The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has a just-released story about a for-profit college in Wisconsin. Reporter Kate Golden, in For-profit college accused of operating illegally in Wisconsin, describes the school’s shady practices.

Now that she knows Westwood College was never authorized to operate in Wisconsin, Janesville resident Melissa Willes wants her $25,000 back.

“The biggest mistake of my life was attending college,” said Willes, 23, one of at least 200 Wisconsin students who have taken online classes through Westwood.

The major for-profit college, based in Denver, is coming under intensified federal scrutiny since a recent government report documented improper recruiting practices within the nation’s fast-growing for-profit college sector.

Willes said a Westwood recruiter told her the $75,000 online bachelor’s degree in interior design she was considering wasn’t approved yet in Wisconsin, but assured her it would be by the end of her three-year program.

Willes never finished the degree after maxing out her borrowing limit for federal student loans. Westwood credits generally aren’t transferable to other schools, the college acknowledges.

On July 7, Willes sued Westwood in Rock County Circuit Court, and on Aug. 6 Westwood moved the case to U.S. District Court in Madison. Willes charged that the college was operating without the required state approval, which is designed to ensure educational quality and protect students from fraud. She has asked the court to certify her suit as a class action.

In her lawsuit, Willes claimed that misleading marketing tactics by Westwood enticed her to enroll in a substandard program and take on excessive tuition debt in pursuit of a “largely useless” degree.

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism’s story is powerful for several reasons. First, it’s rich with detail about, Westwood’s practices.

Second, it distinguishes Westwood from other for-profit colleges. (Westwood is different, completely, from a private, accredited college; many private schools, like Marquette University, are nothing like Westwood, in quality or integrity. This story’s not about any private school, but a certain kind of private school.)

Third, it makes clear that these schools sometimes dupe students, and milk taxpayers, as “taxpayer-funded student loans are their bread and butter.” A weaker story would have said that this was a matter of a for-profit college cheating people, or an exploitable student loan program. It’s both.

About those resources, among others, the story has a link to Melissa Willes’s original complaint, a General Accounting Office report on colleges like Westwood, and a GAO undercover video that lets readers see what recruiters for these colleges are willing to tell people (just about anything!) to get them to apply for a federal loan.

Here’s that GAO video:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=argKE6FdtM8.

Consider, finally, the tagline of the Wisconsin Center: “Protect the Vulnerable, Expose Wrongdoing, Seek Solutions.” Fine ideals. That’s true at the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, and there are other good newspapers across the state that have similar ideals, however expressed.

What happened that so many have turned away from these ideals, so very American, in favor of a slavish and fawning support of every official within sight? That’s a story — a multi-part series — all its own, I’m afraid.

Government taxes to establish a public school system, from the property of private parties, draining them of resources they could use to build alternatives, requiring their children to attend, to be placed in the care of publicly-paid teachers and administrators, but only supplies an answer for why an administrator — with authority over children — was fired when a newspaper seeks information under a public records request.

Instead of releasing a report on its own initiative, as it should have done, the Janesville School District only released information about Principal John Walczak’s firing when a private party — a newspaper — sought through law the public records about public officials and public duties.

When one hears that each and every public administrator is truly a public servant, one may safely reject the contention. A group of sincere public servants would have published records of a fired principal’s conduct immediately upon his firing — no open records request would or should be needed. That sincere group would have fought the delaying tactics of the principal’s attorney to keep the documents secret.
See, Former Janesville principal fired for sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct.

The Gazette‘s headline tells why Walczak was fired: for sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct. That doesn’t mean that Walczak did what the report alleges, but it does show why the district fired him.

Here’s just a sampling from a story worth reading, several times, in its entirety —

A former Janesville principal was fired after being accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, including making comments about women?s body parts and partying with staff members, according to documents obtained by the Gazette.

Former Jackson School Principal John Walczak also was accused of bullying employees and failing to visit classrooms for evaluations, according to 208 pages of documents from a school district investigation.

Staff members also told school officials that Walczak missed parts of a Green Bay conference because he was at a bar or had a hangover, according to the documents.

Walczak was placed on administrative leave in May after complaints were made against him. He was fired in July for violating the Janesville School Board?s sexual harassment policy and not upholding the dignity and decorum of his position, according to the documents.

The school district released the documents after the Gazette filed a request under the Wisconsin Open Records Law to learn why Walczak was fired.

If Wisconsin didn’t have a Public Records Law (Wis. Stat. ss. 19.31-19.39), and Janesville didn’t have a newspaper will to exercise its rights under that law, would the community have learned about the allegations against a principal with authority over children? How long, if ever, would the truth have been kept from the parents of these children?

When faced with allegations like these, the best policy will always be complete disclosure to the public, at the earliest opportunity, and on the public entity’s own initiative. If that’s not to happen, then a community may, at least, be grateful that a private newspaper is prepared to act in the public interest.

I’m not a reporter, nor am I journalist. I’ve never aspired to be either one. Like most bloggers (and most people), my knowledge of the press comes simply from reading newspapers, and thinking about the stories they publish. Not too long ago, readers expected reporters to ask officials serious, pertinent questions. There have always been reporters willing to roll over for officials, but Americans didn’t consider this the norm.

There are still good newspapers nearby (Journal Sentinel, State Journal, Cap Times, and the Gazettes, so to speak, of Janesville and Walworth County). There just aren’t as many good newspapers as there used to be.

Fortunately, there’s the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, setting a worthy standard for reporting, for the kinds of stories that both professionals and lay readers (like me) respect and appreciate. There’s a link to the Center on the left side of this website.

In a newly-released report, the Center’s Allie Tempus and Nick Pensenstadler write about the number of people injured in boating accidents in Wisconsin. See, 16 Die, But Boating Safety Stalls in Legislature.

The story’s solid for three reasons: it’s well-written, well-researched with thorough data on accidents in Wisconsin, and it places Wisconsin’s requirements into a national context.

A good story transcends politics, too. From my view, I would oppose legislation that required adults to wear life vests, although the story implies that vest requirements would improve safety. As with helmets, I think that adults should make these decisions on their own. It’s foolish not to wear a vest, but adults should have that choice.

Requirements for children are different, as they are imposed on those without an adult’s judgment. (There’s a second question about whether parents should make these decisions for their children, but not all children boating are with their parents.)

A good story, like this one, has an obvious value for anyone, of any politics. Quality speaks for itself.

