Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 66. Sunrise is 7:22 and sunset 5:55 for 10h 32m 46s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 92.5% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater Fire Department, Inc. will hold a business meeting at 6 PM. 

  On this day in 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with an overwhelming American & Australian victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy.

 In the discussion about whether the Whitewater Common Council should hire an attorney of its own (already having two firms and what should be councilmembers’ own judgment available), Councilman Jim Allen’s remarks are notable both for how nebulous and how limited they are.

Allen’s shifting explanations on 8.15.23 amount to five claims in a six-minute period: (1) “in regard to personnel matters or employees that the council oversees,” (2) separate representation when doing the city manager’s performance evaluation, (3) only as needed, (4) “don’t have a use for it right now, I don’t believe,” (5) “it’s just discretion.” See Allen’s Childish Pretexts. 

In the two months between those shifting justifications and the 10.17.23 council meeting, Allen has offered nothing to Whitewater more substantial by explanation. He has, however,  in that October session received approval for the sole authority to find an offering of possible attorneys to present.

(As it turned out, Allen received his approval from the council majority without ever offering a serious justification for what he needed. It’s not enough to say what others will or won’t do; a rational basis for decision-making requires Allen to explain why he needs a lawyer and why that sole authority should be in his hands.)

Almost as bad, Allen shows impatience with the very discussion to which he, himself, has been so vague and unpersuasive. 

During that October session, Allen complained that the continued discussion of the issue would take too long:

Yeah, going out to, uh [cross talk] with, uh, would extend things out to December. 

Video 10.17.23 @ 1:00:16.

The man who told the community that a third attorney was only as needed and without a use right now shows himself to be in a rush. 

Okay, we’re not going to continue debating this. 

Video 10.17.23 @ 1:45:35.

While others have spoken at length in opposition, Allen — a longtime politician — has said next to nothing, and even less of substance.

(His claim on 8.15.23 that “what we’re looking to do here is something different that puts our attorneys in kind of a pickle” reveals a complete lack of meaning. It also suggests, however, through the use of the first person plural that Allen has had an out-of-council and out-of-public-view discussion on this topic with other councilmembers. Video 8.15.23 @ 00:41.) 

Allen may think that “in kind of pickle” is an adequate justification. If he’s looking for folksy sayings, however, another expression is more apt to this discussion:

Haste makes waste.

The weak rush; the strong discuss. 

A reminder: Whitewater deserves better from its common council majority; this city is better than its council majority. Whitewater deserves better from its community development authority’s majority; this city is better than that authority’s majority.

 Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 68. Sunrise is 7:21 and sunset 5:56 for 10h 35m 26s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 86.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

  On this day in 1983, the United States and its Caribbean allies invade Grenada, six days after Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and several of his supporters are executed in a coup d’état.

In small towns or big cities, people will often look to a mayor, city manager, parking enforcement officer, dog catcher, etc. as representatives of the government. They are right to see those officials that way. 

Those officials are not the only members of the government, however.

Everyone who sits on a council, board, or commssion does so while acting as a member of government. Here’s how to tell: the people in front of the table are private residents, and the people behind the table are, for every moment they are in office, government men and women.

Government in a small American town must be limited and responsible in roles, and that includes those who serve on councils, boards, and commissions. The people in government behind the table serve the private residents in front of the table. 

Sadly, some of the government men on councils, boards, and commissions are demonstrably worse than full-time government employees. It’s likely through ignorance or arrogance that these council-and-commission types don’t recognize their inadequacies by comparison. 

Principles of limited, responsible, and humble government service apply equally to councilmembers, boardmembers, and commissioners. Those who take office to self-promote (and self-delude, truly) don’t need (and don’t belong) on councils, boards, or commissions.

They should not serve if they are simply attention-seeking burdens on private residents in communities with enough existing problems. See The Shape of Decline to Come (and How to Carry On) (‘bad often goes to worse, and that’s because bad seldom recognizes itself’). 

A reminder: Whitewater deserves better from its common council majority; this city is better than its council majority. Whitewater deserves better from its community development authority’s majority; this city is better than that authority’s majority.

 Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 77. Sunrise is 7:19 and sunset 5:58 for 10h 38m 08s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 76.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 4:30 PM. 

  On this day in 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States is completed. 

Pres. Reagan popularized a Russian proverb for Americans when he spoke of arms control with the Soviet Union under the principle ‘Trust, but verify’ (Doveryai, no proveryai). 

The Whitewater Common Council’s majority operates under a different principle: ‘Trust, no verification needed.’ 

Councilmember David Stone’s remarks from the 8.15.23 session of the Whitewater Common Council are an example of the no-verification-needed approach: 

Councilmember Stone 

Well, I looked at the statute and I found and I don’t have it in front of me. You could ask the city attorney to do that as well, that it is allowed for counsel to hire outside firms on specific issues as the council sees

City Manager Weidl
Did you enter any of that into the public record? Documents to be discussed by the council need to be entered into the public record. So if you do have that information, it should be turned into the clerk so she can add it to the public record.

Councilmember Stone

Okay, I just don’t have it in front of me right now.

Video @ 10:01.

A fundamental issue is not that Stone might be right — it’s that he doesn’t present evidence that he might be right. It doesn’t seem to occur to him that he has a responsibility to support his claims at the time he makes them. 

Stone wants others to trust his assertions, but does not offer a way for them to see the basis of those claims.

One can guess, and hope, that at Whitewater High School, a student would be expected to cite to his sources in a term paper. It would not be enough for the student to say he forgot, or to ask the instructor to ask someone else to look the sources up. 

The proper standard of citation that one would expect of a student at Whitewater High School should be the minimum standard for the Whitewater Common Council. 

A reminder: Whitewater deserves better from its common council majority; this city is better than its council majority. Whitewater deserves better from its community development authority’s majority; this city is better than that authority’s majority.

 Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 62. Sunrise is 7:18 and sunset 5:59 for 10h 40m 50s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 65.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets at 4:30 PM. The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 5:30 PM. The Whitewater School Board goes into closed session shortly after 6:30 PM, returning to open session at 7 PM. 

  On this day in 2001, Apple Computer releases the iPod.

Typically (but not always), special interests speak deceptively in the language of good government. They will ask for cooperation, partnerships, collaboration, openness, and transparency. To get close, they will speak the language and make the sounds of those they seek to manipulate. 

Their technique is effective with well-intentioned people who assume (mistakenly) that everyone else is well-intentioned.

There are other approaches special-interest men will try, if they’re denied their unjustified requests. They may express outrage (how dare you?! insane! outrageous!). This outrage has both a cause and an intended effect. The cause is, most often, an insult to their excessive sense of entitlement. It hurts them that others do not see them as special, gifted, or better than others. So they squeal and shriek when someone reminds them that they aren’t what they think they are, or they don’t deserve an extra portion of dessert, etc. 

This expressed outrage often works an effect favorable to the special-interest types: others simply back down to avoid a confrontation.

If speaking in the language of good government doesn’t work, and if outrage doesn’t work, they may try to show how they are, in their view, more deserving than others. They will not do so themselves, however; they will find a catspaw who will praise how deserving they are in grandiose terms (how much these types supposedly love, care, or feel). These claims will not be measurable (one person’s love against another, for example). Indeed, how could they be? Nonetheless, grandiosity will be their starting point. 

Finally, special-interest men will threaten to wreck what they cannot have. That’s a last resort, but if it comes to it, they’ll destroy what they cannot manipulate.

They start, however, with the language of good government, in the way that a wolf might approach a flock in sheep’s clothing.

A reminder: Whitewater deserves better from its common council majority; this city is better than its council majority. Whitewater deserves better from its community development authority’s majority; this city is better than that authority’s majority.