Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 6:38 and sunset 4:38 for 9h 59m 40s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 21.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

  On this day in 1972, American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) launches.

  Yesterday, I linked to the agenda of the Whitewater Common Council session for 11.7.23. In that Tuesday post, this libertarian blogger listed several agenda items that drew my particular interest. In today’s post, I will consider one of those items, No. 42 (and the closed session Item 41 that led to Item 42). In the days ahead, daily posts here will go through other portions of the 11.7.23 council session.

Here were Items 41 and 42, as they appeared in full on the Tuesday agenda:

CLOSED SESSION

41. Adjourn to closed session, to reconvene in open session, Chapter 19.85(1)(f) “Considering financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons, preliminary consideration of specific personnel problems or the investigation of charges against specific persons except where par. (b) applies which, if discussed in public, would be likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of any person referred to in such histories or data, or involved in such problems or investigations.” Item to be discussed: 1) Discussion regarding complaints received by the Human Resources Department and pursuant to Chapter 19.85(1)(e) “Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session.” Item to be discussed: 2) Negotiation of Aquatic and Fitness Center Agreement with School District.

CONSIDERATIONS

42. Discussion and possible action regarding matters addressed in closed session involving complaints received by the Human Resources Department. – HR/Employment Attorney

When the Whitewater Common Council returned to open session, here was the statement on behalf of the council concerning Items 41(1) and 42:

At this time, the Council wishes to make the following statement: 

The Council is respectful that each individual councilmember has distinct, competing, and divergent viewpoints designed to promote the best interests of the city and representation of the community.

The Council intends to work on a plan to enhance the effectiveness of the Council as a body and as that body works with the employees of the city. The Council is committed to Robert’s Rules as a guideline and the city’s Transparency Ordinance.

The Council will explore and conduct training as to governance, conduct of meetings, and open meeting compliance, and encourage appointed office holders to participate in such opportunities.

The Council will explore standards of decorum and civility for its meetings.

The Council will work with the City Manager for the development of an onboarding process for newly elected and appointed office holders. The Council will set expectations for self-accountability, individual commitment to one another. 

The Council will consider whether the use of outside resources is of benefit to this process including resources from CVMIC, and the executive branch of the city, facilitators, or other resources. 

The Council’s commitment to this plan is ongoing, which the Council will address at subsequent meetings. 

(Transcription mine.) 

A few brief remarks. 

1. In more than sixteen years of observing Whitewater’s local government at FREE WHITEWATER, this writer has never before seen a need for any previous council to go into closed session — with an attorney’s guidance — and issue afterward a public statement like this. I’ve never seen it in those many years because no one has. Deficiencies so serious have not presented themselves during that time. 

2. Proper conduct is not a matter of mere ideology, of right, center, or left. Since April, with its current president, this council’s majority has performed below the standard of any previous council during those sixteen years, and below the standard of Whitewater’s residents (of whatever ideology). 

3. Ordinarily and normally, the leader of an institution takes responsibility for deficiencies in the group. Last night, however, it was not this council president, but another councilmember who read the statement on behalf of the institution. 

4. It was Reagan who cleverly popularized the Russian proverb ‘trust but verify’ (doveryai, no proveryai) in America. So it is here: one will trust there will be necessary, significant improvement only through observed verification. 

Whitewater deserves no less than worthy conduct from her officeholders. Officials’ tenure in office requires from them consistent, demonstrated conduct in reasoning and manner befitting our community. 

 Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 6:37 and sunset 4:39 for 10h 02m 04s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 30.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM. 

  On this day in 1994, WXYC, the student radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, launches the world’s first internet radio broadcast.

 Linked above is the Whitewater Common Council agenda for tonight’s council session. Embedded below is the full agenda packet for the session. Although I have begun embedding the council or CDA agendas on the day of the respective meetings, this post offers both the full council packet and mention of items of notable interest to this libertarian blogger. Ordinarily, I make no particular notice before a meeting agenda; the importance of tonight’s meeting requires an exception.  

All this city knows that since April the Whitewater Common Council has embarked on a course contrary to limited and responsible government, on which no one ran before taking office, and which if continued will take this struggling-yet-hopeful city into a years-long decline. See The Shape of Decline to Come (and How to Carry On) and ‘Gradually and Then Suddenly.’ This council risks turning what has been for many residents an economic Long Twilight and turn it into a Long Dark.  

Here Whitewater arrives tonight, at a session of the Common Council that will decide much about the city’s near future. A few items from that agenda draw especially this libertarian blogger’s interest. (Each resident watching will have his or her own list of notable items; these are mine.) 

Item 7. Memo on Conflict of Interest Inquiry — City Manager.

Item 8. Update on R0 Zoning District — Neighborhood Services.

Item 14. Discussion and possible action regarding motion to reconsider RFP for legal services to retain an outside law firm to advise the Common Council on employee discipline and personnel matters not to exceed $10,000 — Hicks/Dawsey Smith.

Item 15. Discussion and possible action regarding approval of the amended agreement for legal services from von Briesen and Roper SC — Hicks/HR.

Item 18. Discussion and possible action regarding MOU/MSP with the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater for the Innovation Center to extend the contract date to June 30, 2024 — City Manager.

Item 19. Discussion and possible action regarding the Whitewater Aquatic Fitness Center lease agreement between the City of Whitewater and the Whitewater Unified School District — City Manager/Park and Rec.

