Along the lines of listing key topics (see the right sidebar at FREE WHITEWATER for a list of particular areas of concern), it’s worth being clear that important issues in one part of the city should not be ignored in other parts. An Open Note to Leaders of Government, the School District, and UW-Whitewater: misconduct of officials…
City
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Open Government, Taxes/Taxation
City of Whitewater’s Proposed 2016 Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embedded below readers will find the City of Whitewater’s proposed 2016 budget. An open and confident government would embed the budget on the city’s main webpage; an inquisitive and worthy press would embed (or at least link) to the budget file. For the city there’s still a long way to go; for the print press there’s…
Business, CDA, City, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, State Government
Gov. Thompson Rejects WEDC-Style Loans
by JOHN ADAMS •
Republican Tommy Thompson, who served for fourteen years as governor, has written in opposition to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s loan program. It’s the right position to take, and shows that Thompson understands the problems with WEDC. Explicitly, Gov. Thompson’s opposition to WEDC-style loans includes local communities’ doling of loans through their own programs. (Whitewater’s Community…
City, Local Government, Politics, University
Whitewater’s Major Public Institutions Produce a Net Loss (And Why It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way)
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve often contended – and about this I’m sure – that most people are sharp and capable. It’s only on this foundation that a prosperous and dynamic culture like America’s would be – could be – possible. Whitewater’s major public institutions – her city government, school district, and local university – produce this unexpected result: although members of…
Blogging, Business, CDA, City, Free Markets, Gluttony, Local Government, New Media, New Whitewater, Politics
If Market-Based Solutions Are Superior to Cronyism, Why Are There So Many Cronies?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a question, concerning even small towns like Whitewater, for which the Financial Times publishes an answer: If market-based solutions are superior to cronyism, why are there so many cronies? First, there aren’t that many cronies (or insistent insiders) in Whitewater or elsewhere, but the few there are manipulate or intimidate weak reporters at local papers into representing their numbers as…
Blogging, City, Economics, Politics
Methods, Standards, Goals
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater doesn’t have, and hasn’t had, a legitimate press that would serve as a check on political or corporate power. On the contrary, what’s passed for reporting in our area is merely written sycophancy. In this way, Whitewater has been ahead of a national trend toward a weaker press, or no press at all. Yet, before plentiful…
CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Gluttony, Government Spending, Local Government, Politics
Fog Lifts
by JOHN ADAMS •
View image | gettyimages.com Whitewater started the day with fog, but there has never been a place, anywhere or ever, in which the fog did not lift. There’s reason for confidence that even befogged places see, in the course of events, clear skies. I’d guess, though, that most policymakers in town (such as they are)…
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Small Groups Don’t All Fare the Same
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m not sure if it should be true everywhere, but in Whitewater it seems as though small (apolitical) community groups fare better than small political groups. I’ve not made a study of this; the observation rests on impressions, here or there, only. There’s not enough to say as much with confidence. Many would note –…
City, Culture, Education, Local Government, Politics
The Desiccator
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at National Review, conservative Peter Spiliakos writes in reply to conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin on Scott Walker’s campaign. (Rubin thinks Walker has gone too far to the right, but Spiliakos thinks that Walker – and many Republicans leaders – have lost touch with huge parts of their own electorate.) For Rubin the matter…
City, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, Press, WEDC
What City Officials and the Press Haven’t Told You About the HyPro Layoffs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Updated, 9.9.15, 2 PM, and bumped forward from original 9.8.15 post date. I’m always eager for more discussion about WEDC – To reconcile the figures of $1,300,000 and $262,000: There are differences in the dollar amounts of tax credits depending on whether one considers the maximum authorized or the amount HyPro has so far taken. In…
City, Film
Film: Wednesday, 12:30 PM @ Seniors in the Park, Mr. Turner
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Wednesday at 12:30 PM, there will be a showing of Mr. Turner @ Seniors in the Park, in the Starin community building. Mr. Turner depicts the mature years of British painter J.M.W. Turner. The 2014 film received four Academy Award nominations, among nearly fifty major film nominations, and won at Cannes for Best Actor (Timothy Spall). Embedded above is the…
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Language is Often a Necessary, But Seldom a Sufficient, Condition of Inclusion
by JOHN ADAMS •
The City of Whitewater hopes to improve communications with Spanish-language residents. That goal is, of itself, a good one. It’s a practical, worthy ambition. Language, however, is not the cause of local government’s self-acknowledged problem of attracting plentiful participation on public boards and committees. Greater facility with language, however admirable, is not the solution to government’s low participation…
City, Culture, Politics
On a Clear Day, One Can See Far Ahead (and Far Back)
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Culture, Local Government
The Solution to the ‘Same Ten People Problem’
by JOHN ADAMS •
What happens when, as is sometimes true in Whitewater, the same several people keep showing up on municipal committees? That’s a question city officials considered at a July 21st strategic planning meeting. The goal, of course, isn’t to discourage ten people; the goal should be to attract twenty, thirty, etc. One proposal would be simply…