Representatives from Downtown Whitewater and the Public Library spoke last night. A few remarks about each — Downtown Whitewater. Two representatives from the DTWW Board, the president and vice-president of that body, addressed Council last night. (1) Rush to vote. Two council members moved to vote on a understanding between the City of Whitewater and…
Local Government
Local Government, Planning, Politics
Common Council 4.16.13: The New Council
by JOHN ADAMS •
Common Council begins a new year, with four of its members sworn into office last night, and officers selected for the year ahead. By overall composition, it’s probably the most talented Council in memory, and certainly since I’ve been writing (2007). One hopes this works out well. In 2008, I wrote about the Planning Commission…
City, Elections, Local Government, Politics
Assessing Whitewater’s April 2, 2013 Vote
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a quick analysis of local political results. Precinct detail is available online for Walworth and Jefferson Counties, and statewide totals (including limited local information for Whitewater) is available online at the Journal Sentinel. Singer-Crone At-Large Contest. The only citywide council race finished 724-452 (12 write-in votes). That’s 61%-38%-1%, in a city that mostly picks…
City, Elections, Local Government, Politics
Local Politics: The Singer-Crone Council Race
by JOHN ADAMS •
One often looks at two candidates and thinks: if only they could both lose. Other times, as now, one looks at two candidates, and thinks: it’s a shame they can’t both win. The latter situation is preferable, and it’s the one in which Whitewater finds itself with an at-large council race between Patrick Singer and…
City, Elections, Local Government, Politics
Local Politics: Sideshows
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s in transition. Part of this is a shift – slow but inexorable – in the political culture of the city. (See, along these lines, New Whitewater’s Inevitability and Horses and Automobiles, Contemporaneously.) There’s more than one way to wage a local race, and our city is getting a taste of the difference between a…
Local Government
Getting the Word Out
by JOHN ADAMS •
Every so often, one hears that local government – the city, our public school district, the university – needs to get the word out. There’s a message to be sent. That’s good and right, of course, as the alternative would be concealment of policies or other public acts. Government should communicate more, not less, often.…
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Good Ideas, Local Government, Weather
Walk the City
by JOHN ADAMS •
Spring will arrive soon. Whitewater, Wisconsin is a small town. Even more conveniently, it’s a small town with an easily-walked, accessible downtown, west-side business district, and compact neighborhoods. In a time of warmer weather, there will be fitting opportunities to explore the city on foot. Whitewater’s full-time leaders – and especially her city manager —…
City, Local Government, Politics
The Candidates’ Forum
by JOHN ADAMS •
Some of Whitewater’s political candidates – running for Common Council – attended a Saturday, 3.16.13 forum at city hall. It ran from ten to a bit after eleven. (Readers wishing statements from the candidates may visit lwvwhitewater.org.) Below are overall impressions from the event. I’ll write more later about topics raised between now and the…
City, Local Government, Politics
City Leaders’ Residency
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s 2.21.13 Common Council meeting included a discussion – and change – to the city’s standing requirement that key leaders of the city live within the city limits. After consideration, Common Council voted to establish the area of the Whitewater Unified School District as the area in which principal municipal leaders must live. Quick thoughts:…
City, Gov. Walker, Local Government, Politics, State Government, Wisconsin
The Failure of Inside-Out (Thanks in Part to Governor Walker)
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s never been sensible to believe that the center of civilization is 312 W. Whitewater Street, with people and events beyond shrinking markedly in significance as one gets farther from that supposed center. Under that theory, by the time one reaches Palmyra, one might as well be in the unexplored Amazon. Exaggerating the significance of…
CDA, City, Economy, Gov. Walker, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Technology
The New Whitewater Start Up Grants (in Proper Perspective)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority has been working on a seed capital fund (working on this fund for some time), and today the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has announced a $150,000 matching contribution to the CDA, and two grants – each in the amount of $10,000 – for entrepreneurs from that fund. The matching grant from…
City, Development, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government, New Whitewater
Which Homeowners for Whitewater?
by JOHN ADAMS •
The preceding post, Who Should Live in Whitewater?, was about immigration. Here’s a second question, a bit more specific: which homeowners for Whitewater? One hears repeatedly that out city could use more families with children. I don’t disagree: it would help our public schools to have a stable, or growing, school-age population. Here’s where I…
City, Haiku, Local Government
Winter Haiku
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Local Government, Politics
The Martians’ Next Campaign
by JOHN ADAMS •
Stories, even short, science-fiction stories, offer lessons beyond their pages. Near the final pages of Wells’s War of the Worlds, the narrator ponders his future, months after the Martians succumbed on our world. He considers the possibility of another invasion: A question of graver and universal interest is the possibility of another attack from the…