The long-expected civil suit against Steve Spear made its way to a court docket recently, only shortly after the Common Council rejected Spear’s appointment to the office from which he had weeks-earlier resigned in disgrace. Whitewater dodged a bullet when it took the only rational step available: ignoring Spear’s application. Perhaps Spear plans to run…

Here’s my “Mood of It All” segment about Tuesday’s Council meeting. I’ll offer observations on the meeting’s atmosphere, etc. Don’t Get Angry. This was one of my underlying themes from an earlier post, “Tips for Meetings.” Cool often works better than hot, and this is especially true for those watching on cable. For those in…

If most parts of the meeting were comfortably conventional, the same cannot be said for the discussion about infractions of residential zoning requirements, and the putative violations of landlords and tenants. It’s an understatement to say that it’s a hot-button issue. The problem is serious for a few residents, whose property has been damaged, and…

Tuesday’s Common Council meeting was a good representation of a typical city meeting, with several matters before the Council, but nothing out of the ordinary. Here’s the first part of a recap, with (of course) commentary. From the City Manager’s report. The most important part of the report, and maybe the most important part of…

I wrote last week about the atmosphere of a recent Common Council meeting, in a post called, “Tax Incremental Financing, Part 3: The Mood of It All.” Everyone who has been to a public or private meeting has a few tips for making the most out of the event. A reader asked me recently if…

Suppose that someone had a job working in an aviary, taking care of goldfinches. Let’s assume that he was the best goldfinch keeper in America – no one fed and cared for goldfinches like our imaginary worker. After work, he’d go home each evening. After drinking a six-pack, and discarding each can on the floor,…