“The rankings were based on surveys of 122,000 college students at more than 370 colleges.”
See, On Campus: University of Wisconsin-Madison ranks #12 as a party school.
City, Politics
The Grass, Weeds, and Natural Lawn Menace in Whitewater, Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
Link: http://cityofwhitewater.blip.tv/file/3910060/
Whitewater, Wisconsin held its last Common Council meeting on July 20th. There’s another session tonight, but a part of the last session deserves notice as an example of a dodgy discussion.
On the agenda of the last meeting, one finds this item, C-7, nestled in the middle:
C-7. Review of and possible direction regarding city ordinances related to grass, weeds and natural lawns and enforcement thereof. (Council member Olsen request.)
I have embedded and linked the video of that meeting, above, and the discussion of item C-7 is available for viewing beginning at 1:27:45 and ending at 1:48:30.
Everything about this is dodgy, and one can see that another common council member rightly asks about the origin of the idea. Others see that the three areas for consideration (grass, weeds, and natural lawns) involve, variously, separate issues of common rights of way as against private property.
There’s a significant difference between the treatment of common and private property.
Missing this lends a slapdash, sketchy, and dodgy aspect to the discussion. If one can’t describe a proposal simply and directly, there’s a problem.
One can guess that we’ve not heard the last of this, especially regarding natural lawns.
For now, four quick points —
First, no paid leader from the city staff who speaks sounds persuasive or clear about the topic. They jumble different concepts. It makes one wonder if some of the discussion is a fig leaf other concerns or motivations. Alternatively, these may be frivolous men who can’t think a topic through properly. The former is worse than the latter, but neither is reassuring.
Second, does Whitewater’s city manager, Kevin Brunner have a serious priority of his own, or is he led around by others? This is a municipal administration that cannot set meaningful priorities. Brunner came to town with great hopes from residents. He squandered them on too many initiatives, half-baked and ill-considered, and now he’s simply lost control of the agenda. Others have become the tail that wags the dog. Having shown himself to be ineffectual, thin-skinned, and glass-jawed, it seems that others simply push him around.
The Very Model of a Modern Municipal Manager has defended many of these officials, but they’ll not pay him back in reciprocal support. Instead of defending principle, Brunner’s administration caters to certain self-important men, like a hurried waiter with too many tables.
He looks frivolous and weak trying to justify these concerns.
It does no good to scurry for a few leaders, when frontline workers and residents are ignored or bullied.
Third, there’s no more commonplace justification for regulation than a public safety rationale. We just want to keep people safe, officials will say. They don’t and often can’t show a single actual hardship, but regulatory addicts will use the progressive idea of safety and public health to advance an anti-ownership, anti-property agenda.
It’s a tactical effort by which politicians and bureaucrats who would otherwise be seen as petty reactionaries can cast themselves as high-minded guardians of public safety.
If there are real safety concerns, that one can show, then so be it.
One will not find such concerns about natural lawns, or a few spruces on a terrace, however. It’s both laughable and ignorant that the meeting’s consideration of the topic mixes these situations with other concerns. (Note: neither of these situations apply to me. I’m not writing out of personal concern, or connection to any other resident. I simply know a dodgy proposal when I hear one.)
Fourth, apart from safety, there are problems of desuetude and selective enforcement that Brunner and his staff seem not to understand. It’s not always possible to leave a regulation unenforced and then start enforcing it. Selective enforcement of the dormant ordinance is another risk. (Do Brunner and his leaders really think that a declaration one night, with enforcement the next morning, would be permissible?)
It took only a short while for others in the room to make distinctions that those from the city payroll either didn’t, or couldn’t, make.
One can be sure, however, that Whitewater will hear much more about this, from city bureaucrats. They’ll be back for more – they’re suddenly motivated. more >>
City
Conflicts of Interest in Medicine and Small-Town Politics
by JOHN ADAMS •
At the Wisconsin State Journal, there’s an investigative report about a doctor entitled, University of Wisconsin Cancer Researcher Quits Amid Conflict of Interest Investigation.
Reporter Doug Erickson summarizes the issue: “A prominent UW-Madison cancer researcher [Dr. Minesh Mehta] has abruptly resigned after university officials began investigating a potential conflict of interest involving his outside business interests.”
