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…
City
City, Local Government
The New City Managers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater chose a new city manager earlier this year, and now Fort Atkinson has picked a new manager. Evelyn Johnson, the city administrator of Prairie City, Iowa, will replace John Wilmet. Wilmet has been city manager of nearby Fort since ’98. Johnson and Whitewater’s new city manager, Cameron Clapper, have at least two things in…
Agriculture, Animals, Beautiful Whitewater, City, Farming, Food, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Local Government, New Whitewater, Planning
A Model Ordinance
by JOHN ADAMS •
These last few months, beginning in September, Whitewater’s Planning Commission has heard, and subsequently considered, a proposal for an urban (backyard) chicken ordinance. The proposal is not mine; I have been a mere observer of this effort. One may write about a topic, but only after months of careful observation, as in this case. I…
City, Politics
It’s Not Who, But What
by JOHN ADAMS •
Our Common Council has before it, at the next scheduled meeting of 12.18.12, applications to fill a vacancy on that body. Four residents have applied; the appointment will run until April. Council will appoint as they see fit; they have broad discretion for an appointment like this. They and we, however, would do well by…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Holiday
Whitewater’s Happy Holly Days Parade
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a video of the Downtown Whitewater-sponsored Christmas parade. The route stretched from Whiton down Main and then back along Whitewater to the Cravath lakefront. I was among the many onlookers that night, but if you’ve not had the chance to see it, this embeddable video from Whitewater Community TV makes enjoying the parade still…
City, New Media, New Whitewater, Press Release
City Announcements
by JOHN ADAMS •
Let’s assume, as with Whitewater’s 12.4.12 Common Council meeting, the city adopts sensible guidelines for filling vacancies by appointment. The vacancy process adopted at the meeting was the work of Councilmember Binnie and City Attorney McDonell, and one can find the draft of their work online in the 12.4.12 council packet. As with a school…
City, Politics
Whitewater’s Common Council Vacancy
by JOHN ADAMS •
Following discussion at last night’s Common Council meeting, the City of Whitewater has posted a notice about a vacancy on our Common Council. The notice, and a link to an application for those interested in applying for consideration, appears immediately below: A Councilmember Seat for Member-at-Large is currently vacant, and the Common Council of the…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Holiday, Press Release
Whitewater’s Annual Holly Days Events
by JOHN ADAMS •
Tonight’s Whitewater’s annual Christmas parade, at 6 PM, beginning at Main & Whiton, traveling down Main, and turning on Whitewater Street toward the Cravath lakefront. Downtown Whitewater is the parade’s sponsor. There’s a parade, of course, yet even more awaiting: live storytelling, hot chocolate for sale, gingerbread house decorating, roasted chestnuts, the Whitewater Chamber’s open…
Business, City, Food, Liberty, Local Government
The Game of Thrones Food Trucks
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Institute of Justice, the nation’s leading libertarian public interest law firm, asks a question about Chicago that would be as fitting of other cities’ regulators: Should the city of Chicago be in the business of protecting a few politically connected restaurateurs from competition? That is the question to be answered by a major lawsuit…
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Planning
Starting Backwards
by JOHN ADAMS •
Local governments find themselves, time and again, surprised when projects don’t go to plan. They’re often surprised when the politics of a project don’t go to plan. That surprise may have a hundred causes, but I’d guess one is among the most common: that plans advance not on their merits, but through ill-considered deals between…
City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending
Whitewater Uses Public Money for Big Corporation While Big Corporation Invests in Whitewater Mexico
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Tuesday while Whitewater’s City Manager, the Janesville City Manager, and the Janesville Transportation Director were advocating for Whitewater to spend public money for a bus route that primarily benefits $2.3 billion-dollar Generac, Generac was investing forty-six million dollars in Mexico. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the story: Generac Holdings Inc. has agreed to acquire…
Business, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Planning
Whitewater’s Common Council Session of 11.20.12: 25 Questions about the Generac Bus
by JOHN ADAMS •
Most of Tuesday’s 11.20.12 Common Council session concerned the 2013 municipal budget, and of that, a half hour’s discussion addressed whether to give Generac Power Systems, a thriving corporation, ten-thousand dollars to bus its workers to and from other cities. That’s not all, of course: one heard the company-specific program touted as the hope for…
City
Whitewater’s Common Council Session of 11.20.12: Remembrance and Swearing-In
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last evening, 11.20.12, Whitewater’s Common Council session began with a moment of silence in memory of longtime Council member Marilyn Kienbaum. It was a fitting tribute to someone who represented and cared for this community for so very long. Not long thereafter, Council saw the swearing in Whitewater City Manager Clapper. The evening’s specific agenda…
City
On Marilyn Kienbaum
by JOHN ADAMS •
Marilyn Kienbaum, known throughout our small city for her tireless charitable works, and long tenure of political representation, passed away Saturday evening in the company of her family. She was aged eighty-six. Words of remembrance, sincerely expressed, are fitting. One could not say we shared the same politics; one should and must say that those…