City Beat Racine

Media reporting and Mt. Pleasant employee benefits

2011-12-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

Someone in the media finally got it right: "...unions lost POWER to bargain over benefits, etc." Congratulations to Kimber Solana, whoever you are. All other media references are to loss of "rights." The unions have lost none of their RIGHTS. They have lost power...power over their employers and taxpayers to extract excessive money from them.

Not that they have given up all that excess though. I am counting 8 weeks a year total of vacation, sick days and holidays for Mt Pleasant employees. I have never heard of anyone in the private sector getting anything close to that.

The 2012 proposed City of Racine Budget

2011-11-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

These things I have presented are only a start, but they could save millions. I am not going to be repetitive by bringing up all the savings ideas I have mentioned in the past, such as a highly paid and un-needed City Administrator, a Triumvirate at the top of DPW where we only need one person. The good old boy system is alive and well in the City of Racine and it resides at the highest level of the bureaucracy. How many millions are wasted up in that stratosphere?

All in all there is a lot of money to be saved for the taxpayers. The only question is who will do it and when will it get done. Since the 1970 census, we have lost 16,000 residents as a result of current practices.

It’s time to re-tool, re-organize and get those 16,000 people back.

Closing Humble Park

2011-11-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Closing the Humble Park Community Center may be a good idea, but I doubt it. I attended a John Bryan Community center several years ago and there were a lot of good people attending that meeting, from that neighborhood, that were willing to run that center on a voluntary basis. And except for a mayor and city employees that had a vested interest in keeping paid staff at that center, we may very well have been able to run that center for about 1/10th of what it costs us now.

We pay score keepers at Community Center events? Little League, RASA, Pop Warner Football. You won’t find paid scorekeepers. A lot of the entry level sports leagues are run by volunteers. Some of the higher up activities, like the LightHouse Run use volunteers.

We actually make money on the senior Center up on Gould street. And that is the Center that has the longest history of attacks for this council to get them to move out so that we can start spending taxpayer money on that Center again to keep it operational

Sewer Lateral Fees — Up Again

2011-11-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sewer lateral fees: the infamous “bait and switch” scheme sold to us by former DPW head Rick Jones as a sort of insurance plan to protect homeowners from the big hit of a five figure sewer lateral repair bill.

This scheme was never about the homeowner. That was only the bait. It has always been about increasing fees and taxes on property owners to get more money into the DPW coffers.

At least our new “customer oriented” DPW chief, Mark Yalen, dropped the homeowner protection gig. And I thank him for relieving us of that deceptive claim.

I realize that many of you genuflectingly trust the DPW staff assessment of the condition of our sewer system. I attribute that to your lack of concern for taxpayers and your lack of knowledge of sewer systems.

When Mark Yalen proclaimed the EPA threat, that did it for me. I don’t trust the evaluation of someone who would use such a scare tactic. I want a second opinion. You get second opinions when you get advised of a serious medical, legal or financial condition, don’t you? Just because you, yourself, don’t understand the condition does not mean you should consider the advice of Mr. Yalen as infallible. It isn’t. It needs to be checked. And I advise you use a group like the Racine Taxpayers Association in finding that second opinion. Otherwise that second opinion will most certainly be one with a vested interest in proclaiming another “worst case scenario.”

Hey, TAXI!!!

2011-11-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

The Belle Urban System brought in $1.5 million in fares this year. That is a very good. But that's not what kept this show on the road. In addition to those fares, the BUS absorbed

$1.1 million tax levy from Racine property owners
$2.4 million federal operating assistance
$1.8 million state operating assistance,

Including the $700K the WI Coach Line chips in that totals up to

$6.0 million in additional subsidies to keep those near empty buses running around our streets.

The actual total costs to run the buses is closer to $9 million (page 194 of the 2012 City budget document.)

Buses are made for long distance travel or travel with high volume of passengers. Neither of which qualifies for the City of Racine transportation.

According to BUS CEO, Al Stanek, there are only 2 or 3 passengers, on the average, riding the bus at any one time.

It is about time to hail a taxi.

Note: If we mandate a fully retrofitted $20 to 30K taxicab with meter and light on the top and a license to operate that cab (cost: $150K Milwaukee to $600K New York), then forget it.

But if anyone with a cell phone and car that passes a reasonable safety test can give people rides, then we can do it with little or no taxpayer subsidy. But we may need some help from the private sector. See this article for some ideas.

Clearing the snow in less than two hours

2011-11-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

A lot of money can be saved on snow plowing. But those savings will never materialize until two things are done:

1. Learn to plow the left side of the street.
2. Get someone competent to organize the plowing on a street by street basis.

I believe that within two hours of the cessation of the fall of snow, you can have all the streets cleared if you

1. Organize it properly and
2. Do not plow the side of the streets on which the cars are properly parked.

And

1. It will save you a lot of money,
2. Make it easier to negotiate the streets during and after the fall, and
3. Make it easier to dig cars out of the parking side of the street.

STATISTICS AND CALCULATIONS:
Miles of City Streets: 261
Speed of snow plows: About 10 miles and hour
Trucks with plows: 40. (We should be able to find 40 trucks with plows in the City)
Passes to clear snow to one side: 2 (once down the middle and once down the “no parking” side. The trucks should probably plow in pairs.)

Calculation: (261/10/40)x2 = 1.31 or 1 Hour and 19 minutes to clear all city streets.

During snow emergencies you start earlier and warn every one to get to the odd or even side of the street according to alternate side parking rules.

Holiday week garbage collection confusion

2011-11-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Eliminating the weekend, overtime charges for holiday week garbage collection is probably a good idea. It is one of those cost savings things that the city Council makes when it wants to make sure the taxpayers feel the sting. Why cut an upper level bureaucrat, like the City Administrator, when no one but his friends would care?

It is unreasonable for unions to be charging time and a half for working Saturdays. I don’t know of anyone in the private sector who gets paid extra just because they are working on a Saturday. And I think the unions are ready to talk and maybe concede that issue. In which case this holiday week scheme would not be necessary.

Only the most avid of the government program followers is going to be able to figure out those holiday week garbage pickup schemes. Just about each holiday week has it own unique schedule.

