In the servile rush to defend every big institution, it might help to consider that publishing about a criminal investigation, while simultaneously writing in the same item about an employee’s administrative suspension, can leave an innocent employee looking like a criminal suspect. Following up with a ‘clarification’ a day afterward is better than no follow-up,…
City
City, Local Government, Open Government
Confronting Bad News
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are always a number of accidents, crimes, or tragedies in a community. One hopes for as few as possible. The best way for government to address those misfortunes is to act quickly and openly to take whatever actions law and charity require. Along the way, however, it might be useful for big talking officials…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Good Ideas, Press Release
Thursday, May 15th, 8-10 AM: Make Whitewater Even Nicer
by JOHN ADAMS •
Downtown Whitewater volunteers and supporters: help us give the downtown a little “spit and polish” ahead of UW-Whitewater graduation this weekend! This will be a light cleanup, after the major cleanup April 26. When: Thursday, May 15, from 8 to 10 am. Where: Meet at Discover Whitewater (150 West Main Street). * We’ll be sweeping…
City, Good Ideas, Local Government
Rethinking Fort Atkinson
by JOHN ADAMS •
It has often been said of ancient Israel that her excellence lay in how she differed from her less thoughtful and less civilized neighbors. Not the common and vulgar practices of others, but her own singular beliefs and practices, made her great. Nearby Fort Atkinson has, over recent years, been both an economic rival and…
City, Good Ideas, New Whitewater, Open Government
‘Best Practices, Fair Treatment, Transparency’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Writing about the city requires reading the public documents of local government, even if one chooses not to write about what one’s read. Reading and observing come well before writing. Daily observation inclines an observer not to the immediate, but the distant – one takes a longer view of things. Along the way,…
City, Local Government, New Whitewater, Open Government, Politics
Could the Koch Brothers Dominate Whitewater’s Politics?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Assume for a moment that Charles and David Koch decided to use their vast billions to dominate Whitewater’s local politics. They’d spend whatever they had, under this hypothetical, to put their hand-picked candidates in office, for advertising, public relations, goodwill community events, and lobbying to get their way in elections, appointments, and in pressuring local…
City, Local Government, Politics
Policy in the City
by JOHN ADAMS •
Council had a busy agenda Tuesday night, and there’s much to consider from the meeting. For today, though, here are two points not about specific policies, but about policy generally. First, Council Pres. Singer and Pres. Pro Tem Binnie were re-elected unanimously to those posts. That’s good for the city, as they’re steady in manner,…
City, Culture
What Would It Take for Someone to Believe Nothing’s Changed in Whitewater in a Generation?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Look around, and you’ll see both physical and social change in our small city. What, then, might lead someone to insist that nothing in Whitewater seems to have changed in a generation? Well, perhaps if someone spent a really long time living underground in a bomb shelter. Even then, though, one would expect that…
City
The Art of the Con
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote recently about how deception works best when a magician asks someone to look closely in one direction, while he performs his trickery in another direction, outside one’s gaze. (See, The Closer You Look, The Less You See.” See, also, Techniques of Municipal Distraction Numbers 1-9, Numbers 10-18, and Numbers 19-22.) A skillful confidence game isn’t…
City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Economy, Local Government
Is this the city that you had in mind?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Consider this working definition of crony capitalism: Crony capitalism is a term describing an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, or other forms of state interventionism. Crony capitalism…
City, Local Government, Politics
“The Closer You Look, The Less You See”
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Elections, Politics
On the Spring General Election 2014
by JOHN ADAMS •
A few observations on yesterday’s election — The 4th District Council Race. Despite experiencing the most negative campaign in recent memory, Lynn Binnie won reelection handily over Paul Yvarra. Of the two-candidate vote (excluding write-in votes), Mr. Binnie received 283 to Mr. Yvarra’s 111. By percentage, that’s a winning share of 71.8% of the…
City, Elections
Spring General Election 2014
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Local Government, Politics
On Paul Yvarra’s False Claims to the Gazette
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s another development in the Common Council race between Lynn Binnie and Paul Yvarra. In a published story in Saturday’s Gazette entitled, Whitewater council candidate admits mistakes about opponent, Paul Yvarra acknowledges what every reasonable person in all Whitewater already knew: that Mr. Yvarra’s charge about Fairhaven Senior Services being responsible for municipal fiscal difficulties…