IF PUBLIC OFFICIALS DON’T WANT TO READ DISCUSSIONS ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY, THEN THEY SHOULDN’T RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.
Local Government
Conservative Populism, Culture, Education, Horde, Local Government, Never Trump, Politics, Radical Populism, School District, Trumpism
(Local) Fear of a Red Hat
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There are any number of fears that occasionally grip people, however unfounded those fears, of snakes, of spiders, of black cats, etc. (Snakes play an important ecological role, some cultures think spiders are good luck, and black cats are beautiful with notably soft coats.) And yet, and yet… no fear strikes deeper and holds tighter…
City, Housing, Local Government, Police, Press
Broken Policymaking Over a Voucher Program
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Whitewater has a local government that taxes and legislates, and that hires officials who exercise authority over the city’s residents, in a nine-square-mile area. Our local government has its own municipal building, in which it holds regular public meetings, and in which officials can talk to each other and residents in person, by email, text,…
America, CDA, Common Council, Development, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Local Government, Regulatory Capture, WEDC
Competition: Good for Individuals and Society
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Pres. Biden plans measures to increase market competition. David Leonhardt reports Biden’s New Push (‘The U.S. economy suffers from a lack of competition. President Biden wants to change that’): The U.S. economy has been less dynamic in the 21st century, by many measures, than it was in the late 20th century. Fewer new businesses are starting.…
City, Local Government, Never Trump, Politics, School District, Trumpism, Whitewater's Local Politics 2021
Whither the Conservative Populists?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In places big and small, including Whitewater, there are three main types of conservatives: traditional, transactional, and populist. (Right-wing populist in our time is mostly a euphemism for Trumpist.) Of these types, only the right-wing populists are a dynamic movement. Traditional conservatives each day look more like large reptiles after a cataclysmic meteor strike, and…
America, Cycling, Federal Government, History, Holiday, Local Government
Juneteenth
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Sometime later today, Pres. Biden will sign a bill, having passed overwhelminmgly in both the House and Senate, to make Juneteenth a national holiday. The House saw only 14 members opposed (one being Tom Tiffany, R-WI 7) and the Senate voted after Sen. Ron Johnson withdrew his opposition to a vote. Making Juneteenth a national…
Charity and Mercy, City, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, Police, Politics, Poverty
‘Communicate, Communicate, Communicate’ Isn’t So Easy in a Fractured Town
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Some years ago, an administrator (no longer with the school district) told others that a good practice for leaders was to ‘communicate, communicate, communicate’ with the community. The concept makes sense: craft a message and then make sure it’s heard by repeating it. In a small town, how hard could that be? As it turns…
City, Local Government
Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 6.1.21: 6 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Whitewater Common Council met last night, Tuesday, 6.1.21. Updated 6.3.21 with meeting video. The agenda for the meeting is available electronically. The council reviewed and approved, among other items, a draft audit of the city government’s finances, a settlement with a local bar that will permit the bar to continue operating, a contract with Bird…
Local Government, Never Trump, Politics, Radical Populism, School District, State Government, Trump, Trumpism
Conservative Populism Moves in One Direction Only
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
While there’s more than one kind of conservative Republican (traditionalist, transactionalist, or populist), it’s the populists who are the most numerous and most demanding. Over time, they’ve pushed other kinds of conservatives – even transactionalists who are behind-the-scenes manipulators – into subordinate positions. (See generally Whitewater’s Local Politics 2021.) These rightwing populists have outlasted Trump,…
City, Local Government
Whitewater Common Council Meeting, 4.20.21: 7 Points
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
?? The Whitewater Common Council met on Tuesday, 4.20.21. The recording of the meeting is embedded above. The amended agenda for the meeting is available. A few remarks on selected items of the agenda — 1. Council Officers. Council re-elected unanimously Lynn Binnie as council president and Jim Allen as president pro tempore. (Video, 04:00.) 2.…
City, Culture, Education, Local Government, Politics, School District, University, Whitewater's Local Politics 2021
Whitewater’s Local Politics 2021: The Limits of Local Politics
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This is the final post in a series on Whitewater’s local politics of 2021. Earlier posts at FREE WHITEWATER have addressed the limits of local politics in the community: local public (or powerful private) institutions have a limited power of action (with harmful actions likely to be more immediate than helpful ones). It’s certain that a…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Blogging, Boosterism, City, Confidence Schemes, Coronavirus, Culture, Local Government, Mendacity, Politics, School District, Special Interests, Whitewater's Local Politics 2021
Whitewater’s Local Politics 2021: Marketing
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
This is the ninth in a series on Whitewater’s local politics of 2021. Through all the difficult events of the last two decades (a Great Recession, an opioid epidemic, economic stagnation, creeping nativism, a pandemic, a pandemic recession), Old Whitewater has responded with the same question: how can we market the town to others? If…
Blogging, City, Coronavirus, Local Government, Politics, Whitewater's Local Politics 2021
Whitewater’s Local Politics 2021 — COVID-19: Skepticism and Rhetoric
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
This is the eighth in a series on Whitewater’s local politics of 2021. Why would a local politician publish statistics on a pandemic? Why would he write now and again with reports of the reach of the pandemic into his city? He’d write this way out of concern for his community. If that’s not plain,…
City, Local Government, Politics, Whitewater's Local Politics 2021
Whitewater’s Local Politics 2021: The Common Council
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
This is the seventh in a series on Whitewater’s local politics of 2021. Whitewater has a seven-person person city council with an appointed city manager to run the daily affairs of the town. Two of the council seats are at-large, and the other five members are from aldermanic districts. While the city manager acts in…