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.

Congressional 5th District...

Congressman Sensenbrenner (R) easily defeated challenger Burkee (R) by a vote of 47,157 (78%) to 13,083 (22%).  This race appeared to be quite competitive if all the pundits were to be believed.  Burkee started with a very conservative message that seemed to fade into a somewhat conservative message.  That very probably is what turned the tide.  That and the support of the Journal Sentinel and Shepherd Express for Burkee spelled the end to this challenge.

To be fair, Sensenbrenner was very engaged this time around given the perceived threat.  But, Burkee just couldn't mount a serious challenge in the final analysis.

Assembly District 24...

This was a wide open race with four Republicans and two Democrats in the fray.  Brady (D) waged a very quiet campaign with knocks on doors giving her exposure rather than advertisements.  Lauer (D) spent a good deal more money but apparently was done in by name recognition and maybe lack of a resonating message to inspire Democrat voters.

Three of the four Republicans seemed to be 'everywhere' with signage and mailers.  One of those, Melchert, easily buried the other two with his spending.  The fourth Republican barely showed his face.

It is interesting to look at the money spent in this primary race (based upon state filings with Dan Knodl's being incomplete and filed only through June 30th while the balance reflect filings as of September 8th) .  While one might expect the actual race to carry a big price tag, this seat is usually solid Republican.  Unless there is some kind of bombshell, this race is virtually a foregone conclusion.

• Charlene Brady (D) spent $274.04, and won her race with 564 votes that cost her $0.49 each.
• Torrey Lauer (D) spent $5,602.59, and lost his race with 386 votes that cost him $14.51 each.

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• Dan Knodl (R) spent $17,072.32, won his race with 2,706 votes that cost him $6.31 each.
• Jason LaSage (R) spent $5,921.18, came in second with 2,312 votes that cost him $2.56 each.
• Randy Melchert (R) spent $33,754.76, came in third with 1,995 votes that cost him $16.92 each.
• Michael Moscicke (R) spent $46.00, came in fourth with 215 votes that cost him $0.21 each.

What does all this mean?  That is difficult to fathom but here are some points:

• Name recognition seems to carry significant weight with both current Washington County Supervisors carrying their respective races.
• Money didn't make the biggest difference in the Republican race.  LaSage seemed to make more door-to-door visits than Melchert and spent 17.5% of what Melchert spent and garnered more votes.
• A total of $62,670.89 was spent in the Assembly race for which 8,178 people turned out.  That seems to be a relatively low "return on investment".
• Future contestants may well be dissuaded from running simply because they can't spend 'enough' money.
• One candidate contributed $30,000 to his own campaign; that seems quite grandiose to me.
• Finally, if the ultimate winner holds the Assembly seat for eight or ten terms, he or she will probably think the initial investment was quite reasonable.

Would term limits be something we should consider in state politics?  As was pointed out in a week-end newspaper article, term limits have certainly not held the state of Colorado back from growth, low taxes and good educational results. 

The latest count on the race to replace Sue Jeskewitz is now standing at five.  Randy Melchert (R) and Jason LaSage (R) have been involved in our Assembly "Debate" series as you know.

The additional filed candidates are:

Ms. Charlene Brady (D), a Germantown resident who is currently serving on the Washington County Board of Supervisors

Mr. Torrey Lauer (D), a Germantown resident

Mr. Dan Knodl (R),  Germantown resident who is currently serving on the Washington County Board of Supervisors

We hope to obtain the agreement of the three additional candidates to participate in the Assembly "Debate" Blog series that has begun.  If one or more decide to do so, we'll ask them the same questions already published and print a 'catch-up' Blog to get all five on the same topics from that point forward.

There is still time for another candidate or two if I remember correctly.  I believe that July 8th is the final date for the Declaration of Candidacy filing.

We should have a spirited discussion as we move toward the primary election in early-September.

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?