Health Care Costs continue to be a (hidden) Problem

2011-11-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

In 2005 the Racine Taxpayers Association, lead by then president Jayne Siler, had observed is that over the prior years, government had not been growing so much as it had been just getting more expensive. Then County Executive Bill McReynolds indicated to the Association that the culprit was Health Care Costs. The Taxpayers Association then did a series of studies on health care costs of the local taxing entities: Gateway, The City of Racine, the county and Racine Unified revealing the exorbitant government plans. But that is as far as it went. Nothing was ever done about these costs until this year when Scott Walker at least got government employees contributing to the extravaganza.

Since those studies, Health Savings Accounts have come upon the scene. They have proven effective. With salaries and fringes constituting 76% of the General Fund Budget, there may be room to save millions of dollars just in Health care costs.

It is time to investigate these plans and put them into use for government employees.

Doubling up the tax payments rejected by aldermen

2011-11-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Taxpayers got a break from the aldermen on the property tax payment plan. The proposal by the administration was to change from four payments to two payments. Under the proposed change the first payment would have been a double payment and would have been due January 31st. The second payment would have been due July 31st.

According to City records, under the current system, 9.6% of the taxpayers do not make that first payment in time and end up paying a 1% per month interest charge and a .5% monthly penalty charge, not only on that first payment, but on all the rest of the unpaid taxes for that year.

Demanding the double payment would most certainly have increased that 9.6% who could not make the January 31st payment in time. The result would have been an increase in delinquency interest and penalty payment, which would take even more money out of the private sector and put it into the government coffers.

And that would not have been good for our local economy.

A New Proprietor for the North Beach Concession

2011-09-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Low bid contracts are generally a useful government tool, but it is not a tool that is always a good idea to use.

If the North Beach concession is mishandled there will be a lot of disappointed people and it will take a while to correct the errors.

“Leave Well Enough Alone” is probably the best policy there. The extra $10 or $15K the City might get from the concession is minor in comparison to the money wasted elsewhere in it’s $80 million budget. And bringing on problems at North Beach won’t be worth it.

The City wastes millions in upper level bureaucrats.

Making money off of business enterprises is not a government forte.

New Tax Payment Schedule

2011-09-13T14:29:00.001-07:00

The room for cutting taxes at the city level is at the top of the bureaucratic food chain; for example, getting rid of the City Administrator. But governments never consider cutting out those high level paper shufflers. Cuts are made at the lower level where productivity takes place.

The current example of this practice is the proposal to get rid of a couple of clerks by reducing taxpayer payment dates from four to two. An earlier similar suggestion was to reduce garbage collection to every other week to save on labor costs of garbage collectors.

The city would save $75K on the tax payment date proposal. If the City had dumped the unneeded City Administrator and assistant Park and Rec Director as was suggested last year during the budget debates, then instead of hiring a new DPW Chief Administrator this Spring, if either one of the capable Deputy DPW Administrators had been promoted to the position (no need to replace him at his old position), it would have saved the taxpayers about a half million dollars in wages, health care benefits and pensions.

There are millions more in savings available without having to cut services or increase taxpayers hardships. But to find them, you have to look at the top of this over-staffed city bureaucratic nightmare.

West Racine Business Group Condemned for Abandoning Socialism

2011-05-02T22:38:00.000-07:00

There was a time in the history of this country when socialism would not have even been considered, let alone thrust upon others without their knowing it. And certainly such a move would not have been tried on unsuspecting businessmen.

In the City of Racine that has now been done four times with the institution of business improvement districts (BIDs). And one of those groups, after getting wise to the sham, went through the difficult process of terminating the arrangement.

Then, with the last step in the dissolution process, came the greatest surprise: four of the City’s aldermen—who were required by law to approve the dissolution—condemned the businessmen for their “attitude.”

The verbal lynching of the businessmen was carried on by Alderman Greg Helding (soon to be President of the Council Greg Helding), departing alderman Jim Spangenberg (who also represents the BID), and Aron Wisneski. (Terry McCarthy made a weak statement about the businessmen spending their refund money properly.)

Collectivism has become the order of the day for our city council. Using a fascist approach to the control of business within the city has led to aggressive unionism, businesses failures and the departure of nearly 16,200 people from our community.

Instead of aldermen who condemn such independence as retaliatory and backwards, we would do better with a group of council members that acknowledge private property rights, the merits of the spirit of individual accomplishments and the history of the success of free enterprise.

Click here for a video of the discussion at the common council (length 11 minutes)

Census Results for Racine are in. Times Must Change

2011-03-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

The Census figures have finally come out for Racine for 2010. We are down another 3000 people. This is not good.

Since 1970, when we reached our peak population at 95, 162, we have lost 16,300 people.

Such a loss does have its consequences.

But more importantly it makes a statement; a statement that it is difficult to live and survive in our city. It is easier to take up roots and move than to try to stay here any longer.

There are probably many reasons for this loss that can be expounded upon. But none that outweighs the argument that the focus of this problem is with the government of the City of Racine. As a regulating instrument our Mayor, City Council and their bureaucracy have consistently fostered a system of increased taxes and increased regulations that make doing business here in Racine difficult, and starting a business here in Racine even more difficult.

Times must change.

The events of the last several months have indicated that the Mayor and aldermen are more comfortable living with and failing with past practices than it is to try something new that has a chance to succeed.

When Governor Scott Walker put in some promising reforms in Madison, then gave our Mayor and Council the tools to succeed with these reforms, they rejected them. They preferred the comfort of the past rather than the challenges of the new.

Six years ago, Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana, put in reforms like those of Governor Scott Walker. His ratings dropped to 30. He was desecrated.

But by the time his first term was up, four years later, his reforms produced such success that he won an easy re-election. Indiana went from being broke to one of only 5 states in the Union with a budget surplus.

It was the only industrial state in the Midwest to actually add jobs to the state rolls last in 2010.

We here in Wisconsin are on the verge of a similar success. If we can get a Mayor and Council that “gets with the program” we here is Racine would ride the Walker/Daniels success train to new economic heights.

Condescending to unions, intense regulation of businesses, close monitoring of the lives of private citizens…these are all the old ways of doing things.

It is time to leave those things in the annuls of historic memorabilia.

It is time for something new.

Times must change.

DeltaHawk and Fascism

2011-02-20T18:39:00.000-08:00

Maybe I should be opposing the City’s funding of the DeltaHawk airplane engine, but I am not. I am just disappointed that we have sunk to such a low level of operation in this City that we must engage in such an activity to survive.

We used to be a national center for innovation. But I would warrant that none of those great companies of that era, Twin Disc, InSinkErator and J. I. Case, to name a few, came to a government planning board for money to advance their products.

