It’s the month for Halloween, and just in time, Janesville Transit brings Whitewater a trick, but certainly no treat: a Ghost Bus. One may safely call it this, as it’s almost entirely empty after dropping riders off at multi-billion-dollar Generac, with those few passengers remaining being about as rare and difficult to see as the…
Government Spending
Federal Government, Government Spending
Fear Not!
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Taxes/Taxation
What Tires and Ages a City?
by JOHN ADAMS •
In my last post, I wrote about a survey that identified Whitewater as an especially youthful town (mind you, by median age, and only from CNN Money’s limited selection of small towns). Well, what would the opposite be like: what would age a town, and drive it into decrepitude? The sarcastic answer, of course, is…
City, Development, Economy, Government Spending
Council and the East Gateway Project
by JOHN ADAMS •
Earlier this week, among other topics, Common Council considered additional spending, amounting to hundreds of thousands, for burial of lines underground as part of the two-million-dollar East Gateway project. City Manager Clapper presented his summary of the benefits of the underground installation, of the alternatives, and his recommendation to spend additionally for the installation. There’s…
Charity, Government Spending, Nature, Walworth County
The Nature Conservancy
by JOHN ADAMS •
If a man wanted to leave a legacy of land to remain forever in its natural state, then he could donate it to the Nature Conservancy (http://www.nature.org/), a charity that preserves donated nature land in exactly that way. I’m indebted to a sharp reader who offered this suggestion for proposed parkland for Walworth County. I’ve…
Gluttony, Government Spending, Walworth County
Parkland at a Price of Millions: Bogus Philanthropy at Public Expense
by JOHN ADAMS •
How about a plaque for the site of Walworth County’s parkland scheme, should it be completed? DEDICATED TO ONE PRIVATE SELLER WHO FULFILLED HIS DREAM WITH MILLIONS OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS Last Sunday saw another public-relations exercise in selling the residents of a rural county on purchasing private land, at a cost of millions in…
City, Development, Government Spending, Local Government, New Whitewater, Planning, Politics, Taxes/Taxation
A Review of Whitewater’s Economy is Like Peeling an Artichoke
by JOHN ADAMS •
Artichokes, of course, symbolize the idea of multi-layered things, of peeling back an exterior to discover an interior truth. Whitewater’s economy is like that – one needs to peel away layer upon layer of happy-talk headlines to address the truth of our present condition. (In a way, the only indubitable success those headlines assure is…
CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Marketing, Planning
How You, Too, Can Be a Smooth-Talking, Super-Sophisticated Marketeer (Assuming You’d Be Foolish Enough to Want to Be One).
by JOHN ADAMS •
Real marketing is a legitimate pursuit. By contrast, manipulative, smooth-talking, super-sophisticated men & women spend hours convincing others that the next big thing is, in fact, the Next Big Thing. They declare that millions of taxpayers’ money spent on white-collar projects, while truly needy people receive no benefit whatever, are Astonishing Feats of Global Significance…
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Marketing, Planning
The Failure of Marketing (and the Marketing of Failure)
by JOHN ADAMS •
I respect the work of those honest people who practice or study marketing. There’s a place for marketing, and even a place for marketing public projects. In the end, though, it’s the product or service, not the presentation of it, that matters most. There should be nothing startling in so declaring, but for the marketeers…
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Planning
On the East Gate Project
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s administration proposes renovating the area on the east side of the city, through which commuters and visitors arrive in Whitewater. I’ve posted on the project before. (See, About that story on Whitewater’s East Gateway Proposal: What’s Missing?) A few remarks: 1. The design is undeniably beautiful. 2. It would have been better to include…
Government Spending, Local Government, Taxes/Taxation
Credibility on Spending
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s much to be said about fiscal policy in Whitewater, and plenty of time to say it. In my previous post, The Crazy-Wrong Argument on Taxes, I addressed the ludicrous & selfish argument that public grants (in this case, for needless parkland purchases) would have no tax impact. Of course they would. Now people are…
Economy, Federal Government, Gluttony, Government Spending, Local Government, State Government, Taxes/Taxation, Walworth County, Wisconsin
The Crazy-Wrong Argument on Taxes
by JOHN ADAMS •
A succinct truth: money doesn’t grow on trees. Local government funds municipal projects in one of three principal ways: through local taxes & fees, local borrowing (debt in the form of bonds), or public money from other jurisdictions (grants from the state or federal government). These grants of state or federal public money are, themselves,…
Government Spending, Local Government, Planning, Press
About that story on Whitewater’s East Gateway Proposal: What’s Missing?
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Tuesday afternoon, Whitewater’s officials held an informational meeting about a proposed public-works beautification project on the east side of the city. It’s not a new idea; those following politics in town for more than a few years would have heard about earlier discussions along these lines. On Wednesday, the Daily Union published a thousand-word…