SEWRPC and other tidbits from the past week.

Ken Younker at SEWRPC is proposing that employers charge their employees to park as a way to encourage the use of mass transit.   Considering that 90 percent of all businesses in Waukesha county are likely not accessible by mass transit (actually that number is probably higher) , this is an idea that will never be implemented.  Also, why would any employer do this to their employees?  Is SEWRPC going to start off as an example?  Is SEWRPC even served my mass transit? 

The list of City Administrator candidates is down to 6.  I think the Common Council should take a field trip to Grafton to see all of the great things going on there before making any decisions.  I know nothing about the other candidates, but with the Grafton guy you have someone with local ties who is familiar with Wisconsin municipality law, Wisconsin government, and the Wisconsin market and who has also presided over another downtown renaissance.  

Message to Larry Nelson:  I know your term isn’t up for a while but if you pay attention to the Freeman and the bloggers you will see that they are loading their guns with the sexual predator ammo and if you don’t step up and do something about it this is going to define the next mayoral race.  If I were a an elected official I would pass a very tough ordinance similar to Franklin’s.  That is what most communities are doing.  There will be minimal opposition to the law except from those who are in areas where predators may live and the predators themselves (but most of them cannot vote anyway) and while I don’t think these laws do anything but make people feel safer, you will take away a major issue that any opponent could use against you.   If the City attorney questions the constitutionality of the ordinance, ignore him. Pass the ordinance and let someone else bring a legal challenge.   Also, if I were the City I would not approve any additional apartment buildings to be developed by companies or landlords that rent to sexual predators.  If nobody rents to them they will have nowhere to go.

The Freeman has an interesting article on new legislation for airline passengers.  Here’s a novel idea: if the plane is grounded for more than an hour the passengers may exit the plane and return to the terminal.  Put a bar code on the ticket stub/luggage claim tag to use when you reboard.  If I were stuck on a plane on the ground for more than 3-4 hours I would probably force my way off by becoming unruly and I am surprised more passenger’s haven’t resorted to causing such a ruckus that the airlines have to let them out.  What jury is going to convict a plane full of people for disorderly conduct after being grounded for 4-5 hours?    Airlines should have no right to force people to sit on a plane for hours and hours.  It is complete insanity.  If I were Midwest or some other airline I would enact a one hour policy with a provision that if the repair or delay is almost done they can add 30 minutes to that time. 

Mark Gundrum’s bill amendment that would allow hospitals to deny day-after contraceptives to rape victims is rightfully drawing criticism.   Gundrum is so clueless on this issue that he states “Beside the Plan B pill and other day-after contraceptives are available over the counter, so if rape victims really want them they can go to a pharmacy and get them.”  What an a-hole!.  If someone is raped do you think they are going to be in the right mental or physical condition to stroll on down to Walgreens to get day-after contraceptives?   I cannot fathom why some people think that someone who was raped should be required to carry a baby to term.  If you believe that I think you are a low-life piece of crap. Maybe those who believe that should be required to adopt those babies once they are born.  This issue just gets my blood boiling.

Don’t blame me, I voted for Schmuki

Bill Kramer, whose political legacy so far has been limited to the attention he received for clapping obnoxiously when Jim Doyle mentioned the huge oil company profits during his budget address, is now coming down in opposition to a regional transit authority that is being explored for Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee & Waukesha County.  Kramer stated “I don’t want to establish another one (taxing district) when we don’t even know who would be in charge and if it could be that Waukesha would end up with taxation without representation.”  I find it interesting that he is opposed to something that he knows nothing about.  No structure, ground rules, or anything has even been cobbled together and Kramer is already in opposition.    Well Mr. Lone Clapper, if you would let the process evolve these questions would be answered and you could make an intelligent decision.  I thought we elected officials to either wait until all the facts are presented or to at least participate in the process before making any decisions.   But none of that matters to Bill Kramer who would rather pander to Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling than actually do his job.  If the process moves forward and it looks like a bad deal for Waukesha then Kramer should speak out in opposition but to do so before all the cards are on the table seems absurd to me.