Item 25. Presentation of the 2024-2025 Budget — Finance. 

Item 42. Discussion and possible action regarding matters addressed in closed session involving complaints received by the Human Resources Department. – HR/Employment Attorney.

Item 43. Discussion and possible action regarding the Whitewater Aquatic Fitness Center lease agreement between the City of Whitewater and the Whitewater Unified School District – City Manager/Park and Rec.

Councilmembers are government men and women, responsible for their words and actions. The government isn’t simply the city administration; it’s every councilmember and CDA boardmember. Everyone acting in these latter roles acts in a public capacity, bound by law and reason. 

How would a starfish wear trousers? Science has an answer: 

Starfishes are weirdly shaped animals. Scientists have long puzzled over how a starfish body equates to the more typical animal arrangement of a head on one end and trunk or tail on the other. Humans wear trousers on the bottom of their trunks, so you could extrapolate out from that to suggest solutions to the ‘trouser question’ for dogs, horses, spiders and even slugs. But what about a starfish? Now there’s a new possible answer based on the expression of their genes.

 Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 49. Sunrise is 7:31 and sunset 5:49 for 10h 14m 32s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 76.7% of its visible disk illuminated.

  On this day in 1917, the Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people:

His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. 

For many years, Whitewater has been a town beset by special interests. What’s new is that they’re now working in daylight to cement control over the town for another generation. Whitewater’s an open-air theater of small-town cronyism in action. 

A few quick points. 

1. Special Interests Would Rather Not Be Seen. Ideally, they will put their operatives and catspaws on boards and commissions without much attention. For elected positions, they’ll look for districts with no one else running. Districts like that are a golden opportunity to run candidates wholly devoted to them but so objectionable to ordinary residents that those types of candidates could never win otherwise.

2. If Seen, Special Interests Will Never Acknowledge Their True Purpose. No one will stand up and say, for example, “I’m Landlord Number 1, this is my Dogsbody Operative, and we’re here to make sure you pass an ordinance that favors rental properties of mine or disadvantages my competition.”  They’ll never say that! Instead, they’ll argue for those very changes and dare others to call them out for having a conflict of interest. 

3. Special Interests Never Defend, They Accuse Others. Every so often, something goes awry, and someone calls a special interest man out. Special interests count on others to stay quiet from ignorance, other obligations, poverty, or malaise. Damn it, people were supposed to stay quiet and let others walk all over them, but ordinary residents will tire of being doormats, and they’ll speak out. 

When they meet opposition, special interests will accuse others of the wrongful conduct they have, themselves, have committed. 

There are two reasons that they prefer to attack. First, it draws attention away from the special interests’ conduct. It’s critical to accuse others so that they “flood the zone with sh-t” and leave everyone confused about who did what to whom.

Second, few people will have sympathy for well-positioned special interest men. When they try to play on others’ sympathies, they learn quickly that deep down others resent their overbearing influence. The sharper among them suspect this, and so don’t even look for others’ sympathy. 

When normal and decent people hold office, the special interests conspire for their ruin with bad faith accusation after bad faith accusation. 

 Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 40. Sunrise is 7:29 and sunset 5:46 for 10h 17m 05s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 84.8% of its visible disk illuminated.

  On this day in 1790, Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, in which he predicts that the French Revolution will end in a disaster. (He was right.) 

When we think of corruption, we think of bribery. The Ancients, however, saw corruption in a second way: as a falling away, a degeneration, from the proper form of an object or practice. It’s this second way in which this post considers corruption: as a degeneration from a proper form. The relationship would be something like the relationship between healthy cells and cancerous cells, where the latter is a deformed and degenerate version of the former. 

Look now at Whitewater, and one sees that on 10.17.23, the Whitewater Common Council rejected a request-for-proposal process to select a third attorney through public funds, and decided instead to allow one councilman to propose on his own three firms from which the council could choose. 

In its essence, to its very marrow, this is a corruption — a degeneracy — of a proper and responsible process. Councilman James Allen should not have been given this power and should not exercise this power.

Any firm that offers representation as one of Allen’s selections would be suspect: this is an abnormal process, ill-defined and contradictorily explained. No responsible attorney would take this work except through an RPF process regulated under law. See Allen’s Childish Pretexts.

Why this way and not an RFP? I believe that Allen’s in a hurry to get rid of this municipal administration before the April elections. Even the selection of a firm in December would be too far away for him.  See Councilman Allen’s Nebulous and Rushed Plan (“Yeah, going out to, uh [cross talk] with, uh, would extend things out to December”).

The four of the council majority did not run on overturning the municipal administration (not a peep!), but that’s what this libertarian blogger believes will happen if Allen gets his way. Allen would then become a de facto mayor, control the selection of the next city manager, and turn the Whitewater CDA over to a lobbyist and P.R. man. Those two would run affairs in a way favorable to landlords and bankers. That’s what would happen. 

Whitewater’s two leading public institutions, her council and her community development authority, would cease to be legitimate public institutions. See The Shape of Decline to Come (and How to Carry On) and ‘Gradually and Then Suddenly.’

Whitewater would become a small, foul southern town, under the control of a few. 

Needless to say, I’d rather not be right about this.

Yet look, yet look — this is a few working toward a corruption — the decline into an inferior form of government and policy in Whitewater — in real-time, right before our eyes.

 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.