Last night’s 12.18.12 Common Council meeting was a busy one, with staff reports, reading of ordinances, and appointment of a new alder to Council. This was the last meeting of 2012, and the session covered much ground in under three hours. All in all, a good night, I’d say, for the city.
I’ll post on sundry items throughout the day. In this post, I’ll write about some of the staff reports presented last night.
Dean Fischer’s Retirement. Council delivered a proclamation to retiring Public Works Director Dean Fischer, having been employed with the city for over forty-years.
A K-9 Service Animal. Whitewater’s Police Department is looking to add a service dog, through a fundraising program. Since Whitewater has a history of success with public safety fundraising, the odds are good that the department will raise the money. The dog proposed is a tracking, drug-interdiction dog. (Other dogs, those trained to use force against a suspect, are apprehension dogs).
Because Whitewater’s proposed program is part of an anti-narcotics effort, its role depends on political and cultural forces outside the city. Enforcement of this kind relies on Wisconsin’s view of the Drug War. For now, it’s safe to say that no changes nationally will affect Whitewater’s (or even Wisconsin’s) views on these policies.
(There’s a fine essay from a faculty member at Marquette, to which I will refer another time, that I think reasonably suggests that Wisconsin may be one of the last states in America to abandon the Drug War. If that’s true, then not only a tracking dog, but also those leaders advocating one, will likely be retired before any significant changes in Wisconsin’s narcotics laws.)
The Library’s Building Plan. A consultant has modified by reduction the expansion plan for the library. Meetings about the plan will continue through much of 2013.
Big Brick Park’s Ice Rink. The park needs some furnace repairs, in an amount under $2,000. Routine repairs of this kind can and should be undertaken under ordinary administrative authority, and that’s what happened in this case. Happy skating – think snow (or at least suitable cold).
Next: The Move to Amend Petition.