It’s snowy, but there’s still school. There is a scheduled (but perhaps not to be held this evening) PATT meeting at Washington School.
Weather? Some have written asking why there’s no weather forecast comparison between the National Weather Service and the Farmers’ Almanac. Well, it was never about the weather, it was a way to jab at longer range planning or forecasting of complicated events. Weather’s complicated, so much so that there’s still a gap, often, between explanation and prediction. I’ll post more on what the dueling forecasts were meant to show, but it wasn’t much of a duel. The NWS was an easy winner, day after day, week after week.
Press Releases? A sharp reader writes, with a valid complaint:
I was disappointed at your posting of the Hixson DOT press release with no commentary. I was looking for your insight on it but couldn’t find it. What’s the point of putting up a press release without speaking to it?
It’s a point well-taken — when I started adding press releases, I did so because I wanted to (1) add them to the site, on occasion, but (2) emphasize that a press release should always be treated as a press release, not an ersatz news story.
(Local press – this means you! Whitewater is a world of sham news standards, more often than not. Just about every reasonable principle of journalism has been violated here, typically on the theory that there are no violations if one does not intend violations. Children across America think this way all the time; in Whitewater, it passes as an adult’s fundamental creed. For good standards, that would produce real journalism, see my post entitled Press Ethics, with standards from the Associated Press.)
More importantly, one can add post a press release — properly identified as one — and comment thereafter, in a separate, immediately-following post. That’s where I’ve not followed through on my intention.
I’ll make good tomorrow morning.
In Wisconsin history on this date, from the Wisconsin Historical Society, an historical first for Wisconsin — the oldest radio station in America:
On this date [in 1922] the call letters of experimental station 9XM in Madison were replaced by WHA. This station dates back to 1917, making it “The oldest station in the nation.” [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]
The week begins with three scheduled public meetings: the CDA Business Park Marketing Committee meets at 4:30 p.m. at the City Manager’s Conference Room. The agenda for the meeting is available online.
City Manager’s Conference Room — sounds very posh, doesn’t it? Not exactly the Situation Room, but still, it must be a heady experience. For humility and service above entitlement, in a struggling town: Conference Room Number 1, first door on the left.
At 5:30 p.m., there is a meeting of the Park and Recreation Board at the Cravath Lakefront Room. The agenda for that meeting is also on line.
Finally, at 6:30 p.m., the best public meeting of the day, I’d think, in one of the finest public spaces any town could have — a meeting of the Young Memorial Library Board, at the Young Memorial Library. Here’s that agenda. Best wishes.
Thanks, very much, Whitewater, for your entries in this Pop Quiz of the Week. It’s a first-time feature, and I’m happily surprised — very much so — at the number of entries I’ve received. I’ll offer the question, then the results, along with a few remarks on some of the more unusual guesses.
What possible electoral contest in Whitewater in 2009 would most resemble the local, political equivalent of the Iran-Iraq War?
First, a quick check with a prominent man, someone who aspired to be a statesman. Only one man — really only one — could provide the proper perspective on the Iran-Iraq War: Dr. Henry Kissinger.
When asked about the war between two, less than ideal nations, Kissinger remarked, that it was “a shame that both countries couldn’t lose” that war.
True enough.
So, what’s the local, political equivalent of that foreign conflict?
It would be a political contest for an at-large City Council seat between politician-dentist Dr. Roy Nosek and politician and Whitewater Register contributor Marilyn Kienbaum.
Whitewater just wouldn’t have its own unique students-within-a-tiny-cramped-corridor line and my-nostalgic-salt-of-the-earth-any-other-ideas-be-damned feel without such community treasures.
The first reader in with the target answer was Thomas Paine, right on the question, and right on a fine pseudonym, too.
Later in the week, but certainly coming in as an honorable mention, was the Phantom Stranger, with an entry that included a fine science fiction reference.
Thanks to others answering along this same line, but at other times during the week.
Now, for remarks on a few other kinds of guesses.
School Board/School District Politics. Interesting, I wasn’t thinking about the Whitewater Unified School District at all. Several people wrote in with rivalries, or potential rivalries, among administrators or board members within that group. I was not thinking of anything other than a conventional electoral contest, but I appreciate these entries. Note to Reader X: Wow. They don’t even talk when the pass each other in the hall? That’s pretty darn weird, actually.
