Tomorrow night, Whitewater will choose between four (or perhaps five) qualifying applicants for an appointment to an open council seat for Aldermanic District 1. There are two quick points worth making. First, there were five applicants, but only four written submissions received by the clearly-stated deadline. (The fifth application helpfully advised, in the would-be politician’s…
Politics
City, Local Government, Politics
More about ‘Scenes from Whitewater’s Failing Drug War’
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve had both emails and a conversation with a journalist about yesterday’s post, Scenes from Whitewater’s Failing Drug War. I’ll summarize some of the topics of those messages and my replies. Shouldn’t the UW-Whitewater chancellor receive deference? I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s all-too-clear that Chancellor Telfer receives ample deference, and from…
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, Politics
Whitewater’s Candidates for April 2nd
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve posted earlier about a March 16th candidates’ forum in Whitewater. This post continues a discussion about the upcoming election, in which candidates for council aren’t the only candidates on our local ballot. A few additional remarks appear below, about the races and candidates. Unopposed is a bad thing. Most of our races, for common…
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…
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, Politics
Wholly Unsolicited Political Advice for the Republicans and Democrats of Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the last post in my promised February political survey for Whitewater. I’m a libertarian and a Libertarian (that is, both in ideology and party membership), and so one can guess that I view the two major parties through that perspective. Still, I’ll offer my thoughts on what Republicans and Democrats can do to strengthen…
City, Politics
Politics in Whitewater, Wisconsin: Recent Races
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted yesterday about the Wisconsin Supreme Court primary. Here’s a post about recent general election results that illustrate the evolution of politics in the city. Overview. For a while, I’ve contended that the left and right (such as they are here) have had an approximate balance, where the right does well in primaries, and…
City, Politics
About the Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates
by JOHN ADAMS •
Someday, I’ll have to create a category called Could You Be More Obvious if You Tried™ or That’s No Way to Persuade in Print (Even if You Think It Is)™. Consider these three descriptions of the candidates for Supreme Court Justice, on the ballot today: Patience Roggensack [conservative]: “The incumbent, Patience Roggensack, is seeking her…
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…
City, History, Politics
Millard Fillmore
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve no idea if Pres. Fillmore ever visited Whitewater. That’s Millard Fillmore, the political disaster: supporter of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Know Nothing Movement, and a thorn in Lincoln’s side during the Civil War. Simply put, Fillmore would be a hard sell to anyone looking at his record honestly. That’s…