Interestingly, though, the media site where Stelter [the NYT blogger] primarily blogs (New York Times’ Media Decoder) suffers from the lowest percentage of African-American readers (4.6%) when compared to comparable media sites like Mediaite (5.8%), Gawker (6.4%), Mediabistro (9.2%), etc., according to Nielsen Media Research.

I haven’t seen Fox News in who knows how long, but I watch the more libertarian-oriented Fox Business Channel (a newer channel) frequently.

See, NYT Blogger Who Knocked Fox News’ Audience Diversity Has the Same Problem.

There’s a video making its way through cyberspace that’s sure to the the first of many like it this election year. The video shows the reaction of participants in a town hall meeting to Congressman Brad Sherman’s declaration that he knew nothing about a Department of Justice dismissal of a case against of voter intimidation filed against the New Black Panther Party. One attendee asks Sherman a question, and others react, vociferously. He answers her question generally, as one would expect, but he makes the mistake of contending that he knows nothing about the dismissed case. Many in the audience react unfavorably to his denial of knowledge.

Here’s the two-minute video:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UymN7t1kX3Q

The Congressman is Brad Sherman, Democrat of California’s 27th Congressional District. (Sherman won his district easily in 2008; he’s been in Congress since first winning the seat in November 2002.)

Sherman stays calm, but seems surprised at the reaction. The situation he faces will prove an increasingly common one, where a someone takes a video camera, someone else asks a question, and members of an audience react. Admittedly, some attendees are surely activists aware beforehand of some of these questions, but that does make the questions, or answers to them, any less legitimate.

For many politicians and bureaucrats, being challenged like this will prove new and uncomfortable, as a sycophantic press would not have reported an encounter like this. Now, these encounters are just a camera and a website away from widespread publication.

A few more episodes like this, and communities may be spared any number of lies or self-serving exaggerations.

Note to the Left — You’ll find yourselves using techniques just like this when conservatives are back in power. What some of you foolishly revile now, you’ll embrace when the balance of political representation shifts.

Hat tip to Powerline.com

There’s a U.S. News and World Report poll about Sarah Palin, asking what readers think of her. It’s not surprising that newspapers and websites have polls about Palin, as she’s well-known, and typically evokes an opinion from readers. My point here isn’t about Palin, but about the website that offers the poll.

What’s surprising is that I, or anyone else, actually found a U.S. News and World Report poll on Palin, or any other topic. I saw it as a link from another website, and that means that at least two people on earth have visited the USNWR website. Add in a few family members of that website’s staff, and perhaps four or five people have taken the poll. Add in a few monkeys typing randomly on keyboards, and the total number of mammals would still be under a dozen.

Sarah Palin probably has more friends on Facebook than there are people who realize that USNWR still survives as a web-based publication. So different is the media landscape from even a decade ago, that print publications once well-known are now afterthoughts.

On May 10th, Whitewater’s Planning Commission held a meeting at 6 p.m., with principal the topics being a possible expansion of our local Walmart, and an overlay to an existing residential zoning ordinance for the Starin Park neighborhood.

Recording of the meeting –

Here’s the video of the meeting, which I will be using for my remarks.

(This meeting was televised on our local cable access channel, but I’d rather comment with a posted video to which readers can refer. In cases where the city does not record a video, but someone else does, I will upload and use that video. Note – the caption that appears at the beginning recording says 5/14, but it’s the 5/10 meeting. The video may have been placed online on 5/14.)

Link: http://blip.tv/file/3624624

Agenda of the Meeting and Documents Attached —

Planning Commission Agenda & Attached Documents

Press coverage of the meeting, and items on agenda –

Residential zoning:

Whitewater plan panel advances R-0 zoning, published May 11th, Daily Union.

Zoning proposal would limit growth of rental housing, published May 9th, GazetteXtra.com.

Neighborhood hopes to limit encroachment of student housing, posted April 9th, Walworth County Today, County Life.

Walmart:

Walmart given expansion input, published April 22nd, Daily Union.

Walmart to expand in Whitewater, published April 20th, Daily Union.

Wal-Mart plans upgrade of Whitewater store, published April 19th, GazetteXtra.com.

From Madison’s Isthmus, one reads a story about hardship in nearby Janesville, hardship that should be of concern to those in Whitewater, too.

No matter how dire the conditions for Janesville now, I believe that an abandonment of virtually every aspect of commercial and business regulation, along with drastic reductions in government spending except principally for police and fire, could yet make the city attractive as one large enterprise zone.

(I think the Isthmus‘s description is accurate, but it’s implied prescription of a public works solution is mistaken. Local press and business ideas relying on private solutions are more realistic.)

One thing’s certain – incremental efforts and conventional solutions will not be enough to mitigate current suffering from poverty and unemployment.

See, Janesville on the Brink.

There are a few updates on the search for a Public Safety Director in Mankato, MN, a search for which Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan is a candidate.

First, there’s a story in the Mankato Free Press, entitled,
“Public Safety Candidates Go Public,” about the search for the next public safety director for Mankato. The story has two photographs of Coan during his public interview for the position. There’s no particular meaning to the photos, but they are odd. The larger of the two shows Coan walking away from the podium after his presentation, and both can be found on the right side of the story to which I have linked, above. The full — uncropped — photo produces quite an effect. I’ve been asked what I think of it; I have no particular view. Readers are free to make of it what they’d like.

Second, there’s also a video clip with remarks from each of the four candidates, available online at Fox affiliate KEYC TV. Coan’s remarks run from :40 to :55 in the video. (There’s no option to embed the video, but it’s online at the KEYC website.) In his remarks, Coan says that

I would hope to instill pride and enthusiasm in what we stand for and what we can accomplish to build close relationships, partnerships with the community and also to develop a sense of pride for what we stand for and what we could get accomplished.

Third, there’s a companion story at the Mankato Free Press about the Mankato Joint Civil Service Commission, a body that performs some of the functions of Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission. Yet, it reportedly performs them with considerably more diligence than Whitewater’s PFC.

Some months back, in a post entitled, Has Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan already hired a trainer for Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission members? I teased about how the agenda for a PFC meeting allotted a scant twenty minutes to interview two patrol officer candidates. Wisconsin law requires the PFC to approve officer appointments, and I thought it was absurd that the agenda allotted only twenty minutes for two interviews.

Predictably, at the next Whitewater Common Council meeting, defenders of the Whitewater PFC were quick to note that the agenda was obviously, inexplicably in error, that the PFC had actually allotted fifteen minutes or so to each candidate’s interview. This defense was, itself, absurd, because that’s still a paltry amount of time for a task so important. Still, the clueless defenders of Whitewater’s PFC must have thought that they had hit on a compelling explanation of our PFC’s interviewing process.

