Resident alleges multiple service failures, urges county accountability

Tamara Jorgensen Shamansky addressed the Sawyer County Human Services Committee during the public-comment period and described multiple personal experiences she said showed a lack of competence and accountability among county staff and service providers.

Shamansky, who identified her address as Mosquito Brook Road, described a string of incidents including missed welfare checks after rehab, difficulties obtaining grant paperwork, disputes at a local food shelf and what she described as a sheriff’s office statement that she had been slandered. She alleged that human-services staff did not show up when she returned from rehabilitation and that she “laid out there on cold freezing ground for 6 days” before reaching help.

She also complained that a driver refused to provide senior-bus service because the driver “didn't even know the area the grant covered,” and said a county employee told her she received “too much food” from a food shelf. Shamansky characterized one worker’s conduct as an attempt to have her involuntarily committed and said state-mandated court practices were not followed by the district attorney’s office in at least one case.

All statements were made by Shamansky during public comment; no county official provided a response or announced an investigation during the meeting.

The committee acknowledged the comment with thanks and moved on to agenda business. The speaker did not request a formal action on the record at that time; no motion or referral was made in the meeting minutes discussed on the record.

Because these are allegations made during public comment, the committee’s published minutes — or a follow-up staff report — would be the appropriate sources to determine whether the county opened inquiries or took corrective steps.