Good morning.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 43. Sunrise is 6:28 AM and sunset 5:45 PM for 11h 16m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 1.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Alcohol Licensing Committee meets at 6:15 PM, and the Whitewater Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.
On this day in 1953, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
Having gambled and lost on Foxconn, village trustees in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin have voted to extend their own terms of office. Corrine Hess reports As Foxconn fails, Mt. Pleasant board votes to extend their term lengths:
As Foxconn continues to flounder in the Village of Mount Pleasant, village board members have voted to lengthen their terms in office.
The board voted on Jan. 24 to extend their terms from two to three years, beginning in 2023.
According to the ordinance, this is being done “in the best interest of the Village’s health, safety, welfare, and morals.”
But residents aren’t happy. Within two weeks of the decision, more than 1,200 people signed a petition that will force a referendum, superseding the Jan. 24 vote.
Only 981 signatures were needed; that’s 7 percent of the number of Mt. Pleasant residents who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
Kelly Gallaher, who heads watchdog group A Better Mount Pleasant, led the signature drive.
“I’ve knocked on a lot of doors in my life — this was by far the easiest door I’ve ever knocked in the last decade,” Gallaher said. “I think the most remarkable thing is we are in a time of enormous political divisiveness. Mt. Pleasant residents are in complete agreement that the village board overreached and acted arrogantly.”
Mt. Pleasant board members and staff did not return requests for comment Monday.
The bad bet on Foxconn has saddled this village with millions in debt. See Mount Pleasant sinking under the weight of Foxconn and Mount Pleasant to pay $3.5M for water Foxconn didn’t use in 2021.
In a free society, government is meant to be limited (to specified tasks) and responsible (to the people in whom sovereignty rests and is conferred). Meant to be and is aren’t always and forever the same. And so, and so, the Village of Mount Pleasant trustees place themselves further from the accountability of their residents.
Not all Russians want war; Russia’s dictator wants war. See a video (with English subtitles) from those in Russia who want a better future for their people: