Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 23. Sunrise is 7:07 and sunset is 4:21 for 9 hours 14 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 91.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater Common Council meets at 6 PM.
On this day in 1697, St Paul’s Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London, is consecrated.
A responsible organization sets goals, a serious organization sets important goals, and a capable organization then achieves those goals. In the Whitewater Common Council’s agenda packet for this evening’s session one finds the City of Whitewater’s Strategic Goals and Milestones (embedded below). The document begins with a memo (‘2025 Supplemental Summary – Alignment with Strategic Goals’) and then presents slides describing the goals (‘Strategic Goals and Milestones 2024-2028’).
The city government, as adopted by the Whitewater Common Council, has five main goals (and two initiatives):
1. Increase affordable housing for families
2. Increase communication without a newspaper
3. Support thriving businesses and grow the tax base
4. Improve recruitment, retention, and diversity
5. Align future expenditures with available resources
6. Strategic Initiative 2025: Increased Access to Medical and Health Care
7. Strategic Initiative 2025: Increased Access to Transportation
An excerpt on housing from a document I’d encourage residents to read in full:
- A total of 51 new single-family units were advanced during the year.
- Harbor Homes constructed 20 new single-family detached homes.
- US Shelter constructed 20 single-family attached dwellings.
- Additional units were advanced through scattered-site infill and ongoing subdivision planning.
- The City facilitated the first phase of 128 multifamily units, representing a significant
contribution to workforce housing and student-serving stock.- Combined, these residential projects represent more than $50 million in new private
housing investment projected over the next several years.- The City positioned a 100-home subdivision for phased development with Bielinski
Homes, one of the region’s most active and reputable builders, representing an additional $50 million in new private housing investment.- Planning progressed for 12 to 18 additional homes on City-owned land on Starin Road with US Shelter, leveraging publicly controlled property to meet family housing needs.
- Residential build-out timelines indicate that these projects will continue well into the
next decade, reflecting sustained pipeline management and predictable development
sequencing.
Additional 2025 Affordable Housing Achievements
Habitat for Humanity continued to contribute meaningfully to local affordable housing
production, previously building two (2) units on Franklin Street in 2023-2024, expanding access to high-quality, income-restricted housing for working families. In 2025, the City and CDA advanced the next phase of this partnership by redeveloping CDA-owned land for four (4) additional Habitat units, ensuring long-term affordability on property intentionally assembled to meet community housing needs.
These are all responsible and worthy goals, toward which the city administration has progressed well this year. The memo and slides are deserving of review and ongoing reference.
Note well: Prior city administrations were not this organized, and did not advance goals this important, and made less progress on the lesser standards that they set. A person has an obligation to acknowledge good when it comes along, better when it comes along, and modern and normal when he sees them.
Press on.
What’s Up: December 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA —