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City

Come On, Whitewater! Stop Disappointing Your Politicians and Bureaucrats (Part 2)

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Over at the Daily Union, there’s coverage of the first of two scheduled municipal budget listening sessions. In a story entitled, “No Input at Budget Hearing,” Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner comments on the lack of attendance, and his own trailblazing listening session concept.

It’s not that Brunner receives hard questioning from the newspaper; that’s not to be expected, really. It’s that, even when quoted at length, and apparently unchallenged, his remarks just don’t add up. (There’s my obligatory numerical reference.)

Brunner on attendance: “We thought that by coming out to the community, to a place like Fairhaven, that maybe we could attract some folks. But people are very busy and, unfortunately, until they get a tax bill or see a headline in a newspaper for what might be going on, that is when they will react.

“We’re trying to engage them ahead of time, to get their ideas so we can generate ideas on how we can balance this budget,” he added. “I am disappointed, but I think next week will be better.”

You ingrate slackers! You were supposed to be at Brunner’s poorly-publicized event. You didn’t show, and you’ve let him down. There’s nothing in his quoted remarks in which he takes responsibility for a simple mistake, along the lines of “We didn’t publicize this well, and should have done better, but will try next time.” Nothing like that at all.

Note, that when he says that people won’t react until they get a tax bill, he fails to see that reacting only then may be a rational response to a string of ambiguous, lengthy, or confusing municipal meetings.

Brunner on his unique approach: “This is new,” Brunner said of the process. “I am not aware of another community that is trying to do this, to get in front of the budget by engaging the citizens.” By this, I presume he means holding listening sessions before a budget is presented.

Is Brunner serious? He’s not aware of other communities that have a similar process?

Of course they do. The City of Madison has a process like this, with public input before the introduction of a budget. The City of Franklin has a process like this.

Now I’m a common blogger, not some well-heeled, never-wrong, super-sophisticated city manager, but even I know that this process was not invented in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

Why imply that it might have been? Why pretend to be so unique and special? Why not simply say that we’re trying to do what others are doing, and that it didn’t work out? The refusal to admit any mistake, or to imply we’re so unique, is laughable, and ruinous to the city.

Wouldn’t anyone, hearing this statement, wonder about it?

City

Come On, Whitewater! Stop Disappointing Your Politicians and Bureaucrats (Part 1)

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Monday night, Whitewater held the first of two listening sessions on the 2010 municipal budget. It had an attendance of one person. That’s not surprising; the event received little advance notice. Part puzzling, and part funny, is how a local website, the (Whitewater Banner) covered the low turnout:

“(Sep 22) The first of two Public Special Listening Sessions on 2010 City Budget was held this evening. The one member of the public was thanked for attending. There was a note of disappointment in the lack of turnout. However, it did allow a “dry run” of the presentation and discussion effort. The effort to get more public participation and input on the City’s 2010 Budget will continue on budgetary issues on Tues. Sep. 29th—6-8 p.m. at the Cravath Lakefront Center (Hosted by the Whitewater Area League of Women Voters)….it is hoped the next listening session will be better attended…”

Who should be disappointed in whom? Suppose someone held a production of Cats: The Musical, and no one attended. Whose responsibility would that be? Would potential attendees have let the production down? Of course not. The event might be poorly attended for lack of publicity, for the poor choice of time, or for the good taste of those staying home.

I suppose a producer might complain that would-be attendees were vulgar, etc., but investors in the production would probably focus their review on the theater company, not the potential audience.

(I really like cats, and even I found one sitting of Cats more than enough for a lifetime.)

There’s also a bit of a scold in all this: “There was a note of disappointment in the lack of turnout” and “it is hoped the next listening session will be better attended…”

A city’s not a nursery; politicians are not nannies.

It’s so easy for those who choose a political office or career in bureaucracy to complain: oh my, no one seems to care anymore…

By the way, I am quite sure that the next session, scheduled for September 29th, will be better attended. The Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters is co-sponsoring the event, and I’d guess they’ll get the word out just fine.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: September 24, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

In Wisconsin history on this date, the Wisconsin Historical Society recalls a famous award:

1857 – First Sheboygan County Cheese Award

On this date N.C. Harmon of Lyman was awarded the first premium prize for cheese made in Sheboygan County. The award was given at the Sheboygan Agricultural Society fair held in Sheboygan Falls. The next year saw John J. Smith procure the first cheese vat in Sheboygan County. He manufactured cheese on a cooperative plan, collecting curd from his neighbors. Both are early events in the long and important history of cheesemaking in Sheboygan. [Source: Sheboygan County, Wisconsin Genealogy and History]

Closer to home, there’s information about an award, too. Congratulations to the Risdall Marketing Group, part of the Risdall Advertising Agency, of New Brighton, Minnesota, for their design of the Whitewater Unified School District’s website. The Minnesota firm submitted its design of the website for a contest, and won one of the Web Marketing Association’s WebAwards. I wondered if the website was locally designed (it didn’t seem so). Now, about that “Whippet” …