It is a signature characteristic of fascism that corporate profits are private, their losses are public.

DeltaHawk characterizes that scenario. If DeltaHawk is successful, the profits will go to the stockholders, as they should. If DeltaHawk fails and the company disappears, the 1.2 million dollar investment will be paid by the taxpayers, as they shouldn't.

The reasons for this practice are more than academic. In “Fascism Light,” you might call it, when regulation and taxation is limited and business and people are relatively free to function, there is no need for government subsidy of business.

But as a community gets in to “Fascism Regular” and restrictions and taxes become so heavy as to make economic expansion unreachable, the government must make up the gap with subsidies to business.

This is nothing new to the world. Just about every socio-political society that has advanced beyond tribalism, has eventually progressed from Fascism Light to Fascism Regular. It is only new to Racine to have reached that summit.

It is not the role of government in a free society to engage in speculative financial ventures with taxpayers money.

Such an engagement is actually why the corporate structure was invented: to provide a means to amass sufficient capital to engage in new ventures while limiting the liability of the investors should such a venture fail.

There has been a comment that this is not taxpayer money, that it comes from the Intergovernmental Revenue Sharing Account, essentially the Sewer Treatment Agreement. It is all legal.

Yes it is legal. But is it right?

The Sewer treatment plant was paid for out of the wallets of Racine taxpayers through their water bills. Any profits made from the leasing of that facility to other communities rightly should have gone back to those taxpayers in repayment of their investment. Instead those water bill dollars were really just another tax and the lease money went to anything from the Zoo to parking lots. And now the DeltaHawk.

The DeltaHawk promoters should be using the corporate mechanism for their needs. Unfortunately they can’t. Governments across the land have made that nearly impossible. So a government must come to their rescue.

And it looks like that government is us.

Deal With Stray Animals Charitably

2010-12-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

December 21, 2010 the City has renewed its contract with Countryside paying them $191,810 for 2011 to handle about 2500 stray animals for the city. That’s about $75 per animal. It is probably a reasonable price.

Stress mounts among animal lovers when statistics reveal that only about half the animals taken in by Countryside survive their stay there.

I think the problem is that we rely on government to deal with the problem of stray animals. Government doesn’t treat human beings humanely. How can you expect better for animals.

The project really should be taken on charitably with volunteers. I am sure there are enough animal lovers out their with deep enough pockets and/or with a little time on their hands to take on the job as a labor of love.

It would be best for the animals, it would be best for all of us, to deal with strays charitably, voluntarily and with affection, none of which are attributes of a government.

250,000 jobs for Wisconsin

2010-12-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

There are several theories expressed in the December 28, 2010 Journal Times lead article regarding Walker's ability to "produce" 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin. But the facts are that the jobs are waiting to start up. And global activity really has little impact on it.

The real question is will Walker and the legislature have the guts to shut down the bureaucratic barriers to job growth? No governor or legislature ever has. Not since 1775, anyway, and Wisconsin wasn't a state then.

We could create a lot of jobs right here in Racine, regardless of the state, national or global environment. It would require getting rid of activities like RCEDC, the city planning department, limitations on Class A liquor licenses, UNIT inspectors, transportation subsidies, building and health department inspectors, half the police department. Then with the reduced regulations and inspectors that over zealously monitor private activity along with lower taxes, companies would swarm into the city.

That gives you some idea of the magnitude of what Walker and the new legislature has to do at the state levelto get all those jobs into action.

(By the way, no government is going to "produce" any jobs. I don't think Walker is under such a delusion. That was probably written by a newspaper reporter. The government can only get out of the way. The private sector makes the jobs.)

It is a courageous project, rolling back all that bureaucracy. It scares the hell out of most people, just like my suggestions above scare the hell out of people from Racine that read it.

My expectations for results from Walker are low.

But my hopes are sky high. What if the TEA Party driven Wisconsin State government really does it?

Big Brother Comes Dressed in a Blue Recycle Bin

2010-08-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

This warning from an April 27, 2010 article in the Journal Times, “two electronic sensors mounted near the truck’s compactor door can determine each residence’s participation in the city’s recycling program…”

There should be concern of the future consequences of such technology when combined with a big government such as we have here in Racine.

But there is more.    Much more.

The organization that operates the recycling program, the Department of Public Works, and the man who heads up that organization, Richard Jones, are the exact same people that head up the UNIT inspection team that violates the individual constitutional rights to due process of law and appeal of the residents of this very city more than 5,000 times a year.

There is no love lost between this city bureaucracy and the rights of man.

It doesn‘t end there.    When Richard Jones marches his imposing body to the lectern at the side of the City Council, it is not to find out what the Alderman of this city want him to do. The aldermen are searching for his advice and consent of what he wants them to do.

As we climb to the top of this pyramid of power expecting to find somebody, a Mayor perhaps, who can hold this onslaught of our rights in check, we find instead another bureaucrat.

Rounding out this Perfect Storm of Big Government Intrusion into our Lives we have a City Administrator, Tom Friedel.    A bureaucrat, minding the bureaucracy!

Where is the Mayor?    Scouring the countryside looking for more funds and grants with which to feed this growth of bureaucratic activity that engulfs our lives with (failed) promises of a utopian existence for us all.

Every sitting alderman on the City Council of Racine—and the Mayor—have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States.    But during the entire growth of UNIT and the Recycling Program, which has been going on for years, I have not heard one word on that City Council floor in the defense of constitutional rights.

Except for the two new aldermen (Marcus and Wiser), all aldermen have occupied those seats long enough to have had the opportunity to speak out in this regard, but have failed utterly and should be removed.

The real purpose of this chip is being revealed across this country and in Europe.    It is not to return lost carts to their intended destination as promoted here in Racine.    The purpose of the chip is to monitor participation, as is finally being confessed by several governments.

The next step, as is being done in some jurisdictions, is to combine the chip with a measuring device that weighs each container as it is loaded onto the truck and people who don’t participate—or even under-participate—are fined accordingly.

We the people of Racine need to get rid of this chip and the people propagating it or suffer the consequences of our acquiescence.

Chickens and Freedom (Part I)

2010-08-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

There is an old principle of data analysis that goes something like this: A datum can only be evaluated by a datum of comparable magnitude.

One cannot compare an idea or piece of information in a vacuum. It means nothing.

Keeping chickens in Racine is one such example. It has been evaluated all by itself with the usual unreliable result.

