Whitewater’s administration proposes renovating the area on the east side of the city, through which commuters and visitors arrive in Whitewater. I’ve posted on the project before. (See, About that story on Whitewater’s East Gateway Proposal: What’s Missing?) A few remarks: 1. The design is undeniably beautiful. 2. It would have been better to include…
274 search results for "innovation center"
Government Spending, Local Government, Taxes/Taxation
Credibility on Spending
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s much to be said about fiscal policy in Whitewater, and plenty of time to say it. In my previous post, The Crazy-Wrong Argument on Taxes, I addressed the ludicrous & selfish argument that public grants (in this case, for needless parkland purchases) would have no tax impact. Of course they would. Now people are…
City, Local Government, Politics
The Candidates’ Forum
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Some of Whitewater’s political candidates – running for Common Council – attended a Saturday, 3.16.13 forum at city hall. It ran from ten to a bit after eleven. (Readers wishing statements from the candidates may visit lwvwhitewater.org.) Below are overall impressions from the event. I’ll write more later about topics raised between now and the…
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 2.13.13
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. It’s a mostly sunny day, with a high of thirty-seven, ahead for Whitewater. Whitewater’s Tech Park Board meets today at 8 AM. The agenda posted at the City of Whitewater website for that Tech Park Board meeting is unprofessional and sloppy at best, and legally deficient at worst. Here’s the full text: MEETING…
CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending, Press Release, State Government
Press Release Tips for the WEDC
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Let’s assume you’re a troubled, controversial public-private hybrid agency in Wisconsin, like the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. While spending vast sums of public money, you decide to issue a press release announcing taxpayers’ your largesse. You must know – and hope residents of a small city don’t know — that you’re politically toxic, across the…
CDA, City, Economy, Gov. Walker, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Technology
The New Whitewater Start Up Grants (in Proper Perspective)
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority has been working on a seed capital fund (working on this fund for some time), and today the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation has announced a $150,000 matching contribution to the CDA, and two grants – each in the amount of $10,000 – for entrepreneurs from that fund. The matching grant from…
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 2.5.13
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. Tuesday brings a high of twenty-nine, and light show (with limited accumulation) to Whitewater. It also brings Gov. Walker to town, at 10:15 AM, for a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation Announcement: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Whitewater University Technology Park Board members have been invited to attend an announcement ceremony on Tuesday, February…
City, Local Government
About those performance evaluations…
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
In Whitewater and communities far beyond, cities and public bodies are evaluating their administrators’ annual performance. That’s true for Whitewater’s municipal manager, and for the Innovation Center director, among others. These evaluations are closed-session reviews, but (as I write) I have no particular interest in how they’re conducted or the substance of the evaluations, in…
City, Politics
Predictions for 2013
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Here’s my amateur version of the late William Safire’s long-standing tradition of offering annual predictions. The list for 2013: 1. In 2013, UW-Whitewater will win the following number of national sports championships: A. None B. One C. Two D. More than two 2. The Innovation Express Generac Bus will prove to be A. A great…
Business, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Planning
Whitewater’s Common Council Session of 11.20.12: 25 Questions about the Generac Bus
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Most of Tuesday’s 11.20.12 Common Council session concerned the 2013 municipal budget, and of that, a half hour’s discussion addressed whether to give Generac Power Systems, a thriving corporation, ten-thousand dollars to bus its workers to and from other cities. That’s not all, of course: one heard the company-specific program touted as the hope for…
CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Government Spending
The City of Whitewater’s 2013 Budget: CDA & Bus
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Whitewater’s Common Council considered four budget items at length during her 11.13.12 session. I’ll address now the first two of those four, immediately below. The Community Development Authority Budget. Someday, one hopes, Whitewater’s Community Development Authority won’t require tens of thousands from the City of Whitewater’s general fund, as it does now, since the CDA…
City, Corporate Welfare, Green Energy Holdings, Waste Digesters
The End of the Waste Digester Proposal in Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Earlier this week, I posted about a closed-session agenda item of the Tech Park Board about ‘negotiations’ with Green Energy Holdings concerning a waste digester in the city. Of the scope of those negotiations I had no idea. As readers surely know, I think there are sound objections of municipal finance, community development, economic policy,…
City, Corporate Welfare, Green Energy Holdings, Waste Digesters
The Tech Park Board and a Waste Digester
by JOHN ADAMS • • 1 Comment
Bad leaders and ideas often go in only one direction: from bad to worse. One sees the truth of that in the agenda for today’s Tech Park Board meeting: 13. ADJOURNMENT to Closed Session, TO RECONVENE APPROXIMATELY 45 MINUTES AFTER ADJOURNMENT TO CLOSED SESSION, per Wisconsin Statutes 19.85(1)(e) “Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public…
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for 9.21.12
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Good morning. The week ends for Whitewater with a likelihood of showers and a high of fifty-nine. There is a reception for city manager candidates today at 4 PM, and a community forum at 6:30 PM today: 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. COMMUNITY RECEPTION – MEET AND GREET Innovation Center Atrium, 1221 Innovation Drive in…