Sendik's Food Market 60 Days Later...

I have yet to encounter a Sendik's associate who wasn't happy to be there and who wasn't happy to help me.

I have noted that the facility remains bright and cheery with a very clean floor, which I thought might be problematic given carpeting.  Winter will be a bigger challenge.  Shelves are always fully stocked; delicious samples are scattered throughout the store.

I don't know about you, but I am happy Sendik's selected Germantown as the site for one of their beautiful grocery facilities.

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Veterans Day 2008...

Remember that the 2008 Veterans Day ceremony will be held at the Veterans Memorial at the corner of Freistadt Road and Park Avenue on Sunday, November 9th at 10:30AM.  If you've not seen the memorial, it is worth your time.

A little history...

Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day when proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson for November 11, 1919 to celebrate all veterans of World War I.  It finally became known as Veterans Day on November 8, 1954 when Congress amended the act to change the name and to have the day honor all veterans who have served their country.  The President was Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The American Legion will also conduct a flag disposal ceremony following the program so that you can properly dispose of any torn, tattered and/or faded American Flag you may have.

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County Supervisors Cut Property Tax Levy...

The supervisors agreed to take half of the county's sales tax revenue into the operating budget for 2009.

Unfortunately, this budget cuts the $35,000 for the County Convention and Visitors Bureau and cuts $15,000 from the Fair Park.  The Village of Germantown is working to assist the Convention and Visitors Bureau since it receives significant promotion from that organization and felt that the funding cut by the county would have consequences for the community and its merchants.

The county set a 2009 tax rate of $2.71 per $1,000 which is down about $0.10 per $1,000 from this year.

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SRO Officer In Schools...

I had the pleasure of meeting SRO Tim Miller during the Citizen Police Academy session this past Wednesday evening.  He gave us an overview of his duties in the schools and discussed the changes that have been brought about since this program was initiated.  "SRO" means School Resource Officer.  The SRO is a sworn officer and funding for this position is paid jointly by the school district and the police department on a 75%-25% ratio, respectively.

Our high school is a much quieter place of learning than before the initiation of this program several years ago.  Student fights seldom occur now; the SRO has formed relationships that help both students and administration.  And, students develop, I suspect, a much different view of police officers having had this experience.  The SRO is available for class instruction whenever the subject matter entails.  SRO Miller, in this case, can 'tell it like it is' during driver education and health classes, for example.

This strikes me as a very good use of taxpayer dollars that provides both a current payback as well as future benefits.

School District Referenda...

District residents will have the opportunity to make their wishes known with the news that two referenda items will appear on the local ballots.  The votes were unanimous with one member, Bruce Warnimont, absent from the special meeting.

The first item will see the question concerning approval of borrowing $22.5M to support the building of a new elementary school building for approximately $17.5M while using the balance for security and plant upgrades at the other existing school buildings.  The Journal Sentinel story this morning stated the cost to a homeowner with a $200,000 home would amount to about $74 per year.

The second item is the question concerning the district being authorized to borrow $500,000 for current operating expenses in excess of the current revenue cap.  That same homeowner would see this item add some $30 per year to the property tax bill.

Business Manager Ric Ericksen was quoted as saying that these costs would drop after existing debt is paid off in 2012.

Yesterday's Blog on this subject saw a healthy exchange of ideas and information amongst readers.  I hope we might see that exchange continue.

Knodl Konundrum...

I missed my guess on this item; I expected it to die down after a couple of days.  But, it seems this story has grown some fairly strong legs.

That has no doubt been caused by the original complaint filing by the Menomonee Falls resident, a letter from Jason LaSage to Dan Knodl that found its way into the Journal Sentinel story this morning...and some relatively questionable handling by Knodl himself.

Radio talk shows have continued to discuss this situation and reporters have obviously decided it has some continuing merit.

And, the longer this goes on, the more I begin to wonder if there isn't something more here than I originally felt to be the case.

The initial response from Knodl seemed plausible.  The subsequent statements that differ a bit from that original explanation raise some further questions...simply because the explanation has changed.  I hope the investigation by the Ozaukee County DA will be conducted promptly and that this can be put to rest so that it doesn't cloud the November election anymore than the facts, once exposed, justify.

We are, by all signs, involved in an oil cost run-up driven by demand being greater than supply.  It is exacerbated for us Americans because our monetary policy has seen an intentional softening of the dollar (our money is worth less than other peoples' money, so it takes more of it to buy a barrel of crude oil).  I paid $4.20 per gallon yesterday with the price of crude oil standing at about $130 +/- per barrel.  Predictions of crude oil prices of $150 per barrel or more are seen or heard regularly now.  And, the cost of oil could well be higher than that by year-end.

How did we get to this point?  We got there by congressional law making, by presidents rolling over and signing those bills, and by our country's increasing needs/demand for gasoline and diesel fuel.  Why would we permit ourselves to become part of such a quagmire?

Politics!  Politics played by those on both sides of the aisle.  Conservatives seem to have lost their voices.  Liberals never seem to lose their voices.

Laws were re-written more than thirty years ago to make it nearly impossible for a new refinery to be built.  Those were the result of congress being rolled by the environmentalists and presidents either believing the rhetoric of the day or fearing the backlash should they stand up to the rhetoric.  This has continued to this very day.  We are forbidden from drilling within 200 miles of the California and Florida coastlines but the Chinese are already doing so as we sit on our thumbs.  We are unable to pursue the shale oil deposits that span our northern plains and southwestern states.  We have ample untapped resources that are readily available but our laws don't permit us to make use of those resources.

We see the 'global warming' group and the 'environmentalist group' driving our economy into the ground...and we have not found the moral outrage/courage to stand up to them and say "no more"!  We could easily build new refineries in any number of locations around our country but we're not permitted to do so.  We know how to drill and refine today without ruining our world.  It takes from 6 to 10 years to bring a new refinery on-line so the time to have declared a moratorium on the rules that made it impossible to build new refining capacity has come and gone.  But, the typical congressional response of "that will take ten years" should remind us that if we don't roll back those silly laws today, it'll take ten years from whenever we do roll back those silly laws.  The time to begin is now, not next week or next month.

We witnessed the ridiculous 'hearings' held by congress in the past few weeks.  We watched as Sen. Herb Kohl embarrassed himself by chiding the 'big bad oil companies' for making a profit.  He is a former businessman who certainly understands that profit must be derived in order for businesses to exist and grow.  He knew how that worked when he ran Kohl's Food Stores.  He certainly must have some comprehension as the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.  His statement to the oil company executives that their profits didn't seem fair gives one a lot of insight.  He knows better but he will play/pander to the crowd he favors.  He 'feels' as do most liberals.  He doesn't necessarily reason.  He has his millions, so he can set out to control everyone else who aspires to similar success.

Sen. Kohl is but one of the 535 members of congress.  Too many of those men and women are too intent on keeping their offices to actually vote the way they probably know they should.  You have probably heard the old phrase that states you must "go along to get along".  That should be inscribed over the doorways leading to the House and the Senate chambers since it is the rule that is followed by the vast majority of people who walk through those portals.  That is true on the national stage, the state stage and the local stage.

The people who go to Washington and who do not give in and play by the Washingtonian rules are few and very far between.

Whose fault is this dilemma in the final analysis?  Yours and mine. 

We're the men and women who have permitted this to happen.  We don't vote in the House or the Senate, but we do elect those who do...and we do not seem to unelect people very often once they've gotten into office.  Rep. Steve Kagen (D) from the Appleton area stands for re-election this November.  He is at his most defeatable point historically.  If he survives the first re-election campaign and keeps his seat, he is likely to be in that seat for so long as he desires without regard to how he votes or doesn't vote.

We're so unconcerned about our vote, it seems, that we don't even think voting is sacrosanct enough to require valid photo identification before we're permitted to cast a ballot. 

So, all this angst has been brought to us by us.  Remember that the next time you buy gasoline or diesel fuel.  Remember that the next time you go to the grocery store and try to make your food budget stretch.  Remember that when you ponder whether or not you'll be able to take a vacation this year, or buy new school clothing for your children, or go out for a fish fry.  Remember that when you try to stretch your retirement income to cover your basic needs.

And, when you've gotten yourself all 'cranked up', if that happens, make a resolution to get involved and stay involved and to talk with your elected representatives at every level of government and let them know what you think and what you want them to do on your behalf.  And, if they fail you, fire them with your vote at the polling place.

Had you and I done that two decades ago instead of simply going with the flow, maybe we'd not be in the situation we find ourselves in today.

It is difficult, at best, to process information and understand whatever bias one might've injected.  There may be bias or it might be imagined.  The bias, if present, could be caused by the processor or it could have been injected into the process itself through the data gathering effort.

There is a certain tone, a certain something that seems to be going on in our fair community.  We have had political change, but it is hard to determine if that was a cause or an effect, or maybe a combination of those drivers.  We have an aging volunteer community that may foretell of more changes.  For example, will there cease to be a Mai Fest in a year or two or three given the fact that many of the organizers and behind-the-scenes drivers are getting almost too old to continue on their chosen pathways.

There are the rumors that one hears and there may or may not be truth, to whatever degree hindsight will prove, but those rumors have gained in intensity and show no signs of diminishing.  Again, that may be a bias that I've injected or that has been provided knowingly or unknowingly by the people involved in the process.

There is the sense that the school bonding issue, if brought back with no change, and if not thoroughly 'vetted' in public, will be a disaster.

There is the presidential race that will continue to confuse and confound us all until November.  There is the state senate race that will continue to elicit feelings, pro and con, about each candidate.  There is the assembly vacancy that will likely have candidates from both major parties, but that is yet to unfold.

My sense is that we are witnesses to something that will unfold over the course of months and, maybe, years.  I sense what some might refer to as a watershed.  But I have not been able to pin down anything of sufficient substance as of yet to begin to draw conclusions.  All I have are feelings and yet those are giving me the sense that there is something on our collective horizon that we'll look back on for years to come.

You know how the hairs on the back of your neck sort of stand up?  What do you think?

I encourage readers to click on the earlier Elementary School Blog for the give and take between citizen Irwin Fletcher and School Board member Bruce Warnimont.

This dialog will likely continue for some time and some of Mr. Warnimont's responses will appear at that location while others will comprise separate Blogs.  He has responded to questions that Mr. Fletcher had posted earlier, and the responses are very instructive.

Besides, this makes the Blog stay fresher while I'm out of town than it might otherwise :>). 

Seriously, the question as to a Yes or No vote on the elementary school issue is very important to our community, our parents and, especially, our children.  Mr. Warnimont has explained, I believe, how the expenditure of funds to build a new building might very well be offset ++ by state revenue increases. 

You need to be the judge, and you need information to be able to make the proper judgement.

That is our aim in this series.