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Author Archive for JOHN ADAMS

City, Police

Whitewater’s Search for a New Police Chief

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There’s a story over at the Gazette that mentions the departure of Whitewater’s Chief Coan, an amount of money that he may owe Whitewater under contract, and the selection of a new police chief. (That process begins, but only begins, tonight.)

I’d be surprised if he doesn’t request to keep the ten thousand; there will be a few who insist that the by-the-letter standard that Coan’s leadership expected of ordinary residents not be applied to him.

It’s much harder still when someone describes Coan’s tenure with the observation that “he raised the standards in the department considerably.”

Opinions like that are not at issue in a request by the chief to withhold this amount from the city. The issue should not be conflated with other views.

Beyond this, our best course would be a serious search for a new chief through an independent firm. There will be, also, insistence against that course (with the false excuse that there’s no money for a search. We have money for all sorts of things, but there will be an unwillingness — a stubborn resistance — from some against an independent search.)

There will be an interim chief, but the easier and worse course would be to pick a final replacement without a pool provided from a serious, independent search firm.

For the story, see Whitewater police chief might have to pay to resign post — GazetteXtra.

City, Wisconsin

Consensus, Compromise, and Opposition

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Here, in America’s Dairyland, a place of astonishing beauty, one finds a political preference for consensus, leading to frequent and sensible compromises, but occasionally requiring opposition. That’s true in Whitewater, too.

Consensus.

Of all America, I know of no place that favors consensus more than Wisconsin does. There’s speculation of how she has come to prefer it so very much, but it hardly matters now; favor it she does. In politics, we are a people that prefers a common way. This seems so obvious to me — and likely to you also — that I will not belabor the point.

Compromise.

For most political matters, a compromise makes sense. Policies on spending, taxation, and budgets can be resolved, most especially in a state like ours, where our fellow citizens favor consensus. It’s easier to come to compromise on the ordinary debates of life in a place that favors consensus, so we have a leg up on many parts of the world.

Opposition.

Yet, there are some matters — of the administration of justice, and of the truthfulness of officials’ statements — over which there cannot be compromise. An official’s wrongful conduct, another’s shameless lying, should not be met with acceptance. One should not — of this I am sure — say, for example, “that’s just so-and-so, being how he always is.”

I’ve heard this, about a few in Whitewater, along the lines that one should excuse conflicts of interest, or dishonest statements, or wrongful public actions, on the theory that no one meant ill by them.

That excuse would, of course, exculpate almost anyone from almost anything, on the theory that he lied for a supposedly good, well-intentioned, public purpose.

Any town — and certainly an American town, being the inheritor of centuries of justice — deserves better.

Toward injustices and official lies there can be only opposition. There is no supervening local standard of conduct that trumps America’s tradition of public honest and integrity.

One yearns for compromise, but opposition, rather than compromise, is what dishonest officials deserve.

We are fortunate that there are few such officials; sadly, we are afflicted, as we have some, when no community deserves any.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 3.10.11

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Good morning,

It’s a day of clearing and milder weather ahead for Whitewater, with a high temperature of thirty-seven degrees.

There will be a meeting of Whitewater’s Police Commission tonight, at 6 p.m. The agenda is available online.

Note: Link to agenda updated to reflect amended agenda.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 3.9.11

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Good morning,

It’s a day of rain and snow for Whitewater, with a high temperature of thirty-five degrees. No matter how much some might hope for spring, there’s an undeniable power and beauty to snow, evidence of the power of nature, of the beauty of the created order.

Book fairs continue at Lincoln School and the middle school today, and there are school conferences throughout the district beginning this afternoon.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 3.8.11

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Our forecast calls for a cloudy day in Whitewater, with a high temperature of forty degrees.

In our schools today, book fairs continue at Lakeview School and the middle school.  There’s a 3 p.m. meeting of the PTO at Lincoln School, proud home of the Leopards.

City

More than a Crock-Pot

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Whitewater, Wisconsin, population 14,454, is many things.

A Crock-Pot is not one of them.

When a bureaucrat sees a community, but no individuals other than a few town fathers, he makes himself a cook, and actual people mere ingredients in a slowly-cooked stew. Chop up this, mash up that, throw in the spices of self-promotion and arrogance, and let it simmer over the course of the day.

Actually, let’s be clear: when a cook-bureaucrat makes a concoction like this, he doesn’t see the community clearly. He sees himself as a chef, maybe even an artist, and those around him as ingredients. (Alternatively, he may see himself in even grander terms.) When someone tells you that he exists for community betterment, he’s probably someone with that sort of view of the world.

That’s because the diversity, the unique aspects of a real community of individuals cannot be reduced to a project like betterment, as that one-size-fits-all idea ignores individuality.

It’s merely the soft autocracy of selfish pride and personal ambition, proclaimed as a supposed altruism.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 3.7.11

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Good morning,

Today’s forecast calls for a mostly cloudy day with a high temperature of thirty-seven degrees.

There’s are book fairs at Lakeview School and the middle school today.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls a dark day in American history, but misplaces the date by a day.  The Society writes that on March 7th, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Dred Scott case; the case was actually handed down on March 6th of that year.  In any event, here’s their entry:

On This Day: March 7

….On this date, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney overturned a Wisconsin decision involving the fate of abolitionist Sherman Booth. Booth and his followers had released Joshua Glover, a captured fugitive slave, from a Milwaukee jail on March 11, 1854. Authorities accused Booth of aiding and abetting a fugitive, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court found him innocent and declared the federal Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional in Wisconsin. The case caught the attention of lawmakers nationwide over the next six years, as federal and state authorities wrangled over Booth’s fate. On March 7, 1859, the U.S. Supreme Court gave judgment reversing that of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The case finally ended when President Buchanan pardoned Booth in March, 1861, just before leaving office. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes, pg 185-202]

The federal case, I think, brought forth the worst decision in American legal history.

Twitter

Recent Tweets, 2.27 – 3.5

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Worst Headline of the Day™ Journal Sentinel: Another three-ring circus at the Capitol http://bit.ly/gKIpPT
5 March

Condescending to working class, who can assess own donations w/o Rickert’s exquisite solicitation MT @ChrisRickertWSJ: http://goo.gl/65tyS
5 March

Outrageous and astonishing: RT @WiStateJournal: Police tackle lawmaker as he enters Capitol http://dlvr.it/JG1W2
4 March

Weak Headline of the Day “Senate Republicans threaten missing Democrats with contempt” It’s de facto *arrest* at stake http://bit.ly/icVxQL
3 March

DAILY WISCONSIN » Hackers Known as Anonymous Declare War on Koch Industries, Walker’s Position on Collective Bargaining http://bit.ly/hZ063W
1 March