Not far from Whitewater, Janesville’s local newspaper finds itself in an access-to-information conflict with the Janesville School District. There’s no surprise in any of this. (Quick note: I’m using that paper as an example because it’s close-at-hand. One could find other examples easily enough.) For years that paper has ridiculed citizens’ petition efforts, toadied to business…
Open Government
City, Government Spending, Local Government, Open Government, Taxes/Taxation
City of Whitewater’s Proposed 2016 Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embedded below readers will find the City of Whitewater’s proposed 2016 budget. An open and confident government would embed the budget on the city’s main webpage; an inquisitive and worthy press would embed (or at least link) to the budget file. For the city there’s still a long way to go; for the print press there’s…
Federal Government, Law, Liberty, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records, State Government, Wisconsin
The Public Records Law Still Stands
by JOHN ADAMS •
After a push to alter Wisconsin’s Public Records Law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31-19.39), we’re now secure with the original law intact. Below one will find a recording of Wisconsin A.G. Brad Schimel’s Open Government Summit, held earlier this week at the Concourse in Madison. J.B. Hollen, Schimel’s immediate predecessor, started strongly in favor of the…
City, Government Spending, Health, Open Government, WGTB, WHEN GREEN TURNS BROWN
Whitewater’s Common Council Votes to Fund a Vendor Study
by JOHN ADAMS •
Post 9 in a series. Whitewater’s Common Council Votes to Fund a Vendor Study from John Adams on Vimeo. In this post, I’ll look at the Council’s decision to pay Trane at least $70,000, and up to approximately $150,000, so that Trane could fund its own feasibility study of a digester energy project for Whitewater.…
Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Open Government, Planning, Waste Digesters, WGTB
The City of Whitewater Digester Clarification That Could Use a Clarification
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a paragraph from Whitewater’s City Manager Update for 3.20.15 that proposes a clarification about the digester project proposed as part of an overall, $20.7 million-dollar upgrade to the city’s wastewater treatment facilities. First, the city’s clarification (my emphasis added): Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade Clarification When an issue as complex and technically detailed as the…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Crime, Law, Open Government, University
Former Coach Fader Vindicated Five Times Over
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s been over nine months since Chancellor Richard Telfer suspended former UW-Whitewater wrestling coach Tim Fader, and later effectively fired him (Fader’s contract was not renewed). In April 2014, a woman alleged that a wrestling recruit assaulted her, and Fader has consistently said that he contacted the Whitewater Police Department about the incident, and that…
Crime, Open Government, University
Support the Campus Accountability and Safety Act
by JOHN ADAMS •
Discussion is better than silence; knowledge trumps ignorance. Thousands of universities receive federal funds, including our own campus. Under the law, those universities are required, since the Clery Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f), 34 C.F.R. 668.46 to record and report instances of crime on and near their campuses. (UW-System schools publish that information in compliance…
Local Government, Open Government
A Municipal Building’s No Proof of a Progressive, Modern Outlook
by JOHN ADAMS •
A public building doesn’t make a city respectable – a city’s respectable, high standards and open government make a public building worthy. It’s more than odd that, literacy notwithstanding, an editorial board would contend – as one did recently about Milton, Wisconsin – that Milton’s new [city] offices suggest professional, progressive city (subscription req’d): Milton…
Development, Local Government, Open Government, Planning
Shhh….Milton’s City Planning is a Big Secret
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over in Milton, with a ‘development professional’ for a mayor and a city administrator who’s quitting for a job where he can spend more time with his family, there’s a new municipal development: MILTON—A proposed restaurant and convenience store at the corner of Sunnyside Drive and Highway 59 is “somewhat monumental” in that it kicks…
City, Development, Open Government
Show Your Work
by JOHN ADAMS •
#172284535 / gettyimages.com We’re in a new round of big-project proposals for Whitewater. Here’s a suggestion, that this municipal administration would do well to follow, for any large-scale proposal: (1) Release any feasibility study, analysis, or performance contract on the city’s website a month (thirty calendar days) before Council consideration. (2) Hold a public hearing…
Local Government, Open Government, Press
Janesville Doubles Down
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an update about Janesville’s fire station debacle: Janesville’s city attorney reportedly contends that Wisconsin law does not allow a petition to overturn what the City of Janesville contends is an administrative decision. See, City attorney: Fire station question not for voters to decide. For now, consider the politics of this position. (Here, I mean…
Local Government, Open Government, Press
How the Local Press Fails
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story at Channel 3000 (the website for WISC-TV) entitled, Janesville resident to petition council’s decision to build a new fire station. The story says much about (1) government spending, (2) unlawful use of closed sessions to conceal projects, and (3) press competition. Here’s the cause of residents’ ire: Janesville resident Billy McCoy is…
City, Local Government, Open Government
Confronting Bad News
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are always a number of accidents, crimes, or tragedies in a community. One hopes for as few as possible. The best way for government to address those misfortunes is to act quickly and openly to take whatever actions law and charity require. Along the way, however, it might be useful for big talking officials…
Open Government, School District
The Whitewater Schools’ Recent Budget Cuts
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote last week about proposed budget cuts in the Whitewater Unified School District. (See, The Whitewater Schools’ Budget Cuts.) Since that post, the WUSD School Board met Monday, and following that contentious meeting made modifications to proposed cuts on Wednesday afternoon. (At each stage of this process, proposed cuts have been in the aggregate…