They were wrong. A look at how Mankato, MN’s Joint Civil Service Commission conducts patrol officer interviews confirms that Whitewater’s practice is shoddy and inadequate. In the Mankato Free Press story on their JSCC, one learns that

Even when the commission is interviewing a pool of potential patrol officers or firefighters, the group of three spends hours questioning candidates. Those interviews are usually in person
and the list of questions is completely different.”

For a slate of candidates in Mankato, hours; for a slate in Whitewater, minutes.

If one waits long enough, one can find refutation of every lie, excuse, and exaggeration behind the shoddy and inadequate practices of the Whitewater Police and Fire Commission.

Those who thought they had an answer for the paltry efforts of the Whitewater PFC were wrong; the defenders’ response reveals only ignorance.

Since Chief Coan, himself, wants to be part of the Mankato force, and presumably thinks it’s a place of which he’d like to be a part, one might ask if he’d acknowledge Mankato has a more thorough process. (One might ask, too, about whether our PFC members have consistently and always conducted their candidate interviews — however speedy — without Coan or a senior police leader watching over them. Independent oversight requires as much; anything else is a sham.)

By the way, in the Mankato Free Press‘s story on their Joint Civil Service Commission, there’s a clue about the prospects for Coan’s candidacy there. In any event, Whitewater will know soon enough. The effort for the quality police leadership that our city deserves will be just as important regardless of events in faraway Mankato.

Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan is a candidate for the public safety director’s post in Mankato, Minnesota. I’ve written about his candidacy before, in Whitewater’s Police Chief and the Job in Mankato, MN.

The Mankato Free Press has published interviews with all four candidates for the job. The paper posed the same five questions to each candidate. The full interview is available at Whitewater chief has experience in diversity, budget crunches.

Yes, you read that right: Whitewater chief has experience in diversity, budget crunches. Here’s a screen shot of the Free Press story, to confirm that unexpected headline:

Seldom in the history of press interviews has one person committed so many acts both mediocre and mendacious as Coan has done in this story. He may well be one of the most shameless men in Wisconsin, in Minnesota, or anywhere else in America.

The first part of this topic appears separately, in the preceding post. In this post, I will consider more of Whitewater City Manager Brunner’s published remarks, from a February 8th story entitled, “Whitewater Tech Park advances; panels to study second building.”

A Unique Design. Here’s Brunner, remarking on the building’s supposedly unique character:

“We are excited about the building, too, because it will be unique in design and meeting environmental standards of the LEED program.”

Here Brunner exaggerates, shamelessly. The Innovation Center will be an office building in a city of many such buildings, in a country that has — wait for it — millions of buildings. (For national statistics on commercial office space, see the 2010 Statistical Abstract: Commercial Buildings, from the Census Bureau.)

As long ago as 2003, America had over four million office buildings! Four million, six-hundred sixty-five thousand, actually! Odds that this one’s unique in design: a good portion of four million to one.

There’s no reason to pretend that we’re building Châtres, but that’s Brunner’s (all-too-common) inclination.

Even as early as 2003, using the federal data to which I have linked above, hundreds of thousands of office buildings in America were about the same size as the planned Innovation Center. That’s not unique, that’s commonplace.

What of the unique design that Brunner trumpets? In neither aesthetics nor in so-called respect for the environment does this forty-thousand square foot building deserve praise.

Looking at an artist’s illustration of the building, it’s not different in appearance from countless other modern office buildings, and less impressive than many.

The Innovation Center won’t even be the largest building in Whitewater. The recently completed Hyland Hall, at 180,000 square feet, will remain over four times as large:

At 180,000 square feet, Hyland Hall is more than twice the size of the former business building and boasts 50 percent more classroom space. It includes 34 flat and tiered classrooms, three computer labs, two 150-seat lecture halls, one seminar room and four student project rooms.

Even if one finds anything of the Innovation Center’s design exceptional or unique, one should keep in mind that it’s that way through public money, not private initiative.

Environmental impact. What of the sustainability & environmental regard to which Brunner makes mention? I support private initiatives such as the Nature Conservancy, because I believe in the conservation of natural resources. One should be skeptical, though, of claims for how ‘green’ something is. Those who care about the environment should not be deceived by a possible Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation for the Innovation Center.

That’s because constructing an office building like this is so destructive to the environment, that pretending the LEED designation mitigates the harm is like contending that band aids and aspirin mitigate for the loss of a limb.

LEED certification doesn’t mean buildings don’t cause significant environmental stress. They do. An assessment from the National Trust for Historical Preservation, entitled “Sustainability by the Numbers,” found that it “takes a lot of energy to construct a building – for example, building a 50,000 square foot commercial building requires the same amount of energy needed to drive a car 20,000 miles a year for 730 years.”

That’s for a building not much bigger than the planned Innovation Center.

I would surely favor reduced regulation and taxation to spur private construction of homes and offices. I think that, on balance, it’s good for society. I’m not simple-minded enough, though, to pretend that offices can be made good for the environment. They can’t. Constructing an office building will always be an environmentally destructive act, and is about as far from green as one can get. I’m realistic about the choices.

Let me help Whitewater’s city manager and his ilk see the difference between office buildings and green living. Let’s look at two pictures. On top is a photo of plants and flowers from Whitewater, and on the bottom is an artist’s illustration of the Innovation Center:

The one on top is ‘green,’ and the one on the bottom is ‘brown.’

My pleasure, I’m sure.

One month ago, I wrote about launching a fictitious candidacy for one of the non-existent congressional districts to which the federal government had laughably claimed to have distributed stimulus funds. See, Press Release: John Adams to Run for Wisconsin’s 55th Congressional District.

In my campaign platform, I was critical of the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio. Here’s what I wrote:

5. PBS. It’s just got to go. NPR, too. NPR must be the third-biggest cause of traffic accidents, after drunks and deer. How can anyone stay awake to those soporific tones? The end of NPR would be like an espresso shot for the nation.

Few things I have written have drawn more consternation among my readers than teasing about PBS and NPR. (Many of the seemingly controversial posts I publish are nothing of the kind; outside of a few lemmings, most people see that Whitewater officials’ grandiose statements are false, often absurdly so. That’s not surprising — mediocre and self-serving efforts produce mediocre and ridiculous results.)

But PBS and NPR, unlike municipal bureaucrats, have real fans and diehard supporters.