Best quote, from Dr. Eli Glatstein, a critic of the researcher, that Glatstein’s
beef was not just with Mehta but with “a generation of people who don’t seem to recognize a conflict of interest when it smashes them in the mouth.”
Dr. Glatstein, do I ever know what you mean! I’m a blogger from small-town Whitewater, Wisconsin, and we’re the conflict-of-interest capital of the planet.
Sure, you’re a prominent doctor, from a big school, and you travel in august circles. It’s still not enough — no many how many conflicts you discover, you’re living in a Sahara compared to the rich, lush Amazon of conflicts in which I live.
I wish you the best, Dr. Glatstein, and hope that you continue to stick up for sound principles. If you’d ever like a tip or two, however, feel free to write. I’d happy to help.
City
Political Tip of the Day: Calling Officials ‘Slick’ as a Nickname (Hint: It’s a Bad Idea)
by JOHN ADAMS •
At the last meeting of Whitewater’s Common Council, on July 20th, one of the city’s common council members referred to a city bureaucrat as “Slick.” That’s Slick, as in “Come on up here, Slick.”
This was an official speaking in behalf of the council member’s agenda item, mind you. I’d guess the term was meant well.
I am sure, though, that the term never works well, under any circumstances. It’s not a term of endearment, and it’s too trite to work as an insult.
Best not to use it at all. more >>
Daily Bread
Daily Bread for Whitewater, Wisconsin: 8-3-10
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good morning,
Whitewater’s forecast calls for a chance of showers with a high temperature of eight-five degrees.
There’s a Common Council meeting tonight in Whitewater, at 6:30 p.m. The agenda is available online.
Wired recalls that on this date in 1977,
Tandy Corp of Texas announces that it will manufacture the first mass-produced personal computer. The TRS-80 — lovingly called the “Trash 80” — would be an early rock star in the PC era and give the flagging Radio Shack franchise bragging rights as “biggest name in little computers.”
The TRS-80 was a desktop machine, woefully underpowered by today’s standards — 4 KB of RAM, (expandable to 16 KB!), a 12-inch monitor, a built-in cassette-based data recorder and BASIC interpreter. Oh, yes, it came with Blackjack and Backgammon.
But the Model I was a staggering success in its day, a time when your choice was either building your own computer from a kit or buying something for thousands of dollars. The Model I was yours for $600 ($2,160 in today’s coin), and all you had to do was plug it in — although it did require three separate AC outlets to power everything up.
This was the dawn of the personal computing age, and nobody quite knew what the rage would be, or even why. There wasn’t much your average non-techie could do or would want to with a computer. And yet, there was something in the air.
This wasn’t the first personal computer, but it was the first that was widely used. It’s a fine example of a genuine innovation.
Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty
Opposing groups challenge Wis. campaign money rule
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good for them — it’s a violation of their speech rights.
City, Planning
Whitewater’s Planning Commission Meeting for 8-2-10 (Live Blogging)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s the format I will be using for live blogging tonight’s Planning Commission meeting. I’m interested in experimenting with live blogging to produce commentary more quickly. (My comments will remain after the meeting for later viewing.)
The window will become live just before 6 PM, and comments will appear with the newest remarks at the top of the window. (Update: For replay, comments will appear from top to bottom, first to last.)
Here are a few additional remarks — serious, both of them.
Explanations of the Law. Municipal counsel for a town should be able to answer a question on the law simply, concisely, and understandably. This is no trivial point — a good politics depends on it. If it seems impolite to say, then we have forgotten what a well-ordered municipality looks like, or stopped caring that Whitewater should be such a place.
Wasting Time. Worrying about the style of cart corrals at Walmart isn’t planning, it’s not landscaping, it’s decorating. We shouldn’t be wasting money on these genuinely trivial matters. It’s not sophisticated to think these subjects are public matters; it’s embarrassingly pedestrian. A city with significant economic problems shouldn’t pay a consultant to consider something like this. Walmart can decide for itself; attention to these details reveals a complete lack of weight and seriousness.
