Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will see a mixture of clouds and sunshine with a high of 86. Sunrise is 5:17 and sunset is 8:29 for 15 hours 12 minutes of daylight. The moon is a waning gibbous with 85.1 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1855, Major Henry C. Wayne departs New York aboard the USS Supply to procure camels for the establishment of the U.S. Camel Corps:
The United States Camel Corps was a mid-19th-century experiment by the United States Army in using camels as pack animals in the Southwestern United States. Although the camels proved to be hardy and well suited to travel through the region, the Army declined to adopt them for military use. The Civil War interfered with the experiment, which was eventually abandoned; the animals were sold at auction.
Whitewater has heard claims, even as recently as Tuesday night, about ethical standards and procedures for our city government. The assertions themselves come, by their claimants’ own admission, from non-residents; the amplification and repetition of those claims come from perseverating residents.
So be it. This city cannot expect every person speaking during open comment at a public meeting to be individuated and of good faith. (One would wait forever and a day for some of these gentlemen to get themselves sorted.) Some number of men will speak from bad faith.
It is enough, more than enough, to adjust and modify our ordinances to preclude, so much as is possible, concerns whether sincere or insincere.
Years ago, this city did not have a transparency ordinance. Now she does. Whitewater, Wis., Code of Ordinances ch. 2.62, Whitewater Transparency Enhancement Ordinance (2026). This city has ordinances on ethics. Whitewater, Wis., Code of Ordinances ch. 7.04, Code of Ethics (2026). She can have amended and improved provisions and procedures.
Good structure overcomes bad faith. Our residents are an educated people, in a university town. The Whitewater Common Council is more than capable of considering useful adjustments to relevant provisions in our municipal code from its Ethics Committee and interested residents.
A rational, thoughtful, and dispassionate approach will serve us well.
_____
Upcoming posts (in no decided order): A Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, and Outcome-Driven Argumentation, and a New Ethics Ordinance.
American Goldfinch — Bird In The Spotlight: