August 1, 2008 Dispatches
2008 August 1
July is over? My new boiler is set to be installed today and I should probably change the oil in the snowblower. Something Winter this way comes.
- The Freeman confirms that Montgomery Gentry is the national country act at the Weekend in Waukesha. Readers of the Chronicle knew that on July 5th. Readers of the Chronicle are also pretty sure that Da BoDeans are the act not yet announced.
- An average of 6.1% property tax levy increase in southeast Wisconsin in 2008. Did you all get a 6.1% raise this year? Waukesha County comes out with a 4.7% increase. When do they come around and tell me how much my house is worth in this economy? I imagine we could whack about $50K off the current assessed value, despite the fact that my garage is 1/4 painted.
- Part Two of John Schoenknecht’s history of Waukesha’s photographers.
- The newest antique mall opens downtown in what we antiques know was an A&P store.
- On tap for this weekend is a trip to the State Fair tomorrow. I need to fill up the tires on my bike. I park on National Avenue and bicycle to the fair. I’m cheap. The Sweet Applewood Festival in, where else, Cudahy is pretty good, too.
- A letter to the editor encourages citizens to speak out on the Frame Park issue. One blogger in town believes that most people who write letters to the editor, call in to Sound Off or speak at city meetings are people who simply have an axe to grind as opposed to citizens with a genuine concern for their city. I believe that speaking out is not only a right but an obligation. There’s nothing you or I will ever do to effect Washington. But right here, right now, speaking out can make a difference for the city.
- One of those axe grinding people who called Sound Off thinks Larry Nelson looks like Burl Ives.
I think you mis-characterized me feelings on who goes to meetings. There is no doubt that genuine concern for their city is what drives people to go to meetings. What isn’t shown is the people who don’t have any issues with what is going on. If people think government is doing a good job they aren’t going to waste their time to come to a meeting to support the government.
What I was saying is that the only time the citizens come to meetings is when they are opposed to something. Typically if people support something they stay home and assume it will be approved. As someone who has been to probably 200 or more public meetings in various communities I can say this is fairly common everywhere.
According to Widgerson most of the people at the meeting (of not all) opposed the baseball proposal. Considering that all but one person on the Ad Hoc committee, several business owners, and numerous citizens support this proposal it is obvious that the people who showed up are not an accurate representation of how the people feel.
I am not faulting those who show up at all. In fact just the opposite. I think its great that people are showing up to express their feelings I just wish some of the people who support the proposal would have shown up too. I really wanted to but I wasn’t giving up my Brewers/Cubs tickets for that evening to sit at a meeting where no decisions are being made. I do plan on being at the Aug 19 meeting though.
I wish more people would go to meetings so the City could get a true representation of how the citizens really feel.
I don’t know how I could have mis-characterized “Most of the people who take the time to write to the Freeman usually have an axe to grind, same with those who attend City meetings.” But I accept your explanation.
By axe to grind, I mean they have a complaint. They don’t typically write when they approve of something. I should have chosen better words.
I don’t agree totally with why people don’t go to meetings. There is a very large sector of the population that feels like they never get listened to and they can’t ever change anything so why bother going to a meeting. I have seen it time and time again where one or two people (usually paid by the government) go to support something get listened to because it fits the agenda of leadership, yet when hundreds go against something, it gets dismissed because it is believed to be no way representative of the majority (and of course leadership knows what is best for those paying the bills).
Jeff, I don’t know how you can claim your little focus group was any more representative of the community’s feelings on the issue than the Sound Offs or the people in attendance at the meeting. You have no basis for saying so. You just have a position and assume other people should have a like-minded opinion.
The committee wasn’t even reflective of the affected parts of the community. Only one person was there who was involved in Frame Park’s formation and nobody from the Phoenix Heights neighborhood.
Now that people are showing up, you’re making it sound like they’re a bunch of whiners. You need to grow up a bit and realize that not everyone is going to have your priorities.
You need to quit trying to read more into my comments than what I have said. I am not saying these people are whiners. I have never said they are whiners. I am also not saying they shouldn’t be able to show up and express their concerns, in fact I believe I encouraged people on both sides to contact their elected officials.
What I am saying they are not an accurate representation of the feeling of the community because I know of numerous people who support this.
I haven’t ever said that people should feel the way I do on this issue. I know that people have different visions about Frame Park and what a community park should be. My opinion is that it is a very small scale plan that will not be an eyesore or a nuisance to the neighborhood.
What I have also never done is said that the people who think this will destroy Frame Park are wrong because if they feel that way, there is no “proof” or “solution” that I can provide to counteract that because it is someone’s opinion. Their ideal Frame Park may be different than mine and their notion of what constitutes “destroying” the park are different than mine.
As for the parking, what I have been trying to illustrate is that there are so many potential solutions (changing on-street restrictions on game days, establishing partnerships with the owners of nearby lots, remote lots with shuttle buses, etc) to parking concerns that I don’t think it will be a problem.
As for the structure of the Committee, I had no say in that but I think it had a decent cross section of people but in hindsight I think that he should have had someone from the neighborhood on the Committeee. When when Larry Nelson asked if I would be interested in serving not once did he even ask me my opinion on the proposal (people seem to think he stacked the committee to get the result he wanted) I had never stated an opinion on my blog either. I had approached him a while ago and said I wanted to get involved with the City by serving on a Committee and this is what came up.
Jeff
Could you check and see how many of the individuals on the committee grew up in Waukesha?
Perhaps those opposed have some fond memories of Frame Park and are not comfortable giving it away for 20 years.
You are all a bunch of whining babies that just like to argue. Government is the root of all evil in the world. Remember the wise statement, “Power corrupts, and ‘absolute power’ corrupts ‘absolutely’!”
Exactly my point. By the way, Larry Nelson was my english teacher back in 8th grade. He feeds his desires to be socially accepted by filling a role that he feels demands ‘respect’. In this world, you need to understand and embrace the fact, respect is earned.
Later babies!