There’s very good news for Whitewater, as the City of Whitewater’s budget information from 2000 to 2012 is now available online. Not only are the data available, but they’re easily accessible by department or particular item, interactively, and are also available for download. An initiative like this is an unalloyed good for Whitewater. First, it’s…
City
City
Daily Bread for 5.24.12
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning. Whitewater’s Thursday will be warm and windy, with a high temperature of eighty-seven. At 4:30 PM today, Whitewater’s Community Development Authority will meet in closed session for negotiation with potential CDA directors. On this day in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was first opened to traffic. Google’s daily puzzle asks about a way to…
City
On the Initial Steps toward a City Leader
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote last evening with a brief summary of Whitewater’s Common Council session of 5.21.12, during which Whitewater’s city manager submitted his resignation effective 6.22.12. See, Whitewater’s 5.21.12 Common Council Meeting. A few remarks about that session’s discussion. The Bigger Trends are Still the Bigger Trends. Whitewater will pick a new city executive of some…
City
Whitewater’s 5.21.12 Common Council Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Common Council met on Monday evening to appoint three residents to city boards or commissions, and thereafter to discuss the resignation and departure of her city manager, and finally to appoint an interim city manager. All seven members of the Common Council were present. (For tonight, I’ll offer a summary of the principal 5.21.12…
Business, City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending
The Generac Bus and Bottom-Shelf Messaging
by JOHN ADAMS •
More on a bad deal for taxpayers, but a bargain at their expense for one big corporation. I posted recently on addled messaging about the Generac bus from a weekly report of Whitewater’s city manager dated 5.11.12. Last Friday, 5.18.12, there was another announcement about the bus. That new announcement is really an admission of…
City
Old Whitewater’s Addled Message
by JOHN ADAMS •
We’re in a transition in Whitewater, from one political culture to another. Years are yet to go in this metamorphosis, but signs of that transition are all round. Old Whitewater (a group, not a person; a state of mind, not a chronological age) is still on its feet, but it’s more stumbling than walking. Reactionary…
City
Whitewater’s 5.15.12 Common Council Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Common Council met Tuesday, and among the topics, there was a discussion of whether to publicize delinquent taxpayers’ debts, and whether to modify parking restrictions in the downtown. (All of the Council were at the session.) The agenda for the meeting is available online. Publicizing Taxpayers’ Unpaid Personal-Property Taxes. Many cities publish lists like…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, History, Nature, University
Natural Plant Communities Talk & Tour at the Whitewater Effigy Mounds Preserve on Saturday, May 26th at 10 AM
by JOHN ADAMS •
I received the following press release that I’m happy to post: Renae Prell-Mitchell, from UW-Whitewater, will lead a ‘Natural Plant Communities Talk & Tour’ at the Whitewater Effigy Mounds Preserve on Saturday, May 26th at 10 AM. Renae will talk about the existing wetlands, DOT prairie and Silver maples/bur oak stand, as well as the…
City, Planning
Whitewater’s 5.14.12 Planning Commission Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS •
Monday night was Planning Commission night in Whitewater. The agenda for the meeting is available online. The Commission selected a chairman (Greg Meyer) & vice chairman (Lynn Binnie), and representatives from Planning to the Community Development Authority (Greg Meyer) and Urban Forestry Commission (Karen Coburn). Every nominee was uncontested and supported unanimously. One can have…
City, Local Government, Open Government
Top-Secret, Ultra Hush-Hush Quadruped Directive No. 17
by JOHN ADAMS •
The best approach for announcements in public policy & administration is a simple memo to the community. Open government is not only better in principle, it’s better in practice. Consider two ways to discuss an event. Let’s suppose the City of Whitewater’s municipal administration decides to erect a statue near Cravath Lake in honor of…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, New Whitewater
Whitewater’s Evolution
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update, 5.10.12 @ 8:20 PM: See, along these lines, Whitewater’s city manager’s published acknowledgement in a newspaper interview (online at 1:03 PM today) of a possible position with Walworth County. Original post of 5.10.12 @ 12:30 PM: Change comes at varying speeds, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, still other times seemingly (but only seemingly) not at…
City
Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters May 2012 Newsletter
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ May 2012 Newsletter is out, featuring both articles and a calendar of upcoming LWV events. This latest edition is available as a link on my blogroll, and is embedded below. Upcoming events: Date: May 19 (Saturday) Event: Annual Meeting Where: 10 AM Fairhaven Fellowhip Hall Date: June 5 (Tuesday)…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Elections, Law, Liberty
Beautiful Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Nature
Go Native!
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater has many well-manicured lawns, and on a few of them, some honey bee hives. The lawns are lovely, and the honey bees (despite depleted aggregate numbers from colony collapse disorder) are good pollinators. But what if there’s something different, perhaps even better, than conventional lawns and common honey bees? There is something different —…