she was just talking to Mr. Frieberg about Loren Fischer’s divorce, contempt order and its impact on Alcester.”

  • Billing for Legal advice to change an error in an oath of office for Councilman Dan Haeder.

Mr. Haugland’s Answer: FO Jurrens failed to fully inform City Attorney Haugland of a new player on the council on her request for a pre-emptive oath for Mr. Dan Haeder not Mr. Andy Haeder (who was once a Alcester City Councilman).

  • Operating agreement for Deem’s. 

Mr. Haugland’s Answer:  FO Jurrens failed to fully inform City Attorney Haugland of an increase in rent for Deem’s operating agreement with the city. Mr. Haugland was told his presence was not needed at the meeting in which the council decided to bump the Deem’s rent by $100 per month so he was not there to hear.

FO Jurrens responded with Mayor Glas nodding like a bobble head in a strong draft, “Mr. Haugland would be welcome at the whole Alcester City Council meeting, OFF-THE-CLOCK! 

At this point Alcester City Councilwoman Audri Carlson moved to go into executive session pursuant to ‘SDCL 1-25-2-4, contract negotiations with employees or employee representatives’ as advised by FO Jurrens. Yeah, SDCL 1-25-2-1 defines the term employee…Employee does not include any independent contractor. Mr. Haugland is not an employee but an independent contractor. So the motion was amended to SDCL 1-25-2-3 and executive session was approved

5:32 p.m. Mayor Glas, Councilmembers Mark Dykstra, Dan Haeder, Lance  Johnson, Julia Sundstrom, Audri Carlson and David Larsen remained with City Attorney  Chuck Haugland. FO Jurrens, Alcester Police Chief Chris Doty and Vickie Larsen were relegated to the hallway.

5:50 p.m. Approximate time Alcester City Attorney exits executive session.

6:05 p.m. FO Jurrens called into executive session.

6:24 p.m. Council declared out-of-session.

With no motion on agenda item 2017 Retainer Agreement was moved to the January 2017 meeting

At the conclusion of business around 7:20 p.m. a call for a motion to adjourn at which point FO Pat Jurrens told Alcester Councilwoman Julia Sundstrom, “she needed to make the motion because she had not made any motions”? Really? Really? Councilwoman Sundstrom made the motion, Councilman Lance Johnson seconded the motion, yes vote X6…Meeting Adjourned.

12/09/2016 A Voice from the Gallery

The December 5, 2016, meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. with Mayor Glas, Finance Officer Pat Jurrens and all council members present. Notable was the absence of City Attorney evidently ‘once again’ he was not invited to the ‘party’. Given the agenda item number 8, Executive session SDCL -1-25-2-4:

Preparing for contract negotiations or negotiating with employees or employee representatives;

One would think it would be advantageous to have an attorney present when our governing body none of whom to my knowledge have passed the bar and I don’t mean walking past the Alcester Bar or Hillbillies intend to call Executive session for negotiation with employees. H-m-m!

Agenda Item #7  I presented photographs of the classy job on Madam’s brick wall. Please note photos below. Initially Mayor Glas was willing to spend $8K to $10K to ‘parging’ or ‘back plaster’ to make Madam’s brick wall purty! Want to see the result of his ideer of ‘boo-ti-fi-cashun’? Look below! Now The Mayor wants BACK on the HRC WHY, is it because he knows so much about parging? Look below. A couple cans of foam polyurethane and gosh only know what the ‘grey matter’ finger painted on the wall is. FIY polyurethane foam has a drawback, it is not UV stable. Yup that old round thing in the sky that shines down on us and that brick wall will cause the Polyurethane piped in between the bricks to change to an cell block 10 orange color and break down causing it to fall out and litter the alley. Looking at the quasi-parge, it appears a pre-school class had a field trip to the alley behind the bar to practice their finger painting!

