Council had a busy agenda Tuesday night, and there’s much to consider from the meeting. For today, though, here are two points not about specific policies, but about policy generally. First, Council Pres. Singer and Pres. Pro Tem Binnie were re-elected unanimously to those posts. That’s good for the city, as they’re steady in manner,…
Local Government
City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Economy, Local Government
Is this the city that you had in mind?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Consider this working definition of crony capitalism: Crony capitalism is a term describing an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, or other forms of state interventionism. Crony capitalism…
City, Local Government, Politics
“The Closer You Look, The Less You See”
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Local Government, Politics
On Paul Yvarra’s False Claims to the Gazette
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s another development in the Common Council race between Lynn Binnie and Paul Yvarra. In a published story in Saturday’s Gazette entitled, Whitewater council candidate admits mistakes about opponent, Paul Yvarra acknowledges what every reasonable person in all Whitewater already knew: that Mr. Yvarra’s charge about Fairhaven Senior Services being responsible for municipal fiscal difficulties…
City, Local Government, Politics
Positive Perspectives for Local Politics
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s now seeing what it’s like to experience a negative and deceptive campaign, but our city is better than that. To cleanse the palate, consider what politics should and can be. Respect for facts and sound reasoning. People are naturally smart and reasonable, not just a few, but many, in every part of a community.…
City, Economy, Local Government, Politics
Mr. Yvarra’s Campaign: Even More Deceptive Than Before
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve written previously about the contested race in Whitewater’s Fourth Council District, an election choice between Lynn Binnie and Paul Yvarra. See, on this topic, On Whitewater’s 4th District Council Race, and (about the Yvarra campaign) A Dodgy and Deceptive Campaign. In a statement to the Gazette, for their comprehensive election series, Paul Yvarra has…
Local Government, Open Government
The Daily Union (Rightly) Forges Ahead
by JOHN ADAMS •
In nearby Fort Atkinson, that city’s municipal manager, Evelyn Johnson, recently resigned after somewhat over a year in her role. The Daily Union submitted to the City of Fort Atkinson an open records request, to learn more about her departure from a public position. In reply, Fort Atkinson’s city attorney, Chris Rogers, wrote denying the…
City, Local Government, Planning
Latisha Birkeland, Modernizer
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are few aspects of city life that affect residents more than neighborhood services. For years, Whitewater struggled with an inefficient and erratic neighborhood services program. Left, right, center, libertarian: just about anyone saw that there was, to be mild about it, room for improvement. Residents not only saw problems, but those problems led…
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,…
Local Government
Stodgy Residents Love Nothing More than Prohibition(s)
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s no better way to identify those few stodgy, stuffy town squires of Whitewater than by their love of prohibiting others’ conduct. Not a ban alone, but also gleeful announcement of whatever restrictions, prohibitions, regulations, limitations, proscriptions, interdictions, etc., that they’re able to proclaim — KEEP OFF THE LAWN DO NOT APPROACH FOXES OR OTHER WILD…
City, Local Government
More than a Garbage Chute
by JOHN ADAMS •
The great advantage of a garbage chute is that it takes trash from one place, and carries it off under force of gravity to another. For high-rise apartment dwellers, it’s quite the time-saver. A local municipal administration, needless to say, should be more than a tunnel through which flimsy proposals drop from vendor to local…
City, Government Spending, Local Government
An Empty Answer
by JOHN ADAMS •
On Tuesday night, Trane (a part of Ingersoll Rand) presented to Council about supposed energy efficiency projects for Whitewater. As it turns out, some of these projects weren’t even about energy efficiency but were additional items in a $1,924,749 project list. (See, previously, Whitewater’s a Small Town, for Goodness’ Sake – It Should Be Run…
City, Government Spending, Local Government
Whitewater’s a Small Town, for Goodness’ Sake – It Should Be Run Like One
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last night, at Council, Trane presented a proposal for supposed energy conservation improvements in Whitewater’s public buildings. Total proposed project cost: $1,924,749. It was a galling presentation – some of the items were not about energy savings, at all. Of others, it was work that city staff could do now, or do when necessary (rather…