A good process, of whatever type, should meet at least three conditions: ➤ Fairness ➤ Effectiveness ➤ An unwillingness to compromise on fairness or effectiveness. One might wish for more, but these three are necessary.
Local Government
Good Ideas, League of Women Voters, Local Government, Politics
How to Build a Better Candidate Forum
by JOHN ADAMS •
Posted originally 2.16.16. Reposted 3.8.18. A private local organization, in the habit of hosting candidate debates forums, may freely follow its national organization’s practices. Fair enough. Whitewater, however, would do better if she adopted better standards. There are two easy ways that Whitewater can make her candidate forums much better. ➤ Release Candidate Statements Before…
Local Government, Police, Politics
The Buck Stops Locally (and Always Has)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Today, Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission will interview candidates for Whitewater’s next police chief. It’s been an in-house hiring process, and just three months ago some members of our PFC praised this approach over a consultant-driven method (as we had at the time of our last hiring). For Whitewater, and other places, the distinction between…
CDA, City, Development, Local Government, Marketing, Planning
Hey, CDA: What About the Existing Marketing Plan?
by JOHN ADAMS •
At tonight’s Community Development Authority meeting, agenda item number 14 surprisingly calls for “Discussion and Possible Action on Community Collaborative Marketing.” Perhaps this means a change to Whitewater’s existing community collaborative marketing plan. Our city leaders have been clear, for many years, about how to market the community. Indeed, other parts of the municipal government…
America, Local Government, Police
A Conventional, But Omitted, Question
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s looking for a new police chief, and has two candidates from which to choose. During a hiring process, it’s conventional to solicit community opinion on residents’ preferences and views on policing. Whitewater, expectedly, has done so, too. (There are, however, significant limitations with surveys of Whitewater’s kind, as I’ve noted. Whitewater’s method will produce…
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Wisconsin Supreme Court Primary, Whitewater Results
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s spring primary in Whitewater saw three candidates vie for two spots on the April ballot for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Statewide in preliminary numbers, conservative Michael Screnock had a plurality, followed by liberals Rebecca Dallet and Tim Burns. (It’s Screnock v. Dallet in April.) Look, however, at how different the statewide, Jefferson County & Walworth…
City, Local Government, Police
A Job in a College Town
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s looking for a new police chief, and our small city has two candidates from which to choose. There’s a time to consider all this in greater detail; for today, two simple observations are enough. 1. Competency, Not Ideology, Has Always Been Key. Whitewater’s policing challenges have not been between left and right, or between…
City, Local Government, Politics, School District
The Limits of Community Surveys
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s expensive to survey opinion, scientifically, using standard statistical principles. Whitewater, like many small places, understandably relies on community surveys (for the city proper, for her school district). Surveys of this kind are an approximation of overall sentiment. One wouldn’t expect an end to these surveys, but they have obvious, significant limitations. (This is true of…
City, Conflicts of Interest, Local Government, Press, That Which Paved the Way
Before Devin Nunes, in Whitewater & Small Towns Across America…
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that GOP Congressman Devin Nunes of California has launched his own news site: LOS ANGELES — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a relentless critic of the media, has found a way around the often unflattering coverage of his role in the Trump-Russia investigation — by operating his own partisan news outlet. Resembling…
City, Culture, Demographics, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Good Ideas, Local Government, Planning, Politics, Poverty
Dane, Not the WOW Counties
by JOHN ADAMS •
For many years, Republicans have railed against Madison, and against Dane County, as bastions of dysfunctional liberalism. Indeed, this impulse has been strong even after the GOP gained control of both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s office. Funny, though, that it’s Dane County – not the WOW counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee, or Washington – that’s…
Development, Economy, Foxconn, Government Spending, Infrastructure, Laws/Regulations, Local Government
Foxconn Deal Even Worse Than Most State Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jason Stein reports Foxconn package cost Wisconsin eight times as much per job as similar 2017 state jobs deals: To land the massive Foxconn factory, Gov. Scott Walker has committed the state to paying more than eight times as much per job as Wisconsin will provide under similar job creation deals struck…
City, Development, Economy, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Planning
What a Print Advertiser Means (and Doesn’t Mean)
by JOHN ADAMS •
So, if one lives in Whitewater, he or she may find a shopper-advertiser in the mailbox, with ads from (mostly) out-of-city advertisers. Even if one omits the publisher’s own ads, and public service announcements, the ratio of out-of-city to Whitewater ads is something like 3 to 1. Indeed, the largest ad, on the front page,…
City, Laws/Regulations, Local Government, Planning, School District, Uncategorized
A Sign for Whitewater High School
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater Planning Commission – A High School Sign from John Adams on Vimeo. Anyone who thinks that small town politics is simple hasn’t watched small town politics. In the video above, the Whitewater Planning Commission took 28 minutes to approve conditions for the local high school to place an electronic sign on school property. (Whitewater…
Local Government, Newspapers
Print Retreats to Print
by JOHN ADAMS •
Local print publications are struggling, and so they’ve decided to retreat to print publishing. See Twilight (Part 1 of a Series). At the Gazette, they’ve established a high paywall (after one three articles viewed per month), and as for ambitions for Walworth County, one need only consider what happened to that publisher’s WalworthCountyToday.com: At the…