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2016-11-21-14-11-16

Agenda Item #9, B, ii; Sewer rate resolution. It has been determined it has been a spell since the sewer rates were raised. Imagine that discovery, just when the North 40 Industrial Park has broken ground. Amazing. Now folks what this means to those of us paying property taxes and sewer charges. Ol’ North 40 Industrial is going to need water and waste water utilities and wouldn’t you know that waste water needs to be ‘lifted up’ to go downhill to the sewer plant. All those Ward I folks who have paid, and paid again with the hope the infrastructure that serves their homes will be updated apparently have to wait and pay again. Let’s see, a street with no homes on it in Ward III budged in line and now it appears the North 40 Industrial Park is budging in line. Seems to me we are gonna have blue porta-potties a sittin’ along the curb in Ward I, next to those spiffy new garbage cans. I can see it now… some poor soul is a sittin’ in his blue thinkin’ cube when ol’ Loren Fischer comes by to pick up garbage and by mistake Ol’ Loren’s brand new magic garbage arm gloms onto the blue porta-potty by mistake and there goes poor Mr. Jones up in the air while he’s a takin’ care of pre-dawn business. The Alcester City Council read this resolution for the first time and I do mean for the very first time. It appears their information is handed out in packets and are waiting for them to arrive at 5:30 p.m. the night of the meeting they’re are to make decisions. Excellent timing Mayor Glas.

        Agenda Item #9, C, ii; Tim Peet Loan Agreement. Some time ago we had a young police officer named Tim Peet who took training at the police academy in Pierre. and a combination of poaching by Sheriff Limoges and allure of much higher wages Officer Peet left the city’s employ, March 16, 2015. At the time of Officer Peet’s resignation, Mayor Tom Glas, Alcester City Councilmen Lance Johnson and Mark Dykstra had a pre-council hissy fit and openly discussing their ideas of punishment, retribution cum get-even-plan for an Alcester City Employee with me sitting and taking notes of their discussion. So much for discretion in dealing with employee matters. December 5, 2016, in open session and once AGAIN Mayor Glas and Alcester City Councilman Lance Johnson did a re-run of their hissy fit of March 16, 2015, there had been a realistic monetary reimbursement agreement between Officer Peet and the Alcester City Council back in 2015.

Now keep in mind certain members of this council handed out a CDBG loan to Madam to cover her (very liquid asset) liquor inventory which I believe she is still paying on. Mayor Glas and Councilman Mark Dykstra brag Madam is ahead on payments. Really? How much of that original liquor inventory is still on the shelf? Inventory has been served, flushed, gone, and she is still paying on the loan. But golly dang, Mayor Glas boasts she is ahead on her payments. GEE whatever happened to Business Loan 101?

So now apparently there is a problem with the payback plan the city had with Officer Peet. Yup! I know this because Mayor Glas and Councilman Lance Johnson were discussing this in open session and in front of me. They talked of sending the Chief of Police after young Mr. Peet. There was a saying back in the day, LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS! Boys, your ship is in danger and ya’ll don’t have a life raft or a paddle. Although I could prolly round up a manufacturing second for ya’ll in the paddle department, it just might be yer ‘deliverance’!

Now on to the second part of the story. The Updating of the Volunteer Roster. Mayor Glas’ name was put on the list, I guess to protect the city for ‘oh, who knows’? So do the liability insurance people know what has been happening in the gym? HAZING? So if an employee is asked to do something by his supervisor or his City Council employer which is dangerous does he risk termination by saying NO? Who gets to pay the liability bill if a Tazing-Hazing goes wrong on Alcester City Property while he appears to be restrained? Is it still considered consensual when it is his employer is making the request and he doesn’t feel he can say no? Maybe you ol’ boys better consult the city attorney before pulling this stunt again. If the academy does it, it is their liability not the city of Alcester.  What do you think Councilman Dykstra?  H-m-m?

Facebook photo 07/28/2014

TASER PRACTICE 07/28/2014