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Daily Bread for 6.9.22: Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Public Records Access

Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 76. Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset 8:32 PM for 15h 16m 24s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing gibbous with 69.6% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1973, legendary horse Secretariat wins the Triple Crown. On Tuesday, a Wisconsin Supreme Court…

Daily Bread for 5.21.22: “I Don’t Have Control Over Mr. Gableman”

Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with afternoon showers and a high of 60. Sunrise is 5:25 AM and sunset 8:17 PM for 14h 51m 59s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 64.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1673,  Marquette and Joliet Reach the Menominee: On or…

Daily Bread for 4.23.22: Two Examples in Which the City of Whitewater Fell Short on Open Government

Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 77.  Sunrise is 5:58 AM and sunset 7:46 PM for 13h 48m 01s of daytime.  The moon is in its third quarter with 49.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1985,  Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is…

Daily Bread for 4.22.22: Records-Deleting Fashionista Michael Gableman

Good morning. Friday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 50.  Sunrise is 6:00 AM and sunset 7:45 PM for 13h 45m 21s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 61.3% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1876, the first National League baseball game is played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.…

Daily Bread for 3.31.22: The One Effective Trick Robin Vos Learned He Learned Before Trump

Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will see snow with a high of 36.  Sunrise is 6:36 AM and sunset 7:20 PM for 12h 43m 44s of daytime.  The moon is new with 0.6% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1889, the Eiffel Tower officially opens.  While Speaker of the Assembly Vos has spent…

Five Months

In a local newspaper’s story about a former chancellor’s leave of absence, one learns that information about her leave came five months after a public records request: Tuesday marked five months since The Gazette filed an open records request with UW-W for information on Kopper’s leave during the fall semester, when she previously had plans…

School Board Applicants’ Letters of Interest

Last week, I posted on the applicant interviews with the Whitewater Unified School Board for a vacancy (following the resignation of board member Jean Linos). See School Board, 9.16.19: Applicant Interviews and Reporting. Seeing that the agenda for the meeting lacked key information, and a local newspaper’s reporting (Gazette; Beleckis) was deficient, I submitted a…

School Board, 9.16.19: Applicant Interviews and Reporting

On Monday night, the Whitewater Unified School District’s board met to interview four applicants for a vacancy on the board (following the resignation of board member Jean Linos). The agenda for the meeting, although posted online, listed none of the applicants: not by total number, let alone by name or with their accompanying letters of…

Sunshine Week 2018 (A Methodical Approach)

Writing about a topic is a deliberate, often slow, process. Something happens – perhaps of concern – but one may not address it immediately. A bit of waiting can be a sound response. Along the way, an original perspective may change, and a project grow larger (or smaller). See Steps for Blogging on a Policy or Proposal.…

Sunshine Week 2018 (City, District, and State)

Local readers may have heard, as I have heard, that area officials know that there are ways around municipal ordinances and school district policies on open government. There’s no surprise in hearing this: there is no human construct that cannot be circumvented; there are few professing a public interest who do not simultaneously feel the…

Daylight (Part 3 in a Series)

One finds oneself with a question, when there are gaps in a public record, when there are easily-avoidable deficiencies of open government: What will one do about it? A good method in this matter is deliberate, dispassionate, and diligent. A few thoughts: 1. Foundation. One looks at state and local provisions for public records and…

Midnight (Part 2 in a Series)

Open government is right both in itself and in consequence: a free society confers political power only for limited & enumerated purposes. Those who confer this power have a right of oversight and a sensible obligation to assure that power’s exercise remains limited & enumerated. The right derives both naturally and by positive law. In…