So, what’s not to like about PBS and NPR? First, two quick comments, about content and style. I don’t care that PBS and NPR lean left-of-center. They’re one voice among many, and their politics don’t bother me. Second, of course, I really don’t care if their announcers adopt a soporific tone.

My concern is simply that government should not subsidize broadcast networks, or newspapers, except for limited, exceptional purposes (newspapers for service members, or broadcasts as a part of foreign policy, like Radio Free Europe or the Voice of America).

Government should not be a news publisher, and virtually all people — and all sensible ones — understand that politicians should not be publishers. There are no sensible people who believe, for example, that Bill Clinton should — or could — simultaneously serve fairly as president of the United States and editor-in-chief of the Washington Post.

PBS and NPR may go on as they wish; I just wouldn’t fund them from public coffers. (I know that federal funding amounts to a minority share of NPR’s budget.) For more information, see the fiscal year 2008 NPR financial statement.

Even small amounts may prove tempting, and exclusively private funding removes even the possibility of government persuasion through subsidy.

By the way, I do, in my own way, support NPR, and those who speak on its behalf should consider supporting it with private contributions.

One way to support public radio is through donations. Alternatively, as in my case, one may do so through private subscription to a service that carries NPR programming. I subscribe to Sirius radio, and one of that service’s channels is NPR.

Re-transmission on private networks, for a fee, is just one of the many private arrangements by which NPR and PBS can make their way in the world, free of any intoxicating government subsidies.

Over at BigJournalism.com there’s a pseudonymous columnist named Retracto the Correction Alpaca.

He submits retraction requests to newspapers and magazines when he believes that he’s spotted an error in a story. His columns are available online.

He’s become popular, and he even has his own theme song.

I don’t always agree with his analysis of a needed correction, but I admire his persistence. His column is part of a collection of websites from Andrew Breitbart. (Breitbart leans right; he espouses a small-government conservatism rather than libertarianism.)

How did this come about, that someone could go online, take a funny name, and demand retractions from major publications?

One might be tempted to say that technology made it possible, but there’s more to it than that. Before the technology, there was the desire and ambition to speak and write as one wished.

Now you know, and I know, that there are stuffy people, smug and stodgy, who deride these new ventures. I’m sure the odd names, and something like a theme song, must be off-putting.

I don’t always think that Retracto’s right, but I do think he’s doing the right thing. It’s not an easy or convenient thing, for him or for those from whom he requests retractions, but it is a good thing.

There’s an evident enthusiasm in Retracto that’s admirable. It’s not the (false) enthusiasm that one sees local officials feign, and their back-patting cronies imitate and publicize.

It’s the genuine article, and happily, America is likely to see much more of it.

Update, 6:21 PM: Fixed link for “What Happens in Vegas…” appearing below.  Link now leads correctly to that post.

Longtime readers of FREE WHITEWATER know that I have been a critic of Whitewater’s long-tenured (too long, really) police chief, Jim Coan. A search of this site offers ample analysis of Coan’s disappointing tenure in Whitewater, considering his emphasis on appearance over substance, almost every time.  Coan has the vocabulary of a modern manager (accountability, excellence, etc.), but no meaningful achievement to support that vocabulary.

I have contended consistently that Coan has ill-served the police officers of our small town, and that they, and we, have deserved better.  See, The Force We Need.  It’s a commonplace dodge for a weak leader to contend that criticism on him is somehow an attack on policing.  On the contrary, the biggest problem policing in this town has is Coan, himself, and a few weak-minded people who can’t tell the difference between a police force and its mediocre manager.

Coan’s a candidate for a job in Mankato, MN, as their public safety director.  He’s one of four candidates, and I have only briefly mentioned his prospects.  See, Department of Embarrassing Coincidence, Whitewater, Wisconsin Branch Office (“How all this [his candidacy] turns out I cannot say, although I can guess. It speaks clearly on its own about Chief Coan’s low level of commitment and interest in this community.”)

The Daily Union has reported on Coan’s candidacy, in a story entitled, “Whitewater chief finalist for Mankato job.”

Here’s how the DU addresses Coan’s previous job searches, while Whitewater’s police chief:

“My interest in the position is in no way a reflection of any dissatisfaction here whatsoever,” Coan said. “The job is an opportunity to move closer to family in the Minneapolis area.”

He noted that those who have relatives residing nearby can appreciate how important that is.

“Whitewater is a great community and I remain very proud of the quality of our department and the caliber of our personnel,” the Whitewater police chief said.

In June 2006, Coan accepted the chief of police position in the City of Hudson in northern Wisconsin. However, he returned in August before Whitewater officials had an opportunity to fill his former position.

Something’s missing, of course — accepting and then declining an earlier offer didn’t happen once, but twice.   Coan didn’t accept one job and then return; he had a similar experience before 2006′s fiasco of leaving and scurrying back from Hudson.

In 2001, Coan accepted, and then declined, a job in Apple Valley, Minnesota.  In the minutes of the Apple Valley, Minnesota City Council, from April 26, 2001, one finds remarks about that city’s attempt to hire a new chief:

POLICE CHIEF JOHNSON HIRING

MOTION: of Erickson, seconded by Grendahl, rescinding the action of March 22, 2001, to hire James R. Coan and approving hiring Scott A. Johnson as Chief of Police, as outlined in the City Administrator’s memo dated April 23rd, 2001. Ayes – 5 – Nays – 0.

Mr. Lawell introduced Scott Johnson who is recommended to be hired as the new Chief of Police. As described in his memo, dated April 23, 2001, James Coan has notified the City that he will not be accepting employment as previously approved. Mr. Johnson will be starting employment on May 7, 2001.

The minutes from that Minnesota council meeting are available online.

Either the Daily Union didn’t know, or didn’t bother to mention, Coan’s twice accepting, and then twice declining, a job offer elsewhere. The 2006 Hudson offer, acceptance, and quick return were unusual not merely on their own, but because Coan had accepted and declined before.

There’s much in the Daily Union story that’s more press release than real story, with a reference to Coan’s “ride-alongs with some of the nation’s largest police departments.”  Too funny — as though Coan learned something on travels to fancy, big cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Las Vegas that he has in any way used constructively for the city.  Funny, in his accounts Coan makes no mention of a trip to Detroit or Cleveland.  They’re big cities, too, but they’re not also tourist spots.

For more on Coan’s amazing travels, see “What Happens in Vegas…“

I have no idea how the interviews will go, let alone if Coan will be hired in Mankato, Minnesota.

I do know this much, though, about Hudson, Wisconsin and Apple Valley, Minnesota: they jointly share the distinction of The Two Luckiest Cities on the Face of the Earth™.

On December 28th, the Janesville Gazette published a story entitled, “Walworth County search warrants could disappear.”  I posted on that astonishing possibility, in  a post entitled, “The Secret Warrants of Walworth County.”  Here’s what the Gazette uncovered in its original story:

ELKHORN – In some Wisconsin counties, sealed court documents hold back details from search warrants for a limited time while investigations are ongoing.

In Walworth County, seals have no time limit, and some records could disappear from the public eye altogether.

Motions to seal search warrants in Walworth County ask that all documents and their existence be kept under wraps. The seal acts as a seal on itself, as if the search never happened, leading some warrants to be kept away from public scrutiny.

The procedure gives law enforcement the power to search homes virtually undetected. The paper trail disappears, and interested parties are unable to find out the basis for the execution of a search warrant or how it was conducted.

The story made clear how anomalous and aberrant was Walworth County’s practice – different from other counties, including nearby ones.

In my original post, I observed that

How very odd, though that “Locally, Koss said changing the language on applications for seals is a start that would come from Koss’ office …” and yet D.A. Koss declares that “It’s never come up before,” Koss said. “Now that we’re having this discussion, we’ll address it.”

Oh my – the Walworth County District Attorney’s office initiates these requests, but it takes a newspaper to bring the matter to the attention of the lawyers in that office? They didn’t otherwise think about the nature of their own requests?

Yes, it did take a newspaper.  If the Gazette had not published this story, the deeply un-American practice of keeping secret warrants, sealed forever, would have continued unchanged.    This was no faraway tale, but a wrongful practice here, among us, as residents and citizens.

There’s a good – a truly good – result of the Gazette‘s story: search warrants in Walworth County will not remain, as a general practice, permanently sealed.  In an update to its original story, the Gazette published, on February 5th, “DA: We have addressed sealed documents loophole.”  The Gazette reports that

District Attorney Phil Koss said he has changed the language his prosecutors will use when requesting search warrants be sealed. The new form sets a six-month expiration date for the seal.

The change comes after a Gazette investigation showed search warrants in Walworth County could be shielded forever from public scrutiny, allowing police to search homes virtually undetected.

One should note that this was always a practice that was within Koss’s ability to manage.  Koss commends the Gazette, and he rightly should.  It’s telling that he commends them for discovering a loophole, when they have done far more — they’ve revealed his own practice of drafting motions such that they would remain sealed.

It was an astonishingly bad, secretive practice, brought to light through the work of a real and solid newspaper.  I have contended consistently that among the best tonics for our distorted politics is a press that diligently reports on public officials’ actions.

Bloggers — modern-day pamphleteers — aren’t anywhere as important as a solid newspaper.  There’s simply no comparison.

It’s where — in places like Whitewater — that there isn’t a vigorous hometown newspaper that a community becomes thick with official distortions, omissions, grandiose claims, and  self-serving lies.  We have a hometown paper that doesn’t have a hometown office (Whitewater Register), a nearby paper that scampers after local officials to emulate the Register‘s slavish deference (Daily Union), and a local politician’s commercial website (Whitewater Banner) that might as well be an extended campaign ad for incumbency.

They are both cause and consequence of our mediocre politics.

I’m not a reporter, nor a journalist, and I aspire to neither line of work. It’s enough to be able to read, to see the difference between worthy reporting and sycophancy.    I’m truly appreciative of the former, and legitimately critical of the latter.

I’ve also no doubt — absolutely none — that the embarrassing flacking and spinning of which we are afflicted has no future.  It causes a great deal of truly regrettable damage, and we would be more prosperous if it disappeared overnight, but disappear it will, over time.  Until then, one enters the fray a happy warrior like New York’s Al Smith was, convinced and confirmed.

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, a group blog of law professors and academics, there’s a post about the unfortunate conduct of James O’Keefe, an activist.

In a post entitled, “One Sting Too Many,” Jonathon Adler writes about allegations against O’Keefe:

It’s one thing to pretend to be a pimp when interviewing ACORN employees. It’s quite another to pretend to be a telephone repairman to gain access to a U.S. Senate office and its telephone system. Apparently noted ACORN-sting film maker James O’Keefe and some compatriots did not see the difference, and are now facing federal charges and the possibility of significant jail time. Politico reports. here.

See, One Sting Too Many.

It’s odd about all this, because the best opportunities for reform – and the only acceptable ones – are lawful avenues of inquiry.

Wisconsin and America offer citizens rights of lawful inquiry seldom exercised in Whitewater. Our Open Meetings Law (WOML, Wis. Stat. ss. 19.81-19.98) and Public Records Law (WPRL Wis. Stat. ss. 19.31-19.39) provide fair and clear rights of information and access.

We have no need for misguided pranks and supposedly daring conduct.

There are problems receiving full and complete compliance under our laws, but there is recourse through the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office, and through supportive press inquiries. It’s not hard, either, to demonstrate officials’ third-rate efforts at obstruction and evasion. Hiding one thing typically reveals others.

Tenacity is required, but only lawful tenacity is necessary, permissible, and worthy of respect.

Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner recently touted an A2 rating from Moody’s Investor Services. It’s what he didn’t say that’s most telling.

In his January 15th Weekly Report, Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner announced an affirmation from Moody’s Investor Services of the city’s A2 bond rating. The city’s rating is assigned to the sale of million dollars in bonds, of two different types. The bonds are public debt, that the city must repay with interest. Brunner included the Moody’s announcement, with his own preface, in his weekly report.  Here are my remarks, with the full announcement from Brunner appearing at the bottom of this post, for reference.

Moody’s rating of ‘A’ is actually a common rating — over half of municipalities rated have received it over a thirty-year period.

The A2 rating that Whitewater received (as re-affirmation) isn’t exceptional — it’s common. Moody’s rates municipal bond investments on a broad category scale as follows: Aaa, Aa, A, Baa, Ba, and so on. Within a category, such as ‘A,’ there’s additional differentiation between A1, A2, etc.

In the thirty-year period between 1970 and 2000, of the municipal bond investments Moody’s rated, over 54% were rated as ‘A.’ That’s right — over half. It’s hardly an exceptional rating — ‘A’ is the most common rating as a broad category across an entire generation of Moody’s ratings. See, Moody’s US Municipal Bond Rating Scale.

Here’s Moody’s own distribution chart, reproduced as Fair Use commentary:

Whitewater’s in the middle, with a rating like most others.  It’s certainly not exemplary.

Not only that, but Whitewater’s investments received an A2 rating, less than some others (that is, A1) within the most common category of ratings. We’re in the middle of the middle, so to speak — no better than typical.

That’s how Whitewater rated, but the Whitewater city manager’s announcement tells nothing of the the commonplace nature of the rating. On the contrary, one would think that the city had won some sort of prestigious honor.

Even a steak sauce does better:

There’s a habit in Whitewater to insist that pig’s ears are silk purses. No bother trying to make one from the other – here insistence alone is enough.

Moody’s — receives compensation for any solicited rating — only unsolicited ratings require no payment to Moody’s.

There’s much that has been written about the benefits and risks of solicited and unsolicited sets of ratings. Of this one can say with certainty that where the rating is solicited, the firm has received compensation for its services, but gains access to records it requests. Where the rating is unsolicited, the firm rates without financial interest, but bases the rating only on public information.

A solicited, and supposedly objective analysis in these issues comes for a price; the success of an issue may depend on the rating. Everybody involved in these transactions knows as much.

The bond rating depends most on the city’s ability to repay the bond issue with interest. Analyses of the actual conditions of residents are secondary to the ability of the city to tax to repay the debt with interest.

In this regard, Brunner’s like a man who buys a pricey suit and assumes that the purchase proves he’s in good health.  There is, of course, more room to tax – after all, it was Brunner who recently proposed an increase in the tax levy, in the middle of a deep recession, until Common Council saw better than to heap burdens on the city’s residents.  Residents would have been worse off if he had his way.

Moody’s analysis shows how much Whitewater depends on the university, rather than city-sponsored projects, for its stability and survival.

Even a casual glance at the Moody’s report — and Brunner must have done as much — reveals that Moody’s fundamentally bases its rating on the obvious truth that

city’s economy is dominated by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus. While the associated property is tax-exempt and consequently unavailable as a taxable resource, Moody’s believes that the stability and employment opportunities that it affords local residents are significant positive credit factors. The university is by far the largest employer with over 1,000 employees and enrollment has hit a record level of approximately 11,000 students. The school continues to expand and, as evidence, has recently opened a new business school and residence halls this fall. In 2008 the value of the city’s building permits swelled due to a $30 million university construction project.

These aren’t accomplishments of city government — the campus props up the town.  I’ve argued as much for years.  The City of Whitewater may thank the State of Wisconsin for whatever opportunity we have.  These are not accomplishments of the city’s politicians and bureaucrats.

The rating’s analysis shows that we lag Wisconsin and America.

Both Madison and Milwaukee — even Milwaukee, with all her troubles – have higher ratings.   Whitewater’s median family income trails Wisconsin, and unemployment is over the state average.  No mention of child poverty, by the way — a figure that would not be affected by the presence of students (the presence of which Moody’s uses as an excuse to explain Whitewater’s below-average income statistics.)

Our rate of child poverty is astonishingly high — about one in four children.  A taxpayer funded tech park that relies on a taxpayer-funded agency as an anchor tenant will do nothing for them.

The rating ignores alternatives to borrowing.

Understandably, Moody’s merely reviews if the city can pay back a multi-million obligation, even if it has to tax more to do so.  I am sure that there is more to take from common residents — even the Sheriff of Nottingham could find an additional farthing or two from some ordinary person in Sherwood Forest.

There’s no analysis of whether this is the right plan and course for Whitewater.  The alternatives to the plan of a few middling bureaucrats’ vain ambitions to gobble as much stimulus money as possible, with additional debt heaped on the city as a result, are beyond Moody’s scope.

About Whitewater’s “successful use of tax increment districts (TIDs), including five additional TIDs established in 2007…”

Did someone write Moody’s analysis on April 1st?  It’s not even a suitable fool’s day joke.  If all the tax incremental districts were so successful, why would city manager Brunner bother to write, in his preface to his proposed 2010 budget, that “I also want the Finance Director to evaluate possible city debt savings through restructuring/refinancing. This will be especially critical in the next few months if the distressed TID legislation is approved by the State Legislature as expected and we will be look at how TID #4 could be extended beyond its current life.”

Moody’s analyst, you might want to call 911: Whitewater TID 4 may need a defibrillator, a distressed TID bill, something…

The local press coverage of the bond rating.

One can see an unquestioning view of public officials over at a local newspaper.   (Too funny, especially, is Brunner going on about how it would be unrealistic to expect the rating to be higher. Well, he’s right about at least one thing.)

Ultimately, crowing over a commonplace rating, and ignoring the very words that show Whitewater lags behind, serves not Whitewater, but advances only one bureaucrat’s overweening vanity.

From the city manager’s Weekly Report:

City Receives A2 Bond Rating for Upcoming Borrowing for Technology Park Development

Earlier this week, Moody’s Investor Services issued the following report on the city’s finances and continued to assign an A2 rating to the city bond issues that are scheduled for sale next Tuesday. Given the current economy and municipal financial difficulties, maintaining existing bond ratings can be difficult with a number of downgrades and only a very few upgrades occurring. Reading the report is very interesting and provides a good objective review of our community and its financial condition.

NEW YORK, January 13, 2010 –

Moody’s Investors Service has assigned an A2 rating to the City of Whitewater’s (WI) $3.3 million Taxable General Obligation Community Development Bonds, which will be offered as Build America Bonds, and $2.1 million General Obligation Refunding Bonds. Concurrently, Moody’s has affirmed the A2 rating on the city’s outstanding general obligation debt affecting $14.1 million. Both the taxable and tax-exempt bonds are secured by the city’s general obligation unlimited tax pledge. The community development bonds will finance infrastructure improvements within the city’s technology park (tax increment financing district four). The tax-exempt bonds will refinance three state loans and two privately placed loans for a net present value savings. The A2 rating reflects the city’s sound financial position, stable local economy significantly anchored by a state university, and manageable debt profile.

LOCAL ECONOMY DOMINATED BY STATE UNIVERSITY EXPECTED TO REMAIN STABLE

Whitewater is favorably located 45 miles southeast of Madison (general obligation rated Aaa/stable outlook) and 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee (rated Aa2/negative outlook). The city’s economy is dominated by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus. While the associated property is tax-exempt and consequently unavailable as a taxable resource, Moody’s believes that the stability and employment opportunities that it affords local residents are significant positive credit factors. The university is by far the largest employer with over 1,000 employees and enrollment has hit a record level of approximately 11,000 students. The school continues to expand and, as evidence, has recently opened a new business school and residence halls this fall. In 2008 the value of the city’s building permits swelled due to a $30 million university construction project.

