Written by: Shawn McKenna
Jim Peluso is in his second term on the Burleigh County Commission, and he’s worked for the Bismarck Parks and Recreation Department for more than 30 years.
Peluso’s day job and his passion intertwine in some ways; he’s the facility manager in charge of pools and arenas, and he’s a hockey nut who coached the Bismarck High hockey team for several years. He’s also an avid hunter and golfer. Weather permitting, he’s often found roaming the fairways at Hawktree Golf Club.
During the recent flood battle, Peluso provided local leaders with an inside view of the questions, fears and capabilities of the homeowners along the river. He and his wife Margaret live in the river bottoms near Hogue Island north of Bismarck. His son Mike’s family lives nearby. Both families had to evacuate their homes during the flood.
This community has been fighting the flood for a couple months now, how do you think people are handling it?
For the most part people are doing pretty well. There’s been a wide range of emotions through this whole thing, and understandably so. I think the length of the event is the thing that has been most concerning to us as local officials, you know for the welfare of the people involved in the flood. It’s really an unprecedented thing when you’re looking at a two-month, three-month event. Overall I think people are pretty strong in this area, pretty strong-willed people, maybe a little impatient at times, but I say that as a positive thing. People want to get it cleaned up, they want to get it done and they want to move on with the rest of their lives.
What has surprised you the most during this situation?
An event like this will bring out the best in people, and it will also bring out the worst in people. I think what surprised me most was the reaction from people not in the flood who came down to help fill sandbags and do the work. I don’t know of any place else in the world with that type of camaraderie that we saw in Bismarck during the initial stages of the flood, people reaching out, helping other people, offering storage, and offering places to live, places to park campers and all that. It was kind of overwhelming.
I’m sure you’ve done a good deal of travelling around Burleigh County chatting with residents. What is the funniest or oddest thing you’ve seen out there?
I saw a turkey sitting on my neighbor’s front porch yesterday. I couldn’t believe it. The property is surrounded by water, and here was a turkey sitting on the front porch in the sun, going about his business. I also did see a hot tub going down the river, which I did think was a little hilarious. That was early in the event, thankfully nobody was in it.
What has been the saddest?
The saddest thing obviously has been the home up in Hogue Island;
we all got to witness it on YouTube. Automatically my heart went out to those
people, and it broke my heart. I just thought “This really is reality,” and
there goes a home and the land it was sitting on. That was the most
heartbreaking thing I’ve seen so far.
How do you think the cleanup process will go? What is the plan for getting people along the river back to normal?
We’ve been working hard on that. The county has been looking at many different options, and we’re still not sure how we’re going to get sandbags removed, where we’re going to haul them. There are so many hoops to go
through and try to figure out the best way to do it. We’re dealing with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, we’re dealing with the public, and
obviously the public is a little upset right now. These people are not going to
get as much help hauling the bags out as they did putting them up; it’s just
not the same spirit that you’re going to find with volunteers.
Do you think the flood will have a negative, long-term effect on property values for homes along the river?
I don’t think so. I believe that Bismarck identifies with the river. Bismarck identifies with pontoons on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon on the river. I don’t believe it’s going to be a nasty river when it’s done; I think it’s going to be better when it’s done. I think it’s going to be healthier, you know maybe wider, deeper and a slower current, which might even be a better river. In the next year or two we’re looking at some ways to reduce the taxes for those folks in harm’s way, but in the long run I think it will get back to where it is.
This is something that has effected you personally, how has your family been impacted?
I live in the river bottoms, my son Mike lives next door to me and we both evacuated and moved our stuff out. He sandbagged, I didn’t. But we’ve been out of our homes for 45 days or so. I’ve lost my basement, he’s doing well. Other than being displaced and having to move everything and doing the sandbagging we’re no worse for the wear. We hope to be back in this fall
and have life as normal.
Mike chose to put up a ring dike around his place, you didn’t. Was that a difficult decision?
Not really, I had mixed emotions about it, but I felt if the water got that high that none of us were moving back in there. I just didn’t see that the effort was going to be worth it at the time. Also I didn’t want to have anybody look at the sand pile that was up in our area and say that that was pretty convenient being in front of the commissioner’s house, so I refused to take any sand from other people who needed it more than I did.
What are your thoughts on the number of people who showed up to help Mike and others like him build their dikes?
It was absolutely overwhelming, and I’ll admit to having tears in my eyes when I saw this because it is just overwhelming to see the people reach out and want to help so much. It was very emotional.
How have you balanced your responsibilities as a commissioner with the fact that your property was directly affected by some of the decisions you’ve while sitting on the council?