Municipal Administration. Many wrote in with possible political conflicts between elected politicians and someone appointed to municipal office. These were all good guesses, although, in the end, this is an Administration that cannot take a decisive stand where it matters, and is thin-skinned. Hardly the stuff of a serious or protracted struggle over anything.
John Adams A few wrote in asking if I had an interest in running for office. The answer there is no, quite a few times over. Thanks for thinking of me, though. There’s more than one role for those in town, and I have this one, quite happily.
All the guesses were great fun, and I will likely bring back this Quiz of the Week feature, when interesting questions suggest themselves.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
State Representative Kim Hixson/608-266-9650
HIXSON HELPS SECURE TRANSPORTATION FUNDING FOR DISTRICT
MADISON – State Rep. Kim Hixson announced Wednesday the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has awarded a 2009 Supplemental Transportation Rural Assistance Program (STRAP) grant to Janesville, Milton, Whitewater and UW-Whitewater.
The STRAP grant will fund a feasibility study for:
§ Establishing commuter bus service between Janesville, Milton, and Whitewater, including the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus, and the rural areas in between these communities
§ Establishing an internal transit service within Milton
§ Reviewing and upgrading the shared-ride taxi service in the Whitewater
“Comprehensive transportation planning in our area is critical to economic development and job creation. Potential employers want to be certain their workers have reliable transportation,” Hixson said. “I was pleased to bring officials together from these communities last spring to address the important issue of transportation. I look forward to working with all parties involved to ensure we have the best result for the people of the 43rd Assembly District.”
In spring 2008, Hixson worked with community leaders to organize a series of transportation summits to assess the transportation needs of the region.
“Kim was personally involved in getting this project off the ground. He understood the need and potential for the study, and he really picked up the ball and ran with it,” stated David Mumma, Transit Director for the City of Janesville. “Based on my experience, I would expect the study will conclude by late 2009 or early 2010. Depending on the findings of the study, and the ability of the various stakeholders to raise the necessary operating funds, service could begin by the fall of 2010.”
According to DOT officials, the project has been awarded a grant of up to $44,160. The state will pay 75 percent of the feasibility study, while the communities of Janesville, Milton, and Whitewater and the UW-Whitewater will pick up the additional 25 percent of the costs bringing the grand total to a maximum of $58,965.
“Wisconsin is the only state in the nation to receive these federal funds to develop new approaches to support public transportation in rural areas,” said Governor Jim Doyle in his announcement about the grant.
The week ends with one scheduled public meeting: the Whitewater University Tech Park Committee meets at 1:00 p.m. at the UWW University Center- Room 241. The agenda for the meeting is available online.
(For a post expressing my doubts about a university-technology park in Whitewater, see “A City-University Technology Park in Whitewater.” Tone deaf to the cultural challenges to the technology park? Then you likely won’t get a technology park, all other plans notwithstanding.)
In world history on this date, in 1493, ultra-famous Christopher Columbus makes a mistake profound, unsettling, and easily possible after last call: “Columbus mistakes manatees for mermaids”:
On this day in 1493, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, sees three “mermaids”–in reality manatees–and describes them as “not half as beautiful as they are painted.” Six months earlier, Columbus (1451-1506) set off from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean with the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, hoping to find a western trade route to Asia. Instead, his voyage, the first of four he would make, led him to the Americas, or “New World.”
Not half as beautiful? — oh my. (I have yet, by the way, to see a painting of Mrs. Columbus.)
Whitewater-Area League of Women Voters’ has published its January 2009 Newsletter, with a schedule of upcoming LWV events. A copy of the newsletter is available as a pdf link in this post, and as a link on my blogroll.
Here are upcoming events:
On February 15th, 2009 there will be an 18th Annual Susan B. Anthony Celebration, at 11:30 a.m. at The Gathering Place, Milton, with a presentation from Genevieve G. McBride: “Women’s Wisconsin: Past and Present”. Details, here:
Dr. McBride’s presentation, “Women’s Wisconsin: Past and Present,” will reveal a lesser-known side of Wisconsin history, told through the stories of women who built not with bricks and mortar but with social institutions.
