There’s a story today that a large, illuminated American flag display in Whitewater was vandalized. The worst crimes are, surely, crimes of violence against people. Yet among property crimes, not involving harm to a person, there’s a particularly crude aspect to vandalism. It’s a purely destructive property crime. The large display that was damaged this…
City
Beautiful Whitewater, Charity, City, Good Ideas, New Whitewater, Poverty
Sunday, 10.7.12: Whitewater CROP Hunger Walk 2012
by JOHN ADAMS •
Details: Location – Begins at Fairhaven Retirement Home (435 W. Starin Road, Whitewater) and ends at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (46 S. Church St., Whitewater). Registration – 12:30 p.m., Walk: 1:00 p.m. See, for additional details or donation link, Whitewater CROP Hunger Walk 2012 – CROP Hunger Walk.
City, Press
The Local Press as a Bad Habit
by JOHN ADAMS •
If local officials (whether elected or appointed) want to be successful, they’ll have to set higher standards for themselves than our local press sets for them. Successful leaders have been, are, and will always be those who set a better standard for themselves. There’s no partisan ideology in this – the same applies to those…
City
The Common Council Session for 10.2.12
by JOHN ADAMS •
Tuesday saw a common council session in Whitewater, with topics including recognition of private accomplishments, citizen comments on housing, a municipal budget update, snow removal, council’s approval of the terms for Whitewater’s new City Manager, Cameron Clapper, and discussion of the job posting for a new Director of Public Works. A few remarks on meeting…
City, Politics
Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters October 2012 Newsletter
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ October 2012 Newsletter has arrived, featuring articles and a calendar of upcoming events. This latest edition is available as a link on my blogroll, and is embedded below. Upcoming events: Date: October 13th (Saturday) Event: LWVWI Issues Briefing Where: Crown Plaza Hotel, Madison Date: October 18th (Thursday) Event: Public…
CDA, City, Green Energy Holdings, Waste Digesters
The Whitewater Community Development Authority Meeting for 9.27.12
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority met yesterday afternoon, the agenda including both open and closed session discussions (with a return to open session). The principal topics of the meeting appear below. I’ll address one of particular concern first, and the rest in the order in which they were discussed in public session. The Waste Digester Proposal.…
City, Press Release
City of Whitewater Selects Cameron Clapper as Next City Manager
by JOHN ADAMS •
Please see a press release from the City of Whitewater about the selection of a new city manager, following a selection process concluding with interviews of finalists earlier today: PRESS RELEASE Saturday, September 22, 2012 After interviewing five finalists, the City of Whitewater Common Council has unanimously selected Cameron L. Clapper to serve as Whitewater’s…
City
On Whitewater’s Candidates’ Forum for City Manager
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update, 9.22.12: Embedded below is the video of the Friday evening candidates’ community forum. City Manager Candidates Forum 09/21/2012 from Whitewater Community TV on Vimeo. Original post from 9.21.12: Earlier this evening, Whitewater held a candidates’ forum for her open city manager position. There are five candidates, and it’s likely that Council will pick one of them…
City
A Quick Fix for Uncertainty about Contracts
by JOHN ADAMS •
Cities and towns routinely enter into contracts, agreements, memoranda of understanding, etc. Both local legislators and a town’s residents should have a clear, concise idea of these deals’ requirements. The recent Whitewater Common Council meeting of 9.18.12 shows how many deals there are, and how hard it is to keep track. Considering a deal with…
City, Planning, Politics
The Extraordinary Ordinary
by JOHN ADAMS •
Two recent meetings illustrate the simple, routine workings of government in the city: the 9.10.12 Planning Commission meeting, and the 9.11.12 Common Council session. I have embedded both below. You’ll find, I’d say, nothing extraordinary in either. Instead, it’s just the routine business of city planning, and the preparations for interviewing candidates to be Whitewater’s…
City
Whitewater’s City Manager Finalists
by JOHN ADAMS •
Please see the text of a press release from the City of Whitewater, with the names of, and information about, the five finalists to be her next city manager. I have also embedded a copy of the press release that includes the résumés of each candidate, and a schedule of upcoming steps in the selection…
City
The Next City Manager
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Common Council will, tonight, narrow the list of candidates to be her next city manager. In the days ahead, there’ll be an announcement about those finalists, and time to consider their accomplishments before a reception and community forum on 9.21, and council’s closed-session interviews on 9.22. A good choice matters, of course, but it…
CDA, City, Development, Green Energy Holdings
A Waste Digester Proposal Summary, June to August
by JOHN ADAMS •
As with so many other recent proposals, the proposal for a large waste digester in Whitewater was announced quickly, without public input, and trumpeted unthinkingly. In this way, the scheme was the quintessential proposal of the outgoing Brunner administration. There’s much more ahead about all this, but before that, a summary of where we are.…
City, Politics, Press
What Bill Clinton Correctly Teaches (and What Local Leaders Can Learn from It)
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m not a Democrat, but I have always admired and respected Bill Clinton’s rhetorical power, a power on display again last night in Charlotte. In a time when few politicians are persuasive, Clinton stands out even more. James Fallows, writing in the Atlantic, in a post entitled, Why Bill Clinton’s Speeches Work,” posits that it’s…