Taylor’s may request public money too

The owners of a proposed Taylor’s bar and restaurant wants public money to build a new restaurant and bar in Downtown Waukesha.  That should surprise nobody.  Once the City used TIF money for the Clarke Hotel & Black Trumpet Restaurant, you had to realize that more businesses would request some public financing as well.  With that being said, I am troubled by the people who think that the City should unilaterally say no to all of these proposals.  The City needs to carefully look at each request and see what the benefit to the City is.   If the numbers for Taylor’s work, the City should consider some financial assistance.  Like the Clarke Hotel, this is a development that will truly chance the face of downtown for the better. 

People need to keep in mind that most TIF money is repaid through the tax increment in that district, an increment that wouldn’t have occurred without increased development.  Contrary to popular belief it is not coming from the general tax rolls.  The money is borrowed by either the City or the Developer (depending on the type of TIF being used) and then repaid with the increase in taxes.   I think the Taylor’s project would be an excellent addition to downtown.  We keep hearing about how we need more upscale sit-down restaurants, so the City needs to at least listen to them and see what they are seeking and see if it makes sense for the City.  Until then people should reserve judgement.

Hey Senator Craig, if you pick up guys in restrooms you are indeed gay

And to be honest, I don’t give a crap if you are gay.  However you should try to not hook up in public places.  Oh, and you may want to divorce your wife first so she could maybe find someone who actually likes women.  For those who don’t know, Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was busted for trying to initiate sexual contact with an undercover cop in a Minneapolis Airport men’s restroom.  Craig wants us to believe it was a misunderstanding, but others, including the Idaho Statesman newspaperwere claiming Craig is gay before this incident.

This Larry Craig mess makes me smile.  I love it with these hypocritical right-wing Republicans come out with their family values speeches, claiming that gay marriage threatens the institution of marriage, pulling out their homophobic catch phrases like “Its Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” when all the while they are homosexuals themselves, hiding in the closet (apparently only to come out for random encounters with strangers in restrooms) for fear that their constituents will vote them out or their fellow lawmakers will abandon them.   We should have gay Republican amnesty day.  All closeted gay Republicans can come out of the closet on one day and the other homophobic Republicans have to agree to not criticize, chastise, or otherwise interfere with their sexual preference for the rest of their careers.

I do find it funny that so many Republicans spew out their anti-gay propaganda and their fellow Republican buddy sitting next to them in committee meetings is sending suggestive e-mails to male congressional pages or just itching to get out of the meeting so they can make it to the subway restroom for the afternoon game of bathroom stall footsie.  

Look if you think homosexuality is immoral or a sin, I am fine with that.  I am of the belief that most homosexuals are born that way (most conservatives still think it is a choice).  What I disagree with is the notion that the government should be discriminating against homosexuals.  Gay marriage should be legal in the eyes of the government.  However I strongly believe that churches should not have to recognize gay marriage if their teachings are against it.  Workplaces should also be able to deny benefits to same-sex partners if they want to.   Why so many people get so worked up over two consenting adults wanting to get married is beyond comprehension.  If you don’t like gay people, don’t hang out with them.  But don’t let your hatred stand in the way of them living happy lives.

My biggest issue with the Craig mess is that his actions perpetuate this stereotype that all gay people are running around the nation’s bathrooms looking to have sex with strangers.   Most gay people are not like this.  Most of them just want what everyone else wants, a healthy, happy relationship with one person. 

Wednesday stuff

There is something fishy going on with this Pewaukee beating.  A new person is claiming sole responsibility for the beating now, despite the fact that he and two others have been charged.  Maybe this guy is being forced to take the blame for his supposed “gang” buddies. Speaking of him being a gangster My belief is that none of these people are in gangs, they are just a bunch of suburban wannabees.  I could be wrong, but it would seem that nobody who is in a gang would call the newspaper, admit to the crime and brag about being a gangster.   Nonetheless all of the people involved are morons, including the guy who got beaten up.

I have had it with Time Warner. There are two channels out there that I want need, the NFL Network and the Big 10 Network and Time Warner still doesn’t offer them.  The fact that they cannot come to an agreement on something is driving me and all other football fans crazy.  For the first time ever I am considering satellite.

The Salvation Army is looking for a temporary tenant for their building eyesore on Barstow.  My suggestion would be to lease it to a wrecking ball.  The ball would only need to occupy the building for a couple of seconds at a time. 

