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Monthly Archives: August 2012

CDA, City, Green Energy Holdings, Open Government, Press

What Whitewater’s Officials Don’t Know (or Don’t Want You to Know) about that “Green Energy” Deal

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I’m not sure what would be worse –

(1) an airy proposal for an energy deal for the City of Whitewater in which city officials don’t even know simple implications of the proposal, or

(2) a deal in which city officials actually know how this proposal has been received elsewhere, but don’t want the residents of Whitewater to know.

What a few insiders in Whitewater won’t tell you, I will.

Here’s a television report from WLUK about a proposed digester project near Maribel, WI – from the same parent company involved in the Whitewater venture.

Maribel area residents want answers about proposed facility

Whitewater deserves due diligence from her officials, and diligent scrutiny of government from her local reporters. She hasn’t received it from them about this proposal. more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 8.9.12

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Good morning.

Thursday will bring much needed showers to Whitewater, on a day with a high of seventy-one.

On this day in 1974, Gerald Ford became president:

 

A stop-motion video from NASA shows the descent of the Curiosity rover toward Mars:

 

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls today as the birthday of a notable Wisconsin pioneer:

“1793 – Milwaukee Pioneer Solomon Juneau Born

On this date Laurent Salomon Juneau was born in Repentigny, Quebec, Canada. Known as the founder of Milwaukee, Juneau was a fur trader with John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. He built the first log house in Milwaukee in 1822 and followed with the first frame house in 1824. In October 1833 he formed a partnership with Morgan L. Martin to develop a village on the east side of the Milwaukee River.

Juneau was elected commissioner of roads and director of the poor in September 1835. He was also appointed postmaster, a position he held until 1843. In 1837 he began publishing the Milwaukee Sentinel. He was elected first mayor of Milwaukee in 1846. Juneau died on November 14, 1856. [Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography, p.198]”

Google’s daily puzzle, awkwardly worded, asks about anatomy: “The lung that takes in more air has one more what than the other?”

Drink, Food, Hip & Prosperous

About Whitewater’s Restaurants

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At last night’s common council session, there was more than one person who remarked that Whitewater needed an improved dining scene.

She does. Although there are some real gems here, we’ve not enough of the sort of dining that would attract people to Whitewater time and again.

A city of our size cannot have successful, flourishing restaurants solely from local patronage; we need to attract visitors. (This is probably hard for some to believe, and perhaps it’s generational, but a successful dining scene requires more than one familiar, but tired and long-in-the-tooth, local establishment.)

The secret of a successful restaurant that attracts visitors is that it makes the city more, not less, favorable for others. Popular dining is no zero-sum dynamic: having a few good restaurants makes it easier for others — typically of different cuisine — to thrive, too.

Whitewater can, and I think will, develop this sort of solid reputation by the end of the decade.

We’re on our way now, but there’s much more that we could be.

One of the best ways to market the city to visitors and newcomers is to emphasize a vibrant dining and social scene. One could argue about how important this is, but I’d say it’s very important for attracting competitive professionals. It’s a top-tier concern for many (along with a community’s overall economy, business and retail climate, schools, efficiency & fairness of government, natural beauty, and social tolerance).

Hip restaurants (that’s hip, not stodgy), coffee & pastry shops, fresh, organic produce:

How can we achieve this? Let restaurateurs experiment, in conditions of fewer restrictions, and with speedy permitting. Publicize fashionable restaurants at every turn. (There’s a tendency to back a given restaurant, but we’ll not be a successful destination until we’ve enough attractive restaurants that backing one here or there won’t be a concern.)

Needless to say, supporting good restaurants is nothing like advocating for good government. In politics, one advocates simultaneously for better policies and against poorer ones. This is because there’s no avoiding the bad in politics – it inflicts misfortune and mediocrity on all, until it’s gone forever. Encouraging the good alone would leave the bad untouched and entrenched.

Restaurants aren’t like this. There’s great value in encouraging good restaurants, but less harm in ignoring bad ones. Bottom-shelf restaurants don’t trouble everyone, but rather only a small, ignorant or undemanding clientele. Because they don’t afflict an entire community, there’s less urgency in writing justifiably unfavorable reviews.

(It’s not that there shouldn’t be unfavorable restaurant reviews; it’s that’s the reach and — of course — the actual harm of bad restaurants is so much less than for a bad politics.)

Whitewater could stand, of restaurants, more writing about the good ones in the city, leaving the rest unpublicized. That writing will always be best when it’s something more, by the way, than a reworked advertisement. The best recommendations are freely and independently made.

CDA, City

Common Council’s 8.7.12 Session

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Common Council held its first session of the month last night. Discussion of some highlights from that session appears below:

Library Expansion Plans. More space for people, less space for books (as new media require less space): that’s a sensible modification. Adjustment in the total space required, and a survey of community wishes for a library, are similarly reasonable plans.

Bartender’s License with a Probationary Period. It’s reasonable to approve a license with a probationary period, if there should be concerns about the bartender’s conduct. A business owner has an incentive, after all, to assure compliance.