Dr. McBride is former director of Women’s Studies and an Associate Professor of History at UW-Milwaukee, where she teaches and researches American history, specializing in women’s, African American, and Wisconsin history. She is the author of On Wisconsin Women: Working for Their Rights from Settlement to Suffrage and more recently editor of Women’s Wisconsin, a unique anthology of writings by and about Wisconsin women featuring article excerpts as well as women’s letters, reminiscences, and oral histories previously published over many decades in the Wisconsin Magazine of History. Open to all, the 18th Annual Susan B. Anthony Birthday Celebration is sponsored by the Rock County Women’s History Committee in partnership with the Janesville League of Women Voters.
The reservation deadline is Friday, February 6 with Carolyn Brandeen, 608/754-7004, brandeen@charter.net or Kris Koeffler, 608/868-4229. Seating is limited and prepayment of $30 per person is necessary to confirm reservations. Make checks payable to the League of Women Voters at P.O. Box 8064, Janesville, WI 53547-8064. The Gathering Place is located at 715 Campus Street in Milton. Doors will open at 11 a.m. and the buffet brunch begins at 11:30.
Here is a partial listing of events, with more information and events inside the newsletter.
Date: January 22, 2009 (Thursday)
Event: Polling Issues and Analysis
Speaker: Professor Bill Mickelsen, UW- Whitewater, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science.
Location: City Hall Council Chambers, 7:00PM
There’s also a Fall Fairhaven Lecture Series, available to the public at no charge. Here are the lectures in the upcoming series:
JAN. 26: What the Heck is Passacaglia?
Christian Ellenwood, Associate Professor, Music Department
FEB. 2: The Bible of the Amiens: The Sculpture of the Great Cathedral
Chris Henige, Associate Professor & Chair, Art Department
(“All lectures are open to the public at no charge on Mondays at 3 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall, located at the Fairhaven Retirement Community, 435 West Starin Road, Whitewater, WI 53190. The Fall 2008 Fairhaven Lecture Series will examine a number of critical issues relevant to the 2008 elections. Sponsored by the UW-Whitewater Office of Continuing Education.”)
The League of Women voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. We take action on public policy positions established through member study and agreement. We are political, but we do not support or oppose any political party or candidate.
There are no public meetings scheduled for the city today.
In Wisconsin history on this date, the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that in 1910, our fair state experienced a startling episode of labor unrest, as “Vagrant Snow Shovelers Strike for Pay:
On this date 228 vagrants were brought in to shovel snow at the Chicago & Northwestern rail yard in Janesville. Shortly thereafter, they went on strike for 25 cents an hour and better food. Two days later, they went on strike again, asking for 30 cents an hour.
Here’s my local, amateur version, in honor of former columnist William Safire’s long-standing tradition, of offering annual predictions. The list for 2009:
1. In 2009, the University will win the following number of national sports championships:
A. None
B. One
C. Two
D. More than two
2. The land adjacent to Whitewater’s award-winning roundabout will be
A. Fully developed
B. Partially developed
C. Proposed, but undeveloped, along an entirely new plan
D. As it is now, with no additional development proposed or undertaken
3. Of the following print publications,how many will fold in 2009? (Daily Union, Janesville Gazette, Good Morning Advertiser, Whitewater Register, City of Whitewater Newsletter as Utility Bill Insert, Journal of the American Medical Association.)
A. None
B. One
C. Two
D. More than two
4. This year, how many current Common Council members will be defeated in their bids for office?
A. None
B. One
C. Two
D. Three
5. Following last year’s prediction — between now and year’s end, the unemployment rate in Whitewater will
A. Drop
B. Increase slightly
C. Increase significantly — up 25% or more as a percentage increase year-over-year
D. No change
6. Of these choices, it is most likely that the Whitewater City Manager will
A. Reduce unemployment in the city
B. Reduce poverty in the city
C. Increase opportunities for small businesses
D. Write the introduction to the next edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette
7. During the current recession, nearby Fort Atkinson and Delavan will fare, compared against Whitewater in economic health,
A. Worse than Whitewater
B. The same as Whitewater
C. Better than Whitewater
D. Far better than Whitewater
8. The City of Whitewater’s Administration will form a task force to study
A. Super-shrewd techniques in public relations
B. Wearing of plaid in the off-season
C. Use of false humility to win friends and influence people
D. The easier formation of task forces
9. Following last year’s prediction, market-penetration rate of the Whitewater Register will
A. Remain unchanged
B. Decline slightly
C. Decline significantly
D. Increase
10. The new District Administrator, after Dr. Steinhaus, for the Whitewater Unified School District will be
A. A current WUSD principal
B. Chief Jim Coan — no other teaches so well
C. An outside candidate
D. Dr. Steinhaus, again — will she really offer less in retirement than she does now? Stick with the known!
Adams’s guesses for 2009:
1. In 2009, the University will win the following number of national sports championships:
C. Two
2. The land adjacent to Whitewater’s award-winning roundabout will be
C. Proposed, but undeveloped, along an entirely new plan
3. Of the following print publications,how many will fold in 2009? (Daily Union, Janesville Gazette, Good Morning Advertiser, Whitewater Register, City of Whitewater Newsletter as Utility Bill Insert, Journal of the American Medical Association.)
