Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high of 85. Sunrise is 5:50 AM and sunset 8:11 PM for 14h 21m 25s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 88.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1892, the father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden are found murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home. She will be tried and acquitted of the crimes a year later.
A federal, state, or local public body begins, continues, and ends its activities only by the law. American government, in any jurisdiction, is a limited and instrumental institution bound by defined rules and procedures.
Throughout America, there is a vision of small-town life in places like Whitewater that depicts residents gathering at a council meeting to discuss calmly and methodically the issues of the day. We are hoped to be — meant to be — steady in public.
Of the last four council presidents, two (Singer, Dawsey-Smith) were notably accomplished at running a meeting well. While this libertarian blogger might have disagreed with some of their particular votes, there was never a time during their respective tenures when they did not manage a meeting well and fairly. Success of this kind is not a matter of ideology (right, center, left) but of understanding of Wisconsin law and proper procedure. They were both successful in leading the council.
Sadly, that doesn’t always happen, to the detriment of the communities where it does not happen. The Tuesday, August 1st meeting of the Whitewater Common Council was afflicted with multiple efforts to depart from Wisconsin law and practice. Those serious mistakes are addressed below.
Immediately below is a clip of the relevant discussion, and comments thereafter. Obvious point: which specific measures on which this city evaluates its city manager is not my concern. That this city council conducts itself within law and procedure in all its proceedings is my concern.
Preliminary reminder: the current council president has been in local office of one kind or another for decades. That’s long enough to learn proper procedure.
Bound by the agenda: As the city attorney reminds the council, all discussions are bound by the agenda. Video begins @ 4:38.
Limits on sessions are set by Wisconsin law. The governing principle of Wisconsin public meetings law is that public meetings are to be open to the public. Wis. Stat. § 19.81 (1), (2). The Whitewater Common Council can meet in closed session only for one of eleven specific reasons. Wis. Stat § 19.85. Talking about a policy is not one of those exceptions (that the statute refers to as ‘exemptions’) to an open session. Video begins @ 10:09.
Simply because a council can change a particular internal policy does not mean that council can change an agenda, or exceed agenda limits, during a meeting. The Whitewater Common Council cannot — and must not — depart from Wisconsin’s Public Meetings Law.
We have no king in Whitewater, acting as he wishes. We have a council composed of seven, a collective body limited under law.
The role of the city attorney. There’s a nutty discussion from this common council president about his view of the supposed pressure that the city attorney is feeling and about the need to hire a second attorney because of something the council president saw on an org chart. Video begins @ 11:05. Honest to goodness. The city has one city attorney, as cities of similar size do, and nothing about what the council president imagines he senses in someone else, or what he saw on an org chart, impinges on the professional responsibility of this city attorney to this municipality.
There is no legitimate reason under law or Wisconsin’s rules of professional responsibility to question this city attorney’s conduct or ability. If in my professional judgment — admitted in more than one jurisdiction, under oath, and recognizing that the law is binding on an attorney at all times — I thought for a moment that there was a concern, then I would raise it. Here, there is nothing to raise. It’s an embarrassingly unfounded claim to contend baselessly otherwise, as mere speculation or supposed mind-reading are not legitimate grounds for claims under Wisconsin law.
A city serious about doing well by its residents requires serious, disciplined leadership. Right, center, or left matters far less than thoughtful, methodical, and composed. There are people from each part of the political spectrum in Whitewater who are like this, and Whitewater deserves no less in her council leadership.
All the rest —kings and mind-readers — look ridiculous —
You Can Have Your Tea and Eat It Too:
Did you know there is one country in the world that eats their tea leaves? Resident foodie, Beryl, guides us through this traditional Burmese ingredient, as we travel to Myanmar to learn about Lahpet Thoke, which uses fermented, pickled tea leaves. With local Nyo Nyo Sein as our guide, we explore the process of fermenting, storing, and serving tea leaves – as well as understanding the significant role this dish plays in Burmese culture.
Beryl then takes us to the only Burmese restaurant in New York, here’s what she ordered: – Lahpet Thoke as well as Bu Thee Kyaw (squash temperature with tamarind garlic dip) – Ohn-No Khaut Swe (noodles in coconut broth with egg and lime).
So there we have it. Tea isn’t just for a cuppa, it’s for supper.
Right on target about this. The person who runs a meeting needs to be an umpire not a guy who throws wild pitches. It’s 100% true that on council there are some people who can play this role from different political perspectives. The grumbling about the city attorney was just weird. Seems like a few people are spending too much time talking to other people who have half baked ideas doesn’t it?
100% for me.The job needs a level headed person. Whitewater has too many issues without crap about doing whatever one old timer wants.the rest of us old timers do not want that drama.Stop this crap about power to do whatever you want until you fix the mess you let grow for forever.
this post is so unfair to KING CHARLES..come on think about it. Yes he looks dumb in that crown but Charles III could probably learn WI rules pretty fast.
that’s one big advantage right there.
if he brought along a bunch of butlers and servants he would class the council up.
maybe someone could call the British embassy and see about a swap out.
Well, I would hope that the British people would overlook any disrespect to their sovereign. I have searched and now see that they have an elaborate protocol for addressing their king, https://debretts.com/royal-family/addressing-the-royal-family/, so perhaps I’ve stepped into a sensitive subject. A people with such delicate requirements for addressing their monarch must have some affection for him, and so are unlikely to part with him in a deal. It’s enough, surely, that neither one person nor a few on our own council should behave impetuously or imperiously. Government should be limited, humble, and consistent in action. Being able to change any policy anytime is not sound government — it’s whim and caprice.