There is no perfect animal. Oh, you will hear such terms as “the perfect pet.” But I can assure you, despite all claims to the contrary, there exists no such entity.

And unfortunately for my friend the chicken, it has been compared to that imagined apparition of perfection — resulting in that great, time honored activity, which all men at some time feel the need to participate: the Witch Hunt.

But instead of pinning the chicken to a wall to take shots at it, if we compare it some another animal — which I intend to do here —we get a different perspective of this fine productive Creature of God.

For my subject of comparison I shall choose the prince of pets, that paragon of virtue and bravery, touted by many as “man’s best friend:” the dog.

The dog, a fine animal, does bring with it a tiny tote of baggage, a miniscule set of imperfections that I shall peruse now.

Dogs have been known to carry the disease called rabies. This disease can cause a dog to become aggressive and vicious, lose its sensibilities, revert to the source of its lineage (the wolf), and actually attack men. Being endowed with a fine set of teeth, a dog’s bite can then quickly pierce a man’s skin, leaving him a recipient of that disease and in threat of his life.

But worse, dogs have been known to maul children, even killing them in a seeming loss of domestic sensibilities.

Dogs have been known to depart the domain of its master and run loose in packs through residential neighborhoods committing such atrocities as attacking benign, caged chickens.

Dogs can contact lice and fleas, bringing them home to infest the domiciles of their human masters, rendering the habitat uncomfortable if not unlivable to its keeper.

Dogs defecate in huge piles that would leave a chicken marveling at the productive capacity of such a bowel system.

When in pursuit of its necessary exercise, a male dog will leave virtually no vertical structure un-anointed of its holy urine.

Most owners find their pet dog too unpredictable to take it for a walk in any area moderately occupied by humans without it being attached to a leash.

High pitched noises, barely audible by humans, can send a dog howling in a manner often painfully miserable to people in its surroundings.

Dogs have been known to bark in such duration and volume as to leave nearby humans virtually insensible.

But these imperfections in the dog are minor concerns of the general population. Why? Because we are familiar with dogs. Dogs and their liabilities have been part of the culture of Racine since before its inception.

We all know that with a little effort these “dangerous beasts” can be reasonably controlled and tolerated.

When compared to the dog in such traits as domestication, adaptation, defecation, urination, infestation, regression, and terrorization, the chicken actually fares pretty well.

I feel confident in asserting that during that last century had we in Racine kept chickens in the numbers and diversity with which we have dogs, we would find the chicken as acceptable, even more acceptable, than the dog.

The chicken, after all, at least pays its own way.

City Planning Department Plays Shell Game with Stimulus Money

2010-08-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

As August 15th nears, the City must have its bids in order to get about $3.5 million in federal “stimulus funds” for its real estate investment program.

It was a lot of work to get this project completed. City Development wanted to divide up the $3.5 million into as many projects as it could. Each project required finding a developer to work the project with a budget as to how the money will be spent on that project. If the City chooses to not use a developer, the City may become the “general contractor,” but in this case the City must have all subcontractor contracts in place by the August 15th deadline.

In one of the contracts, the razing of the former Spanish Center and building two new houses on the lot, the deadline approached without either of the requirements of the Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Project being fulfilled. So the Racine Loan Board of Review, the overseer of this program, acting on the recommendation of the Director of City Development, Brian O’Connel, pulled a rabbit out of a hat: Racine Housing & Neighborhood Partnership.

RHNP has no paid staff, has not paid taxes in more than four years, and has largely been inactive for more than two years. The point being RHNP is but a shell organization, a conduit for the City to by-pass NSP requirements to receive funding for this project.

According to Deputy City Attorney Scott Letteney, RHNP is not a qualified contactor to do such a project. It has no staff. So the City (my guess: Brian O’Connel in City Development) will find the subcontractors. But in that case the City must have those contractors by August 15th.

And we have come full circle in the scam.

According to Alderman Eric Marcus, HUD has reviewed this matter and given him the opinion that this maneuver is not in compliance with HUD regulations.

The federal government is huge and has a penchant for bungling. The City may never get caught. But is this the way we want our City Government to do business?

Time to Retire the City Development Department

2010-06-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Brian O’Connell of the City’s Redevelopment Department was instrumental in closing down developer Tom Tousis’ $2 - $3 million project in the West Racine. The reason? It wasn’t expensive enough. O’Connell wanted a $5 million project.

I don’t think O’Connell is a stupid man. I don’t think he is destructive. Even though his action is both stupid and destructive.

It is the system that is the problem. It is time to eliminate the City Development department and along with it the City Planning Commissions. We can suffer the consequences The Planners have perpetrated on Cities across this nation of obstructing economic growth and happiness, or do what needs to be done: eliminate The Planners.

Is the City practicing its own form of discrimination?

2010-06-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Recently, Ken Lumpkin, Insider News owner and editor blogged, In the early 90’s there were about 28 African American bars, taverns, and Lounges. In less than two decades, the city has managed to close most of them leaving nine for a city whose African American population is well over 26,000.

Denis Navratil added fuel to the City discrimination charge fire with these comments on the George Meyers Car 25 talk show.

Let the People Decide

2010-05-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Something new at the Council Meeting tonight: Aldermen actually taking into consideration constituent desires and voting that way!

It came on a street paving issue. The street was below standards, so bad that Rick Jones, DPW Director and Chief Shove It Down Our Throats perpetrator, says “DPW won’t waste taxpayers money by repairing the street.” Three aldermen, Ron Hart, Bob Mozol and Sandy Weidner, all supported Dennis Wiser’s amendment to remove Rosalind Avenue from the order because “If the people on the street don’t want their street repaired, why do it?”

I have rarely seen such actions as this. I have heard aldermen voice concerns of their constituency before, many time. But they were only paying lip service to their constituents, generally voting against that constituency preference anyway unless they agreed with what that constituent wanted.

I cannot remember a time, however, when that many aldermen spoke up for someone else’s constituency just because the constituency wanted it that way—and then vote that way. And then to actually have the council support that opinion with a majority vote? That’s news!

The main opposition to the “constituent preference” vote (other than the Rick Jones contemplation) is the lawsuit argument. If someone has an accident because of the condition of the street, will the city be liable?

It’s an interesting question. That could be a liability. I am not sure. The only threats of street related lawsuits that I have heard of come from the pot hole issue. And I think that those taxpayers on that street pay enough taxes to have Rick Jones’ DPW at least patch the pot holes.