B. One
4. This year, how many current Common Council members will be defeated in their bids for office?
C. Two
5. Following last year’s prediction — between now and year’s end, the unemployment rate in Whitewater will
B. Increase slightly
6. Of these choices, it is most likely that the Whitewater City Manager will
D. Write the introduction to the next edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette
7. During the current recession, nearby Fort Atkinson and Delavan will fare, compared against Whitewater in economic health,
C. Better than Whitewater
8. The City of Whitewater’s Administration will form a task force to study
D. The easier formation of task forces
9. Following last year’s prediction, market-penetration rate of the Whitewater Register will
C. Decline significantly
10. The new District Administrator, after Dr. Steinhaus, for the Whitewater Unified School District will be
C. An outside candidate
There is a 7:00 p.m. FFA meeting scheduled at the high school this evening.
Longtime readers know that I am a libertarian, and like all libertarians, not fond of Richard M. Nixon, a big-government Republican if ever there were one. (I am not fond of local versions of Nixon either, as I have remarked before. Nothing hurts the Republican Party — what’s left of it — more than state-oriented solutions.)
A sound Republican?
Goldwater.
Some may doubt, of course, that Nixon was all wrong. They’re mistaken — he really was all wrong. I can prove it, too. A recent story from Wired reminds readers that Nixon mucked up everything, even American space exploration.
Nixon authorized the oh-so-solid-and-reliable Space Shuttle as America’s next space craft, on January 5th, 1972:
1972: President Richard M. Nixon announces that NASA will develop a space shuttle system, touting its reliability, reusability and low cost.
The Mercury and Gemini programs had put Americans into Earth orbit. Apollo had been to the moon seven times — landing four times — and would return to land twice again later in 1972.
But NASA wanted a reusable rocket ship to explore Earth orbit and to supply and staff a space station. Nixon gave the go-ahead:
I have decided today that the United States should proceed at once with the development of an entirely new type of space transportation system designed to help transform the space frontier of the 1970s into familiar territory, easily accessible for human endeavor in the 1980s and ’90s.
This system will center on a space vehicle that can shuttle repeatedly from Earth to orbit and back. It will revolutionize transportation into near space, by routinizing it. It will take the astronomical costs out of astronautics. In short, it will go a long way toward delivering the rich benefits of practical space utilization and the valuable spinoffs from space efforts into the daily lives of Americans and all people.
NASA director James Fletcher’s remarks referred once again to the shuttle’s “modest budget” and reduced complexity. The plan was to make 48 flights a year (.pdf) at about $50 million per launch ($250 million in today’s money).
Starting in 1981, the shuttles have made 124 space flights in 28 years, averaging four or five missions a year. The years immediately following the Challenger and Columbia disasters saw no flights. 1985 had a record high nine missions, and 1990 to 1997 averaged eight flights a year.
University of Colorado researcher Roger Pielke Jr. calculated in early 2005 that the shuttle program to that point had cost $145 billion, or about $1.3 billion per flight. (Based on a 1995 midpoint, that’s about $1.9 billion per flight in today’s dollars.)
The Apollo program cost a total $19.4 billion from 1960 to 1973. That averages almost $2.2 billion for each of the nine lunar missions. (Based on a 1967 midpoint, that would be about $13 billion each today.)
So, space shuttle flights have certainly been less expensive than Apollo lunar missions. But even adjusting for inflation and despite their many achievements, shuttle launches cost seven or eight times what was promised.
Here’s a calendar reminder press release from the Alzheimer’s Association:
Alzheimer’s Association Offers Support Groups in Walworth County
The Alzheimer’s Association offers more than 60 support groups across the 11-county region of southeastern Wisconsin. Led by trained facilitators, support groups provide a place where family members, care partners, and persons in the early stages of memory loss can explore feelings and share solutions to the challenges posed by Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. The following groups meet in Walworth County. For information, contact the facilitator at the number listed or the Alzheimer Association 24/7 Helpline chapter office at (800) 272-3900. A complete list of support groups in southeastern Wisconsin is available at www.alz.org/sewi.
