From enduring opinion, one often hears that small towns are places of folksy and humble people. Small-town America is meant to be unpretentious. We should be clear with ourselves: America is meant to be unpretentious, a rejection of the tyranny of status and title so much a part of the Old World. And yet, and…

Here is my early January 2009 post with predictions for the year. How did I do? Results below the post…. Here’s my local, amateur version, in honor of former columnist [the late] 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…

There’s a second part of Whitewater’s budget that deserves special mention – the purchase of additional insurance in the event of municipal sewer backups. I wrote at length, months ago, of the unfortunate situation of a homeowner who experienced an expensive sewer backup while serving in Afghanistan. There was a meeting of the Whitewater common…

We are a city of fourteen thousand, with a public school district, and a college campus, and so have grown used to the idea that almost everything costs a million dollars or more. People in the know say that these large sums are just the cost of doing business, as though government were really in…

I have written a few overview posts, these past two weeks, highlighting unusual and curious aspects of life here. I will resume a more conventional posting schedule, with a daily morning feature, beginning next week. In the meantime, I will finish highlighting some of the ways that we’re just not the rural town that the…

There’s more than one way to change an organization. I’ve thought, over the years, that there were two principal ways: begin by shaping the attitude of employees, or by shaping their behavior. (I see that it’s possible to begin with both, but my point would be that one typically begins by emphasizing one over the…

It’s a chilly October in Whitewater, Wisconsin, but the political climate has never been milder. That must seem odd, in a time of economic hardship with rising unemployment. There’s a gap, though, between the condition of ordinary residents and their interest in the plans and schemes from our municipal building. The political climate in the…

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…