Another option to consider is to make the owner of that section of street liable for any lawsuit commenced as a result of the street condition. Your property line goes to the middle of the street anyway. If owners want to make the choice on whether or not to repair, then they should also be responsible for whatever goes on at their portion of the street.

I would take that responsibility for my area of the street. And then I would make sure that the potholes were filled and my section of the street was safe.

It really doesn’t cost that much to fill a pot hole with some asphalt anyway. And I might just go to the trouble of mixing up a bag of concrete and use that, making it an even better repair that what the City would do.

Saving money with solar panels — Oh, Sure!!

2010-04-30T21:58:00.000-07:00

On December 9, 2009 the Journal Times reported that the solar panels installed at the City Hall Annex were generating more savings than the city had anticipated.

Public Works Commissioner Rick Jones reported it was estimated that selling the electricity generated by the panels to We Energies would bring in $10,000 per year. Experience for 2009 shows that the actual revenue will be closer to $12,000 and that the timetable for paying off the project would be about nine years. Earlier estimated indicated a 22 year payoff.

The program is being developed in two phases—144 panels in 2009 and 144 in 2010. The first phase cost is about $340,000 and the second phase will be considerably less because the first phase had one-time, non-recurring costs.

Jim Morrison of the Racine Taxpayers Association asks a good question: How does one pay off $340,000 in debt in nine year at only $10,000 per year?

As we get further into this story we find that We Energies gave the City $150,000 to help pay for the project and is committed to buying power back from the City. The City buys power from We Energies at about 10¢ per kilowatt hour, but sells the electricity generated by the solar panels to We Energies for 22¢ per KWH.

That is apparently very generous of We Energies. But why on Earth buy a product that you sell for more than twice the price for which you produce it? Because the State Legislature says so. That’s why.

When the State of Wisconsin legislature passed its Focus on Energy legislation it required We Energies and other utilities to take steps to assure that 20% of its energy be generated by renewable sources by the year 2020.

Buying electric power produced by solar, wind, biomass and other renewable sources is one approach being use by We Energies to comply with the legislative mandate.

So Rick Jones is clever enough to tap into that legislative windfall.

But is it really “clever?” Who really produces the savings going into Mr. Jones bureaucratic empire?

It turns our Mr. Jones is about as clever as a pickpocket.

We Energies is a public utility — a legal, legislature-protected monopoly. As those costs to produce energy increase, so must We Energy’s price they charge to their customers, the consumers of gas and electric power.

And that is who really "saves" the money for Mr. Jones power scheme. He is not making saving money selling electricity. He is stealing the money from consumers of electric power — you and me — to produce the savings of which he boasts.

It is the Working People of the State of Wisconsin, each doing their bit through the consumption of gas and electric power, chipping in to make sure that the bureaucrats in the Department of Public Works, City of Racine, keep their jobs, their Cadillac health care plans and their bountiful pensions, that makes Mr. Jones' solar savings plan “sunny.”

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is an object lesson in saving money — government style!

The Milwaukee Connection

2010-01-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

The City council should oppose the legislative creation of the S.E. Regional Transit Authority, known as SERTA, to start the KRM construction process in 2010.
SERTA is designed to—and eventually will—take total control of all transit operations in S.E. Wisconsin, which includes Racine and the Belle Urban System.

1. The SERTA tax is touted to take transit off the property tax rolls.
Technically this is correct. But to what advantage to the City of Racine property taxpayer? The City budget will not decrease by that amount. Spending in other parts of the bureaucracy will increase to fill that void. Property taxpayers in the City will continue paying what they had been paying in property taxes with an additional Transit Tax.

2. SERTA, the new taxing authority, will be controlled by Milwaukee.
Five of the nine SERTA board members are from Milwaukee, appointed by the Mayor and County Executive of Milwaukee and the Governor of Wisconsin.

3. The Milwaukee County Transit System is virtually bankrupt and they need additional funds from wherever they can get them. How the Transit Tax (the money going to SERTA) gets spent will be determined by this SERTA Board. Milwaukee most certainly would like to see SERTA in control. SERTA would give the Milwaukee system a broader reach for funds, going into Kenosha and Racine Counties.

4. The Racine BUS will lose the current $4.3 million in state and federal assistance it receives. The BUS will be controlled by Milwaukee, and will find itself competing for money for its Racine operations with a larger, destitute Milwaukee system.

What is the real support for KRM??

1. Ask RCEDC for a statement regarding the importance of commuter rail in their search for new businesses.

2. Ask RAMAC for a statement regarding how many new jobs current
employers will commit to add if KRM actually get built.

3. Ask SERTA for current KRM ridership projections with facts to back it up.

4. Via a referendum, ask the people if they want KRM

And finally, two observations.

1. Downtown Racine to O'Hare Field is 65 mils and 80 to 90 minutes by car. KRM is 3 hours, 2 trains & 2 cabs.

2. Case/IH to CNH Global, Burr Ridge, IT.- is 80.5 miles and 90 - 100 minutes by car. KRM is 3lh hours, 3 trains and 3 cabs.

These comments are a summary of the information given in the handout I distributed at the January 19, 2010 City Council Meeting and can be found at the Racine Taxpayers Association website.

Butchering Taxpayers

2010-01-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

Aldermen and the mayor are relying too much on the bureaucracy for their information. There is something one must realize about bureaucrats and data: they will give you carefully sifted data that support what they are doing and give them more money.

OK. So you can ask a bureaucrat, “What time do you come to work? What time do you leave? How long is your lunch break?” You could even ask Rick Jones something like, “How much solid waste is taken to the landfill each year?”

For questions like that you can rely on their answers.

But when you ask speculative questions like, “What happens if we…?” “How long would it take to…?” or “What should we do if…?“ you will get carefully culled answers that put constituents in the worst position possible and put them in the best position possible to give rationality to sucking money out of taxpayers pockets to support what they are doing.

That is how the bureaucracy functions.

To a large degree it works that way in the private sector also. That is why one gets second opinions and does additional research before purchasing. That is why businesses like Motor Trend, Consumer Reports and the Good Housekeeping seal are important.

Doctors, lawyers, insurance brokers all tend to cherry pick their data to sell you on them.

Bureaucrats are just as bad—generally worse.

So quit relying on bureaucrats for information.