Sign-Up Process. Council tried a same-day sign-up process for those attendees wishing to speak. It’s permissible, but fussy and burdensome. There’s also risk in it. While it’s true that Council could eliminate general public comments altogether, it’s a fallacy to believe that the greater always includes the lesser.

(That one can prohibit something entirely doesn’t mean that one can allow it any way one wishes: because all on-street parking could be banned doesn’t mean that the city could exclude only smaller groups, such as Presbyterians or Laplanders, from parking.)

Quick question: Is the sign-up sheet only in English? If it deters non-native English speakers from commenting, because of the difficulty of completing it, or for those who wish to speak but have difficulty with literacy generally, it’s a bad idea. (The signup sheet does not seem to be in the Council packet for this meeting.)

I’ve not noticed any problem with order at Council meetings lately; this is an unnecessary step. Best bet for order: a simple time limit. More than that puts Whitewater on the bumpy road to Chetek, WI’s policy.

A CDA Research Specialist. I’m sure it’s fine to have an intern, but the Whitewater Community Development Authority’s needs are far greater. One could start with assuring that there are no more failed TID districts, wasteful spending programs, failures to comply with clear, simple federal guidelines, or blatant conflicts of interest at CDA meetings.

Talking about an intern simply ignores the CDA’s inability to meet the standards scores of other Wisconsin community development organizations meet. First research project for a CDA intern: How Not to Make the Mistakes We’ve Been Making.

Liquor License Quota. Our city’s large enough by population to have two additional alcohol licenses, beyond the number now issued. We’ve at least one new restaurant that could use a full license, and the city could benefit — as almost everyone agrees — from additional, proper restaurants.

It was the right idea to expand the quota, recognizing that expansion of the quota does not assure issuance to a particular establishment.

Questions about the Hawk Bowl’s Licenses. Dr. Nosek, formerly of the Common Council, spoke about the two permits now held by the Hawk Bowl. (Dr. Nosek had no objection to a license for the Black Sheep restaurant; he thought it might come from one of the two the Hawk Bowl now apparently holds.)

I’ve been critical of many of Dr. Nosek’s views (that’s my form of understatement), but – genuinely – I have come to admire his tenacity and rhetorical skill. Both were on display last night: Nosek quickly reframed the topic from the issuance of additional licenses to questions about whether the Hawk Bowl should hold the licenses that it now does.

He did more, even, that reframe the question: he sought to shift the burden of proof and effort to the city to assure that the existing license holder was legitimately in possession of its current licenses. This adroit shift came despite that license holder having been approved for its annual renewal just this July.

If a license holder has been (especially recently) re-approved, this city should only investigate supposed irregularities after the submission of a detailed and substantial list of concerns. Mere conjecture that the licenses seem illegitimate shouldn’t be sufficient to prompt city action. That license-holder has property rights, too, and those rights deserve more regard than irregular, unexpected municipal investigations of dubious merit.

And yet, and yet, I still admire (sincerely) Dr. Nosek’s ability to take a discussion down his preferred path. One either meets him at the trailhead, so to speak, promptly in reply to his remarks, or winds along a route of his choosing.

Street Construction. Whitewater’s goal should be to complete a project on time and on budget. It’s that simple.

The Emerald Ash Borer. A small insect threatens the many ash trees in Whitewater and elsewhere. There are several hundred such trees in the city; there are countless thousands nearby. There’s time enough, though, to assess possible costs thoroughly before the city’s budgeting is completed this fall.

The Fire Station. It’s prudent to hire a consultant to consider expansion or a new station for the fire department.

Next: About Whitewater’s Restaurants.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 8.8.12

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Good morning.

Wednesday’s forecast calls for an increasingly cloudy day, with a high temperature of eighty-three.

On this day in 1974, Pres. Nixon announced his resignation:

The Wisconsin Historical Society records that only six years earlier,

“Wisconsin Delegates Nominate[d] Nixon

On this date thirty Wisconsin delegates at the Republican National Convention in Miami cast their votes to nominate Richard Nixon as the Republican party presidential candidate. These thirty votes gave Nixon the majority over Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan and won for him the party nomination. Nixon selected Spiro Agnew to be his running mate. [Source: Back in Time]”

From Google’s daily puzzle, a question about unusual remedies: “What did the 19th-century Chinese navy hope to frighten away with cannon fire during lunar eclipses?”

City, Green Energy Holdings, Open Government, Press

Part 2: Questions for the Press about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings

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This post follows a recent story (from 7.17.12) about a waste digester proposed for Whitewater, Wisconsin (see, Waste-to-energy project coming to Whitewater“).

For an earlier post along these lines, see Questions for the Press about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings.

1. Does anyone think, as the 7.17.12 story states, that the City of Whitewater has entered into a deal with Green Energy Holdings, Inc. of Clermont, Florida?

