Here’s a follow-on to yesterday’s post, Business Dependency in Whitewater. There’s a huge effort locally, from the Community Development Authority in particular, to spur growth through large, publicly-funded incentives. These addled few are like men who’ve heard the expression, ‘if you build it, he will come,’ but don’t understand when it applies and when it…
Local Government
Business, CDA, City, Development, Economy, Government Spending, Local Government, WEDC
Business Dependency in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
For residents facing poverty, one would hope for, and understand, a combination of private and public relief. Churches and other private organizations do much in this effort; government expenditures for the genuinely needy amount to a small portion of all government spending. Support of this kind is a worthy effort. Whitewater also has two large…
Culture, Local Government, Politics, University
The Remains of the Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
If one would like to see the present condition and future prospects of Whitewater’s insiders, there are no better accounts (truly) than two stories from the Daily Union: UW-Whitewater chancellor session held @ http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_f042575e-a63a-11e4-bcd8-939679ffcc09.html Whitewater bids fond farewell to Telfer @ http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_68cb8454-1c18-11e5-8e44-a3bfa315d78f.html. Each story is purportedly about UW-Whitewater’s chancellor (the search for a new one,…
City, Enforcement, Food, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, Marketing, Regulations, Restaurant
Vulnerability of a Restaurant Culture
by JOHN ADAMS •
View image | gettyimages.com Whitewater’s publicly-driven marketing may not have amounted to much, these last ten years, but there are few better advertisements for Whitewater than thriving restaurants and taverns. Good restaurants, doing well, are a sign of a successful community. Some of Whitewater’s newest restaurants also reflect a sensibility that’s significantly more contemporary than…
City, Culture, Local Government, Marketing, Politics
Marketing Whitewater Over the Last Decade
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I mentioned that I would share observations from a longtime resident about marketing efforts on behalf of Whitewater. First the observations, then my remarks. ….Ten years ago I think all the rhetoric about a perfect Whitewater was meant to set the tone for those already living in and around the town. They wanted to…
Business, City, Development, Economics, Economy, Health, Local Government, Planning, Politics, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Meetings & Motivations
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 11 in a series. This is series about a proposed digester energy project for Whitewater, one that would rely on importing other cities’ unwanted waste into Whitewater for processing. A series like this is only indirectly about general wastewater upgrades, at whatever price. It’s about waste importation, and officials’ claims that importation would be clean…
CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Gluttony, Government Spending, Local Government, Public Relations, University, WEDC
Another Six-Figure WEDC Loan to an Unworthy Applicant
by JOHN ADAMS •
View image | gettyimages.com Across the state, revelation after revelation shows that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has been a mistake, a wasteful political endeavor contrary to sound economics. Locally, support for the WEDC, from Whitewater’s Community Development Authority, Chancellor Richard Telfer, City Manager Cameron Clapper, etc., shows not only that they’re ignorant of sound…
City, Local Government, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Trane Presents an Energy-Savings Contract
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 10 in a series. Trane Presents an Energy-Savings Contract from John Adams on Vimeo. Recap: On 11.5.13, city officials in Whitewater met privately with three construction or engineering vendors (Trane, Black & Veatch, Donohue) and at least one major waste-hauler to discuss importing waste from other cities into Whitewater for a digester energy project.…
Blogging, City, Local Government, Politics
Measuring the Strength of a Position
by JOHN ADAMS •
A good way to measure the strength of a position (considering its quality of being strong, its merit, and its desirability) is to ask: would one trade that position for another one? If the answer is that one would trade, then there’s something better in an alternative by way of greater heft, reason, or enjoyability. …
Business, City, Government Spending, Health, Local Government, Marketing, Planning, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
First Vendor Presentation of 1.21.14 to Whitewater’s Common Council
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 8 in a series. First Vendor Presentation of 1.21.14 to Whitewater Common Council from John Adams on Vimeo. In this post, I’ll look at the first vendor presentation on the digester proposal to Whitewater’s Common Council. (Every question in this series has a unique number, assigned chronologically based on when it was asked. All…
CDA, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Local Government, University, WEDC
Another WEDC Audit Failure
by JOHN ADAMS •
Appearing below, you’ll see a full, 116-page audit of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. It shows the WEDC’s gross negligence; it’s the second to show the WEDC’s many failures (including deficiencies persisting from audit to audit). (For a link to the prior audit, see WEDC Claims Success by Writing Off Bad Loans.) For each and…
Business, City, Government Spending, Health, Local Government, Waste Digesters, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Fifteen Months Later, at the School Board
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 7 in a series. 3.16.15 Wastewater & Waste Importation Presentation to Whitewater Unified School District from John Adams on Vimeo. Jump ahead almost fifteen months, from 12.3.13 to 3.16.15, and City Manager Clapper and Wastewater Superintendent Reel are at the Whitewater Unified School District. Months later, and millions in spending requests, but still lots…
City, Health, Local Government, Waste Digesters, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Parsing a Presentation (12.3.13)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 5 in a series. What happens when one looks closely, line by line, and sentence by sentence, at a municipal presentation? Last week, I gave an overview of a 12.3.13 presentation on a plan to use Whitewater’s digester to import waste from other cities into Whitewater. Today, I’ll go through that presentation closely, and…
Government Spending, Libertarians, Local Government, State Government
The Well Runs Dry
by JOHN ADAMS •
As expected, a weak economy, despite four years of talk about spending to create jobs, jobs, jobs means that Wisconsin can expect no additional state revenue to lessen the impact of cuts to education, etc. In fact, revenue projections are below estimates. Here’s the news from the Journal Sentinel this morning (emphasis added): Madison —…