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Comment Forum

Weekend Comment Forum: Wisconsin’s Voter ID Bill

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Readers know that I’m opposed to a voter photo ID bill, now on its way to Gov. Walker for signature next Wednesday. See, Gov. Walker to Sign Voter ID Bill on Wednesday.

There are several reasons to oppose the bill: we don’t have a problem that warrants so significant a change, thousands of now-lawful voters will be disenfranchised, vulnerable and minority populations will be disproportionately affected, providing photo identification will cost millions, and one’s fundamental right as a citizen to vote for representatives of an instrumental state is not dependent on any particular document. One is a citizen as a matter of fact, not procedure.

I see nothing libertarian in these restrictions.

Still, these are only a few starting-points. Others may have convincing arguments to the contrary.

There’s a poll, below, for those who’d like to participate that way.

There’s a challenge, too. Of the City of Whitewater’s two state legislators, there is a difference of opinion on this bill: Sen. Tim Cullen of the 15th Senate District opposes this legislation, but Rep. Evan Wynn of the 43rd Assembly District supports it. For those who support this legislation (and advance the supporting legislator prominently at every photo opportunity), here is your chance to defend support of this bill.

This website has more readers each day than another that supports, so to speak, the local legislative supporter of this bill. If one has a case to make on behalf of these voting restrictions, it will find a larger and wider audience here. Now, one may be able to show, convincingly, that I’m wrong about all this, and that voter ID legislation is a good idea. But if one can’t or won’t, well, that’s a powerful case all its own.




The use of pseudonyms and anonymous postings is, of course, fine. Although the comments template has a space for a name, email address, and website, those who want to leave a field blank can do so. Comments will be moderated, against profanity or trolls. Otherwise, have at it.

The forum will be open until Sunday morning, and this post will stay at the top of the website during that time.

City, Development, Economy

Whitewater’s May 17th Common Council Meeting

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Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, embedded below, included a discussion of Whitewater’s calculation and charges for new construction permits. That discussion takes places from 21:50 to 31:20.

Of that discussion, there were two positive changes to Whitewater’s current policy: (1) that the city should calculate new-construction permit costs by square footage, and (2) that the rate the city charges should be that of our lowest neighboring city (Jefferson). The overwhelming majority of the Council saw the value in these changes. That’s encouraging.

Calculating Fees.

Commercial ordinances should follow business practices. If builders (and other communities) typically calculate by square footage, then fees should be assessed this way. Complicated municipal efforts to calculate fees by supposed value are as much guesswork as anything else. We’ve made the right decision to calculate in a simple way.

Much of the first part of the twentieth century involved an effort to craft commercial codes to reflect actual business practices. That makes sense: commercial ordinances should be written in the language, and address the daily behavior, of businesspeople.

Staying Competitive.

It was sensible to match, at the least, the lowest fee charged nearby. Matching a city of similar size wouldn’t achieve a competitive advantage; it would merely makes us less uncompetitive than presently. Matching the lowest rate charged elsewhere achieves a better competitive result.

Whitewater’s Goal.

Our goal should not be the status-quo goal of matching existing (or confusing) rates elsewhere. It should be that of offering a comparative advantage over rival cities. The way to do this is to match the lowest price elsewhere, and offer superior service through a welcoming approach and streamlined process. Something like this —

WHITEWATER:
The Finest Service at the Lowest Cost

I’m not a slogan-maker, but one sees my point.

The alternative is unappealing, and will get us nowhere:

WHITEWATER:
Our Costs are About Average, But We Know You Really Don’t Care About That Anyway

It’s a serious misunderstanding to think that the rate selected doesn’t make a difference. It does.

Trying to hold on to a certain number of cents per square foot misses a bigger goal: to show the world we strive, each day, for a more efficient and productive result — better service for less than rival places. That should be our goal, and we can only make that claim credibly if we establish a competitive price.

The low price is instrumental to something even more important: a deserved reputation in Wisconsin that no one will offer a better opportunity than Whitewater. That reputation doesn’t happen just by saying we’ll do better — it requires a concrete offer to businesses.

America’s Standard of Success.

We’re prosperous because we’re free, a freedom that offers this opportunity: that we can be productive, and make better products at lower costs. The resulting prosperity is part of the American Dream.

No one ever made a success of himself by saying ‘well, let’s not try harder, customers will pay what we charge, as they’ve no where else to go.’ America’s finest companies — leaders in all the world — are committed to making better products more cheaply and efficiently. Apple, Intel, and Ford offer people more today than last year, at lower costs.

Organizations that say costs don’t matter, value doesn’t matter, and that rates and quality should stay the same don’t succeed. Like GM, they declare bankruptcy, and beg federal taxpayers for bailouts.