Lake Geneva
Date: 3rd Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Location: Arbor Village, 201 Town Line Road, Lake Geneva
Facilitator: Andy Kerwin (262) 248-4558
Note: No Meetings in August or December
East Troy
Date: 2nd Tuesday, 10:00 a.m.
Location: Brolen Park Assisted Living, 2119 Chruch Street, East Troy
Facilitators: Melissa Wason (262) 642-9955
Delavan
Date: 3rd Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.
Location: Vintage on the Ponds, N4901 Dam Road, Delavan
Facilitators: Bob Holland, Arlene Torrenga (262) 472-0958
Whitewater
Date: 1st Thursday, 1:30 p.m.
Location: Hearthstone/Fairhaven, 426 W. North Street, Whitewater
Facilitators: Janet Hardt, Darlene Zeise (262) 473-8052
Note: Respite care available; no advance notice required
The Alzheimer’s Association is a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research and to enhance care and support for individuals, their families, and caregivers. The Alzheimer’s Association of Southeastern Wisconsin provides information, education, and support to people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, their families, and healthcare professionals throughout an 11-county region. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease and chapter services visit www.alz.org/sewi or call the toll-free, 24-hour Helpline at 800-272-3900.
Here’s a post originally published in August 2008. Whitewater’s still not a dream town — the study about these supposed towns is not about Whitewater, for goodness’ sake. The real story, in the original post, below:
UPDATE: A clever reader writes with insight into the data —
Regarding your post about the ridiculous nature of calling the 101,000 population in the micropolitan area “Whitewater,” I just wanted to clear up that the census designates metropolitan and micropolitan areas based on counties, meaning that this micropolitan area is most likely all of Walworth County. (Looking at the data, that makes more sense) You’ll also notice that the 25th-ranked dream town is the twin cities of Watertown-Fort Atkinson (i.e. all of Jefferson County). Only separated by 30 miles or so. There are reasons for the Census to break down data in this manner, and they must call it something, so they pick the largest cities in that area. Unfortunately, this is just another example of non-planners misusing or misunderstanding data in a way that trained planners would hopefully not.
I live in Whitewater, Wisconsin, a town of 14,000 (that’s fourteen thousand) in south central Wisconsin. I’m a blogger in town, and I have been a critic of municipal policy and local culture here.
As you can guess, I am not popular with everyone.
Still, no one would love to wake up and learn that Whitewater’s a dream town more than I would. If we were a dream town, then by definition people would dream about living here, and we’d be a happy destination with few problems.
Imagine how thrilled I was, then, when I saw in our City Manager’s weekly report that we had been named a dream town in a study from an online business journal. That’s right – little Whitewater, Wisconsin was one of America’s dream towns. (We’re Number 22 on the list, actually).
Here’s what City Manager Kevin Brunner’s report for August 1st had to say:
Earlier this week, Whitewater was named one of the top “dream towns” in the United Sates by the on-line biz journals (see http://cll.bizjournals.com/edit_special/68.html). Whitewater was ranked 22nd among the studied 140 “micropolitan” areas in the U.S. that are defined as small towns that offer the best quality of life without metropolitan hassles.
Bizjournals compared the 140 micropolitan areas in 20 statistical categories, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. A micropolitan area consists of a central community with 10,000 to 50,000 residents, along with the surrounding countryside. It is, in effect, a small-scale version of a metropolitan area.
Like clockwork, this story was picked up, verbatim, on a local website. It’s likely to become a splashy headline in our local, weekly newspaper.
There’s just one problem – When the survey says Whitewater, Wisconsin, it’s not talking about just Whitewater, Wisconsin, population 14,296
No – the ‘micropolitan’ area that the study uses for Whitewater is an area of 101,000.
That’s right – what the survey calls Whitewater is actually an area 7 (that’s seven) times larger than the real town. The City of Whitewater is only about 14% (that’s fourteen) percent of the area surveyed.
Where are all these other people of the total 100,000? Presumably in nearby towns, over which our local government has no authority, has done no work, and deserves no credit.
