Good morning.

Whitewater’s Thursday will be warm and windy, with a high temperature of eighty-seven.

At 4:30 PM today, Whitewater’s Community Development Authority will meet in closed session for negotiation with potential CDA directors.

On this day in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was first opened to traffic.

Google’s daily puzzle asks about a way to measure wealth: “How much was your personal fortune worth if you wore ruffles in the New England colony settled in 1630?” more >>

I wrote last evening with a brief summary of Whitewater’s Common Council session of 5.21.12, during which Whitewater’s city manager submitted his resignation effective 6.22.12. See, Whitewater’s 5.21.12 Common Council Meeting.

A few remarks about that session’s discussion.

The Bigger Trends are Still the Bigger Trends.

Whitewater will pick a new city executive of some sort, but regardless of that selection, the fundamental direction of the city will be unchanged. We’re in a transition from one sort of city to another.

The selection of a new leader is very important, but principally because it will influence how easy or difficult that transition will be.

(Some of the most excited about the chance to select a new leader will be the city’s town squires, desperate to wield what remains of their waning influence. Nothing they do can prevent the general transformation of the city’s political and social scene. To meddle is not to prevent.)

Much Yet Ahead.

Neither Rome nor Whitewater was built in a day.

The Preliminary Steps.

Council made all the basic steps one would expect – accepted a resignation, appointed an interim city manager (Cameron Clapper), set more discussion for the next council session (6.7.12).

Waiving an Early Termination Penalty.

Council waived an early termination penalty in the amount of $4,000 that City Manager Brunner would otherwise have been obligated to pay the city.

I’ve been critical of waivers like that in the past, and my view is unchanged. The gentlemen who have been the beneficiaries of these waivers have, themselves, been among the most demanding for consistency and compliance from others in the city (at least from others who aren’t established or prominent).

When their obligations are under consideration, suddenly it’s all about taking a broader view, etc.

They’re right about a broader view — they should have taken it themselves when enforcing regulations against ordinary residents and merchants. This city of many thousands has always been greater than a few people imaging the city is only those of their close acquaintance.

A Mayor for Whitewater?

There was discussion last night about whether Whitewater should consider a mayoral form of government (of which there are several variations possible). I don’t have a particularly strong view, actually, but I’d like to hear a discussion about it, for and against.

Council plans to consider the possibility. That seems prudent.

What’s mistaken, I think, is to rush to an opinion about it now. Worse, because it’s simply wrong, is the contention that selecting a mayoral form of government would necessarily involving the hiring of a city administrator as a new, incremental employee.

That’s simply false. The city would not be required to hire an incremental employee, and could re-designate the salary and compensation now provided for an assistant to the city manager.

Regardless of whether one would favor or oppose a mayor, fiscal concerns about an incremental administrator are unfounded.

The Last Hiring Process, in 2004.

There was speculation about how the last hiring process, in 2004, went. One heard the suggestion that it went smoothly. That’s about right – it was fairly smooth, especially considering the circumstances under which then-City Manager Boden left Whitewater.

But that process is a cautionary tale, too. It produced a much-heralded candidate who fit the needs of the moment but (to be mild) understood the needs of this city only imperfectly, and whose administration has gone poorly.

If every day thereafter had been like that first day on the job in 2004, the outcome would have been different.

Yet, no matter how appealing prospect of an endless day might seem, it was never to be. Whitewater looked to the needs of that years-ago moment; she should have looked ahead, or at least tried to do so.

Whitewater’s Common Council met on Monday evening to appoint three residents to city boards or commissions, and thereafter to discuss the resignation and departure of her city manager, and finally to appoint an interim city manager.

All seven members of the Common Council were present.  (For tonight, I’ll offer a summary of the principal 5.21.12 developments; for tomorrow, initial observations.)

Commission appointments.

Common Council approved members to the Police Commission (Mark McPhail), Zoning Appeals Board (Michael Sobolewski), and Planning Commission (Cort Hartmann).

Preliminary discussion of municipal leadership.

Council discussed the appointment of an interim city manager, the retention of a search firm to aid in the hiring of a permanent city manager, and the alternative possibility  of a change in Whitewater’s form of government (to a mayoral-council form).

Council set further discussion of some of these items for the next regular session (Thursday, June 7th).

General provisions on changes in the form of government for Whitewater are available at Wis. Stat. § 64.01 et seq.

Current city manager’s resignation.

Following a return from closed session, Kevin Brunner, city manager, submitted his resignation effective June 22nd, and the Council waived an early termination penalty in the amount of $4,000.

Interim city manager.

Council appointed Cameron Clapper, now asst. to the city manager, as interim city manager, effective June 23rd.  Clapper received a salary increase of $1250 per month in compensation for his additional responsibilities.

These were the evening’s preliminary steps in a longer process.