Also remember, that you have limited time for your research. Under pressure a bureaucrat can spend his whole day researching. You may not believe it, but he has little else to offer you than data. His livelihood depends on it. He has no profit motive. He only has a “you need me” motive.
You will have trouble “out-researching” them.

So when dealing with a bureaucrat you must also have a strong philosophical base from which to operate. Otherwise you will be meat for their grinders.

The Cumbling of Obstructionism?

2010-01-05T22:17:00.000-08:00

The City Council voted this evening on the next step in the Tom Tousis venture in West Racine. The step allows Tousis to submit a comprehensive plan for the purchase of the corner lot of Washington Avenue and West Boulevard.

Only one alderman, Jeff Coe of the First District, voted against the measure. Coe was adamant that there would be “No gas station put on that corner!”

At first look, a 14-1 vote for Tousis seem promising, but the undercurrent of grumbling makes it pretty obvious that Tousis has some rocky roads ahead of him in this project.

Alderman Sandy Wiedner of the Sixth District made is clear that she wants more to say about the plan and wanted assurance that her voting in the affirmative on this was no indication of her acceptance of the overall plan. She voiced an objection to Tousis proposal of a forgivable mortgage on the $250,000 piece of land. Brian O’Connel from the City Planning Department made it clear that she was not accepting the plan with this vote.

Of course Jim Spangenberg spoke up from the northeast outback of the council making it clear that he was only approving this step as Tousis (or "anybody") should have that opportunity; but he was opposed to the plan.

How the council will go on this issue, I believe, is still up for grabs. But hope is in the air: Mike Shields from the Third District was most positive in the discussion saying the council should support Tousis. “We should encourage young entrepreneurs in the City.”

It is unlikely that a plan could be devised that would meet the total approval of every member of a 15 person council such as this one. There are just too many different opinions among that many people to expect everyone to agree. Not only that, but in a modern, rapidly changing market place, innovation is often a key ingredient to success. And as soon as innovation appears on the scene, so does departure from the status quo, conventional wisdom, and proven success.

And for 15 people that not only think along those lines but get elected promoting those things, finding unanimity on a project that is to succeed in a very difficult economic environment is next to impossible. Our only hope is that at least eight of the fifteen have the vision of a Mike Shields on this issue and allow Tousis to proceed forward.

Tousis, I am sure, is only persisting into this gauntlet of obstruction because he is from Racine and really want to promote his local economy. Any out of town investor would have walked away many objections ago.

But Tousis is still here and I detect subtle support beyond that of Mr. Shields‘. Maybe the Wall of Obstruction of the Old Guard is crumbling.

A Fourth Way

2009-12-09T22:59:00.000-08:00

The major concerns of the aldermen regarding the recycling—as exhibited in their discussion of the subject—are two in number:

1. Will the recycling fee actually terminate at the end of 10 years as it is supposed to?
2. The landfill is filling up and may become full in 4 or 5 years.

There was a third—minor— consideration,

3. Should we be foisting these bins on our constituency despite the fact that so many of them oppose the bin concept?

A TEMPORARY FEE

Let’s address the fee itself first. It won’t disappear…ever. Not without an entirely new council and mayor that take a 180 degree turn on their attitude towards government and the constituents it allegedly serves.

First of all the fee shouldn’t be there at all, even now. Recycling is part of waste management and should be part of the DPW budget.

Recycling is supposed to save money for the City. Why have a fee to save money? It doesn’t make sense. If the recycle bins will accomplish what they are touted to accomplish, it should be financially viable to pay for it out of the current DPW budget.

That recycling bins are being purchased with a fee instead indicates no willingness to budget, no confidence that the bins will work as promised. It is a lazy way to save money. It is an easy way to get more money from taxpayers without “raising taxes.”

There is no discipline in the council.

The fee is here to stay. We will be lucky if in 10 years it is still only $10.00.

THE MT. PLEASANT LAND FILL

There is good news and bad news regarding the land fill.

The scare is the landfill will have reached its limit in another 4 or 5 years. I mentioned this to a Mt. Pleasant resident and he said the same thing was being said 15 years ago. The land fill is always about to run out of room.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that recycling will have little effect on the life of the land fill.
We dump over 33,000 tons of solid waste into the land fill each year.

Last year we recycled about 705 tons of goods.

Expectation are the bins will increase recycling from 25% to 143% (the high figure being the Madison experience).

Lets say we triple recycling as a result of the bins—increase recycling by 200%.

Removing 1410 tons of solid waste from our current totals would decrease our solid waste total by 4.26% increasing the life of the land fill 9 to 12 weeks.

Do the math.

TO BIN OR NOT TO BIN

Elected government officials will forever depend on their bureaucracies to defend their actions when such actions are contrary to common sense and what their constituencies want them to do.

The bins are no exception. Statistics, those most ephemeral of lies, convinced our aldermen that we—the common folk out here—don’t know what is best for ourselves. But the bureaucrats do…and, using statistics, can prove it.

So the answer is: To Bin.

LOOPINESS

To me, recycling seems pretty cool…particularly since getting rid of recyclables is currently almost free compared to the $80 per ton to dump solid waste.

Bins and fees as means to take advantage of that cost saving is just a little loopy.

We had a saying back when I was in the in the military: “There is the right way, the wrong way, and the Army’s way!”

We have just found a Fourth Way: the City Council's way.

Dishonesty in Budgeting

2009-11-17T21:20:00.000-08:00

Three aldermen voted “no” on the city budget motion this evening: Sandy Weidner, Jeff Coe and Mike Shields. All I can say is, “Good for them.”

I don’t think any of them voted that way for the same reason I objected to the budget: dishonesty. But they didn’t like the budget for philosophical reasons and at least had the gumption to vote that way also.

Once again we will find a new fee on our tax statements while Mayor John Dickert and the aldermen tout a “no tax increase” budget.

It isn’t a “no tax increase” if you treat the budget honestly:
1. The new fee, the recycling fee, is a tax. It can legally be called a fee because the tax is going into a separate fund controlled by the Department of Public Works. It doesn’t go into the general fund first. But other than that little short cut, it is the same as a tax.
2. Recycling is a function of garbage disposal. As such it is a function of DPW and all expenses thereof should be part of the DPW budget and the tax levy.

That is my paramount objection to this budget and it should not be passed in this misleading and dishonest form.

It should be not passed with the misleading and dishonest Sewer Lateral fee attached to it. Sewer laterals have been the jurisdiction of DPW for a long time…probably since they were installed.

