It’s not true that marquee projects make no difference to life in Whitewater, Wisconsin. They do make a difference, just not enough to alter the high poverty and slow growth that besets our community. Several big projects may have a comforting influence, and offer a cumulative lift, to those who use them. Outside that orbit,…
City
City
Shifting Leadership, Stable Elite
by JOHN ADAMS •
If one thinks about Whitewater over the last several years, all of its principal offices have changed hands once, or more, with the exception of the city’s police chief (who left briefly, but returned). No one else from 2000 yet retains a leading political or appointed office. Those who were front and center a decade…
City
Committees as Governor and Accelerator
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater, Wisconsin has any number of official public bodies and ad hoc committees. We probably have too many, working on too many tasks, at once. They’re often composed of the same people, something more common than even our small size makes necessary. Use of the same people, over and over, serves two advantages. First, no…
City
“Hitting icebergs is who they are and what they do.”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at The Truth About Cars there’s a post about the leadership of the New GM, with a great line, mixing all sorts of references: I have no idea why Mark LaNeve still works for General Motors. The former Cadillac man was serving Kool-Aid on the bridge when CEO Rick Wagoner was Richard Nixon channeling…
City
The Truth About Cars
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Truth About Cars is a group blog, that Robert Farago founded because he felt that few were writing honestly and candidly about the automobile industry. Here’s a description from TTAC website: The Truth About Cars provides no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners automotive reviews and industry-related editorials. Our writers call it like they see it, and pull no…
City, Police
Vandalism and Alcohol
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s had more than its share of property damage from vandalism. Strong property rights make a for a strong community; free markets in private property are the foundation of a productive society. We have vandalism, too, and just about everyone contends that much of it comes from over-drinking, leaving a bar, after weekend last call.…
City
A Proposal for Whitewater’s Municipal Public Meetings
by JOHN ADAMS •
I once read that one should offer solutions, not problems. Funny, something like this passes as …. insight. (I’m not sure where I read it. It might have been on a motivational poster, in a fortune cookie, or perhaps from an email I saw from a former city employee, writing to Chief Coan, discovered during…
City, School District
Most Plaintiffs Leave School District, Voluntarily Withdraw Civil Rights Lawsuit
by JOHN ADAMS •
Late last week, court filings indicate that most of plaintiffs in a civil rights lawsuit against the Whitewater School District and other named defendants had left the district, and consequently had sought voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit they had filed in early September. A letter from plaintiffs’ counsel filed with court contends that most, although…
City, Press
Brunner in the Daily Union‘s “No Input at Budget Hearing.”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Earlier, in a post entitled, “Come On, Whitewater! Stop Disappointing Your Politicians and Bureaucrats (Part 2),” I considered some of Whitewater City Manager Brunner’s remarks on low turnout at budget listening session. The session was covered at the Daily Union, in a story entitled, “No Input at Budget Hearing.” In this post, a few follow-up…
City
Come On, Whitewater! Stop Disappointing Your Politicians and Bureaucrats (Part 2)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Daily Union, there’s coverage of the first of two scheduled municipal budget listening sessions. In a story entitled, “No Input at Budget Hearing,” Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner comments on the lack of attendance, and his own trailblazing listening session concept. It’s not that Brunner receives hard questioning from the newspaper; that’s…
City
Come On, Whitewater! Stop Disappointing Your Politicians and Bureaucrats (Part 1)
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Press
Wisconsin State Journal: “Alcohol Company Rep Arrested for OWI, Other Charges After Allegedly Running Over Officer’s Foot”
by JOHN ADAMS •
One hears a great deal about how much trouble alcohol causes. In Whitewater, I’ve heard more than once that alcohol causes raucous behavior. (There’s much that’s ridiculous about the excuse that alcohol makes people do stupid things. No matter, let’s assume, for now, that alcohol is the root of the problem.) If it should be…
City
Whitewater, Wisconsin: Televise!
by JOHN ADAMS •
We have a fine public access cable channel in Whitewater. That station provides the only full and unedited coverage of our common council, planning, and school board meetings. Without that programming, we’d have no way to check against ambiguous meeting minutes and cheery spin. Let’s televise other public meetings: Police & Fire Commission, Community Development,…