Local business owner will pay Cheney's bill

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.