Journal Sentinel Describes Mayor Scrima's Isolation, But There's More...

There is little doubt that the new Mayor of Waukesha has run into a solid wall of institutional opposition over his objections to and questions about the city's application for Lake Michigan water.

The business community and other elements of the city government are all four-square in favor of the application.

What is getting less attention is this question:

Why did the state Department of Natural Resources send back the application?

Was it simply because Scrima doesn't like it?

No.

Take a look at the DNR's letter and you will that the agency cited financial and substantive deficiencies in the document. That initial rejection presumably would have happened if Mayor Nelson were still in office, correct?

We'll see how the DNR responds to the question of whether, or to what degree, political considerations (Scrima v. others ) or technical/environmental/scientific and legal matters drove the agency's action - - which is what Scrima has asked the DNR to clarify.

Not a bad question.

[Here also is one link to several relevant documents]

And don't forget that the DNR's substantive questions mirror those raised months ago by environmental groups, as I indicated here.