Mayor vs Freeman: Round 3

The war of words between the Mayor and the Freeman is escalating. It started last Saturday when the Freeman gave the Mayor a “Dart” in their weekly Laurels and Darts column. The dart was because Larry Nelson said at the Obama rally last week that “I feel an obligation to the citizens of Waukesha to say who I think would be the best president for the city of Waukesha, and that person is Barack Obama.” 

Not content to just let the issue die, Larry Nelson responded with a Guest Commentary on Tuesday in which he defended his statements.

Then this morning the Freeman responded to Nelson’s response to their Dart. They also posted an editorial cartoon in a potshot at Nelson and new City Administrator Lori Curtis Luther.

My take is that I side with both the Freeman and Nelson. I think that Nelson has the right to endorse whoever he wants but where I draw the line is when he said “I feel an obligation to the citizens of Waukesha to say who I think would be the best president for the city of Waukesha, and that person is Barack Obama.” No you don’t have an obligation to tell us who to vote for. We are adults who can make informed decisions on who we think is the best candidate and while I agree with Larry Nelson that Obama is the best candidate left, I think he crossed the “non-partisan” line that should define the Mayor’s office. What puzzled me was that Freeman said in todays response that “this is getting out of hand,” but isn’t the Freeman just contributing to it “getting out of hand” as well? Actually it isn’t getting out of hand. There were two events; Nelson’s blog posting and Nelson and Luther attending the rally. That’s it. In the grand scheme of things, this is really a non-issue. Aren’t there more important things to worry about like the fact that more downtown businesses have closed and that a sex offender was able to set up shop downtown? Maybe they should work on repairing Broadway Avenue from Racine Avenue to East Avenue before my muffler falls off from all of the potholes.

—

In a move that can only be described as puzzling, the ordinance and license committee decided that there should be limits on how long you can keep a dumpster on your property but not those obnoxious PODS storage units. What a joke. I think that the PODS should be subject to the same restrictions as dumpsters. I don’t think that any neighbors should have to put up with one of those being stored on a residential property indefinitely. According to the article, several aldermen had no issues with PODs overstaying their welcome and becoming an eyesore. If I lived next to an alderman I would go out and rent a pod and just let it sit on my driveway just to. prove that they are an eyesore. I plan on writing my Alderman, but I doubt I will get any response because I never do. Speaking of trash, we are going to license hookers escorts now too.

 

NIMBYs (oh and McCain Wins again)

So let me get this straight, you buy (or more likely build) a house in the Town of Lisbon near Halqusit Stone which has been there forever (ok only since 1929) and now you want to block them from expanding? If you didn’t want to live near a quarry why did you buy a house there? You had to know that they couldn’t dig in the same hole forever. Its the same as the people who move out to the country and then complain about the smells coming from the farm next door (then they complain when that farm is sold and developed too). Lets hope the County Board doesn’t undermine the wishes of the town board, which supports the expansion.

—

I am not sure how he did it by John McCain is on a roll. I have heard a lot of conservatives say that they will never support McCain but I don’t believe them. If given a choice between Hillary or McCain they are going to vote for McCain.

—

Ok so it was windy and cold last night, but it was hardly the storm we were led to believe it would be. Another weather story sensationalized by the media.

Friday

As everyone probably is aware, former Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus passed away Wednesday. The Freeman has some excellent coverage of his life and legacy including some of his Freeman Columns. To be honest I was too young to really know what he was like as a governor. I was too busy watching Star Wars and playing with Legos.

—

Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus on the Democratic Side, Huckabee on the Republican side. Huckabee thinks that this is “a new day in American politics.” No its not. Its a Republican candidate winning the Iowa Republican caucus just like what happens every 4 years. I think Hillary’s third place finish may be the beginning of her downward spiral. I just think that people have such a negative image of her (both Republicans and Democrats) that she will never get the nomination. I think in a few weeks it will be a two man race between Edwards and Obama with Obama winning the nomination.

—

The guy who wanted to challenge Alderman Paul Furrer in district 6 fell one signature short of the 20 that he needed to get on the ballot. He broke two of the most important rules in campaigning; 1) make sure whoever signs your papers actually lives in your district and 2) Collect a lot more signatures than you need (some people try to get 50 percent more than they need) because chances are that some are going to get thrown out. He can still mount a write-in campaign.

—

Congratulations to the UWM Panthers on their great victory last night against a very tough Wright State team. Wright State, who won the Horizon Leage Tournament last season, is the only team to beat #17 Butler this season. Despite losing Torre Johnson, Avery Smith, Roman Gentry and possibly Tim Flowers and Kevin Johnson, UWM is playing its best basketball of the season. Next up is Detroit on Saturday.