Spring Break in our school district and campus is now over. For those who were on break, whether traveling or relaxing in the city, one hopes your time was pleasant. Here’s an ICYMI post with links to selected posts from the last week at this site. Politics, about our 4th District Council race: A Dodgy…
Politics
City, Local Government, Politics
On Paul Yvarra’s False Claims to the Gazette
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s another development in the Common Council race between Lynn Binnie and Paul Yvarra. In a published story in Saturday’s Gazette entitled, Whitewater council candidate admits mistakes about opponent, Paul Yvarra acknowledges what every reasonable person in all Whitewater already knew: that Mr. Yvarra’s charge about Fairhaven Senior Services being responsible for municipal fiscal difficulties…
City, Local Government, Politics
Positive Perspectives for Local Politics
by JOHN ADAMS •
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.…
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…
City, Elections, Politics
A Dodgy and Deceptive Campaign
by JOHN ADAMS •
Of our local elections, with a spring general election next Tuesday, one may confidently say two things. First, there is one contested Whitewater election on the ballot, between incumbent Lynn Binnie and Paul Yvarra for the 4th Council District. Second, and sadly just as true, the Yvarra campaign is running the most error-prone and deceptive…
Politics, Religion
Presence Rather Than Partisan Answers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Years ago, during a controversy in Whitewater, someone told me a story about an official who, I learned, asked God’s help to relieve that official from a political burden. The official delivered his request, apparently, in blunt, specific terms. I don’t know whether the official received an answer to his prayers, or whether he believed…
Local Government, Politics
For Diligence on Policy, There Is No ‘Above and Beyond’
by JOHN ADAMS •
I read an interview yesterday, of a Whitewater political candidate, touting his years of experience. He declared that, among those who were aware of his work, most “would likely say that I almost never miss a meeting and I come well prepared, often having gone above and beyond in researching a matter.” It’s important to attend…
City, Local Government, Politics
Dr. Kissinger’s Services Not Required
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I wrote about an obvious lack of diligence from members of Whitewater’s Police and Fire Commission. Their meetings are an exercise in lack of preparation, sloppiness, and plodding along unenthusiastically. (See, Lack of Diligence, Front and Center.) Someone asked me, in reply to that post, if I thought that Whitewater’s commissioners, on the PFC or…
Federal Government, Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Local Government, New Media, Open Government, Politics, State Government, Writing
Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal
by JOHN ADAMS •
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,…
Economy, Planning, Politics
Frédéric Bastiat’s Gift to Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Of course, Frédéric Bastiat‘s work offers not one gift but many, and not merely for Whitewater, but for all people in all places. Still, today, one might consider just one essay from his powerful understanding for our small city. If Whitewater were to look to one place for guidance, on rights, responsibility, and a sound…
New Media, New Whitewater, Politics, Press
What the ‘Shock of Inclusion’ Means Locally
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted yesterday on Clay Shirky’s Shock of Inclusion and New Roles for News in the Fabric of Society, published in 2010 and just as relevant today. His essay isn’t about local media especially, but his observations are useful to assess both local news and politics. Shirky writes about the collapse of a pipeline…
City, Elections, Politics
The Spring Local Election Outlook
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s local election list is now available, and as with most years, it’s a mostly-uncontested affair. There are no challengers for the WWUSD School Board seats, and only Aldermanic District 4 has challengers for a seat on Council. (District 4 has always produced a fair share of candidates for one office or another; it’s a…
City, Corporate Welfare, Local Government, Open Government, Politics
It’s Not a Communications Problem
by JOHN ADAMS •
A few months ago, during a public meeting, a commissioner mentioned that an applicant and the applicant’s neighbors might have done more to communicate with each other. (I thought that was true, too; as it turned out, there was a great deal of communication in the weeks afterward, all to the good.) It’s not…