Whitewater can do better than other cities, and when she does, and more people recognize the advantages we offer, they’ll join us, enriching all the community.

This was very good decision, in that direction.



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Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 5.20.11

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Good morning.

It’s a cloudy day in the forecast for Whitewater, with a high temperature of seventy-one degrees.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls the participation of Wisconsin soldiers at the the battle of Vicksburg on this day in 1863:

1863 – (Civil War) Forces regroup at Vicksburg

After the unsuccessful assault on Vicksburg the previous day, Union forces regrouped in front of the city. The 1st Wisconsin Light Artillery and the 8th, 11th, 18th and 23rd Wisconsin Infantry regiments joined the 14th and 17th Infantries to prepare for the next attack. While these arrangements were taking place at Vicksburg, the 4th Infantry fought in a skirmish in Cheneyville, Louisiana.

Inbox Reader Mail

Inbox: Reader Mail

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I respond to email directly, but sometimes summarize questions and replies in a post. Here are a few summaries, in one of those posts.

A question about fees for new construction permits, from the discussion at Common Council Tuesday night.

These are positive changes, and it was right to seek a lower and more competitive fee schedule, with a more modern method of calculation. I’ll write more about this, and why it’s a good idea, tomorrow. One of the reasons that I’ve not yet written is that I like to include the video of a meeting along with my commentary, so readers can assess for themselves if my take reflects the proceedings accurately.

Embeddable videos of Council meetings are not always available the next day, so sometimes a post takes longer. The way around that limitation, however, would be to embed my own clip of a portion of a meeting.

In any event, more tomorrow about fee reform.

Will comments be back?

Yes, tomorrow, running from Friday around noon through Sunday morning. Featuring a poll, too, and styled as a challenge on a particular topic, at least for a while.

Questions about the search for a new police chief.

One searches for a set of standards, and then afterward someone who’ll live them. Leaders come and go, and it’s their policies, not their personalities, that remain to shape those who come after.

Do the Brewers still have a chance?

Yes, you bet they do.

Why don’t you write / comment / praise / celebrate/ endorse / ponder / express gratitude for the Ron Paul candidacy?

Oh, brother.

You don’t comment as much about newspapers as you used to do.

That’s true. It may not always be true.

Don’t you feel at least a little sorry for bin Laden?

No, absolutely not. Bin Laden was a murderous enemy of our people, of our way of life. The president’s order was the right thing. Libertarians believe in peace; we are not, however, pacifists. Men and women have a natural right to defend themselves.

Bin Laden broke the peace, and America was right to bring the consequences of that breach directly to him.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 5.19.11

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Good morning.

It’s a partly cloudy day ahead for Whitewater, with a high temperature of sixty-nine degrees.

If you’re a Progressive, today’s a memorable day for you, I’d suppose.  The Wisconsin Historical Society writes that in

1934 – Wisconsin Progressive Party Formally Organized

On this date Wisconsin’s Progressive Party was formally organized near 30 E. 2nd St. in Fond du Lac. It had begun as a “progressive” movement within the Wisconsin Republican Party more than 30 years before, and under leaders such as Robert M. LaFollette its list of achievements brought national attention to Wisconsin.

By the 1930s, a new generation of policy makers, many of whom had been trained under progressive Republicans, were advocating for reforms as part of Democrat Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs (see our page on the Wisconsin roots of Social Security for an example). At the same time, a new generation of Republicans such as Walter Kohler were advocating their own solutions to the nation’s problems. The heirs of the LaFollette tradition organized a third party, the Wisconsin Progressive Party, to keep alive the traditions they valued. [Source: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers, edited by Sarah Davis McBride]

For a solid critique of the New Deal (and of Hoover’s support for similar intervention during the preceding federal administration), see The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression.

 

Crime, Law, Walworth County

Update: Walworth County District Attorney Koss’s Foolish, Ignorant Price Tag on Justice

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I wrote in January about Walworth County District Attorney Koss’s Foolish, Ignorant Price Tag on Justice, where D.A. Koss expected a crime victim to pay for the cost of an expert witness against the woman alleged to have defrauded her. Needless to say, this expectation called the prosecution of the criminal defendant, Beth Reeves, into question.

It seemed likely, at the time, that the conviction would be reversed. Sure enough, it has been. It was the State of Wisconsin that requested the reversal, asking the conviction be overturned because a conviction under those circumstances — expecting a secret payment for an expert’s fees from an alleged victim — is wrong and ludicrous under our law.

The Walworth County District Attorney’s office will have to try the case a second time, unless the defendant accepts a plea deal. See, Prosecutor plans to continue case against former Fontana contractor.

It’s hard to overstate how substandard, and simply unthinking, this effort has been.