In honor of the occasion, a video uploaded to YouTube in 2006 of real whippets playing:

Here’s today’s almanac:

Almanac
Thursday, September 24, 2009 Sunrise Sunset
Official Time 06:44 AM 06:49 PM
Civil Twilight 06:15 AM 07:17 PM
Tomorrow 06:45 AM 06:47 PM
Tomorrow will be: 3 minutes shorter
Amount of sunlight: 12h 5 m
Amount of daylight: 13h 2 m
Moon phase: Waxing Crescent

more >>

Libertarians

David Harsanyi: Civility is Overrated – The Denver Post

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Over at the Denver Post, David [not Daniel!] Harsanyi has a great column on how civility is overrated. Harsanyi’s right:

A “focus on civility is meant to cloud another issue. Let’s not confuse personal civility with political civility. A ‘civil’ citizenry can mean a pliable citizenry, waiting – sometimes forever – to speak their minds.

We have no duty to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to elected officials. Not yet.”

See, Civility is Overrated.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: September 23, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

There are no municipal meetings scheduled for the City of Whitewater today.

On this day in 1952, vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon delivered his Checkers speech, denying allegations of improper campaign financing. The New York Times has a link to the story.

Here’s a video recording of Nixon’s 1952 speech:

The speech seems stilted now, but it was effective in 1952; Nixon stayed on the ticket. There are no libertarians who supported Nixon’s policies, and within his own party, neither Goldwater nor Reagan liked him. Still, one cannot doubt that Nixon was a shrewd man.

I once described one of Whitewater’s bureaucrats as a “little Nixon of Whitewater,” and, on reflection, I am sorry that I did; the comparison was an insult to Nixon’s memory.

Here’s today’s almanac:

Almanac
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Sunrise Sunset
Official Time 06:43 AM 06:50 PM
Civil Twilight 06:14 AM 07:19 PM
Tomorrow 06:44 AM 06:49 PM
Tomorrow will be: 2 minutes shorter
Amount of sunlight: 12h 7 m
Amount of daylight: 13h 5 m
Moon phase: Waxing Crescent

more >>

Economy

Wisconsin: An Over-Taxed State

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Wisconsin’s a smaller state, but she ranks in the top ten in property taxes, along with states with troubled economies like Illinois and California.

The Wisconsin State Journal, in a story posted this afternoon, entitled, “Wisconsin ninth in median property taxes,” notes that “Wisconsin’s median real estate tax paid for 2008 was $2,963…” compared “…to the national median of $1,897.”

Our taxes are also above average as a fraction of a home’s value: “Wisconsin also made the top 10 list for highest median real estate tax as a percentage of median home value. The foundation ranked Wisconsin fourth on that list, at 1.71 percent, compared to No. 1 Texas’ rate of 1.76 percent and No. 2 New Jersey’s rate of 1.74 percent. The national median was 0.96 percent.”

(The full report from the Tax Foundation, at http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/25197.html, has the grim details.)

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: September 22, 2009

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Good morning, Whitewater

There was, at one time, a listening session scheduled on the upcoming city budget, to be held at Fairhaven Retirement Community. (It doesn’t appear, as of this post, on the City of Whitewater’s website calendar, or in the list of Common Council agendas. Mention of it appeared in the latest City Manager’s weekly report. If canceled, the city might have made notice of the cancellation, rather than simply omitting the entry.)

Update: 11:34 AM – There is a listening session scheduled for tonight, although it was missing from the city calendar earlier this morning. The more listening truly matters, the more prominent the notice of it – on the City of Whitewater website – should be. A large-font link in bold on the main page of the City’s website would not be too small.

On this day in 1862, following the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation on this date, and a final version on January 1, 1863.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States, and each of the States, and the people thereof, in which States that relation is, or may be, suspended or disturbed.

That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon this continent, or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the Governments existing there, will be continued.

That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

That the executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States, and part of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof shall, on that day be, in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.

That attention is hereby called to an Act of Congress entitled “An Act to make an additional Article of War” approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figure following:

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such:

“Article-All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.

“Sec.2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.”
Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled “An Act to suppress Insurrection, to punish Treason and Rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes,” approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following:

“Sec.9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the government of the United States; and all slaves of such persons found on (or) being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude and not again held as slaves.

“Sec.10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service.”

And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act, and sections above recited.
And the executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States, and their respective States, and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

[Signed:] Abraham Lincoln
By the President [Signed:] William H. Seward
Secretary of State

Here’s today’s almanac:

Almanac
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Sunrise Sunset
Official Time 06:41 AM 06:52 PM
Civil Twilight 06:13 AM 07:20 PM
Tomorrow 06:43 AM 06:50 PM
Tomorrow will be: 4 minutes shorter
Amount of sunlight: 12h 11 m
Amount of daylight: 13h 7 m
Moon phase: Waxing Crescent

more >>

City, Press

Wisconsin State Journal: “Alcohol Company Rep Arrested for OWI, Other Charges After Allegedly Running Over Officer’s Foot”

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One hears a great deal about how much trouble alcohol causes. In Whitewater, I’ve heard more than once that alcohol causes raucous behavior. (There’s much that’s ridiculous about the excuse that alcohol makes people do stupid things. No matter, let’s assume, for now, that alcohol is the root of the problem.)

