News item is that Municipal Judge Joseph L. Cook is asking for a reduction in tickets being written by the police due to his workload, claiming the court is understaffed. My initial reaction is, "Welcome to the private sector"! In business it means do more with less, as in overtime. There's 24 hours in a day. Six or so hours to sleep should be enough. There's also the weekend. You did campaign for the position, didn't you Your Honor?

What ordinances should the police not enforce? Are they to consider who the violator is or who the complaining party is? As in some people are more equal than others? Does this mean that there are ordinances on the books that are not really worthy to be there other than for revenue or to be used for "Gotcha" situations?

Perhaps my kneejerk reaction is not fair to a situation that needs closer analysis but you have to wonder. In the meantime, I'll be careful not to give cause for being giving a citation. I might end up in front of Judge Cook!

A few weeks ago there was a news item that the city was spending $50,000 to contract with a consulting firm to do a survey regarding strategic planning for the next five years. If you have had enough caffeine to keep you from dozing off for a while and you have some time on your hands, check it out here. Pardon me, but for $50,000 this outfit better have a mind-reader on staff!

I've take many surveys in the course of business and I've created them using FREE survey software such as Survey Monkey.  A silly name but a fine product that large corporations use. Among the problems with the survey, I see no way of qualifying the respondents. There is one for citizens, one for the council members and one for business people. All do not appear to have any way of proving who the person is. At least the citizen survey that I took did not. I clicked on the council survey and it appeared to start the same as the citizen's and unless there is something at the end of it requiring a social security number, address or something, I suspect there could be dozens of aldermen responding! I did not go through the whole thing. After all, I have to be at work in ten hours.

Past that flaw, the survey is primarily fill in the blanks. This appears to be a one survey fits all cities. That strategy certain cuts the expense of doing a little research and zeroing in on the issues of the city. After all, you can only do so much work for $50,000 and free survey software!

I dusted off my crystal ball and saw the final report. It said, "Judging from the quantity of surveys filled out seriously, the vast majority of the people appear to be satisfied with the way the city has been managed in the recent past. As there were few suggestions for the future, the majority of the citizens must be content with baseball league financing, raucous Harley Davidson parties, road pavement fashioned after the surface of the moon, a public transportation system thats not crowded, a fire station on every corner (these replace the taverns) and radium laced water that is in short supply. (The glow in the dark feature comes in handy after midnight.)

 All joking aside, if I were joking, working people have much more that they'd rather do than attend meetings in the evening. The local media does a great job of informing us about the issues and the editorial pages give some a chance to make their opinion known. Ross Perot, love him or hate him, was in the data business and visioned the people being more involved in government via the Internet. I thought that was a good thing.

The concept of this five year planning survey is a good idea too. There are just too many flaws with it as it is. It should be removed, reworked and then reimplemented. Any kid on a computer at the library could do it better. In the mean time, the old tried and true way of expressing yourself via letters, email and phone calls should be done.

Can we get our money back?

A former editor of a local newspaper has told his readers that if they don't want to contend with the big Harley party this summer, leave town for a few days. How quaint!

As I am a motorcyclist for over forty years and have taken several camping excursions into the Appalacian Mountains and attended many motorcycle rallies, Harley Davidison specific included, I believe I have a more knowledgable opinion of this than those in the city that only see $$ dollars $$ and a little rumble in the air. 

Harley Davidson riders are divided into three groups. They are the hard core riders. They look like Paul Tuetul. Tatoos are cool. Out of my way type of people. Also known as the 1%ers. Then there are the Wannabes.  Like Clark Kent, they lead boring lives in their community and help old ladies across the street during the week.  On weekends they transform into the appearance of Sonny Barger, the most famous 1%er, but stop short of riding up and down the street whacking the citizens of Hollister with chains and being served food and beverage then leaving without paying for it. They have a Walter Mitty desire to be looked at by the cowering spectators as a 1%er.  They do some good deeds and raise some money for charity from time to time so they can have the police look the other way when they push the limits of law. The third type of Harley Rider can be confused with a Honda rider. They don't necessarily wear the uniform or have the attitude.  They just like the looks and sound of the machine and enjoy the ride.

Harley events also have double lives. There is the main event. Perhaps the most well know is Dayton Florida. I've never been there but I think it is about to be held as I write this blog. It is a rite of spring and the season kick-off. The hard core riders visit the main event but look for something a little more thrilling.  These side events are usually miles away from the main event or in a neighboring city. They are not sanctioned by the main event sponsor. Camera crews from "girls gone wild" frequently show up. The smell of burning hemp is in the air and the syringes littering the area are not from diabetics. Hospitals have to call in off-duty doctors and nurses. Beer trucks are hijacked.

Waukesha's event will fall someplace between Lake George New York (Americade) and Hollister California, and I don't mean geographically. I mean mild and wild.  This is why I've gone on record that is it best held at the County Expo grounds. 

The organizers say that they will have security covered by rent-a-cops and the police will not have to lift a finger. Perhaps, and I certainly hope so. However, I've seen what naive little towns get themselves into.  We'll need the sheriff deputies near by.  Lots of them.