Why now a fee to deal with them?

That fee should also be repealed and sewer lateral maintenance put back into the general fund.

Until both those fees are eliminated, we do not have an honest budget and it should not be passed.

There are other reasons to not pass this budget, but this is one of the fundamental reasons: dishonesty in budgeting.

No Courage Here

2009-11-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Except for a well paid bureaucracy and a few elected officials who revel in wielding power over others, this budget will not increase happiness in the city of Racine.

The city council continues to assess fees in a cowardly attempt to hide tax increases. Fees such as the sewer lateral fees, recycling fees and fire department inspection fees, are fees that cover activities that are part and parcel to conventional government operations. Such fees are not voluntarily paid and are essentially a tax.

They are fees that are meant to hide aldermanic inability to make politically difficult choices as to what is and what is not an essential government expenditure.

More importantly, this budget reflects aldermen’s lack of courage in dealing with crafty bureaucrats and unions that demand luxurious health care plans, generous pension plans, and less than demanding work schedules for themselves and their underlings.

And if a bureaucrat can show he will cover the costs of his salary and benefits with fees and/or fines, that gets an almost automatic pass from the council.

And how much of the $1.5 million in sewer lateral “fees” actually went to homeowners. Not a single alderman asked that question during the budget process. As I recall, about a half dozen such requests would come up in a year. That is about $75,000 of the $1.5 million assessed fees, or as little as 5%, that actually goes to homeowners. The rest went to the Department of Public Works for salaries, benefits and other expenditures that should rightfully have been included in its budget and on the tax roles, subject to all the rules and regulations of levy limits.

But the council chose to take the role of a sort of tax dodger and assess constituents with fees instead. (And they complain about constituents that don’t obey the rules.)

With the alternate side parking they have intensified the “regulation and punishment” system of control over people, a proven failure in government relations with the public.

With recycling they are considering more regulations and fines. The garbage police seem to be on the horizon of this city’s future.

Never have I heard a single alderman consider the more benign system of “communication and reason,” the system used in private sector companies, by the way, with its customers, in a medium called “advertising.”

The Mayor is actually using communication and reason in his radio message regarding drug abuse. And I can assure you that he is accomplishing much more in that approach to abating drug abuse than all 200 Racine police officers with their Armadillo, Swat Teams, guns and jails ever will.

Communication is the universal solvent; it invites cooperation. The use of punishment as a means of attaining compliance does little more than build up resentment.

This budget leaves much room for improvement. The only defense of this budget lies in comparison with the budgets of other communities — whose budgets — universally — consist of similar deficiencies and abuses.

What's on Third?

2009-11-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

I made a statement to the city council that was a bit of an exaggeration that I must correct. I stated that businessmen “want to know what is the expense of doing business in that community and that is solely determined by taxes and regulations.”

That simply is not true. There are other factors. Taxes and regulations are the main determining factor in the field of moving businesses. And those communities and states that have the highest taxes and most restrictive regulation will draw the fewest businesses and jobs. Those communities and states with the lowest taxes and lenient regulations will draw the most businesses and jobs.

But there are other factors. But what are they? What’s third?

Size of the community is a factor. More people equals more customers and a better shot at qualified workers.

Natural resources will be a factor. It might be hard to open up a bait shop in the desert. Furriers will sell more coats in the Snow Belt than in the Sun Belt.

Distance from the I-System makes a difference as more good are shipped by truck.

The aldermen are right. There are other factors. I stand corrected. But how do these thing compare to taxes and regulations? On all businesses across the board?

As a major force affecting the ebb and flow of businesses in and out of a community or State, nothing comes close to affecting it as much as do taxes and regulations.

People follow jobs. The City of Racine has the advantage over surrounding communities with its low rents and housing costs. So there will be people who stay in Racine while working outside of the City. That means the city of Racine can lose more jobs than the surrounding communities and not have as many people move.

So when the City is the only community in the County of Racine to actually lose population, it must be losing one heluva lot of jobs.

After talking to many of the aldermen about this subject of taxes and regulations versus jobs versus population shifts, I get the impression that none of them understand this concept. Let’s put it like this: I haven’t talked to one yet that does.

I think I know why: If tax/regulation/job postulate is true, that makes them largely responsible for controlling the ebb and flow of jobs in and out of the City.

And considering it has mostly been and ebb in and a flow out, well, I guess if I was an alderman I wouldn’t want to agree with that postulate either.

Slick Rick

2009-11-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

As 2007 wended its way through history, Department of Public Works Head, Richard Jones faced a serious problem with a city full of deteriorating sewer lines and a packed DPW budget with nowhere to get the money to cover the ever increasing costs to repair them.

He faced a City Council that can’t prioritize spending to save their collective souls or the City of Racine.

What was he to do?

But there was another problem that caught his eye that was causing pain and agony out in the private sector. And got his thinking wheels going: Homeowners were getting hit $12,000 a pop to fix their collapsing sewer laterals (the section of the lateral from the house to the main line that runs down the middle of the street).

Rick thought about his problem. And he thought about their problem. He put them together and, wha-la, came up with a solution: A Fee.

Sell it as a Homeowner’s “Insurance” Fee (the BAIT) for homeowner’s sewer lines, then use it to get the money he needs for his sewer lines (the SWITCH).

(Admit it: Slick Rick is Brilliant. That’s why he plays the City Council like a piano.)

The aldermen took it, hook, line and sinker. They didn’t have to raise taxes. It got those wailing homeowner off their backs crying about the 12G hit. And the sewer laterals got fixed.

The aldermen even got the promise that the fee would not be raised.

It passed. Slick as a Rick.

Bait and Switch

2009-11-05T21:15:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned Tuesday at the (Nov. 3) Council meeting, assessed fees (as opposed to voluntarily paid fees) are in reality just tax increases used to either

1. Bypass a property tax levy limit, and/or
2. Hide an actual property tax increase.

The sewer lateral fee takes it a step further using the “bait and switch” technique to sell the public on the idea.

The bait (the homeowner) is used as described in the handout I gave to the aldermen. (See the 2d page, 3d paragraph for the pertinent reference.) That is what was sold to the public. This fee would be a sort of a collective "insurance policy" for homeowners. That is why only homeowners were assessed during the first year of its existence. Each homeowner would chip in $50.00 to a fund that would be used to cover the homeowners that got hit with the sewer lateral problem.