Random thoughts:

• The turn-out by voters in Germantown was reported to be some 34%, as contrasted with the statewide prediction of only about 20%.  That may well be a 'victory' for the group that was pushing its agenda using postcards and telephone calls.  I suspect that this group stimulated a greater turnout than would've otherwise been the case.  That is a good thing.
• It seems though that the voters were not swayed sufficiently so as to follow the suggestions made by this group.  Those who were criticized by this group seem to have fared well enough to win.  Those who were 'favored' by not being attacked by this group didn't fare as well.  Are we likely done with this kind of electioneering in Germantown?  I am admittedly naive, but I'm not that naive.  I expect these tactics will continue to be seen in future Germantown elections.
• The need for some kind of solution to the school crowding in the Germantown district will have to be addressed at some point in the future.  It may be that a scaled down version of the defeated proposition will find its way to a ballot later this year.  If so, I suspect we'll see higher interest rates and increases in all the associated costs so that, even if the total bond issue were to be reduced, the ultimate costs could very well exceed what would've been the case with this issue.  The reported 55% to 45% margin was a bit surprising; I had suspected the issue might have been outvoted by a larger number.  The smaller turn-out obviously included a higher number of voters who favored the referendum.  That might be expected in a non-Presidential election.
• The face of the School Board changes a bit.
• The state Supreme Court race was critical, in my view, and the conservative won albeit by a relatively slim margin.  That bodes well for the state.
• There is a large segment of new members elected to the Washington County Board.  What that will mean can only be determined as we see the outcome of the various issues that will face this new board.  I hope that we will see special attention paid to holding down spending and thus taxes.  Maybe my naivite' is showing again.
• And, the 'Frankenstein Veto' has died at the hands of the voters.  That, also, is a very good thing without regard to which party might control the Governor's Mansion.

All in all, the voters have spoken and our representative form of government is working as was intended.

Wisconsin citizens get the opportunity to vote on whether or not the 'Frankenstein Veto' should be eliminated by constitutional amendment.  This was made possible when the Assembly gave its final approval yesterday. 

The question will appear on the April 1st ballots.

As you'll probably remember, Governor Doyle found letters, numbers and punctuation marks across many pages of the budget to enable him to cobble together a new budget item that transferred some $470,000 from the transportation fund to another pet program that the legislature had not given him.

His spokespersons, of course, decry the elimination of this 'tool' since it gives them the opportunity to protect us from the evil legislature whenever it is misguided from Doyle's perspective.

I often disagree with legislative actions, but I have to believe that we're better off not having the governor armed with this ability.  No matter your feelings about the current governor, do you want future governors to have this kind of a tool?

You will also have the opportunity to help shape the future of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, choose your state senator, vote on the school referendum and school board members, and elect county supervisors and village trustees.  Mark April 1st on your calendar (and ignore the fact that this is also "April Fool's Day').

The morning Journal Sentinel carried the listing of races that we'll be deciding during the February 19th and then the April 1st elections this year.

I noted that the 7th District of Washington County has no one running for the Supervisor spot.  Interesting.  Maybe a write-in candidate will appear on the horizon.

I also noted that two Germantown Trustees also appear to be County Supervisors and are running for re-election in both races.

Mel Ewert is listed as the incumbent in District 26 as the County Supervisor while he is also the incumbent for Germantown's District 3 Trustee spot.  Similarly, Peter Sorce is listed as the incumbent in District 28 as the County Supervisor while he is also the incumbent for Germantown's District 2 Trustee position.

This raises the question as to whether or not the citizens of Germantown & Washington County receive all the representation they deserve if two people occupy two different positions at two different levels of government.

It seems, in my simple mind at least, that every once in awhile there must be something that develops in the village that flies in the face of the two peoples' roles at the county level.  It seems that the reverse could certainly be true.  I suspect that, if this were to occur, both gentlemen would abstain from the vote in one or the other jurisdiction.  I'm not suggesting that any skulduggery is involved.

I am wondering if we all get full value from both gentlemen if they periodically find themselves placed in the precarious position of having to vote for one or against the other jurisdiction's best interest while sitting as an elected official of the other governmental unit?  What about the situation where county funding is being debated about a village need?  What happens if the county is about to provide some funding for a project that one or both gentlemen are opposed to at the village level?  What do they do?  If they abstain, could that affect the outcome one way or the other?  I suspect it could in the case of a close vote.  Then there is the whole thing as to what the impact might be if they do not abstain and instead vote their positions twice.

What about the establishment of county tax rates that will impact the village?  Could that work against the village if both abstained from the vote?  It seems possible that it could. 

In my naiveté, I am a bit surprised that our laws permit this kind of situation.  It seems this just invites problems that could otherwise be avoided.