The city’s tax base is moderately-sized at $639 million, though this excludes the university campus, and growth over the last five years has been somewhat measured, averaging 5.1% increases annually. The city has encouraged diversity and growth through the successful use of tax increment districts (TIDs), including five additional TIDs established in 2007. Wealth indices are skewed downward given the presence of the large student population which accounts for 78% of the population. While the per capita income figures reflect the impact of the substantial student population (65.7% of the state average), the median family income is much stronger at 91.1% of the state average. Walworth County’s (general obligation rated Aa2) unemployment rate of 7.8% in October 2009 was slightly higher that than of the state and nation.

SOUND FINANCIAL POSITION SUPPORTED BY CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT

Moody’s expects the city to maintain a sound financial position due to prudent management evidenced by relatively healthy reserves. Over the last five years, the city has maintained essentially balanced operations with the exceptions of fiscal 2004 and 2008. In fiscal 2004, the city drew down its reserves by $584,000 due to a one time expenditure of $623,770 to retire the city’s unfunded pension liability. In fiscals 2005, 2006 and 2007 the city’s General Fund balance remained stable at $2.5 million, equal to 29.5% of fiscal 2007revenues. The city realized a deficit of $197,000 in fiscal 2008 due to higher than expected expenditures related to snow and ice removal early in the year and flood clean-up over the summer. While the city did receive about $100,000in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement, the funds did not cover the entire out-of-pocket amount spent by the city. Officials report that fiscal 2009 year-end results will likely reflect a slight deficit of up to$68,000, though a portion of this is expected to be offset by unspent contingency funds. The city had budgeted the use of about $68,500 in reserves in fiscal 2009 to meet operational costs. Notably, the city did not implement any staff reductions or furloughs. In fiscal 2010 the city’s state shared revenue is expected to decline by $68,000, the city reduced its General Fund levy, and $75,000 of General Fund reserves were applied to the budget. Favorably, over $90,000 was budgeted as a contingency expenditure (equal to 1% of the budget) and, due to unused taxing margin year after year, the city can roll forward about $360,000. Although the city applies a modest amount of reserves to the budget each year, management expects to adhere to its General Fund balance policy of maintaining a minimum of 20% of the subsequent year’s budget.

In addition to property taxes, which account for 26.8% of the city’s fiscal 2008 operational revenue, the city receives a portion of its operational revenue from state shared utility revenue. Since the property valuation of aco-generation facility, constructed and operated by LS Power (senior secured rated Baa3/stable outlook), is not included in the city’s tax base, the utility pays tax on gross receipts to the state and the state subsequently makes annual payments to the city based on the valuation of the utility’s assets. Payments of $750,000 began in 1997 and will continue in lesser amounts going forward. Payments are tied to the depreciated value of the facility and therefore will decline slightly through 2012 and remain stable thereafter. The city has chosen to use these funds to pay debt service and cash finance capital projects, in order to preserve structural fiscal balance between recurring revenues and recurring expenditures.

MANAGEABLE DEBT POSITION GIVEN SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT FROM NON-DEBT SERVICE LEVY SOURCES

Moody’s expects the city’s above average debt burden will remain manageable given significant support from non-debt service levy sources and rapid principal amortization of 100% in ten years. The city’s direct debt burden is elevated at 3.1% of full valuation as is its overall debt burden of 4.4%. The city’s general obligation debt service is heavily supported by the revenues from the LS Power co-generation facility and increment from the city’s TIDs which together cover over 80% of the city’s debt service. Management plans to issue a series of refinancing bonds later this year for savings but has no capital borrowing plans until 2011 or 2012.

KEY STATISTICS

2008 Population estimate: 14,291 (6.4% increase since 2000)

2009 Full value: $639 million

Estimated full value per capita: $44,717

Direct Debt: 3.1%

Overlapping Debt: 4.4%

Fiscal 2008 General Fund Balance: $2.3 million (26.6% of revenues)

Walworth County’s unemployment rate (10/09): 7.8%

2000 Per capita income as a % of state: 65.7% (64.7% of US)

2000 Median family income as a % of state: 91.1% (96.3% of US)

Post-sale GOULT debt outstanding: $19.6 million

The principal methodology used in rating the current issue was Moody’s General Obligation Bonds Issued by U.S. Local Governments, published in October 2009 and available on www.moodys.com in the Rating Methodologies sub-directory under the Research & Ratings tab. Other methodologies and factors that may have been considered in the process of rating this issuer can also be found in the Rating Methodologies sub-directory on Moody’s website. The last rating action was on July 28, 2009 when the A2 GOULT rating for the city was affirmed.

Small-town Whitewater is spending about eleven million dollars in federal money and municipal debt for a Technology Park, with a showcase Innovation Center. The amount is more than the annual budget of the city, and it’s federal deficit spending, and municipal public debt, that will make this project possible.

(Note: I will comment generally on the bond issue for the project, and the rating attached to it, tomorrow.)

Here’s an artist’s depiction of the planned Innovation Center:

It’s stylish in a contemporary way.

The Innovation Center has been looking for an anchor tenant, and now it has one: CESA 2, a Cooperative Educational Service Agency.

Here’s the announcement from Whitewater’s city manager, Kevin Brunner:

Anchor Tenant for Whitewater Innovation Center Confirmed This Week

The Cooperative Education Services Administration (CESA) District 2 Board approved a ten-year lease this week for space in the new Whitewater Innovation Center. CESA 2 will be an anchor tenant for the Center and will lease about 10,000 square feet in the new building which is scheduled for construction beginning in early spring.

CESA 2, which is currently leasing space in Milton, provides educational support and training services for over 70 school districts in southern Wisconsin. CESA 2 is expected to bring over 50 full and part-time employees to work at the Innovation Center as well as host daily teacher and administrator training sessions that typically have between 20 and 100 attendees.

As a member of the Whitewater Technology Center Board of Directors, I am very excited about having CESA 2 come to Whitewater and the new Innovation Center. CESA 2 will bring a lot of economic activity and jobs to the community as well as the Whitewater University Technology Park.

What’s CESA? It’s a forty-seven year old state-created agency “to assist districts in providing quality educational opportunities for students….[to] help school districts share staff, services and
purchasing, and provide a link between local districts and the state.”

