The 2020 ALICE® report, on those who are “asset limited, income constrained [yet] employed” is now available. These latest data were collected before the recent recession – one can be sadly confident that hardship reaches farther now. For Wisconsin, 11% of households were below the poverty level, and 34% (including those below the poverty level) were…
City
City, Coronavirus, Education, Open Government, Public Health, School District
The Whitewater School Board’s Decision on Early Fall Instruction: 4 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Updates, afternoon of 7.28.20: (1) I’ve added a recording of the 7.27.20 meeting. The best record is a recording. (2) A reader emailed to ask where I stand on recent pandemic-related public actions. On masks, I supported the city’s ordinance (to take effect 8.1) as an unfortunate necessity to preserve safe mobility in the marketplace.…
City, Coronavirus, Open Government, Public Health, School District
The Whitewater Unified School District’s Proposed Fall Instructional Plans
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Last night (7.22), the Whitewater Unified School District held a virtual meeting to describe a fall instructional proposal to be presented to the district’s school board on 7.27.20. The meeting was interrupted, and so the district published today (7.23) a video describing the proposal. Embedded above is that video presentation. (There was an earlier, recorded…
Business, City, Coronavirus, Laws/Regulations, Libertarians, Liberty, Local Government, Open Government, Public Health, School District, University
Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Temporary Mask Ordinance: 7 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • 10 Comments
Updated evening of 7.22.20 with meeting video. (The discussion on Whitewater’s mask ordinance runs from 31:09 to 3:37:50.) At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, the seven-member council voted unanimously for a temporary mask ordinance, taking effect 8.1.20 and running through 12.31.20, requiring masks in parts of buildings open to the public, and…
City, Common Council, Coronavirus, Local Government, Open Government, Public Health
About That Proposed, Temporary Mask Ordinance for Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
So, there’s a proposed, temporary mask ordinance before the Whitewater Common Council tonight. Needless to say, there’s been a lot of talk about the measure (and so a lot of emails sent my way – thanks much for these messages). Readers have asked what I think of the proposal. I’ve offered a simple answer: I’d…
City, Coronavirus, Public Health, Public Meetings, School District
Whitewater Schools’ Community Focus Group, 7.8.20
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
The Whitewater Unified School District held a community focus group on 7.8.20 via Zoom about public schools opening in the fall. A video of the recorded meeting is embedded above. There have also been other, in-person meetings over the last ten days. A few remarks: Translated. The focus group had, sensibly, a Spanish language translator.…
City, Coronavirus, Local Government, Public Health, Radio, University
Radio Interview on UW-Whitewater’s Plans for the Fall
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Yesterday, UW-Whitewater’s Chancellor, Dr. Dwight Watson, and Communications Director, Jeff Angileri, gave a radio interview with WCLO about their plans for a fall semester during a pandemic. The interview is available online as an audio file. A few remarks: A College Town. There’s a difference between a town with a college and a college town,…
City, Local Government, Planning
Whitewater Planning Commission, 7.13.20: Almost Normal
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Whitewater’s Planning Commission met on Monday evening, 7.13.20. A video of the full meeting is embedded above. (See also, 7.13.20 meeting agenda.) A few remarks: Recording. The best record of a meeting is a recording. A recording is more thorough than mere notes (although they must be submitted, too). A recording is, needless to say,…
City, Local Government, Public Relations
The Declarations of the Moment
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
When government goes bad – and all human institutions are flawed, and so can & do go bad now and again – its faults are predictable: announcing grandiosely, acting discriminatorily, spending profligately, distributing corruptly, and interfering destructively. (There’s no pleasure in stating the obvious: if government were incapable of these wrongs, then Trump Administration would…
CDA, Charity, City, Economy, Local Government, Poverty, Recession
A Key Difference Between Bristol, New Hampshire and Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
A sad story from April about Bristol, N.H. (population 3,300) reveals key differences between that town and Whitewater. While this new recession affects both communities, the economic hardship will be different. See David Gelles, ‘This Is Going to Kill Small-Town America.’ Bristol depends on one major, private manufacturer: By the end of March, with just…
City, Conspiracy Theories, Culture, Public Health, Reasoning
The Balancing That Shouldn’t Have Happened
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In communities across America, when a common & rational direction is most needed, cities & towns are about to confront the absence of a rational consensus. Residents who are in the grip of conspiracy theories (Qanon, anti-vaxxers, rumors of antifa, etc.) and those who have retained a sound understanding may live in the same place,…
City, Culture, Politics
Barriers to Substantive Change in a Small Town
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Several recent posts here are FREE WHITEWATER are, collectively, a cautionary series on the difficulty of effecting substantive change in Whitewater, Wisconsin. One might want change; realism demands a clear-eyed assessment of its likelihood. Other towns might have better (or even worse) odds; Whitewater is not, by definition, another town. A listing of challenges, with…
City, Culture, Demographics, Local Government
Quick Observations on Whitewater’s Demographics
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
It’s common in films and books that small towns, even small college towns, are described as homogeneous. There may be a few eccentric characters here or there, but the town so described (and imagined) is seldom a diverse one. Whitewater is more diverse than those places, and diverse in a way that leaves no group…
City
Candidates’ Expectations
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
An out-of-town candidate for a public job in Whitewater should do some research on both the job and the community. Along the way, the candidate will visit the city, and perhaps be introduced to so-called stakeholders in Whitewater. Those introductions may be revealing, but they’re sure to be brief, and blur with other events on…