City, Politics, Press

“Whitewater alderman faces drug charges” – GazetteXtra

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The Gazette (Janesville or Walworth County version) fronts a story this morning about criminal charges against one of the members of Whitewater’s Common Council, councilmember Butler of District 2.

The print editions offer more detail than the online link, available at http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2011/may/17/whitewater-alderman-faces-drug-charges/.

Although other media will run the story, they’ll be chasing it, and have no more or better information than the coverage from the Gazette. more >>

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 5.18.11

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Good morning.

Today’s forecast calls for occasional rain and a high temperature of sixty degrees.

In the city today, there’s a Community Development Authority meeting at 4:30 p.m. The agenda for that meeting is available online.

Perhaps, just perhaps, you’ve been wondering how tarantulas can cling to smooth surfaces. If you have, then Wired has the answer in a post entitled, “Silk-Oozing Feet Give Tarantulas a Gravity-Defying Grip.” Dave Mosher writes that

Tarantulas are too heavy to stick to glass, yet the largest spiders in the world regularly seem to defy physics.

The trick: Dozens of silk-oozing spigots on their feet spin near-invisible safety lines, keeping the colossal spiders stuck wherever they please.

“No one has ever accurately described these structures before,” said neurobiologist F. Claire Rind of Newcastle University in England, leader of a June 1 Journal of Experimental Biology study of the spigots. “We’re certain they’re playing a big role in preventing [tarantulas] from sliding down vertical surfaces.”

Proof?

Here’s a video of a tarantula doing its stuff:

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City, Free Markets

The Foolish War on Walmart

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Here in small-town Whitewater, we’re getting an expanded Walmart. It’s Walmart, not Tiffany & Co. It is, however, popular with millions, for low prices on a wide selection of goods.

We’ve also a selection of local merchants, some of whom are positioned to thrive regardless of Walmart’s plans. I’ve objected to an exclusionary ‘buy local’ effort because Walmart is local to us, too, and but mainly because the city administration was wrong to take sides in consumers’ choices between independent merchants and chain retailers. Adults can — and daily do — make these decisions without Whitewater’s city manager cheering on one side or another.

(In this case, oddly, cheering both: pushing for an anti-chain-store campaign while working to clear the path for Walmart. See, for general objections, Whitewater Local Government’s Favoritism of Some Local Businesses Over Others.)

Demonizing Walmart isn’t just silly — it’s destructive for communities that will benefit from lower prices for ordinary items. Reason has a video about how agitated some have become over Walmart:



Here’s the description accompanying the video:

Retail giant Walmart is planning to open its first stores in New York City and Washington, D.C.

That’s got local politicians and activists up in arms.

“Walmart, keep your plantation because there are no more slaves,” says New York City Councilman Charles Barron.

Walmart will make criminals of our children, argues Washington D.C. commissioner Brenda Speaks, because “kids are kids” so they’ll shoplift and then “security will grab them.”

If we’re tricked into welcoming Walmart through our city gates “wrapped up in a shiny package,” explains New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, it will take over and destroy us.

So what’s getting anti-Walmart activists so riled up?

The answer: cheap groceries.

Written and produced by Jim Epstein, with help from Joshua Swain. Narrated by Nick Gillespie. Approximately 7.30 minutes. more >>

City, Laws/Regulations, Police

Whitewater’s May 3rd Common Council Meeting

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There’s another council meeting tonight, but two political parts of the last meeting stand out.

Fees for a Search Firm.

There was discussion, and approval, of additional fees for a police search. Approval was the right decision, and the additional cost would have been easier if former police chief Coan hadn’t sought to retain thousands at the time of his resignation from Whitewater’s force. He left in March for a paid position in Minnesota, and so far as one knows, he’s still employed there. That money would have been useful to Whitewater; a gold watch would have been been cheaper.

In the end, the search for a person is really the search for a set of standards and principles. People come and go, but a good standard assures that successors will serve a community well.

Zoning.

There was discussion about a comprehensive zoning review, something that will be good for the city. The idea prompted a caution from Councilmember Winship, some of whose constituents are members of the Starin Neighborhood Association. (Here, I’ll tease: It’s an Historic Starin Neighborhood Association. It’s as though a half dozen other parts of our city had no history at all, or as though no one would realize that the homes in the Starin area are old.)

Jim Winship, by the way, is an intelligent and powerful advocate for that neighborhood group’s concerns. I’m opposed to their use of government to demand more and more, first in zoning, and later in public works. Still, Winship is a persuasive voice for the group’s views: clear, poised, consensus-oriented. I’d guess the group’s success owes far more to Winship’s effective stewardship of their issues than advocacy from the association’s other members.

It seems eminently clear, though, from the council discussion that this project isn’t about altering any given residential neighborhood’s existing arrangements but rather about making the city’s commercial standards more uniform and merchant-friendly.

A recording of the May 3rd meeting appears below:



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