Much of the work that CESA performs concerns laudable services to schools, including special education students. The CESA branch serving our community is CESA 2. Our CESA serves a large number of districts.

More about CESA is available at the following link:

http://www.cesa2.k12.wi.us/about/

A few observations on choice of this anchor tenant, for the Tech Park’s Innovation Center.

What’s an Innovation Center and Tech Park?

When one thinks of technology, and innovation, one typically thinks of pioneering American companies, that created products or services that were attractive, and from that attraction, whole new fields and opportunities arose. There’s a good reason for this — America has excelled at this sort of private, entrepreneurial initiative time and again.

For it, we are the envy of the world.

It distorts and stretches the meaning of both innovation and technology to apply it to any organization, anywhere, at any time.

There’s a way, of course — empty and thin — that one might describe most activity as technology-related. One might say that because a taxi company uses two-way radios, it’s a technology-based company.

One might also say that a company whose employees have found a better use for a photocopier in their building has been innovative. Before, they might have stapled documents after copying them; now, they’ve discovered that the photocopier can staple documents for them. That’s hardly an innovation as one would reasonably define it.

In the end, calling something an Innovation Center, or a Technology Park, does not make it so. Yet, the name sounds fancy, surely. The value of the park should depend on the work done, and not the name.

The City of Whitewater might as well have produced an even grander name, something like Genius Enclave, if inapplicability were the goal.

It’s so very characteristic of a limited perspective that one hears about jobs (in this case relocated, not new ones) but not about the cost of those jobs, and whether this community benefits from this multi-million dollar projects as against other possibilities (e.g., tax reduction, reduction of regulations).

There’s also something insubstantial about a bureaucrat insisting that a tenant will produce a ‘synergy’ – that is, literally, interaction of two elements such that the total result is greater than the sum of the two. (See, Brunner’s comments in the interview to which I link, below.)

Easy to say, of course, and saying so sounds very modern. It’s much harder to verify.

Without verification, it’s just another smooth-sounding word, unsubstantiated.

CESA 2 is not a Reasonable Choice for a Tech Park Anchor Tenant

CESA is, I am sure, a fine organization. It’s just not a technology concern, and it never will be, by any reasonable definition. It’s not even a private organization — CESA itself discloses that

“[t]he leading source of CESA funds, in all cases, was revenue from member school districts which totaled $68.1 million, or 63% of all monies received. Revenue from federal ($16.7 million, 15% of the total) and state governments [sic] ($14 million, 13%) were the other major sources of funds.”

CESA isn’t a technology concern — not one bit. It’s a state-mandated agency, feeding from tax dollars, that will fill up space in a technology park built on tax dollars and public debt. I’m sure they do good work; it’s just not a tech enterprise.

Our great find of an anchor tenant amounts to giving a taxpayer-dependent agency about one-quarter of the space in a taxpayer-funded Innovation Center.

We’ve created nothing new and innovative — we’ve relocated an agency from its current location in Milton, Wisconsin. I would say that their loss is our gain, but then Milton’s not spending millions for all of this.

Carts Before Horses.

When a park for technology comes before the demand of technology companies for space in Whitewater, bureaucrats will scramble to fill the place with any tenant. Having departed from a commitment to following private demand, and thus addressing true community needs, the City of Whitewater embarks on a presumptuous project from a few middling bureaucrats and their back-patting supporters.

There’s a story about all this, over at the Daily Union. See, CESA 2 tenant for Tech Park. The story mentions other matters, some of which I will address tomorrow. The story presents unquestioningly Brunner’s opinions on the topics therein. This is unsurprising: it’s part of our sad, local tradition toward officials, and what one fading paper did for so long another now does.

There’s nothing surprising in this – it’s very much to be expected, about the project, its description from Whitewater officials, and in press accounts.

There’s a press release from the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin available about Gov. Doyle’s clean energy plan. The release happily acknowledges that the plan requires no new state spending, but correctly observes that mandates and regulations will further burden Wisconsin’s beleaguered economy.

See, Doyle’s Clean Energy Plan is Good News/Bad News.

One of the supposed advantages of living in Wisconsin is that the small size of communities, and supposed open, forthright character of citizens, will prevent the kind of unfair pressure and influence that officials may exert in huge, crowded cities. Perhaps not.

From Dane County, the Wisconsin State Journal reports on allegations against a prosecutor for using his authority to drop criminal charges to influence a defendant to settle an unrelated civil case.

Prosecutor used charges to leverage civil suit, complaint alleges

Here’s a concise description of the situation:

The state agency that regulates lawyers is investigating whether a Dane County prosecutor improperly offered to drop criminal charges against a town of Oregon man in exchange for settling a civil lawsuit against his neighbors.

In a letter late last year, the Office of Lawyer Regulation said it was investigating a complaint by John Dohm against Dane County Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey. Dohm alleges that Humphrey improperly took Dohm’s neighbors’ side in the lawsuit, turning their legal dispute over water on their properties into two criminal cases.

The first case, a single charge of disorderly conduct that took three days to try, was dismissed in March when a jury acquitted Dohm after deliberating for less than an hour. The second case, alleging bail jumping, was dismissed a month later.

The prosecution file for the two cases grew to more than 700 pages, and Dohm, owner of several businesses including Start Renting magazine, said he spent $48,000 defending himself.

“What I experienced with Paul Humphrey should not be experienced by any other citizens of our county,” said Dohm, 55. “His abuse of power, his intimidating tactics and his willingness to throw the weight of the district attorney’s office behind an unrelated case is unconscionable.”

Is this the first time prosecutor Humphrey has been accused of misconduct? No, not at all — it’s the third:

Dohm’s complaint is at least the third allegation of misconduct investigated by the lawyer-regulation agency against Humphrey, who has been an assistant district attorney in Dane County for two decades. Humphrey’s controversial and aggressive tactics were the subject of a four-day Wisconsin State Journal series in 2007.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is considering possible discipline against Humphrey in a vehicular homicide case in which he was found to have withheld evidence from a defense attorney and lied to a judge. The defendant in that case also was acquitted.

In rural Whitewater, Wisconsin, and across the state, one hears politicians, officials, and bureaucrats insist that they are public servants, community treasures, and tribunes of the people. They may describe themselves as they wish; the description neither alters their character nor convinces any save the gullible.

If there were a way to transform human nature and disposition so easily, we’d make saints of ordinary men simply by calling them councilmen or Congressmen.

The people most likely to believe in that magical transformation are the officeholders themselves. The rest of us have no reason to adopt that foolish view.