Here’s my amateur version of the late William Safire’s long-standing tradition of offering annual predictions. The list for 2014, the FW seventh-annual edition:
1. In the governor’s race, Scott Walker will:
A. Win the city and the state
B. Lose the city but win the state
C. Lose the city and the state
D. The election results will be contested with no certain winner in 2014
2. In the 43rd Assembly race, Rep. Jorgensen will
A. Win a close race (less than 3 pt. margin)
B. Lose a close race (less than 3 pt. margin)
C. Win comfortably (between 3 and 7 pts.)
D. Win decisively (over 7 pts.)
3. The Municipal Administration leadership (full-time staff) will see
A. One leader leave
B. Two leaders leave
C. More than two leave
D. No leaders leave
4. Of print newspapers in the area,
A. One will fold
B. Two will fold
C. One will reduce its print edition from a daily to a weekly
D. There will be no significant changes to print or online operations
5. For the Whitewater Schools, the biggest issue will be
A. Academic performance
B. Fiscal challenges
C. Administrative misconduct
D. Teacher misconduct
6. The Whitewater University Tech Park will
A. Attract significant statewide praise
B. Attract significant statewide criticism
C. Receive no more attention than in past years
D. Attract a combination of statewide praise and criticism
7. By 2014’s end, the amount of vacant commercial space in Whitewater will be
A. Greater than in 2013
B. The same as 2013
C. Slightly less than 2013
D. Far less than 2013
8. The public commission that attracts the most attention in 2014 will be the
A. Planning Commission
B. Police and Fire Commission
C. Community Development Authority
D. Tech Park Board
9. After the spring election, Whitewater’s Common Council will be
A. A bit farther to the left
B. A bit farther to the right
C. Unchanged in ideology
D. Deeply split along ideological lines
10. The talked-about animal-sighting of 2014 will be
A. A coyote
B. A wolf
C. A bear
D. An aardvark
Adams’s guesses for 2014:
1. In the governor’s race, Scott Walker will
B. Lose the city but win the state. He’ll lose the city proper decisively, but win the state comfortably. There will be no doubt about the statewide outcome – the results will look something like 2010, for all the controversy since then.
2. In the 43rd Assembly race, Rep. Jorgensen will
D. Win decisively (over 7 pts.) I don’t think he’ll do as well as ’12, but it’s a safe seat for Rep. Jorgensen.
3. The Municipal Administration leadership (full-time staff) will see
A. One leader leave. One leader will leave, and it will come as a surprise.
4. Of print newspapers in the area,
C. One will reduce its print edition from a daily to a weekly. I’ve been predicting decline for years, but no publication has yet folded, as I’ve thought one would have by now. There’s been an unquestionable decline in readership. (For one of local paper there’s ample reason to doubt even the circulation figures they’re reporting to the state Dept. of Administration.) They’ll all go on, but one will at least announce in 2014 a plan to will scale back print considerably, even if they schedule the plan to take effect in ’15.
5. For the Whitewater Schools, the biggest issue will be
B. Fiscal challenges. Chronic budgetary uncertainty will haunt the district, as it will others nearby, despite supposed (actually overrated) legislative tools from Madison to empower local solutions.
6. The Whitewater University Tech Park will
D. Attract a combination of statewide praise and criticism. Different groups will see what they want to see.
7. By 2014’s end, the amount of vacant commercial space in Whitewater will be
D. Far less than 2013. An improving economy will also give Whitewater’s merchants their best year in the last ten.
8. The public commission that attracts the most attention in 2014 will be the
C. Community Development Authority and D. Tech Park Board (about even between them). The Planning Commission’s a disparate group, and will be unable to achieve the consensus needed for meaningful influence. The Police and Fire Commission’s work is of below-par quality, and that’s not about to change; they’ve the benefit, so to speak, only of everyone’s low expectations. Between the Tech Park Board and the Community Development Authority one will see a busy, attention-getting (and rightly controversial) set of proposals.
9. After the spring election, Whitewater’s Common Council will be
A. A bit farther to the left. Over time, Council will grow more ideological.
10. The talked-about animal-sighting of 2014 will be
A. A coyote. Someone will insist that he’s spotted one or more coyotes roaming through town at night, with at least one of those animals carrying ‘outlandish products that fail catastrophically at the worst possible times.’ Perhaps, but I’d expect photographic evidence before endorsing the find.
If it’s not to be a coyote, I’d happily settle for an aardvark. They don’t live around here, and shouldn’t be expected to do so, assuring that there’d be endless speculation about what the discovery meant, whether a city committee of inquiry should be formed, whether aardvarks should be kept as pets, whether if they should be kept as pets they should be licensed, or whether more than two unrelated aardvarks should live in the same pen, etc.