WalMart Supercenter

Ok, I think the Wal Mart plans are ugly.  I think that the City needs to demand higher quality architecture and landscaping.  If there are retail outlots they should be up near the street so there is something more than a sea of asphalt along the road.  There should be significant amounts of landscaping within the parking lot.   The building should have architectural features that break up the facade of the building so it doesn’t look like a giant warehouse.  I fear that Wal Mart is going to give us something crappy looking and try to pass it off as quality design.   Many retailers look at a city like Waukesha and figure that we are so happy to get the Super Wal Mart that we will gladly accept anything.  If Pewaukee can get quality architecture so should we.  The City needs to start to demand more from developers and it should start with this project.   No project is more representative of this than that hideous looking new McDonalds on 164. Every other city is getting more attractive McDonalds prototypes and we got the same old dull, uninspired garbage that McDonalds has been forcing down people’s throats forever. 

Wal Mart has made it clear that they want to be here and they have the money to improve the building architecture so lets make sure they hold true to their promise to come back with something better.

Lance Nesta, where were you?

Lance Nesta, a resident who lives near the proposed new Carroll College Dorm, writes a letter to the editor regarding the city’s disregard for the neighbors when approving the rezoning to allow the Carroll dorm project to move forward.  Nesta rambles on with a bunch of garbage that borders on an incoherent rant filled with half-truths and nonsense as he did in an editorial a few weeks back. 

The strangest comment from Mr. Nesta is that Carroll College is a “self-proclaimed institution of higher learning.” Uh, sorry Mr. Nesta, they are a real, honest to goodness institution of higher learning.  They are accredited and have been here since 1846, which is a hell of a lot longer than the naysayers that live nearby.   I have yet to hear why people have moved near a college if they hate the college and its students so much.  If any of you Carroll College haters want to sell your nice Victorian home because you hate the school so much, drop me an e-mail. 

The most interesting thing is that according to this article in the Freeman that there was only one neighbor present to address the Council at the time of rezoning and that person was not the self-proclaimed neighborhood crusader Lance Nesta, it was Brian White.   If you are so up in arms about this you would think you would at least show up to voice your displeasure.  Apparently Mr. Nesta would rather spend time at home with his 45-year old fruitcake.  

Message to City: Quit messing with Taco Johns

Darryl Enriquez reports that Taco Johns wants to renovate and expand the but city officials say they are concerned about other problems with the site, such as handicapped parking, the lack of a proper trash enclosure and the configuration of the drive-through lane. 

Hey, they are fixing up an eyesore, cut them some slack.  Require a dumpster enclosure and make them meet handicapped parking requirements but what is wrong with the drive through configuration?  Its really no different than most restaurants.

Things from today’s Freeman

My alderman has made what might be one of the dumbest proposals I have heard in a while.  He wants the City to freeze taxes on seniors so they can stay in their houses.  While it sounds good on paper, it would be a total fiasco.  First, who is going to make up for the lost tax revenues from seniors as costs increase?  That’s right, all of us non-seniors who own property in the City.  Hardly seems fair to me.   Second, what is to stop people like me from transferring ownership of their property to relatives who are over the age of 70 so my taxes freeze? 

Someone in the Soundoff was ripping Larry Nelson for his plans to attend a couple of conferences.  The soundoff said “My jaw dropped when I read that Mayor Larry Nelson will be taking two months off to travel around the country.”  Really?  Apparently you cannot read to well (or only take in what you want to hear when you read).  If they had read the whole article before they ran to the computer to write their nonsense they would see that the article states that he has several conferences over the next couple of months.  It did not say he was taking two months off.   As someone who has attended a handful of government targeted conferences I can say that some are very useful and some are a complete waste of time.  Hopefully these conferences will give the Mayor some fresh new ideas as well as raise the profile of Waukesha.

 The plans to blanket the City in WiFi are dead for now.  Just like in Milwaukee, there are issues with coverage and cost.   I think the Mayor’s idea to try and establish it downtown has merit as long as it doesn’t cost taxpayers anything.