Theaters are making money this summer largely because of mediocre threequels. I rarely go to the movies, largely because I can buy the DVD for less than it would cost me and my wife to go to a movie.  My recent purchase of a front projector will complete my basement home theater which means that the only reason to go to a theater is because the movies are released there first.  With that being said, I do want to see Superbad this weekend. Unlike many, I hate the new Majestic.  Sure they have some of the best pizza around in Zaffiro’s and the best coffee with Stone Creek, but it sucks. 

The idea at the Majestic is to have the large new releases in the larger theaters then relegate the films that have been out a month or so into the smaller ones.  Unless you get there really early, you may not even be able to sit by the person you came with as was the case when I went to see Knocked Up.  Unless Marcus is going to have employees in each theater during seating, requiring people to fill up the rows instead of leaving a single seat between them and the next group of people, its going to continue to suck.  Sure the lobby looks nice, but it’s a lot of wasted space.  Whoever thought it was a good idea to have this tiny area before you purchase your tickets (it is so crowded you feel like you are in the front row at a Summerfect concert) is a moron.   They could have (and should have) make the entrance area 4 times larger instead of wasting all of the area with their grand entrance lobby. Speaking of sucking, the parking and access sucks as well.  Let’s take two theatres (West Town and West Point) and cram all of those customers into a single parking lot with only one entrance.  The result, a 15 minute wait to get out of the theatre.  It’s easier to get out of Miller Park.   I think I’ll drive to New Berlin to the Ridge next time I want to see a movie.

 

Hobo Springs now open

Sancho, the blogger who runs La Raza de Waukesha (and uses very large text) has started up a community driven blog called Hobo Springs where anyone who wants to post about Waukesha happenings can join in the fun.  Its a cool concept and so far it has been an interesting read. 

Museum Director Resigns

 

The Waukesha Museum & Historical Society executive director Sue Baker has resigned.  I don’t know much about her or the museum but I do know that people were starting to get frustrated with the slow pace of the Les Paul Exhibit that appears no closer to being opened than it did in when it was announced in 2003.  The exhibit was supposed to be open this year and now its slated for 2010, which I would bet will be extended even further. I am beginning to wonder whether Paul will even be alive to see this exhibit open.   Last year Paul expressed frustration with the snails pace at which this is progressing but I give him credit, he could have easily taken all of his stuff and given it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but he remains committed to the exhibit at the Waukesha County Museum.

I do think that the fundraising, with the exception of the concert a few months back, has been very low profile. In fact it is so low profile that most people probably have no clue that it is going on.   I think that more fundraising events would raise the profile and would attract more donations. 

I think they also need to diversify their efforts and really take the fundraising nationwide.  So many musicians have been influenced by Les Paul and I think there is a untapped potential for a lot of donations.   When you have people like Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Steve Miller, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Keith Richards, Sting, Peter Frampton, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, and countless others as Les Paul disciples you would think it would be a lot easier to raise money. 

I also read on the Historical Society’s website that they are also raising funds for the restoration of the old courtroom.  While that is nice, I think that they should focus most of their energy on the Les Paul exhibit.  How many people want to come and see an old restored courtroom? That’s about as exciting as a field trip to see the famous “Hall of Mayors” at City Hall. A Les Paul exhibit is something that will attract people. Granted I don’t think that it will attract people to town for the sole purpose of visiting this exhibit, but it will be something that music fans will visit if they are in the area for other reasons.   It is also something that will get locals to visit the museum, something I don’t think they do now. Get the Paul exhibit open and you will likely see an increase in revenue which could then be used for exhibits like the courtroom exhibition.

Comments on Wigderson’s Column in Yesterday’s Freeman

In his column in yesterday’s Freeman, James Wigderson puts forward this misconception that the City Administrator is some kind of overlord that has total control of the budget.  He claims “…the city will soon pick another unelected city administrator who will be responsible for formulating the city budget according to his or her philosophy without being accountable to the public.”  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Sure the administrator is in charge of preparing an initial budget but its up to the Common Council and Mayor to provide direction.  If they want a zero percent increase in taxes, tell the administrator that is what you want.  If he/she comes back with a budget that doesn’t meet that goal, don’t approve it.  Send it back to the Administrator and tell them to cut things.    

