I just got done talking with Mayor Taylor about the Boomgaard matter. Alderwoman Dimity Grabowski's e-mail definitely had an impact. Due to the hint of the Oak Creek Alderwoman possibly putting the Boomgaard item on the Oak Creek Common Council's agenda, Mayor Taylor sent the name back to the 27th Street Steering Committee. Tom also noted that Mayor Bolender of Oak Creek has agreed on this too.
With this announcement, the Mayor shared his concern about the blogs taking a negative turn. He used the word "gay bashing" in reference to what he's hearing from some residents. I stand on the philosophy that any future discussion on this blog in regards to rumors of any kind of red light district must have plenty of evidence backing it up. My main points are tax dollars spent, public input, and rediscussion of the matter since there has been such negative feedback online.
Another note would have to be the Mayor pulling out his infamous quote,
"There is another side to this. A significant amount (majority) supports the name."
I responded candidly:
"If that's the case, send em my way!"
So far the blogs and the NOW forum have not received many positive responses to the name. As one of the bloggers noted in the past, if there is support, it's real silent online. Also, whenever I talk to people about this item, I still don't hear positive remarks.
The Mayor believes we are not in a Democracy, but rather in a Republic. If 33,000 people had a say in everything, the system would be jammed, according to Mayor Taylor. The public should feel comfortable with their elected officials in making decisions for them. My belief on this is simple, and I expressed it to the Mayor. If the public can get involved on the 27th Street Streetscaping plan, they would most likely get involved in the naming process.
What's amusing to me is the fact that the Steering Committee states that there were plenty of meetings with public comments allowed (citizen comment period), nobody spoke. Well, as a resident of Franklin (and rather in the know about some things), I didn't even know we were in the naming process. As far as I'm concerned, if I didn't know about it, I'm sure not a lot of others did either. As far as I know, the naming process was mostly done within closed session with the Steering Committee. If it wasn't done like that, then why did both Councils need to vote on the name in closed session?
Ultimately, I think this matter needs to still come before the Councils. I don't think I can place 100% trust in the Steering Committee members anymore. There has been too much crap going on for me to feel uneasy with the concept of review by the Steering Committee, which turns out to be a 4 member group - 2 from each community. Furthermore, the 2 members representing Franklin are unelected, which brings up more issues with me.
That's my comments for now.
