It’s in Romeo and Juliet that Shakespeare gave the world the observation, from Juliet’s lips, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.” Well, it’s time to brush up your Shakespeare, because Whitewater’s renamed Corporate Drive as ‘Innovation Drive’ for the new technology park to…
City
City, Press Release
Taste of Whitewater — September 11th and 12th, 2009
by JOHN ADAMS •
I received the following press release that I am happy to post — The Taste of Whitewater will be held on September 11th and 12th 2009 at the beautiful Cravath Lakefront Park in downtown Whitewater, WI. Featuring food and specialty drinks from local restaurants, Wisconsin-made beer & wine, live music and entertainment for all ages:…
City
Anatomy of a Municipal Bureaucrat’s Explanation
by JOHN ADAMS •
If you were in an auto accident, would your principal source of information about your rights be the other driver’s insurance company? Probably not. Last week, I wrote about a Whitewater resident who experienced approximately twenty-thousand dollars in damage from a municipal sewer backup. The story received coverage in Madison and Milwaukee, and I posted…
City, Press
Inside (Whitewater) and Outside (America)
by JOHN ADAMS •
A bureaucrat’s remarks about “….much media attention this past week to a recent sanitary sewer back up that affected First Lt. Joseph P. Cull’s property on Park Street in the city….” are days late and twenty-thousand dollars short. The media attention came from reporting outside the city, while the local press stayed silent. Over at…
City, Libertarians
The Antidote to Grim Forecasts
by JOHN ADAMS •
What will Whitewater do, in the face of grim economic and fiscal forecasts from Washington? Set aside the temptation – so very strong in Whitewater, Wisconsin – to say that all our hard decisions were the fault of some federal politician. They’re not – we’ve made poor choices long before the current Congress. There’s a…
City, Economy
Grim Forecast (with Local Implications) from the Congressional Budget Office
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Congressional Budget Office yesterday issued its latest economic outline, as of August 2009, as a pdf document. The CBO forecasts have been respected, traditionally, as accurate, non-partisan forecasts. They estimate both annual federal deficits, overall public debt, and unemployment to continue to rise in the near term, with annual federal deficits (and thus overall…
City
Accountability Begins….Somewhere other than in Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Channel 3000, there’s a story about a United States Marine, serving in Afghanistan against the Taliban, whose house was flooded because of problems a City of Whitewater employee reportedly admitted were the city’s fault. (I have never met the officer in the story; my remarks are without personal connection.) In a story entitled, Wisconsin…
City
How Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Politicians and Bureaucrats Might Explain an Accident
by JOHN ADAMS •
I thought I’d take a moment to illustrate how different types of people, from normal people, descending to Whitewater’s politicians and bureaucrats, might describe a simple automobile accident. NORMAL PEOPLE: We were driving along, not paying attention to the road, and our car veered off onto the shoulder. We hit a rock, and got a…
City, School District
Does Anyone in Whitewater Ever Make Admit a Mistake?
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ll consider our municipal and school district budgets over the coming months. What does it say about us, though, that a quarter-million dollar shortfall is described as a “budget anomaly” occurring “for the first time in known history of the District as can best be remembered?” That’s the preface to the admission that there was…
City
Family and City, Part 2
by JOHN ADAMS •
Earlier today, I published a post against the idea that life in a family was analogous to political squabbles in a city. It’s not, and viewing the city like a family is a mistaken and troublesome notion. But if, somehow, you are reminded of your own family dynamic when you watch our Common Council, boards,…
City, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Planning
Whitewater at the Trough
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m sure someone has a story to tell about how one of his Scandinavian ancestors swam across the Atlantic, hiked through the forests and prairies of America, and helped found this city with his bare hands. It’s just another version of the commonplace, “when I was a child…” stories one hears from crusty old relatives.…
City, Libertarians
Family and City
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wanted to take a moment, before another Common Council session goes by, to comment on remarks at our last Common Council meeting, from August 4th. In considering whether to abolish or suspend Whitewater’s Tree Commission, a career bureaucrat made the following observation: What I would suggest is that if there’s dysfunction in the family,…
City, Planning
Umm, Excuse me, Whitewater Planning Commission: Zoning, Rent Control, and Affordable Housing, Chapter 2 (Welcome to California).
by JOHN ADAMS •
Well, I originally posted the beginning of a series summarizing Tucker’s Zoning, Rent Control, and Affordable Housing in July. I’m just getting back to it now. Recently, I summarized (and just today re-posted) Chapter 1 (Introduction) from William Tucker’s Zoning, Rent Control, and Affordable Housing. In the first installment, Tucker’s regression analysis of likely causes…
City
Walworth County property taxes, values up — GazetteXtra
by JOHN ADAMS •
Property values in Walworth County are up, over last year; taxes are up even more. Meaningful gain, but a tax burden growing even faster. The story’s in the Walworth County Gazette. The story includes a link to a Public Policy Forum study. For Whitewater, both our property values and tax levy increased less than the…