If it should be true that alcohol causes bad behavior, then one should expect to read more often about allegations like these, from Madison:

A 21-year-old Madison motorist was tentatively charged by three police agencies for an incident after the Badger football game Saturday in which she tried to drive through the crowd near Camp Randall Stadium and ran over the foot of a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper working traffic control.

Nicole Yung Sil Becker, 21, Madison, was eventually found inside an area bar where she reportedly was working as a representative for an alcohol company, Madison police said.

Madison police said two Wisconsin State Patrol troopers were working crowd control at Little and Monroe streets as pedestrians and vehicles were trying to leave the stadium area.

Police said Becker began excessively honking her horn. “She was trying to pull through a red light attempting to weave her Hyundai between pedestrians and vehicles that were blocking her way,” Madison police said.

One of the troopers tried to calm her down, and she made an indecent hand gesture, police said. Becker started arguing
with the other trooper, then accelerated her car, struck one trooper’s knee and ran over the foot of the other trooper, the report said.

Becker drove away, but a short time later, a third trooper spotted her car in a parking lot near the UW Police Department.
Madison police arrested Becker for second-degree recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct, failure to obey an officer’s signal, hit and run-injury, violating a red traffic signal, and unnecessary blowing of her horn.

The State Patrol arrested Becker for resisting arrest, and UW police arrested her for operating while intoxicated causing injury.

These are allegations only, but if she did even half of these things, then I have no sympathy for her. Alcohol didn’t make her risk injury to others, and herself. It takes a particularly revolting sort of person to do these things. (Imagine the alleged scene — vulgar, drunk woman injures others, only to have her getaway car discovered parked nearby.)

The Wisconsin State Journal likely printed the story, though, not because the allegations are common, but rather because they’re uncommon. Most people, including people who drink, don’t do the things that Becker’s accused of doing.

The allegations are outrageous, for a combination of disregard for others’ safety, disregard for one’s own well-being, and the apparent stupidity of the accused. They’re also newsworthy because, fortunately, most people drink moderately without any risk to themselves or others.

Postscript: Whitewater’s Chief Coan, and others, may dislike drinking, but their case is not helped by complaints about ‘raucous’ behavior. The word, itself, sounds too hysterical to ordinary people. It sounds too fearful, too worried, too fussy, etc. Its use is one of the many examples of how Whitewater’s bureaucrats fail at public relations. Almost any term would be more persuasive: risky, irresponsible, destructive … Credit where credit is due, though — I think these gentlemen really do think this way; there’s a candor in their expression of these narrow, pinched views.

Public Meetings

Whitewater Municipal Budget Listening Session

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“The Whitewater League of Women Voters will co-host a listening session with the City of Whitewater on Tuesday evening, September 29th, from 6:00PM-8:00PM in the Cravath Lakefront Community Center. After a brief presentation on issues related to the 2009-2010 budget, city staff and council members will be present to address citizen concerns and questions. Please attend and bring a friend or neighbor. We are all stakeholders in the life and future of our community.” ~ Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters Newsletter, September 2009

Public Meetings

Fairhaven Lecture Series: “The Spillover Benefit of Student Housing on Property Values and Tax Revenues in Whitewater.”

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“The Spillover Benefit of Student Housing on Property Values and Tax Revenues in Whitewater.” Russ Kashian, Associate Professor, Department of Economics

All lectures are open to the public at no charge on Mondays at 3 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall, located at the Fairhaven, 435 West Starin Road, Whitewater, WI 53190. Sponsored by the UW- Whitewater Office of Continuing Ed. The Fall 2009 Series will look at various aspects of our global, U.S., and local economies.

Public Meetings

Fairhaven Lecture Series: “Why Prices are Good, Trade is the Same as Technology, and Other Fun Things in Economics.”

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“Why Prices are Good, Trade is the Same as Technology, and Other Fun Things in Economics.” David Welsch, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics

All lectures are open to the public at no charge on Mondays at 3 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall, located at the Fairhaven, 435 West Starin Road, Whitewater, WI 53190. Sponsored by the UW- Whitewater Office of Continuing Ed. The Fall 2009 Series will look at various aspects of our global, U.S., and local economies.

Public Meetings

Fairhaven Lecture Series: “What Happened to the Greatest Companies on Earth?”

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“What Happened to the Greatest Companies on Earth?” Nikki Mandell, Associate Professor, Department of History

All lectures are open to the public at no charge on Mondays at 3 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall, located at the Fairhaven, 435 West Starin Road, Whitewater, WI 53190. Sponsored by the UW- Whitewater Office of Continuing Ed. The Fall 2009 Series will look at various aspects of our global, U.S., and local economies.