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Open Government

Could the Koch Brothers Dominate Whitewater’s Politics?

Assume for a moment that Charles and David Koch decided to use their vast billions to dominate Whitewater’s local politics.  They’d spend whatever they had, under this hypothetical, to put their hand-picked candidates in office, for advertising, public relations, goodwill community events, and lobbying to get their way in elections, appointments, and in pressuring local…

The Daily Union (Rightly) Forges Ahead

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…

Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal

For bloggers who cover politics, policy-making, etc., just as would have been true of essayists and pamphleteers in an earlier time, it helps to have a method to one’s writing.  In the paragraphs below, I’ll list steps one should take when approaching a topic. The steps are in a rough order, but in any method,…

The Open Government Presentation

Last week, at Common Council, the city heard a presentation from City Attorney McDonell on Wisconsin’s Open Meetings and Public Records Laws. In the embeded video below, from 1:07:00 to 1:43:03, readers will see that presentation. (Sadly, it starts off poorly, with a deprecating joke about the subject matter being boring. That’s false, of course:…

Biting the Hand That Fed Him

Janesville City Manager Eric Levitt has decamped to Simi Valley, California. Readers will recall that Mr. Levitt touted the supposed benefits of a Generac-supporting ‘Innovation Express’ bus costing hundreds of thousands in public money. He kindly visited Whitewater last budget season to ask Whitewater taxpayers to kick in for a private company’s needs. (See, Whitewater’s…

The Truth about the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

A person should be able to make simple distinctions, as between the sensible and foolish, or practical and impractical. Sometimes those distinctions should be clear, and as stark as the difference between the contents of a sample cup and a glass of Chardonnay. You’ll hear a lot locally over the next few days about a…

Daily Bread for 11.8.12

Good morning. Thursday in the Whippet City brings a cloudy morning with gradual clearing thereafter, and a high of forty-nine. We’ll have 9h, 58m of sunshine and 10h, 58m of daylight. Today in Whitewater, will will be a joint meeting of Downtown Whitewater, the Chamber of Commerce, and Tourism Commission at 6:45 PM. It follows…

Choosing Wrongly

A new legislator starts out with a promise of independent thinking, and with a clean slate before him. One hears that he’ll represent only his constituents, regardless of party, buck his own party whenever necessary, and stand only on principle. He’s photographed signing the legislator’s book, attending some civic events, and touts some (but not…

Waste Digesters and the Ledge Guardians

Nearly one-hundred fifty miles from Whitewater, in Maribel, Wisconsin and surrounding communities, hundreds of residents are organized and committed against a large, commercial waste digester in their area. They’ve an impressive website on behalf of their dedicated efforts: Ledge Guardians, www.ledgeguardians.com. There are sound arguments against waste digesters, against how they really work, what they bring into a community, what they spew out into a community, against their…