The federal government gave millions in tax dollars to Whitewater, the Whitewater Community Development Authority, and UW-Whitewater for a reason. Here’s that reason: September 7-September 11, 2009 …$4,740,809 to the Whitewater Community Development Authority, the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, and the City of Whitewater, Wisconsin, to fund construction of the new Innovation Center and infrastructure…
City
City, Government Spending, Politics, Taxes/Taxation
Cuts to State Shared Revenue: Whitewater’s Politics of It All (First Take)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whether Gov. Walker’s proposal to restrict public-employee collective bargaining is victorious or abandoned, cuts to state shared revenue are on the way, for Whitewater and its school district. I have supported cuts to government spending, not as a matter of budget repair, but as a long term-goal — for smaller, more limited, more responsible government.…
City, Education, Government Spending, Politics, School District
State Aid to Cites, Schools Sure to Dry Up
by JOHN ADAMS •
Walker did offer a fuller rationale for his insistence on stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights. “You’re going to see major cuts in local government,” he said of his upcoming budget, now set to be unveiled March 1. He argued that the only way he can ensure these cuts do not lead to…
City, Freedom of Speech, Police, Walworth County
Anti-Union Buffoonery in Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
I saw an odd ‘news item’ today, about a protest in Whitewater, that supposedly involved monitoring by the police. It was said to be a ‘heavy’ police presence, by the account that I saw. If the account’s true, then that presence is both foolish and wrong. If the account’s false, and there wasn’t really a…
City, Free Markets, Libertarians, Liberty
Sundry Libertarian Themes
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve had an eclectic set of posts lately, perhaps more even than usual. Someone asked me if there’s a theme to them, and there is. These recent posts reflect a libertarian view (although not exclusively a libertarian one.) I’ll list some posts, with a few remarks on each. First, what do we believe? Libertarians support…
City, Politics
Our New Jeffersonian Era?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Salena Zito offers a forecast: Today we are in the midst of a cultural U-turn away from a Hamiltonian meritocratic-elitist, centralized-power society to a more Jeffersonian Main Street focus, with state and local governments as the primary powerbrokers. I don’t believe that local government is less elitist; it’s just that the quality of municipal managers…
Charity, City, Politics
Public Choice Theory and Its Opposite
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Library of Economics and Liberty, there’s a section on public choice theory. Here’s a definition from that website: As James Buchanan artfully defined it, public choice is “politics without romance.” The wishful thinking it displaced presumes that participants in the political sphere aspire to promote the common good. In the conventional “public…
City
Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters February 2011 Newsletter
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ February 2011 Newsletter is out, and it includes articles and a calendar of upcoming LWV events. The latest copy of the LWV newsletter is available as a link on my blogroll, and is embedded below, with coding through Google. Here’s a sampling of upcoming events for the Whitewater-Area League…
City, Politics
Nietzsche and the Dark Hope Against a Better Local Politics
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s been a while since I last read anything of Nietzsche, but his work — even when profoundly wrong — is memorable. There’s a passage from Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life, that is, itself, about memory. It’s useful for understanding a certain, irresponsible view about how Whitewater’s politics should work. Imagine the lack…
City, Development, Planning
Spoken and Unspoken
by JOHN ADAMS •
A man returns from a fishing tournament, and his acquaintances ask him how he did. “Great! Phenomenal! Spectacular! Amazingly, astoundingly well!” he declares. “I caught three fish,” he says. Someone standing nearby is familiar with the tournament, and asks a question. “Weren’t you that one contestant who had help to catch his fish, and besides,…
Beautiful Whitewater, City
MLB.com: Wisconsin’s Kilar family turns to baseball amid tragedy
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Development, Planning
Walworth County Today: Whitewater developer pays $1 million for Delavan Industrial Park properties
by JOHN ADAMS •
D R Plastics Inc., a waste material recycling company, and Wild Impact Marketing, a marketing and merchandising firm, are expected to begin operations March 2011, once the build-outs are completed. Premier Real Estate Development, a Whitewater, Wisconsin-based real estate specialist company, purchased the two industrial buildings for $1.1 million, or about $21.26 per square foot,…
City, Planning, Science/Nature
Whitewater’s Emerald Ash Borer Plan
by JOHN ADAMS •
The City of Whitewater’s municipal administration has offered a plan to combat a small, invasive insect that threatens ash trees. See, Whitewater’s Emerald Ash Borer Plan. Whitewater, Wisconsin proudly bears a designation as a Tree City USA. Having sought the designation, it’s predictable that residents would be proud and concerned over trees in the community.…
City, Science/Nature
The Emerald Ash Borer Plan: Intro
by JOHN ADAMS •
Part of Whitewater’s Common Council meeting tonight concerns a plan to deal with the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an insect that represents a significant threat to ash trees. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would write, to experts in the field, and see what they thought of the plan that Whitewater has proposed…