Here’s the second paragraph of the story:

“….Green Energy Holdings, Inc., a Clermont, Fla., company, recently completed a nine month-long process culminating in an agreement to build the facility on a 15-acre site adjacent to the city’s wastewater treatment plant on Highway U. Former Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner said the facility will add $10 million to the city’s tax roll and provide as many as 70 new jobs.”

This proposal isn’t with a Florida coal processing company.
A check of Florida’s corporate records ( http://sunbiz.org/search.html) reveals that there is no Florida corporation named Green Energy Holdings, Inc., but there is a Green Energy Holdings, LLC located in Clermont, Florida ( Search Result).

That Clermont, Florida company is, however, one that processes coal, and has no connection to bio-waste digesters.

Their website describes their business and location:

Business —

“Green Energy Holdings sponsors subsidiaries that acquire coal tailings in pits, typically on abandoned coal mine sites. The companies either buy or acquire long-term leases on the land that the coal tailings sit on.”

Location —

“Green Energy Holdings, LLC
2215 Cluster Oak Drive
Suite 3
Clermont, FL 34711
(352) 404-4259”

2. Isn’t this a deal with a Wisconsin corporation, registered in Wisconsin on 4.3.12? Isn’t that corporation connected to Northern Concrete Construction?

See, from my earlier post entitled, Preliminary & General Questions about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings, Questions 2 and 11.

Green Energy Holdings, Inc. is a Wisconsin company, likely a subsidiary of Northern Concrete Construction, and either a sister or successor to N.E.W. Organic Digestion, LLC.

This deal has no connection to a Florida company.

3. Isn’t it true that I have asked far more questions than simply about jobs and clawbacks? I’ve a category about the project, with dozens of questions about official conduct at meetings, environmental concerns, and the basic diligence of local officials. This is more, I’d say, than a dollar-and-cents issue.

4. Why has this project, about which no one among the public in Whitewater has seen an independent financial estimate, been accepted at face value by the local press?

5. When the story mentions that Green Energy Holdings conducted a nine-month evaluation, does that mean that neither the city nor any independent firm conducted an independent evaluation of this reportedly multi-million-dollar deal?

6. Since the story wrongly identifies an out-of-state company as the entity behind the project, why would anyone have confidence in any assertions the story makes about months of evaluation by a company wholly unconnected with this project? Why have any confidence in the story’s uncritical acceptance of the big-dollar promises officials have touted?

7. How can Green Energy Holdings (the actual one in this deal) have conducted a nine-month self-study when it hasn’t been a Wisconsin corporation for even five months? Who did this study? Where is it?

8. At any time during the interview with Interim City Manager Cameron Clapper for this story, was Clapper asked to confirm the identity and location of the company? If not, why not?

If Clapper were asked this question, then did he confirm the wrong entity as the other party to this deal? If Clapper knew the right (in-state) entity as the party to this deal, has he made any effort to request a correction to a fundamental and basic element of story?

9. When Interim City Manager Clapper answered that it was his ‘understanding’ that there was an on-track deal, did anyone ask the basis of that understanding — that is, how sound that understanding was?

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 8.7.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Tuesday will be a sunny and hot day, with a high of ninety.

The Alcohol Licensing Committee meets at 5:45 PM today, and thereafter Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1947, a Norwegian anthropologist tested a theory about prehistoric migration, completing a difficult, replicated journey (although later analysis refuted his thesis):

On this day in 1947, Kon-Tiki, a balsa wood raft captained by Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, completes a 4,300-mile, 101-day journey from Peru to Raroia in the Tuamotu Archipelago, near Tahiti. Heyerdahl wanted to prove his theory that prehistoric South Americans could have colonized the Polynesian islands by drifting on ocean currents.

 

Google’s daily puzzle asks about a common substance: “What’s the melting point of the only non-metallic substance that expands when it freezes?”

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 8.6.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s week begins with sunny, clear skies, and a high temperature of eighty-four.

At 4 PM this afternoon, the city’s Parks and Recreation Board meets.

NASA’s Curiosity rover landed successfully on Mars earlier this morning,  It’s a triumph for science, and evidence of America’s ambition and ingenuity:

Google’s daily puzzle asks about a government policy during hard times, from years ago: “How many dollars per troy ounce did the government pay to confiscate citizens’ gold after it was outlawed in the U.S.?”

Science/Nature

Curiosity Mars Rover Mission: NASA Live Television on UStream

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Engadget offers the schedule for NASA’s Mars mission: “NASA TV will be broadcasting the event onUstream, offering commentary from the minds behind the rover, as well as audio from mission control. The Curiosity Cam, which runs from 11:30PM until 2:00AM EST and 3:30AM to 4:30AM EST, will offer commentary from the scientists and engineers behind Curiosity, while a second feed (at NASA JPL Live, which runs from 11:30PM onward) will play audio from mission control. If all goes to plan, NASA will be able to share an image from Curiosity’s navigation cameras, confirming its safe arrival on the Martian surface.”

Live stream videos at Ustream