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.…
Local Government
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…
City, Corporate Welfare, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, New Whitewater
The Middle Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Elections, Local Government, Walworth County, Wisconsin
The 2014 Wisconsin Spring Primary
by JOHN ADAMS •
Results from the Wisconsin Spring Primary are, mostly, now in. In Whitewater. I’ve commented on this race in email and online. The unofficial results (Binnie 152, Yvarra 30, Meyer 26) in the top-two primary show a marked gap between the incumbent and his challengers. In a primary that awarded the race to a candidate…
City, Elections, Local Government
On Whitewater’s 4th District Council Race
by JOHN ADAMS •
One part of the city has an election in the spring primary today, for the city’s fourth council district. Incumbent Lynn Binnie is running for another term against challengers Greg Meyer and Paul Yvarra. It wouldn’t have been my inclination to presume to endorse in the race, but more than a few readers have emailed,…
City, Local Government
Blueberries, Raspberries, Rat Poison
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s more than one way to see the differences of policy and politics in Whitewater. By one way of thinking, these differences are merely of taste, like a preference for blueberries over raspberries. Although one cannot be certain, this is probably how most officials see the decisions before government: a choice between simple preferences. And…