I read Tuesday's editorial with a mixture of amusement and horror. The Tribune suggests that Interim CEO Bruce Furness has restored openness and fairness to WSI. Wasn't Mr. Furness in charge of WSI's most recent violation of the state's open meetings law? Wasn't he running things when the whistleblowers were fired? Didn't he allow WSI to a mass millions of dollars in surplus in violation of state law? Didn't he ignore many of the State Auditor's recommendations for cleaning up WSI's practices? Didn't he ignore the Conley Report's recommendation that he replace much of WSI's upper management? In fairness, Mr. Furness raised staff morale at WSI. Of course, when he took over, morale had nowhere to go but up.

The Tribune also suggests that WSI's problems occurred because the legislature was out of town and couldn't provide direction. Actually, Measure Four was enacted because the legislature refused to act when it met in 2007. Measure Four was only a beginning. The work of restoring fairness to the workers comp system goes on. If the legislature does nothing, as suggested by the Tribune, the people of North Dakota can initiate new reforms in 2009. The people didn't create the mess at WSI, but they've shown that they're ready, willing and able to clean it up.