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Crime, Politics

Guilty plea in marijuana case forces Whitewater city councilman to step down – Walworth County Today

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There’s a solid, straightforward story about the conviction by plea and subsequent resignation of Whitewater Common Council member Javonni Butler over at the Gazette, portions of which are excerpted below.

Of this, three things may be said with confidence: that for some, this is a moment of particular schadenfreude; that so hidebound is Whitewater that the loss of a single council member during weeks of upcoming budget deliberations will likely produce no change in the outcome; and that the Gazette is the only newspaper in the area that publishes news on the weekend.

….Butler pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge of delivering marijuana. Police say he twice sold drugs to an undercover informant earlier this year.

Butler, 22, New Berlin, will spend 45 days in jail and two years on probation as part of a plea agreement reached with the prosecution….

Other council members previously said they weren’t sure whether the crimes would affect his public position, but members of the state Government Accountability Board said anyone convicted of a felony is prohibited from holding office.

[Council President Patrick] Singer said Butler’s seat was immediately vacated Friday following the guilty plea. The city will soon advertise the open seat and look to appoint someone as early as November, Singer said.

See, from Kevin Hoffman, Guilty plea in marijuana case forces Whitewater city councilman to step down @ Walworth County Today. more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 10.24.11

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Good morning.

It’s a sunny day in small-town Whitewater, with a high temperature of sixty-three in store. It’s dark more than it’s light these days, with fewer than eleven hours of sunlight, and about eleven and a half hours of daylight. If the evenings are clear, it’s particularly lovely.

There’s a meeting of the Community Development Authority today at 4:30 PM. The meeting’s agenda is available online.

Later in the evening, there will be a Whitewater School Board meeting, beginning in closed session and thereafter open session at 7 PM.  That agenda is available online.

On this date in 1933, Amelia Earhart visited nearby Janesville:

On this date Amelia Earhart spoke to the Janesville Woman’s History Club as part of the group’s 57th anniversary celebration. Four years later, Earhart disappeared as she attempted to fly across the Pacific Ocean. [Source: Janesville Gazette 10/24/1933, p.2 via Wisconsin Historical Society]

Foreign Affairs

More on Plans for U.S. Troops to Leave Iraq

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From Chris Preble, some remarks about an American troop departure from Iraq, with sentiments that seem sound to me:

….if the Obama administration carries through on its promise to remove U.S. troops by the end of the year, the president and his national security team will have heeded the wishes of the American people, not to mention abided by their promises, and those of their predecessor.

This costly and counterproductive war – launched under false pretenses, sold to the American people as a cakewalk and an operation that would be paid for by Iraqi oil revenues – may finally, mercifully, be coming to an end…”

America’s principal commitment should be the defense of over three-hundred million citizens on this continent.

Via Cato-at-liberty.

Foreign Affairs

Pres. Obama: Troops in Iraq Will Be Home for the Holidays

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After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.”

America has done considerably more than her necessary part in Iraq, at great cost, yet with extraordinary skill. No other people could have done half so well.

I would contend that we have been abroad in Iraq far too long. In any event, our fellow citizens, having served ably, deserve our thanks upon their imminent return.

Welcome home.

Via The Atlantic Wire.

Comment Forum

Friday Poll and Comment Forum: Removing Spectators from the Assembly Gallery

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Here’s a video of the gallery of Wisconsin’s Assembly, where spectators are being removed for wearing 8.5 x 11 inch pieces of paper taped to their shirts. Silent, peaceful citizens, sitting with messages, removed for displaying written words on their clothing. Mere words.

Leaving aside Rep. Kessler’s legal justification (whether their rights in this case are absolute), there’s a simpler question: do they — should they — have the speech rights they’re trying to exercise in this context?

We have fallen so far, so fast, that for the majority party, the answer is that they should not. Should citizenship and residency, constitution and law, mean nothing against a majority’s desire to enforce its will, and stifle opposing voices?

Those who ordered this removal are as thin-skinned as they are ignorant.

Readers cannot say they’re uncertain of my views: removing these spectators for these reasons was wrong, and deeply un-American.

That’s just one view, however strongly expressed; what do you think?

Below I have the video, a poll, and a place for comments.


The post will remain open until Sunday morning. Comments will be moderated against profanity and trolls; otherwise, have at it.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 10.21.11

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Good morning.

It’s a partly cloudy Friday ahead, with a high temperature in the mid-fifties.  Indian summer now having passed, fall seems like fall.

In the city today, there will be a public meeting of the ‘CDA Special Director Review Committee’ at 4 PM. The agenda for the meeting is available online.

It’s all part of a CDA director search process.  Our community should have had an independent CDA director all of these recent years. Our chosen alternative, to use the city manager in a de facto role, along with a CDA coordinator, has been the wrong approach. We have only too much press, too little true development, and a failed tax incremental district to show for our efforts and spending.

On this day in 1879, Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. Here’s part of the description from the New York Times story on his accomplishment:

There was no lack of enthusiasm or of confidence about Mr. Edison as he greeted the Times reporter who entered his laboratory at Menlo Park, N. J., yesterday. The inventor, a short, thick-set man, with grimy hands, led the way through his workshop, and willingly explained the distinctive features of what he and many others look upon as an apparatus which will soon cause gas-light to be a thing of the past. The lamp which Mr. Edison regards as a crowning triumph is a model of simplicity and economy. In the lamp the light is emitted by a horseshoe of carbonized paper about two and a half inches long and the width of a thread. This horseshoe is in a glass globe, from which the air has been as thoroughly exhausted as science is able to do.


Example of Edison’s Original Bulb

Rejuvenation is one of a few companies that sell replicas of Edison’s original bulb, and a listing of their bulbs is available online.

City, Government Spending, Planning, Wisconsin

Whitewater’s Municipal Administration Reports that North Street Will Be Closed Through Winter

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Of course it will be; if it takes years to install an adequate traffic signal near campus, one could not expect quick headway on the North Street Bridge. They’ll resume in the spring.

The delay itself is not the biggest problem here. Note, instead, how odd is the delay when considered after reading the Walker Administration’s prior justification for spending hundreds of thousands on the bridge (after the city had to borrow yet hundreds of thousands more):

North Street is a vital thoroughfare for the City of Whitewater,” said Governor Walker. “Our assistance in this project is an important investment in the infrastructure, economic development and safety of the community and its residents.”

The grant will help finance a $1.5 million project to replace two bridges on North Street, a major roadway in the community. Pedestrian sidewalks will be constructed on both sides of each bridge. In addition, the plan involves installation of storm and sanitary sewer lines as well as water mains in the project area. Construction and installation is expected to be completed by the end of November.

Gov. Walker and his Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation describe this project in the grandest terms; non-residents could be forgiven for thinking he was describing our own version of the Champs-Elysees. If every municipal project across the state, and the government spending to support it, were truly as vital as Gov. Walker says, crews would be working around the clock, exhausted and nearly broke.

See, City of Whitewater news release.