In the middle of a deep recession, especially, taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for this lack of seriousness. more >>
Laws/Regulations
Reason‘s Nanny of the Month for July 2010: San Fran Soda Banner Mayor Newsom
by JOHN ADAMS •
Reason offers its Nanny of the Month, direct from northern California.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs46ks9sLC8.
Here’s the description accompanying the video:
They’ve targeted bottled water and the selling of all kinds of pets, er, “animal companions.” And now, with the soda scold who’s yanking sugary beverages from vending machines, the City by the Bay pulls off the first-ever Nanny of the Month trifecta!
Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for July 2010: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom!
“Nanny of the Month” is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Associate Producers: Paul Detrick and Alex Manning; Animation: Meredith Bragg
Approximately one minute
Uncategorized
LA Times: Arizona Was Once Tolerant of Illegal Immigrants. What Happened?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Significant changes in only several years.
LA Times: Arizona Was Once Tolerant of Illegal Immigrants. What Happened?
Press
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism: 16 Die, But Boating Safety Stalls in Legislature
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’m not a reporter, nor am I journalist. I’ve never aspired to be either one. Like most bloggers (and most people), my knowledge of the press comes simply from reading newspapers, and thinking about the stories they publish. Not too long ago, readers expected reporters to ask officials serious, pertinent questions. There have always been reporters willing to roll over for officials, but Americans didn’t consider this the norm.
There are still good newspapers nearby (Journal Sentinel, State Journal, Cap Times, and the Gazettes, so to speak, of Janesville and Walworth County). There just aren’t as many good newspapers as there used to be.
Fortunately, there’s the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, setting a worthy standard for reporting, for the kinds of stories that both professionals and lay readers (like me) respect and appreciate. There’s a link to the Center on the left side of this website.
In a newly-released report, the Center’s Allie Tempus and Nick Pensenstadler write about the number of people injured in boating accidents in Wisconsin. See, 16 Die, But Boating Safety Stalls in Legislature.
The story’s solid for three reasons: it’s well-written, well-researched with thorough data on accidents in Wisconsin, and it places Wisconsin’s requirements into a national context.
A good story transcends politics, too. From my view, I would oppose legislation that required adults to wear life vests, although the story implies that vest requirements would improve safety. As with helmets, I think that adults should make these decisions on their own. It’s foolish not to wear a vest, but adults should have that choice.
Requirements for children are different, as they are imposed on those without an adult’s judgment. (There’s a second question about whether parents should make these decisions for their children, but not all children boating are with their parents.)
A good story, like this one, has an obvious value for anyone, of any politics. Quality speaks for itself.
City
Beyond Paper Packets for Only a Few
by JOHN ADAMS •
A practice of good government isn’t a favor to someone who asks for it; it’s the standard that public officials should meet consistently. It’s not meant to be an occasional thing.
If you’ve watched Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Planning Commission in action, then you know that city employees and the city’s paid consultant will refer to public documents in a packet. “It’s in your packet,” they’ll say. They mean their packet, not one that residents get to see. Public documents, all of them, but not readily available.
I’ve written about this before. See, “It’s In Your Packet”. Afterward, a sharp reader wrote to me, and showed me that nearby Beloit, Wisconsin puts all of its meeting packets online, and even has an email sign-up where residents can get updates on when new packets go online. I wrote about Beloit’s good practice. See, It’s Online for All: The City of Beloit’s Good Government Example.
Whitewater’s July Planning Commission meeting put the packet online, but for tonight’s meeting about a possible Walmart expansion, there’s just the agenda.
Beloit is a city with every possible economic problem, but that hasn’t stopped them from doing the right thing.
If there’s any small, narrow, closed, self-declared elite in America, it’s to be found in Whitewater, Wisconsin. These gentlemen treat public documents on public matters created at public expense as Faberge eggs, to be kept locked away.
This isn’t an administrative problem, a clerical problem, or a website problem — it’s a leadership problem. When the gentlemen who now head departments commit to a change, as an ongoing commitment to a new and better politics, will this change. That might come from these men, but far more likely, it will come from a new generation that will discard current practices in favor of more open and modern ones, consistent with the promises of Wisconsin for good, open government.
It’s happening elsewhere in Wisconsin, and it will one day happen here.