Like many towns, we have local public access cable channel. (We have a second one for our local campus station, too.) We have a weekly newspaper, and a few websites, but little local news coverage otherwise. The public access channel is our best bet for unedited coverage of municipal meetings and events. Although there…
City
City
Taste of Whitewater: September 12 & 13 (Video 2)
by JOHN ADAMS •
City
2008 Taste of Whitewater: September 12 & 13
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Development, Economy, Free Markets, University
Student Housing in Whitewater: Our Mistaken and Repetitive Approach
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are two stories from yesterday’s Janesville Gazette that describe the pressures of student housing: Students Spread Out in Whitewater City, School Address Housing Concerns. The stories ably describe arguments that residents of Whitewater have have made against student housing for years with no change in demand. I certainly don’t believe that demand for student…
City
First-Time Home Buyer’s Workshop: September 20th, 2008
by JOHN ADAMS •
I received an announcement from the Community Development Authority about a first-time homebuyers workshop, taking place on September 20th. The program will take place on 9/20 at the Cravath Lakefront Center. Early registration is encouraged, by calling 262-473-0500. Topics at the workshop will include establishing good credit, developing a household budget, what to look for…
City, Free Markets, Planning
Randal O’Toole on the Inefficiency of Mass Transit
by JOHN ADAMS •
In a post from July 28th, I questioned the idea of a mass transit proposal for the Janesville-Milton-Whitewater area. Over at the Cato Institute, there’s a link to a daily podcast featuring scholars from that think tank. The always interesting Randal O’Toole, author of The Best Laid Plans, speaks on the inefficiency of mass transit.…
City
Municipal Exaggeration: Dream Towns.
by JOHN ADAMS •
UPDATE: A clever reader writes with insight into the data — Regarding your post about the ridiculous nature of calling the 101,000 population in the micropolitan area “Whitewater,” I just wanted to clear up that the census designates metropolitan and micropolitan areas based on counties, meaning that this micropolitan area is most likely all of…
City
Municipal Exaggeration: Police Statistics.
by JOHN ADAMS •
In our small town, our city manager publishes a weekly report that he calls, helpfully, the City Manager’s “Weekly Report.” (He includes the quotation marks, presumably so that we know that “Weekly Report” is just a term of art for a weekly report.) I read it each week, and if I stopped, I wonder if…
City
The Failure of Municipal Public Relations
by JOHN ADAMS •
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, 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…