Whitewater’s residents may have heard, as I have, ignorant and false boasting about the benefits of tax incremental financing. It’s variously described as increment or incremental financing, but either way, it’s a plan to entice developers with taxpayer funds by segregating from the general fund, if any, the revenue generated from a development to pay…
City
CDA, City, Development, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Local Government, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way
A Sham News Story on Foxconn
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
About a month ago, a local business lobbying group in Whitewater invited an operative of the Walker Administration to the city to talk about Foxconn. The nearby Jefferson County Daily Union sent a stringer to cover the presentation. See Foxconn impact outlined in Whitewater. In the 38-paragraph story, the paper simply reproduces – without the…
Business, CDA, City, Development, Economy, Local Government, Poverty
A National Study on Big-City Economic Development
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
What’s the relationship, if any, between economic development and inclusion? A study from the Brookings Institution (Metro Monitor 2018) suggests that for large metropolitan areas, there may be one. (I’ll not try to fit these data into a local container. That’s why there’s no ‘The Scene from Whitewater Wisconsin’ logo attached to this post.) Here’s…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, March 27th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, The Darkest Hour
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This Tuesday, March 27th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of The Darkest Hour @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building. Joe Wright directs the two-hour, five-minute film. The Darkest Hour recounts the early days of World War II, as the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston…
City, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, Open Government, Politics, School District
‘Stable and yet it cannot stand still’
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Jurist Roscoe Pound once famously observed that “the law must remain stable yet it cannot stand still.” What is true of the law is true of communities – including Whitewater. Among some (but not all) of the few who have held sway in this town for the last generation, changes are unwelcome, and change itself…
City, Development, Free Markets, Government Spending, Laws/Regulations, Local Government
Owner-Occupied Housing in the Whitewater Area
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
During these years I have written, and long before, one has heard from local officials and residents that the City of Whitewater needs more single-family housing. Single-family housing is a kind of owner-occupied housing (e.g., one owner, two adult owners, a single-family). Indeed, one hears that the City of Whitewater needs more single-family housing the…
City, Local Government, Open Government, School District
A Bit More on Examples
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I’ve written about Milton as a bad example for Whitewater, and I’ve written about Jefferson this way, too. See Sunshine Week 2018 (The Bad Example Nearby), Attack of the Dirty Dogs, and Thanks, City of Jefferson!. The Milton-related post prompted two readers to ask about my connections to that troubled school district’s politics. I’ve replied to…
City
4 Points About the Work Ahead
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Local Government, Open Government, Public Meetings, Public Records, School District
Sunshine Week 2018 (A Methodical Approach)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Writing about a topic is a deliberate, often slow, process. Something happens – perhaps of concern – but one may not address it immediately. A bit of waiting can be a sound response. Along the way, an original perspective may change, and a project grow larger (or smaller). See Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal.…
City, Local Government, Open Government, Public Meetings, Public Records
Sunshine Week 2018 (City, District, and State)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Local readers may have heard, as I have heard, that area officials know that there are ways around municipal ordinances and school district policies on open government. There’s no surprise in hearing this: there is no human construct that cannot be circumvented; there are few professing a public interest who do not simultaneously feel the…
City, Local Government, Open Government, School District
Sunshine Week 2018 (Some Years Ago, in Whitewater)
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In 2010, the City of Whitewater considered an ordinance to publish video recordings of principal public meetings. The first reading of the proposal was in August, and a second reading led to its approval in September. One may find the ordinance at Whitewater, Wisconsin, Municipal Code, Chapter 2.62 (Whitewater Transparency Enhancement Ordinance). This ordinance did not…
City, Film
Film: Tuesday, March 13th, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This Tuesday, March 13th at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building. Martin McDonagh directs the one-hour, fifty-five minute film. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a crime drama about a mother who personally challenges the local authorities to solve her…
City, Local Government
3 Conditions of a Worthy Process
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
City, Culture
The Seats in the House
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
At public meetings, people who are hard of hearing or weak of eyesight should receive preference to sit close to the meeting’s speakers. People who have difficulty walking should receive a preference to sit near an exit. Otherwise, in a well-ordered environment, leaders will sit in the back, allowing non-leader residents to sit closer to…