Deciding not to let the voters of Shorewood elect a trustee to replace Phinney who resigned his seat, the Village Board interviewed 12 applicants ..........

( I believe none of the twelve have ever subjected themselves to the bright light of the election process and found this back door way to office to be more palatable !)

The Village Board Members selected Sean Cummings, who is the co-chair of the D2D Committee. 

The D2D project, replacing the SHS natural field with an artificial field, and possibly adding a big dome for winter, was touted as a private contribution project that would cost in the $3 million range.

The "private contribution" aspect of the project may have been well intentioned at first, but the D2D Committee, with Sean Cummings in the lead, quickly acquired about $1 million in taxpayer money from the School District, the Village Board and the CDA.

In the meantime ---  the School Board is cutting back programs like music, arts and languages, and is trying to figure out which school building to close for the lack of students and money  ..........

Mr Cummings should fit right in with the present Board Trustees, who have a penchant for overlooking the mundane every day needs of the Village of Shorewood, for the bright lights and glamour of the Big Dollar Projects.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ?  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT BELOW ! 

Did my civic duty at the Lake Bluff school --- and was amazed that the lot had not been cleared of the snow and ice.

Once you get close to the entrance, there was some clear pavement, but the rest of the lot is a broken hip waiting to happen.

Talking to the Poll Workers --- they said that when they first got there in the morning, even the entrances were treacherous.

Whose responsiblity is it to make sure that the voters --- old and young, able and infirmed --- have adequate access to the Polling Places.

I drove by the Village Hall, and it appeared that a much better job was done there near the entrance, although the crosswalks could have been done better.

Driving by the other Shorwood Schools --- I can see that the School District does not clear its sidewalks.  All of them, Lake Bluff, Atwater, SHS and the Middle School were all surrounded by slippery sidewalks.

Just for comparison, I drove past Riverside School in Milwaukee --- their sidewalks were nice and clear.  The same with the grade school on 9th street just south of National.

It is nice that the School District is going to have Artificial Grass and possibly a Dome at the SHS Athletic Field ---- in the meantime, maybe they can comply with the Village Ordinances and clear their walks !

 WHAT DO YOU THINK ?

This past December was a good reminder that we really do live in an area that gets snow !  Yes, here in Wisconsin, Mother Nature has been known to make life miserable by dropping a whole lot of wet sloppy snow, and then freezing it all into frozen slush.

 On December 20th I wrote a posting to this blog noting that the merchants on Capitol Drive were still hampered by the mounds of snow and ice piled up at the curb.  Shorewood had cleared the mounds along North Oakland Avenue, but hadn't gotten to Capitol Drive.  In previous postings, I had noted that crosswalks in the business district remained treacherous and needed clearing.

 On December 22nd, Tim Fotjik noted in his blog that it appeared that the Village was clearing snow for St Roberts from their lot. 

http://blogs.shorewoodnow.com/neighboring/archive/2007/12/22/if-you-were-looking-for-a-village-dump-truck-on-friday.aspx

Following up with Tim, he never heard from anyone as to why, or who paid for it. 

 Doing an Open Records request, I found out that YES, Shorewood did clean the lot at St Roberts at No Charge !

In fairness to those who are sometimes put on the spot to make a controversial decision, there was a safety element involved in the decision to clear St Roberts lot.  I think though, that Village Officials should bill St Roberts for at least the labor costs and nominal equipment costs involved.  And that if this is to be a policy, it should be extended on an impartial basis to other private property owners.

The Village Board also needs to recognize that snow and ice removal in the Business District is a priority, not only for the business owners to be able to engage in commerce, but also for the safety and welfare of the pedestrians.  Shorewood cannot be a "Walkable" community only in Good Weather !

We have seen in the past year that this current Village Board (which will also be the next Village Board due to no new candidates) has had no qualms about spending large sums of money on questionable projects.

Millions of dollars are going to a Streetscaping that is only about 10 years old.  And the Village Board Members voted to spend about Half a Million Dollar$ for plastic grass on the High School Field !

It is time that this Board gives the proper resources to the DPW to make Shorewood safe for its pedestrians in winter --- and for businesses to be accessible to their customers.

 WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ?  --- YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME

For some thoughts on issues other than Shorewood, visit my other blog at

http://nonconventionalwisdomperspectives.blogspot.com/