If one thinks about Whitewater over the last several years, all of its principal offices have changed hands once, or more, with the exception of the city’s police chief (who left briefly, but returned).
No one else from 2000 yet retains a leading political or appointed office. Those who were front and center a decade ago have retired or moved on.
What is the same, though, are our stodgy town fathers. They’ve not budged a bit. Leaders have come and gone, but the same narrow faction endures; Whitewater is not, ultimately, a leader-driven culture.
It’s reason to doubt that a few marquee municipal projects and their backers will effect noticeable change, however many millions are spent.
The stubbornness of the town’s stodgy few hasn’t failed to overwhelm its elected and appointed leaders.