The mayor should work hand in hand with the administrator in establishing a budget and if he doesn’t it’s not the fault of the administrator or the position of administrator, it’s the fault of the Mayor.  It sounds like Larry Nelson was very involved last year so I would assume he will continue to be involved.  Every person in the City has an alderman that represents them and every alderman has a vote on the budget.  That sounds like accountability to me.  This is how it works in every single City that has an administrator or city manager and it is a good thing because a lot of Mayors don’t know the first thing about how to draft a budget.  I would argue that there is a lot more wasteful spending in Cities where an elected Mayor drafts the budget than in Cities where an Administrator drafts it. 

Where I do agree with James is his support for the Common Council being able to fire the Administrator with a majority vote for cause.  The Administrator is in place to carry out the goals, objectives, and policies that the Mayor and Council wish to push forward.  If he/she doesn’t do that or conducts themselves in a manner which the Council sees as unacceptable, they should be able to terminate his or her employment.  The notion that they don’t want to tell the administrator that this may be the new standard for termination is underhanded and unfair to the candidates.  They should know up front what it will take to terminate them.

He also addresses the controversy over how the new City administrator will be hired.  I do think that the proposed process is a step in the right direction, however I think it needs tweaking.  It is good to have a small panel of people to interview the initial 33 or so candidates.  Having the entire Common Council peppering 33 candidates with all of their questions would be a complete joke and would easily stretch this thing out well past Nelson’s goal of announcing the final candidate at the Oct 3 meeting.   Here is what I would do:

1. Each alderman would submit a list of some of the questions they think should be asked.  The panel that Larry Nelson selected can then go through these and come up with a master list of questions with the understanding that they (the selection panel) can ask follow up questions of candidates even if they are not on the list. 

2. During the initial round of interviews all Council members must be allowed to be present, but should not be able to ask questions.  They should be there to listen and watch each candidate.  This should be done in closed session.

3. After the process has trimmed the list to a final 5 or 6 candidates, they should be interviewed by the full Common Council.  I think that it should be broadcast on TV and the public should be invited to attend.   Each interview should have a set period of time with an opportunity to extend that time frame by no more than 5 minutes if they deem it necessary.   After this each Council member should list their top 1 or 2 candidates and why they feel that person is the best candidate. 

4. The panel selected by Nelson should then review the interviews, look at what the other Council members said, and make their final decision and recommend that the full Council hire that person.

 

Smoking near county building entrances

Even conservative Scott Walker, who I disagree with about 90 percent of the time, is proposing a ban on smoking near Milwaukee County buildings.  It just proves my theory that Walter Kolb is out of touch with reality.

Back to normal

Its August.  The Brewers are stinking it up and people are paying attention to the Packers.  Remember back in April and May when people were predicting that nobody would care about the Packers until October because of Brewer fever?  Well people seem to be talking less about the boys in Blue and more about the Green and Gold.  Things are back to normal in Wisconsin.

Speaking of the Pack, that defense looked stellar.  Granted it was against a second string QB (who probably should be a 3rd stringer) and without two starting offensive linemen, but it is encouraging to see such an aggressive defense.

Walter Kolb explains opposition to smoking restrictions on public property

I am not in support of government banning smoking in private businesses such as bars and restaurants, but I find it interesting that County Supervisor Walter Kolb thinks it’s a good idea to allow for smoking right outside the door at county owned buildings. He says its government’s intrusion on people’s lives.  He claims that he doesn’t need the government to “take care of him from womb to tomb.” Bullshit.  It’s not about  the government caring for you, it about us non-smokers who make up the majority of the population being able to enter a public building (not a private business) without walking through a wall of smoke on the way in and out.  Is it really too much to ask that they step 40 feet away from the door?   In the interview Kolb just comes out looking like someone who is more concerned with looking like some tough guy standing up against the evils of political correctness than someone who really gives a crap about what is best for his constituents.

Milwaukee Magazine profiles Larry Nelson

The September issue of Milwaukee Magazine profiles our Mayor.  A lot of the focus is on how he won and how he strives to work with everyone regardless of whether they supported him in the race or not.   I believe he won the election because he was the best candidate.  Ann Nischke was like a robot stating over and over again “I will hold the line on taxes.”  Nelson was personable, exciting, and is truly someone who just wants to make Waukesha better.  If the Republicans (yes, I know its supposed to be non-partisan) put up another one-issue puppet  they will lose again.