I.5 | I have visited and lived in this community for a little under 25 years. In all that time I have yet to find it possible to have community pride. Shawano could ideally be seen as a friendly Northern fishing resort town, typical Main Street America to the casual observer. However Shawano has some dark problems, problems with discrimination. These problems stem from the city administration, currently run by Shawano Mayor Lorna Marquardt.
For longer than I have been in Shawano, a local businessman from India and his corporation SIST have been the target of racism, discrimination, threats, negative media publicity, vandalism, theft, physical harm and more, all because of this man’s skin color.
The cruelty this man has endured at the hands of the local community is at times beyond belief. A ruthless hatred is directed at him and anyone associated with him or his businesses just because he is darker skinned than you or I. And Mayor Lorna Marquardt wants to talk about community pride? I think we should all take a moment to examine ourselves in the mirror. Since when are a person’s merits and achievements dependent upon skin color? What if the situation was reversed?
Recently Lorna Marquardt has put a smile on her face and has been counseled to give Shawano a face-lift with her new “Positively Shawano” column. Sadly however, Shawano’s problems run much deeper than the caring of the Senior Citizen’s Swim Club or the pride of the local Fire Department. Yes, those are necessary for the health of a strong community but we can’t forget the issues that affect an innocent person’s life and reputation.
Lorna Marquardt should be the first person to feel ashamed. She established her first mayoral campaign on the pledge that she would rid this town of its dark skinned blemish. She has kept her promise well. In the last several years she has done her best to disrupt and destroy the financial stability and reputation of the East Indian man and SIST.
At the Ponderosa restaurant building Lorna supported the Ponderosa employees and general public’s destruction of SIST property. In short they stripped the property and left only the damaged structure. The building now needs hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of repairs, which of course was the intention. All of this was done with full cooperation of the Shawano Police Department: law enforcement aided and abetted theft. Even worse is that Naomi Isaacson was viciously arrested for ‘loitering’ on the property – for trying to stop a crime, her wrists were fractured and her shoulders dislocated. Ms. Isaacson is CEO of SIST, the corporation that owns the Ponderosa property. Associates of Ms. Isaacson were arrested for taking pictures of the incident. It is truly unbelievable when you can be arrested for trying to stop theft of your own property! Not every Shawano resident is proud of this community.
Next, Lorna and her goons developed a “hit list”, creating a national terror alert. In the slanderous media smear campaign that followed, SIST and its President were accused of creating the hit list to kill 60 Shawano City officials. Lorna even produced a hit man. The hit man was conveniently an individual from Canada who was in financial dealings with one of SIST’s businesses. This of course created a golden opportunity for Lorna. In a deal made by the SIST business with the Canadian “investor”, the business would pay him $175,000 dollars upfront in return for a loan. Too late it was realized that he was a scam artist in cahoots with the FBI and Lorna to cause more financial harm to SIST.
As anyone in Shawano knows, SIST and its President have never raised a finger against anyone. Quite the opposite, they have gone out of their way to make Shawano a better place, or at least have tried to. What would someone who has always had good intentions for Shawano gain from creating such a list? Nothing. So maybe we should ask Lorna, what would you gain by destroying SIST and creating such a lie? Apparently she gained quite a bit, she got a cut of the $175,000 that SIST lost, at least that is what the Canadian scam artist claimed was part of his deal with the City of Shawano.
Yet another incident, initiated and directed by Lorna occurred at a Maryland home owned by the businessman from India. Under the false pretense of assault, Maryland SWAT and FBI swarmed the residence creating community wide chaos. Problem? They knew full well they were creating a scene at an empty property. The owner did not live there, the house was being remodeled. The whole neighborhood was well aware of this fact and stated so throughout the interviews broadcast by the media themselves. Another incredible display of tax dollars wasted for the pleasure of damaging the reputations of people.
These incidents are some of the most extraordinary examples of the relentless orchestrated effort to destroy SIST. There are continual incidents of vandalism, theft, drive-offs, robberies, threats, bombs, break-ins and just about anything else you can think of. All of these activities endorsed, promoted and directed by Lorna or with Lorna’s blessing. It’s a shame that a person who really genuinely wants to improve the community is branded as a monster because of Lorna’s perceived racial superiority.
Incident after incident is carried out in the hope that this one will bring the breaking point. That this incident will be the one that finally makes this man leave town. He has puzzled the community for years because of his vigor and resilience. This man truly displays community pride with a can do, never give up attitude. Even in the face of enormous opposition this man has always seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Essentially, we should all learn a lesson from this man. Stand up for what is right!
Click here to read Lorna’s convenient avoidance of real issues.
What's Happening in Shawano? 