About a month ago, Whitewater’s common council filled an at-large vacancy left after Marilyn Kienbaum’s passing. I thought the process – applicants speaking on behalf of their possible appointment – was a good one. See, Common Council Session of 12.18.12: A New Councilmember. My remarks here aren’t about those four initial applicants, but about applicants,…
Local Government
Crime, Government Spending, Local Government, Planning
Is This What Janesville’s Leaders Really Meant by ‘Regionalization’?
by JOHN ADAMS •
About two months ago, Janesville’s City Manager, Eric Levitt, came to Whitewater asking for money to support a public transit bus to benefit Generac (and anyone else Janesville’s transportation director will undoubtedly throw into the mix to justify ten thousand from Whitewater and hundreds of thousands from taxpayers in total). During his appearance before Whitewater’s…
City, Local Government
About those performance evaluations…
by JOHN ADAMS •
In Whitewater and communities far beyond, cities and public bodies are evaluating their administrators’ annual performance. That’s true for Whitewater’s municipal manager, and for the Innovation Center director, among others. These evaluations are closed-session reviews, but (as I write) I have no particular interest in how they’re conducted or the substance of the evaluations, in…
City, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Local Government
Model practices are the new exceptional
by JOHN ADAMS •
The signs that welcome visitors to Whitewater assure newcomers that we are an exceptional community. It’s an odd slogan for a city: exceptional needn’t mean better. One can be exceptionally talented, for example, but exceptionally narrow and stodgy, too. The slogan was meant, no doubt, to imply good qualities, but it’s a measure of our…
Animals, Beautiful Whitewater, City, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Liberty, Local Government
The Backyard Chicken Trend
by JOHN ADAMS •
We’re not alone among communities recently allowing urban chickens. A good and smart friend sent along news of Beloit’s urban chicken ordinance, now in effect in that city. She noted in her message that backyard chickens are a positive trend, and she’s right. (For a prior post on this topic, see Common Council Session of…
Local Government, Press
About the Administrator’s Equal Time…
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story at the Gazette from 1.5.13 about how Walworth County Administrator David Bretl’s columns started. The story’s odd, but the title’s odder: ‘Bretl writes columns as a self-check on county government.’ That’s funny, as the true check on government isn’t a so-called self-check from an administrator, but a check from the newspaper itself,…
Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Local Government, Taxes/Taxation
Grant-Chasing
by JOHN ADAMS •
Janesville now has her hundreds of thousands for a bus. It should be no surprise that those who have flacked every possible public program as the Next Big Thing (no matter how neglectful of dire needs) would herald state and federal grants as though they were genuine, private productivity. The fawning need to tout the…
City, Local Government, Politics
So, Three Municipal Managers Walk Into a Room…
by JOHN ADAMS •
Let’s say the recently-hired municipal manager of a small city, with a population of just under fifteen-thousand, walks into a party. It’s a busy affair, with others standing and talking throughout the room. Someone walks up to him, and says, “Hey, City Manager, did you know that your two immediate predecessors are here, too?” This…
City, Local Government
Common Council Session of 12.18.12: A New Councilmember
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater had a Council vacancy to fill, and for that vacancy she received four initial applicants to an at-large seat. (For a prior post about those applicants, please see It’s Not Who, But What.) There are only two such seats, representing all the residents of the city. At last night’s session, three applicants were able…
Animals, Beautiful Whitewater, City, Good Ideas, Hip & Prosperous, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Local Government, New Whitewater
Common Council Session of 12.18.12: Backyard Chickens
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s my fourth post on last night’s meeting. Approved unanimously, and waived from a second reading, Whitewater now has a backyard chicken ordinance. Not just an ordinance, but a fine, model one of which we should be proud. This is a good idea, that’s come to Whitewater through the hard work of a thoughtful resident.…
City, Law, Local Government, Police
Common Council Session of 12.18.12: On the Police and Fire Commission
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s my third post on the 12.18.12 session. Seeing a need to harmonize Whitewater’s municipal code with state statutes, Council restored the title of Police and Fire Commission to a citizen’s commission previously known as the Police Commission. Years ago, I remarked how odd it was that Whitewater’s PFC never addressed fire department matters, name…
City, Freedom of Speech, Local Government
Common Council Session of 12.18.12: Citizen Comments
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the second of my posts on Tuesday’s session. Move to Amend. James Hartwick, a resident and leader of the Starin Park Neighborhood Association, introduced a petition (in support of the Move to Amend campaign) for our 4.2.2013 ballot calling to amend the U.S. Constitution, under this question: Shall the City of Whitewater adopt the…
City, Local Government
Common Council Session of 12.18.12: Staff Reports
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last night’s 12.18.12 Common Council meeting was a busy one, with staff reports, reading of ordinances, and appointment of a new alder to Council. This was the last meeting of 2012, and the session covered much ground in under three hours. All in all, a good night, I’d say, for the city. I’ll post on…
City, Local Government
The New City Managers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater chose a new city manager earlier this year, and now Fort Atkinson has picked a new manager. Evelyn Johnson, the city administrator of Prairie City, Iowa, will replace John Wilmet. Wilmet has been city manager of nearby Fort since ’98. Johnson and Whitewater’s new city manager, Cameron Clapper, have at least two things in…