Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 7:16 AM and sunset 6:02 PM for 10h 45m 38s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 16.3% of its visible disk illuminated.
There will be a public reception for city manager candidates at 5 PM.
On this day in 1897, the Yerkes Observatory is dedicated:
On this date the Yerkes Observatory was dedicated. Founded by astronomer George Hale and located in Williams Bay, the Yerkes Observatory houses the world’s largest refracting optical telescope, with a lens of diameter 102 cm/40 inches. It was built through the largess of the tycoon Charles Tyson Yerkes, who rebuilt important parts of the Chicago transportation system after the fire. Situated in a 77-acre park on the shore of Lake Geneva, this observatory was the center for world astronomy in the early 20th century and invited a number of astronomers from around the world, including Japan, for scientific exchange.
Whitewater has a council-manager form of government, her city manager resigned in August, and the city is looking for a full-time, permanent city manager. (Whitewater now has an interim city manager, John Weidl, who is one of three finalists for the permanent position)
Public organizations typically publish a press release with finalists’s names, and schedule a community meeting for residents to meet the contending applicants. Whitewater has done both: the city sent out a press release, and has scheduled a community forum for Friday, 10.21.22 beginning at 5 PM in our council chambers.
Since that press release, Fort Atkinson Online has published an informative story with pertinent information about the candidates. See Whitewater: Finalists respond to news stories, petition alleging employment concerns. One can easily see the difference between journalism and something less (where all that’s published is a press release).
What to make of all this?
Better to know than not to know. Whitewater, with many needs among its 14,889 residents, can scarcely afford to be surprised. What the community resolves to its satisfaction now avoids controversies later.
This information about candidates’ professional work, their responses to other communities’ concerns about that work, along with our residents’ impressions during a community forum, are useful to the selection process. Residents will form their own judgments, and the Whitewater Common Council will (beginning as soon as this weekend) have a decision to make.
The Robot Boot That Learns as You Walk: