Jeff raises some points in his letter that I need to address. Below are his original statements/questions followed by my responses.
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Jeff: I read your list of things you perceive as "negative" about Shorewood, I had to wonder: why do you live here? You appear to be an advocate for lower taxes, a more politically conservative demographic, and bigger lot sizes, which sounds a lot like life in, well, Brookfield. Perhaps you could expound on that in another posting.
Steve: You have misunderstood the point of what I was writing. The point of the post was to list things which we should not attempt to communicate in the marketing plan. This post was not, in any way, meant to be a list of things I was advocating for or against. I certainly was not calling for lower taxes, bigger lots, or more conservative residents.
I am not sure where you have placed me on your mental political spectrum, but if you think my views would be more appropriate for Brookfield, I have not explained myself properly. My consistent advocacy for senior citizen services, equal treatment of low income renters, protection of our Village property from AT&T, pesticide free village property, etc. should suggest to you that you are misreading my political beliefs.
Like you, I love Shorewood for what it is. I have lived here since I was 9, moving back intentionally after my time in college, grad school, and the Army. If I gave the impression that I feel like a fish out of water in Shorewood, then thank you for bringing it up, because that certainly was not my intent.
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Jeff: The facts you stated in your column are true, but it's your opinions, not the facts themselves, that qualify them as "negative things." The bottom line is that it's all in how you look at it. What's "negative" to you might just be "positive" to other people.
Steve: True enough. The statements contained in the list are facts, but you are correct that my use of the word "negative" does indicate that I made a qualitative judgment about them. However, I would argue most people would agree that the facts I listed are negative,
if all else were equal We would all love to get everything, and pay nothing. Of course, as you point out, all else is never equal. High taxes often lead to good schools, infrastructure, etc. I believe my listing of School, the Library, and so forth in the list of positives indicates my recognition of the tradeoffs present in Shorewood, many of which lead to positive outcomes. As an aside, I am a strong believer in quality public education, having reaped the benefits of Shorewood schools myself.
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Jeff: Yes, compared to other Wisconsin municipalities, we are a high tax community. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing if you're the sort of person (like me) who doesn't mind paying a higher percentage of his income to property taxes. In fact, I think it's a "positive thing." What I get in return for high taxes are great schools and a clean, green community that is safe to live in, among many other things.
Steve: True, but again I would say I fully recognized the tradeoffs by listing things in the positives list which are paid for with tax dollars. On the other hand, being a high tax community is not a positive thing, in and of itself. It is a positive thing because of the outcome it produces. So in our marketing program, let's focus on the positives gained by our high taxes, rather than suggesting we are not a high tax community.
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Jeff: You say that Shorewood's liberalism is a "drawback" for some potential residents of more conservative viewpoints who wish to live near people of similar political beliefs. But you can also say the same thing about Brookfield's conservatism. People of similar values and beliefs tend to want to live near each other; this is how communities are formed. Steve, this isn't a drawback, it's human nature.
Steve: True, it is human nature to want to live near people of similar beliefs. I believe I stated clearly that this would only be a drawback for someone of a more conservative viewpoint. Once again, I simply believe we should focus on other things when marketing Shorewood, which was the point of the original post. This was added partly in response to several of the callers to the radio show, who said they would not move here based on our political leanings.
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