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
City, Local Government, Public Relations
The Declarations of the Moment
by JOHN ADAMS •
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 •
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 •
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 •
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 •
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 •
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…
Babbittry, Boosterism, CDA, City, Culture, Economy, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Police, Press Release, School District
Built Against Substantive Change
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over time, no matter how small the city, national conditions and trends make their way to the edge of town. Some towns will address these conditions, but others will be resistant to substantive change. For those towns in the latter category, business as usual and rhetorical feints suffice in response to powerful forces to which…
City, Culture, Employment, Local Government, School District, University
Mentoring
by JOHN ADAMS •
When a small community like Whitewater comes to rely on hundreds of non-resident commuters to provide services (for city, schools, or university), those commuters will have a different work relationship than resident workers. (About these workers see The Commuter Class.) Many will be less attached to the community (as they’ve freely chosen to live elsewhere…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Local Government, School District, University
The Commuter Class
by JOHN ADAMS •
Babbittry, City, Corruption, Federal Government, Law, Local Government, Official Misconduct, Open Government, Police, Politics, State Government
Cameras, Not Committees
by JOHN ADAMS •
Recent protests across America against excessive and biased use of police force began after ordinary people in those communities recorded official (to the point of murderous) actions, and then shared their recordings with others. It was not government – local, state, or federal – that promptly shared these recordings of excessive force; it was ordinary…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Boosterism, City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
The Lingering Problem of Local Exceptionalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
A common error in small rural communities is the persistent, false claim that local officials are examples of a local exceptionalism that makes them implicitly immune from the flaws and mistakes that beset the rest of humanity. Under this thinking, while there may be problems in the wider world, there are no local examples of…
City, Education, School District
The (Unexpectedly) Divergent Paths Before the Whitewater Schools
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater Unified School district is looking for a new district administrator. The public K-12 district serves Whitewater and some smaller towns nearby. Over the last two days, the two finalists for that position participated in public forums held via audiovisual conferencing. There’s no reason whatever to doubt that both candidates are sincere in their…
Babbittry, Boosterism, City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Local Voting & Voting Locally in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
The spring election, conducted during a pandemic, is now behind Wisconsin. There’s little question that statewide, it was a good night for Jill Karofsky and Lisa Neubauer. (I supported both candidates.) Whitewater – the city proper – also supported these candidates. A majority of the city’s voters did, in fact, prefer these voters even while…