Open letter to Brad Farrell

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Dear Bradley,

I have been following your campaign in the news and checking your web site from time-to-time. I believe you have not been honest with the voters in Rock County. My first indication of this was when you announced your candidacy in Beloit from a funeral home. You failed to mention that you have family connections to that business. This is a real breach of ethics for a candidate to not mention that a business may be supporting you. It leaves the question of financial bias in the mind of voters. I think it would be appropriate for you to let the voters of Rock County know that you may have taken actions that were misleading to them. I must also note that anyone reading between the lines could draw this conclusion just from the fact that you announced at a funeral home. For what possible reason would you want to let the voters of Rock County believe that you are in the pockets of a funeral home? I thought the coroner represents the citizens, not the funeral home businesses. I know that republicans are often making this mistake. Let me remind you, elected officials represent citizens not industry.

Right out of the gate you have made a number of accusations about the current coroner that have no relevance to the present operating situation. As a candidate you have the responsibility to understand the facts related to any comments you make. Failing to do so is again misleading. Hiding behind Adam Peer and taking pot shots at the other candidate does not fit well with the use of the word "Man" on your web site. Both you and Adam have made monumental errors of judgment by attacking the current coroner without knowledge; playing the press in an attempt to transfer the drug issue away from yourself and somehow attach it to your opponent. The public can clearly see through this ploy. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Adam is not your friend. He simply does not want the office to go to a Democrat for a new 4-year term. That is why he keeps harping about the medical examiner system. The truth is that you were a part of the administration that had the drug issue. Everybody would like to know what you were doing when all this was going on and how you were disposing of the drugs after Karen left. There is some suspicion that what you were doing was illegal. At least the third-party candidate can say she did something about it. If you claim you didn't know about these activities then the conclusion would be you were not involved in the operations of the coroner's office as much as you claim. You might want to ask yourself why Adam keeps bringing up the issue of medical examiner. The obvious reason is that he believes you can't win. You might want to discuss this with him and ask the question, why?

Over the years Rock County has had a number of good candidates that have won office and served the citizens superbly. They have included both Republicans and Democrats and the electorate has returned them to office for as long as they continued to provide the high standards expected from the office they held. During these times, a number of challengers have run against them for the sake of having a candidate on the ballot from the other party or because some individual just wanted the job. Again, the voters of Rock County are not stupid. They don't give up a successful public servant just because he/she ran under the other party. Our citizens want good government, not all one party. Simply making unfounded accusations or just wanting the job for your party or you is not in the interests of the public. They will see through this and you will not only fail in your election bid but you will lose your reputation. You should consider how your conduct will affect your reputation for the rest of your life. Attempting to win at any cost could leave you with sour grapes.

Over the several months that you worked at the Rock County Coroner's Office as a part time Deputy Coroner, you had every opportunity to make changes in the drug handling and disposal policies. I would be interested in knowing just what actions you took to assure the public these issues were going away. I do not recall reading anything in the press about actions you may have taken. I'm sure as a candidate that questions like this will come up. The present coroner was able to make major changes during a similar length of time, including reestablishing a working staff. These are the kind of issues that voters want to hear you talk about, not just bashing the other candidates.

I also understand that you were a candidate for the appointed coroner's job in Rock County by Governor Doyle. What concerns me is why you quit! If you truly want to serve the public, you don't leave them high-and-dry. You stick with the job and help the new appointee make the transition. That is what separates the men from the boys. The voters will recognize that you did not have their best interests in mind when you let them down. It will be hard for you to explain how you now deserve their trust. I hope that you are prepared to answer these questions when they come up. As a voter, I will be asking them.

The present coroner has already made all the reforms that you claim you will implement a year-and-a-half after you had the chance. I suggest you consider taking the "Working Man" off of your web site and replacing it with “Mud Slinger”. Only then will it reflect your true ability. - Richard Costerisan