Monday, November 29, 2010

Is Fine Dining On This Week's SEWRPC Menu?

"For those following the regional planning commission's water supply study - - five years in the making and concluding that the best option for the region is to send Lake Michigan water to Waukesha (surprise!) - - note that the full commission holds its quarterly meeting Wednesdayday, December 1st, in downtown Milwaukee, with the plan adoption on its agenda.

I will reproduce the agenda in part below with the details.

Last year, the commission adjourned its meeting held at the The War Memorial on the lakefront and reconvened - - with selected senior staff and former staffers (now with consultant work) a few blocks away at The University Club for a taxpayer-paid dinner costing $1,000.

Recession?

Not a problem - - if you have an operating budget provided by the commission's seven counties as a matter of debate-free regularity from their taxpayer's property tax collections.

The menu included cordon bleu, beef tenderloin and truffle cake. 

The dinner was not on last year's December meeting agenda, but members openly counted heads for attendance at the meal as the meeting was ending - - a meeting I attended - - so as far as I could tell, it was just business as usual: another year in the books: off to the soiree.

I have asked SEWRPC Executive Director Ken Yunker if that is the plan this year, too, but far have not heard back.

Here is the meeting information from SEWRP's home page:

"NOTICE OF MEETING SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION QUARTERLY MEETING

December 1, 2010 3:00 p.m.
Milwaukee County War Memorial Center North Memorial Hall, 3rd Floor 750 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr. Milwaukee, WI 53202

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

5.    Consideration of adoption of the SEWRPC Planning Report No. 52, A Regional Water Supply Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin (copy of Planning Report and Resolution No. 2010-18 enclosed)."

And the dinner? If I get an answer to last week's email inquiries, I'll post it.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

$1000 for an executive committee dinner? That sounds like a bargain. Now if this is a once a year dinner to celebrate the holidays and to thank those members for their efforts for the entire year...what would you prefer they do...go to Chili's? Is there anywhere in your blog that blasts the President and his ridiculous entourage and their hundreds of millions spent on his Asian trip recently? How about the members of the Milwaukee Common Council or School Board members that take week long jaunts to seminars that they don't actually attend and have the taxpayers pay for it? How productive were trips by Doyle and his staff to overseas locations in the name of attracting business to Wisconsin? You're barking up the wrong tree with a $1000 dinner....

Boxer said...

$1000 is a lot of TAX-PAYER money. SEWRPC is a tax-payer funded organization. And its employees and directors are WELL COMPENSATED, with lots of freebie perks, such as cars, cadillac health care plans and continued consultant payments in retirement. So they receive a full pension while collecting additional, fat, consulting fees for the expertise they developed while being paid by the tax-payers as SEWRPC employees.

If they want to enjoy a nice holiday dinner, play footsie under the table or trade Secret Santa gifts, I could give a rat's a**, but it had better be on their own freakin' dime.

You BETCHA!!

Oliver said...

Please m'am . . . may I have some more . . . truffle cake ? . . .

Anonymous said...

So....by my calculations...the Commissioners are paid about $25 per meeting. Let's just say that a commissioner sits on one committee as well...so they would attend one all day meeting a month and let's say for argument that they also attend one 1/2 day meeting a month. That would equate to roughly 144 hours of time spent annually while getting paid $600 annually. SO they are paid roughly $4.17/hr. Now, what is the minimum wage in Wisconsin? Perhaps they SHOULD not be allowed to have their $1000 dinner once a year...but then they should be properly compensated for their time. However, I think that the dinner would likely be a bargain compared to a proper wage increase.

Anonymous said...

or how about this.....

If they think they are being treated and compensated unfairly, don't offer to do the job. It is not about the money, it is about their own personal agenda and power.

Last I checked they were not forced to be on the commission. If they don't like the pay with or without the private dinner, just quit!

I would also guess that these members are not giving up their salaries or taking vacation days at their existing jobs to attend these meetings either.

Again, just quit!