tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post7262984000899216206..comments2023-10-08T04:12:46.273-05:00Comments on The Political Environment: Sharing Taxes From Development Could Help New Berlin Win A Water Deal, Waukesha Consultant WroteJames Rowenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10203270946492159686noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-64397663931966919522008-01-20T07:54:00.000-06:002008-01-20T07:54:00.000-06:00Forget about any sharing of the expected and await...Forget about any sharing of the expected and awaited tax revenue that should derive from building-out the 13 sq.miles of unincorporated land south and west of Waukesha. The residents of the first of those new upscale subdivisions have already spoken on the issue of taxes. They are not going to like the idea of SHARING them. Their demand: LOWER them.<BR/><BR/>They seem to believe that they pay more taxes than anyone else and therefore deserve more say in decisions about such things as the location of watertowers (cf. Tallgrass) and the placement of fire stations ("We demand a new one close to our street--but no so close that we have to look at it".)<BR/><BR/>And the never-ending lamentation about how they are being taxed to death because of library expansion (we don't need libraries; we have the internet) and Parks/Recreation (we don't need parks, we have park-like lots) and schools (too much money wasted on bi-lingual ed. for the children of people who clean our houses and mow-and-blow our park-like lots).<BR/><BR/>There's gonna be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the "class war" on the beleaguered, overextended yuppies in their tract mansions--tract mansions with hallucinated market values that appear to be dropping like a stone.<BR/><BR/>It is time for a thorough house- cleaning at the Waukesha Water Utility Commission.<BR/><BR/>Start with President Daniel Warren, 20 years on the 5-member Commission, convicted a year ago Driving under the Influence; cited and fined six months before that for violation of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law, albeit while serving on a different public body--the Waukesha School Board. Will somebody find me a reference to an opinion--just one--that this kind of long-term domination of a small, secretive, unelected body is healthy in a democratic society?<BR/><BR/>Secretary Gerald Couri, 14 years (same caveat about long-term membership/leadership position in a small, clubby, unelected group) on the Water Utility Commission. Once a couple of years ago missed more than half of the meetings over a period of about 13 months--and they only meet once a month.<BR/><BR/>Commissioner Greg Zinda exudes nothing so much as an air of timidity, seems to have no inclination to take a leadership role, virtually always votes WITH the leadership on any issue.<BR/><BR/>Commissioner Peggy Bull, Alderman, recently appointed, and giving every appearance of buying in wholeheartedly to the notion of the people's business done in secret.<BR/><BR/>Commissioner ex officio, Mayor Larry Nelson. This says it all: he didn't merely doze; he snored through most of a full fifteen minutes at the December meeting during an important briefing by a technical consultant. How do I know he slept? I sat within four feet of his chair, a chair which I personally poked unobtrusively with my foot in an (unheeded) attempt to spare him further embarrassment. He appoints all the other Commissioners.<BR/><BR/>Is it any wonder that The Waukesha Water Utility rejected advice from a consultant that even hinted at the idea of treating water from Lake Michigan, delivered through the instrumentality of the City of Milwaukee, that seemed to hint at this as a shared resource.<BR/><BR/>They recoiled at the notion of any quid pro quo. The only way to get reasonably good performance out of the Water Utility Commission is to start fresh--1. A new group of commissioners. 2. More members of the Commission. 3. Term limits. 4. Pressure to stop holding critical meetings in closed--that is, secret--sessions. 5. Close examination of the money spent on consultants and a close reading of what the consultants are trying to accomplish.Jim Boumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17211745461377043118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621691715090523319.post-54874581821449013072008-01-19T03:07:00.000-06:002008-01-19T03:07:00.000-06:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Jim Boumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17211745461377043118noreply@blogger.com