It’s similar to saying that Milwaukee is in good health, when you surveyed an area as big as all Wisconsin, and called that area the “Milwaukee metropolitan” zone.
The survey does not describe Whitewater, Wisconsin at all – it describes an area far different.
An official should be able to tell the difference between big and small, without conflating the two. Even a private citizen should be able to do as much. For example, I am able to tell — even without advanced government training and years of taxpayer-paid municipal experience — the difference between the following pictures —
I am confident that they’re different, and that the one on the left represents a person who weighs less than the one on the right.
It’s risky, but I am willing to venture that assertion.
What’s worse – and if one reads the underlying data one will see – Whitewater, Wisconsin is actually below the average of almost every measure of the data in the 100,000 person area.
Those are not our statistics, for homeownership, or median income, not at all.
Those results from the larger area are far better than ours.
Consider these comparisons, using Whitewater-specific data from CLR and Dataplace.org, and the far larger Micropolitian area date from the BizJournal study:
Whitewater Median Household Income: $39,041
Micropolitan Area Median Household Income: $51,836
Whitewater Homeownership Rate: 36.2%
Micropolitan Area Homeownership Rate: 72.6%
(On the matter of homeownership, it was our City Manager himself, only as recently as May, at a Common Council meeting, who observed we had one of the lowest homeownership rates in the entire state.)
If we are part of a dream town, then Whitewater is the poor neighborhood of that 100,000 person town.
The BizJournal survey is a rebuke to us, that we are not doing as well as our neighbors.
Seeing it differently isn’t just cheerleading — it’s blind exaggeration. A person believing these results might feel good, but at the expense of acknowledging what we must do.
We could continue as we are, or we might (1) significantly reduce the size of city government, so that we could reduce the tax burden on residents, (2) eliminate fees for business permits and applications, (3) end a municipal reliance on ticketing students to balance our budget, (4) dismantle a costly and futile code-enforcement regime, (5) encourage true rather than sham community outreach, and (6) represent our current situation honestly even if it hurts the pride of a few.
Tonight, at 6:30 p.m. there’s a Common Council meeting. The Common Council is down one member, but there are still community treasures, public servants, and the ambitious left to care for you. Just you, don’t you see?
There is a 6:30 p.m. PAT meeting scheduled for Lakeview School.
In Wisconsin history on this date, in 1921, a mood-killing moment, if ever there were one: the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that “Janesville Women Abhor Salacious Entertainment”:
On this date the Janesville Federation of Women decided to “censor” movies and vaudeville in the city. Members of this organization praised and promoted what they considered “better offerings.” They were zealously critical towards those of a “salacious” nature. No follow-up ever determined whether the women were successful in their quest or if the increased publicity for “salacious” shows backfired
No one kisses well and lovingly through pursed lips.
I know very well that Janesville is not like this now — welcome, neighbors, to a new and freer century.
Here is the beginning — the first full week — of your new year.
There are no scheduled public meetings in the City of Whitewater today. One never knows, though, if something terribly important, and offered as an exception to Wisconsin’s open meetings law, will arise.
School’s back in session. Hope you enjoyed your break as much as I did mine. Back to studying for you, and posting for me.
In Wisconsin history on this date, in 1813, the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that “Utopian Community Leader Kevin Brunner Warren Chase was Born”:
On this date the founder of a Fourierite Utopian community in what is now Ripon was born. Their inspiration came from the writings of Charles Fourier, a French Socialist who urged the rebuilding of society from its foundation as the only cure for economic ills such as the depression of 1837. The idea was supported by Horace Greely in New York and caught the eye of Warren Chase.
Chase and others built a successful, non-religous communal society in which everyone recieved wages according to their skill, need, and work ethic. The community reached their greatest population (180) in 1845 but soon dissipated when members began moving toward agriculture as an economic tool.
Families gradually left the community to live in their own houses and work their own land in the same area.
In 1850, the community disbanded and $40,000 in assets was divided among the remaining members. Warren Chase moved around the country and finally settled in California, where he held many public offices.
Oh dearie me, the story of so many efforts where an official exists to build a better community —
High hopes, initial success, community rejection of idealistic socialism for private property, collapse of the scheme, and the retreat of the community leader into — what else? — public office (at public expense!).
Thank you, Wisconsin Historical Society, for your apt account of this asinine scheme! You have made me deliriously happy, really you have. I admire your organization 22.9% more than I did last month, for this account alone.
