Local business owner will pay Cheney's bill

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Sep 10, 2004 | by KEnt, Joan

Local business owner Richard Walz, owner of Walzcraft Industries, has offered to pay the public bill for Vice President Dick Cheney's Aug. 4 visit to the Walzcraft plant.

"I want to keep the whole thing positive," Walz said. "I'd like to see the thing put to bed and move on because it was a positive experience and a great honor to have Vice President Cheney come visit us."

Mayor John Medinger said the city will ask the Bush/Cheney campaign to cancel the bill for $1,213.

"It was a very benevolent act," he said of Walz's offer. "I appreciate it, and I am sure the Bush/Cheney campaign does, too."

Meanwhile, La Crosse officials have tallied the costs of vice presidential candidate John Edwards' Aug. 23 visit to the city at $25,275.

Of that, the amount for non-security costs is $3,771.

The $3,771 bill will be submitted to the La Crosse Common Council's Finance and Personnel Committee, which will decide how much to bill the Kerry/Edwards campaign.

The finance office itemized a $2,467 bill for the Cheney visit, but the Finance and Personnel Committee decided that $1,254 for Fire Department costs was security and should not be included. The total expense for Cheney's visit, including security, was $25,156.

The city has received $7,822 from the Bush/Cheney campaign for expenses other than those related to security during Bush's May 7 visit. The total of expenses for that visit was $60,277.