tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post5565039808461004344..comments2023-10-08T04:12:46.273-05:00Comments on The Political Environment: How One State Senator Shoots Her District In Its FootJames Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10203270946492159686noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-51209451338845718282007-04-12T13:25:00.000-05:002007-04-12T13:25:00.000-05:00I do stand corrected in that I did not see her col...I do stand corrected in that I did not see her column on other outlets where she sent it. I will correct my account of the chronology.<BR/><BR/>As to the email misconnections, I have searched my email box and do not see what she sent.<BR/><BR/>I have read Squillace's paper. I don't think it's a solution, either substantively or procedurally.<BR/><BR/>Maybe she can convince the legislative study committee otherwise, but I doubt it will starting over with a process that began in 2001.James Rowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10203270946492159686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-55902403932909729142007-04-12T08:43:00.000-05:002007-04-12T08:43:00.000-05:00LAZICH STANDS BY HER CONCERNS ABOUT GREAT LAKES WA...LAZICH STANDS BY HER CONCERNS ABOUT GREAT LAKES WATER COMPACT<BR/><BR/>James Rowen’s latest attack on me will not change my view that the Great Lakes Water Compact is flawed, bad for public health, bad for the environment, bad for economic development, and bad public policy. I stand by the concerns raised about the Compact in my blog posted April 9, 2007 at: <BR/><BR/>http://www.newberlinnow.com/blog/index.aspx?blogid=271&month=04&year=2007&entryid=35778<BR/><BR/>Rowen writes that “Lazich circulated throughout southeastern Wisconsin a statement of her broad objections to the Compact, and it finally saw the light of day as commentary in a community newspaper's blog on Monday April 9th.”<BR/><BR/>That’s not true. The posting on my blog of April 9 is a reprint of a column I distributed on March 16, 2007. The column was sent to the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel, the Waukesha Freeman, and the political web sites The Wheeler Report and Wispolitics.com. <BR/><BR/>Rowen then writes, “When a draft copy of Lazich's objections was emailed to me - - and you will note in it she blasted me over a blog posting I had written about these issues - - I emailed her on March 17th, and asked her for an explanation. .. I tried again on March 22nd and again on March 23rd...No replies... ”<BR/><BR/>Again, Rowen is incorrect. I do not forward to him drafts of my news releases or columns. The version I sent to Rowen on March 16, 2007 as a common courtesy was the final product that was posted on The Wheeler Report the same day. Records show that I did not receive his emails of March 17 and March 22 and that I did reply to his email of March 23 on March 26. I have yet to receive a response from Rowen to my March 26 email.<BR/><BR/>Rowen writes that he “pointed out that the blog link she copied into her draft letter was erroneous, linking to nothing, so whatever point she was intending to make about the blog item would be lost on the readers of her statement.”<BR/><BR/>The fact is my column has been posted on The Wheeler Report web site since the day it was released, March 16, 2007. I visited the site today, and the link in the column to Rowen’s blog that I referenced is the correct link, so I’m not sure what Rowen means.<BR/><BR/>I referenced Rowen’s blog again on my blog posting of April 9, 2007, including the name of his blog and the date of the blog entry I wrote about.<BR/><BR/>Rowen says my contention that the Compact negotiations should start from scratch wouldn’t play well in other states. I would remind Rowen that I’m not the only one who has major reservations with the Compact. The state of Ohio has raised serious property-rights concerns.<BR/><BR/>It is almost as if Rowen would prefer that I simply roll over and play dead about the Compact. I refuse to be a rubber stamp. If I see red flags that concern me, then I am going to object as any responsible public servant should. <BR/><BR/>The Colorado study I reference is a revealing indictment of the Compact. I challenge Rowen and others to read it thoroughly before they blithely dismiss my reservations. I hope the Great Lakes Study Committee has the opportunity to hear and quiz Colorado Professor Mark Squillace about his Legal Studies Great Lakes Compact Research Paper published in the Michigan State Law Review. I don't agree with everything Mark Squillace suggests. However, he provides thought provoking information. We can and we must do better than the current Compact.Senator Mary Lazichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06865288087981840239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-82984366676588014972007-04-11T14:23:00.000-05:002007-04-11T14:23:00.000-05:00Now that I've stopped laughing...Steve makes a goo...Now that I've stopped laughing...Steve makes a good point about Squillace. He may be a bomb-thrower. He may be the second coming of Al Gore. The point is that the leg. council staff has resources galore - - in house, from UW-M, the US Geological Survey, UW-Madison - - and the expertise of the non-politicians placed on the committee.<BR/><BR/>Lazich wants the process stopped until her guy can come in and speak. Well, fine: do the other 18 members get this privilege? How many more months of delay will there be?<BR/><BR/>Lazich's entire strategy, if there is on, is counter-productive, since it adds delay, uncertainity and conflict.<BR/><BR/>I'm guessing that the committee will fold up and another committee, with more input from Doyle, will take charge of the issue. He's the co-chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, and it looks bad for him and the process if his home state can't get its act together.<BR/><BR/>The committee, which is heavily weighted with Waukesha Republicans, does not reflect the post 11/06 Democratic win in the Senate, so that's another reason why a committee chaired by Kedzie, though he is respected by the Dems, is likely to have its curtain rung down.James Rowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10203270946492159686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-36114298809805721252007-04-11T13:17:00.000-05:002007-04-11T13:17:00.000-05:00Correction: I meant to describe Lazich as "uninfo...Correction: I meant to describe Lazich as "uninformed." I don't know if she wears a uniform or not; what her sartorial tastes run to isn't relevant to this discussion. Unless she frequently dons scuba gear, in which case she's shooting herself in her oxygen tank.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-29179914425503937062007-04-11T13:08:00.000-05:002007-04-11T13:08:00.000-05:00Jim is right that the Colorado professor's suggest...Jim is right that the Colorado professor's suggestion is the true deal-breaker. (The professor is Mark Squillace, Director of the Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Colorado and briefly worked for Babbitt at Interior. Find him at http://lawweb.colorado.edu/profiles/profile.jsp?id=189 <BR/>He doesn't sound like a bomb-thrower, but who knows.)<BR/>My suspicion is that Squillace's perpsective is that of an academic - if something isn't pure enough, it's unacceptable. No thought of the real-world political process that led to the Compact. A process that would not be duplicated any time in the next decade. Further, no state, after enduring the negotiation process, would agree to reopen the subject. So Squillace, and his Number One Fan Lazich, just have to suck it up and live with it. Jim starts a good argument that the Compact is good for New Berlin. Maybe that line of thinking should be pursued. Certainly without it they're unlikely to ever get what they want. However, Lazich seems disinclined to constructive and pragmatic dialogue, remaining content to be an inflammatory, uniformed, knee-jerk critic. Those aren't the kind of people who get things done, so she may be of no help to her side anyway. Let's hope her constituents realize this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com