In almost every community with financial or political challenges, local officials will feel the temptation to respond to trouble with a feel-good public relations campaign. It’s a foolish idea. In a town like my town of Whitewater, Wisconsin, that favors local orthodoxy, the temptation is nearly irresistible. There are three problems with officials’ use of…
City
City, Planning
Live Blogging the July 21st Planning Commission Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Planning
Question of the Day: What will be Different about the Planning Commission Meeting Tonight?
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two answers to this question — (1) the Planning Commission should have a full complement of members, and (2) I will use a new blogging technique as the meeting airs live. In big cities across America, bloggers will sometimes post commentary on an event in real time, as it happens. This is not…
City
Janesville Focuses on Two City Manager Candidates
by JOHN ADAMS •
City
Spanish Translations on the City of Whitewater Website
by JOHN ADAMS •
There is now a Spanish language translation tool on the City of Whitewater website. It’s a new and welcome development for our city – there is a link on the City of Whitewater main page that translates English into Spanish. It’s a welcome development. Last year, on August 16, 2007, I called for a translation…
City, Press
Whitewater City Manager’s Janesville Interview
by JOHN ADAMS •
Those interested in listening to the interview of Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner before a community panel in Janesville for the Janesville city manager’s position can do so. The audio file is posted on the website of the Janesville Gazette. You may find from the recording insight into how Brunner views his role, and his…
City, Libertarians
What Whitewater Needs Now…
by JOHN ADAMS •
This morning, I asked a single – but perhaps puzzling – question: What did Burt Bacharach and Jackie DeShannon know in 1965 that Whitewater’s city manager, officials, politicians, so-called ‘people of influence,’ and press do not understand even now? Here’s the answer. In 1965, singer Jackie DeShannon had a pop hit with Burt Bacharach’s “What…
City
Join the Downtown Clean Sweep on Thursday, July 3rd
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, University
Support Whitewater’s Make a Difference Day: October 3, 2008
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s an announcement that I received that I’m happy to post — it’s a request for projects for the UW-W’s Make a Difference Day. Here are the particulars — Who: UW-Whitewater Campus and Whitewater Community Members When: Friday, October 3, 2008 Where: Whitewater, Wisconsin On Friday, October 3, 2008 volunteers from the UW-Whitewater students and…
City
Join the Downtown Clean Sweep on Thursday, June 26th
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Planning
Planning Commission Meeting from 6/16 (Part 1)
by JOHN ADAMS •
In some respects, this is a new Planning Commission, with a new chair (Kristine Zaballos) now in that role, and a new term, beginning after the latest round of nominations from the Common Council. This is still true even though many others on the Commission are incumbents. Staff reports now appear earlier on the agenda,…
City, Police
Whitewater Police Department Re-Accreditation
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update: 6/17, 6:58 p.m. At our Common Council meeting tonight, Chief Coan predictably lauded his department’s position (and implicitly his leadership) as one of only 16 accredited departments in the state, out of over 600. He didn’t say how many even bothered to apply for accreditation. (See Point 1, below.) One more point, not minor…
City
Our Low Expectations
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin has been a high tax state for years, stretching well back from the Doyle administration through Tommy Thompson’s many years in office (Gov. McCallum having served only briefly in between). The Wisconsin State Journal recently noted positively a study contending that Wisconsin was out of the rankings of the ten highest taxed states for…
City
Update: Go Nuclear!
by JOHN ADAMS •
This morning, I proposed a bold new future of clean, efficient, safe nuclear power for Whitewater. Ordinarily, a proposal so visionary, so groundbreaking, might have to wait years for vindication and acceptance. Not this time – only a few hours after I posted my proposal for an atomic age in Whitewater, the Reuters news agency…