It’s been tough, being the only commissioner in the flood I have a better understanding for the people who are there. I understand the emotions a little more; I understand what they are going through. Say what you will, everybody’s concerned, but 98 percent of the county that is not in the flood doesn’t look at it the same way. Their life goes on as usual. It’s probably good that I was in that position to better understand the people who were affected.
The commission had to make some pretty difficult decisions during this process, which one was the toughest?
The toughest was to put the dike down on Fox Island, no question. We were given a 20 percent chance of success, we had limited time, limited resources and at the time we didn’t know if we were going to get it reimbursed. It was very difficult to look at those people who had come to the meeting and asked for help and to say no. I know we made the right decision, we decided to do the dike, the dike has worked, it’s held. It’s probably our success story.
In hindsight, is there anything that you regret approving?
No, not approving. Sure there are some regrets, and there are some things that if we knew then what we know now, we could have done some other things. I guess nobody really knew which way the water was going to enter some of these developments. Yeah, we could have saved a lot more property had
we known. We could have made some short dikes in spots that would have saved several houses but, again, not knowing and not having the time determined what we could do.
What are your thoughts on the way the Corps of Engineers has handled the flood?
It’s like the good mayor of Mandan said at the beginning of the event, ‘Let’s lay blame later.’ I hate to get into that blame game, but I don’t think the Corps’ handled it very well from a residential standpoint. I would have rather known it was going to 150 (150,000 cubic feet per second) right away. They can tell us that they didn’t know, but I think there are some pretty sharp people who work for the Corps who have been watching the releases, their forecasts for the inflows – and they’re pretty darn accurate. I just can’t see how we got to this situation with that type of knowledge. I just think there’s a lot of questions to be answered.
Going forward, trust is going to be a big issue with the Corps. How does the public trust them again?
I think it’s up to them. I think they have to earn that trust from here on in. I don’t think you can demand trust or ask for it, you have to earn it. They have to show us that they’re being diligent with this system and be forthright. I’m not so sure we don’t have to find out what really did happen before we can
trust them again.
You’ve been involved in hockey here in the community for a long time. What do you think the state of Bismarck hockey is?
I think it’s on the upswing again, I think our program is growing again. We were kind of stagnant for a few years. The excitement is back. We need another 1980 Olympics because I think everybody’s program in the country
after that got a boost. The booster club in Bismarck has done a great job trying to make the program affordable for kids. I think that was the big thing
there for a while, it got to be a bit of a rich kid’s sport, and we’re trying to get back to the grassroots and get the athletes out on the ice.
What are your thoughts on Winnipeg getting the Jets back?
I think it’s awesome. Winnipeg is a hockey town – always has been – they just haven’t supported a pro team there as much as they should, but I think it’s a new time, it’s going to be cool. It’s another option for us here; Winnipeg is not that far.
How will Mike’s Bismarck Demons hockey team fair this upcoming season?
I’ve got to admit, he surprised me his first couple years getting his team to where he got them. In fact, I booked a golf trip the second year; I didn’t think the team had a chance to make the state tournament, let alone go to the finals. I think Mike has done a great job, and I think he has a lot of respect from those kids. He’s got an idea of what he wants to do and somehow they seem to get it done.
What are your thoughts on having the state high school hockey tournament in Grand Forks every year?
I’ve been against that since day one. It is very hard for a team to go up there and stay for three or four days in a hotel, eat restaurant food and win that tournament. It’s just a difficult thing to do. There’s such a home-ice advantage there that I’d just like to see it shifted around a little bit. I think it’s going to happen sooner or later.
What do you think it will take to get that process rolling?
The coaches are going to have to put pressure on the North Dakota Activities Association, and somebody will have to make a proposal. I think Fargo is willing, and I think they have the facility to do it. I think once it’s done people are going to see that it’s going to be a great thing. Grand Forks does a nice job with the tournament, don’t get me wrong. They do a very nice job, but when you’ve hosted it for that long you are going to get complacent. I just think a fresh look, a fresh set of tournament people would be good for the tournament.
What’s your golf handicap at these days?
Not very good. I haven’t played. I think I can count my rounds on both my hands, which is unusual. I’d like to play every day if I can, but it’s been a little bit of the summer that wasn’t maybe. I’m hanging in there around a nine, which is kind of embarrassing.
-Shawn McKenna is a freelance writer for the Great Plains
Examiner.
I believe that Mr. Peluso lives in Ponderosa, not Hogue Island. Still north of Bismarck, but not quite the same area.
I agree the corp has a long road of earning some trust back. I for one would feel better if they made a few big name changes. Like the names that keep popping up in the news. The way they answer questions and deal with the public really makes me question their ability to engineer our dams and water run-off.