One finds oneself with a question, when there are gaps in a public record, when there are easily-avoidable deficiencies of open government: What will one do about it? A good method in this matter is deliberate, dispassionate, and diligent. A few thoughts: 1. Foundation. One looks at state and local provisions for public records and…
Laws/Regulations
City, Law, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, School District, University
Midnight (Part 2 in a Series)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Open government is right both in itself and in consequence: a free society confers political power only for limited & enumerated purposes. Those who confer this power have a right of oversight and a sensible obligation to assure that power’s exercise remains limited & enumerated. The right derives both naturally and by positive law. In…
City, Laws/Regulations, Local Government
Amendments, Canaries, Coal Mines
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embed from Getty Images I wrote yesterday about two proposed amendments to Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission ordinances (Items O-1 and O-2 on the 10.3.17 Council agenda). See Amendments Concerning the Landmarks Commission. Last night, Council unanimously passed O-1, and amendment O-2 died for lack of a…
Laws/Regulations, Local Government
Amendments Concerning the Landmarks Commission
by JOHN ADAMS •
Even during the most difficult national conditions, there are likely to be local conflicts. A dispute in Whitewater over the powers of the city’s Landmarks Commission is one such conflict: a purely local matter. Proposed changes to Whitewater’s Municipal Code, Title 17, Landmarks Commission, are before Common Council tonight. See Whitewater, Wisconsin, Municipal Code §…
City, Laws/Regulations, Local Government
One City, Two Presentations of the Same Regulation
by JOHN ADAMS •
Affordable Care Act, Laws/Regulations, Politics
Lindsey Graham and Jennifer Rubin are Right About Healthcare
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a difference between disliking – strongly – a federal intrusion into the marketplace like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the policy & politics of a replacement (if any). Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham outlines the policy problem with changes to the ACA: “Once you say that everybody should be covered, can’t be…
Business, Food, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations
Institute for Justice Fights Anti-Competitive Ban on Baked Goods
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin is lousy with anti-competitive statutes, designed to protect incumbents from free-market competition. One would prefer that private parties did not have to file lawsuits to protect their economic rights. Unfortunately, some laws (and some official actions) compel private citizens to seek redress from the courts to protect their liberties. Fortunately, the Institute for Justice…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Law, Laws/Regulations
SUNY Stony Brook Failed Sarah Tubbs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Video Link: Sarah Tubbs of Montrose talks about her ordeal after she says she was sexually assaulted at Stony Brook University, and then forced to prosecute her own attacker. Updated with video as link, 3.4.15. Sarah Tubbs attended (and was graduated from) SUNY Stony Brook, part of New York’s state university system. It’s part of…
Business, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Local Government
Because, you know, it’s government’s job to manipulate results among private businesses
by JOHN ADAMS •
The presumptions of a local government pol: This ordinance has been an attempt to require the food trucks to put some skin in the game,” [Fort Atkinson city councilmember] Lescohier said. “That skin is through a fee structure, through an appropriate place for them to operate and to control the noise. Right now if you…
City, Laws/Regulations, Local Government
Last Night’s Zoning Rewrite Meeting (Residential Sections)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Beginning at 7 PM last night, after an immediately prior Planning Commission meeting, Common Council and the Planning Commission held a joint public hearing to consider proposed changes to Whitewater’s residential zoning code. The meeting lasted until about ten, with further consideration of the changes scheduled for Tuesday, March 18th. A few remarks,…
City, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Nature
The Leaves on the Streets PSA
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater has a public service announcement about leaf collection, to remind residents not to sweep their leaves into the street. It’s a short, clever video. It does government a lot of good to remind someone of a policy without doing it in a heavy-handed way, but with a more light-hearted approach. This does the…
Business, Economy, Free Markets, Hip & Prosperous, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Planning
Why Plan?
by JOHN ADAMS •
All people make plans for the future, even if that should be no farther ahead than for later the same day. Why specifically, though, should government plan? Every city has plans for development, plans for budgeting, and many (as we do in Whitewater) have a public commission with lawful authority to approve or reject certain…
Business, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Update: Victory for the Entrepreneurial Monks of Saint Joseph Abbey in Louisiana
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over three years ago, I posted about Louisiana’s attempt to prevent the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey from making and selling handmade caskets. Their products were of fine craftsmanship and durability, and so sought-after. Despite the quality of their work, Louisiana insisted that only a state-licensed funeral director could sell caskets, and that it was a crime…