Rick Jones still used the homeowners as “bait” at his portion of the budget hearing last week. He touted how happy the homeowners were that were protected from the $12,000 hit by this fund. Then, although only a small portion actually goes to the bait, he proposed raising the fee from $50 to $52.

I thought it was a good idea when Aron Wisneski told me about it two years ago. When I talked to Rick Jones about it that evening, he gave me the added information that an engineer that had been costing the city something like $45K a year would be given a $35K (approximate) salary increase to monitor the lateral and that the entire salary would be put into the “insurance fund.” That was all he told me.

I objected to that right away to that salary shift, as money that had been spent from the general fund was now being put into the “insurance fund.”

Somehow we came up with a figure that the entire fund would come to about $1M as I recall.

I remember walking down the stairs with him after the meeting asking more about it stating that if there were not a lot of requests from homeowners for sewer lateral repairs, then the tax could drop to the level that we only needed to replenish the fund back to the million, right?

He said that would probably not happen. The entire fund would probably be spent.

I questioned whether there would always be that many homeowner sewer laterals go every year.

He repeated without further explanation that the fund would probably be all spent.

It made no sense to me. Why would that be? The truth was soon to follow.

Later I found out the that the wye fitting repairs that I had often seen come through the finance committee and the Council minutes were also thrown into this fund.

Then there were more sewer repairs put into the fund, and now sewer inspections.

The trick here is that the basis of the establishment of this fund was to rescue homeowners that were getting sacked for $12,000 in repairs when a sewer lateral failed. That is the bait: the homeowner. That was the way the bill was introduced—an insurance program for the homeowner. Witout the bait, the aldermen would have been hard pressed to add a fee to perform services that had always come out of the general fund.

And that was the switch. The fund was really a way to funnel more money into DPW for sewer repairs.

If the aldermen were entirely honest with the people of this community they would increase taxes, if necessary, to cover the costs of the repairs that had and should come out of the general fund.

What I want to know, and I am really surprised that no alderman has requested it, and that is a complete accounting of every penny that comes out of that fund.

—How much of it actually goes to the “bait,” the homeowners.
—How much goes to that bureaucracy.
—How much goes to which kind of sewer repair.

I think taxpayers should accept the part that goes to homeowners as a one-of-a-kind fee, an “insurance fee.” I, personally, like that idea.

But the rest of the expenditures is nothing more than the plain old ordinary fee that gets used to

1. Circumvent a levy limit, and/or
2. Hide a tax increase.

Honest and Effective Budgeting

2009-11-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

The balance of my comments at the (Nov. 5) public portion of the budget hearing were of a general nature.

The real proof of the efficacy of this budget is how does it affect the citizens of this community.

Since 1970, with every census, we find more people leaving the city.

In 1970 we were the third largest community in the state with about 95,000 people. Only Milwaukee and Madison could claim larger populations and economies. Behind us were Green Bay and Kenosha with about 79,000.

Now we have switched places the the latter two. Green Bay and Kenosha both are up to around 95,000 and we have lost 16,000 residents and are down to about 79,000, now the 5th largest community in the state.

We are the only community in Racine County that is declining in population. So I don‘t think we can blame international trade and China.

Other communities in the county have grown since 1970 and so can we.

It is taxes and regulations that businesses survey before they set up shop in a community. Potential entrepreneurs don’t drive through the alleys looking for cleanliness, check out the paint conditions on the houses, or even research the schools (otherwise no one would set up shop in Chicago). They want to know what is the expense of doing business in that community and that is determined by taxes and regulations.

And people follow jobs.

Our miserable business environment (and we had a little demonstration of that a couple of nights ago when three aldermen attempted to stop another business from starting up in Racine) has kept business at bay and people leaving the City for lack of jobs.

It is time this council

1. Get straight and honest with its constituency regarding taxes.
2. Tax and regulate so that Racine can grow economically.

Tilting at Windmills

2009-11-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

Julius Servantez & Family want to open an automobile sales and repair establishment at 1407 South Memorial Drive. For those of you who may not recognize this forgotten area of Racine, 1407 SMD is the old Racine Library. Several businesses have tried to succeed in the pursuit of happiness at this location, but have failed. The building sits vacant for a year.

Servantez came to the Council meeting November 3d well equipped with several impressive family members, particularly his daughter Jessica, with a degree in business and a well prepared statement on economic consequences.

They came as a family to bring a family business to Racine—in a district that cries for someone to succeed.

Undaunted by the show of aptitude, Alderman Greg Helding came to the forefront brandishing his usual halberd of obstruction. The Bulldozer went to work on the prevention of this family business. Here were his three objections:

1. There is only one bay in the old Library Building. Greg feels there should be more.
2. The driveway opens directly onto Memorial Drive. (I guess this adds to the problem caused by all the other driveways along all the streets in the City that open directly onto the street.)
3. This is an historic building (though not on the National Registry of Historic Buildings) and it used to be a library and this is a real come-down to become a “used car lot.”

Aaron Wisneski came up with some support for The Bulldozer’s obstructionism with this jewel:

4 Although an auto repair shop is not forbidden by the district rules, it is not recommended.

I guess if these guys couldn’t come up with a real reason to prevent a business from starting up, they felt they should at least give it a try with some ridiculous reasons.

Helding is the chairman of the City Plan Commission. He takes that job seriously. So if you don’t have perfect, guaranteed plan to succeed, if everybody isn’t going to just love you, be prepared to face The Bulldozer. He probably won’t want you to even try.

Wisneski, sitting along side of Helding, gets some of the obstructionism rubbed off on to him. He generally votes with Helding on the issues.

Is it any mystery why businesses have a hard time coming to Racine?

But this time cooler heads prevailed.

A strong voice from the First District, Alderman Jeff Coe, pointed out that when it was a library, they had a problem then backing out onto Memorial Drive. But they made it and Servantez can too. And besides, the Uptown District needs a business in there.

Coe also stated there are other similar businesses with one bay. If Servantez thinks he can succeed, he must be given the chance to do it.

Jim Kaplan felt the building had been vacant too long. And as most of the vehicles Servantez will be dealing with are waranteed, they will be repaired at dealerships.

QA Shakoor spoke strongly for the Servantez business, emphasizing the family nature of the business.

Common Sense prevailed on this one; while Helding and Wisneski were left tilting at their windmills.

And the City of Racine took one small step for a better future.

The Cutting Edge of Fee Oppression

2009-11-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

A fee in its purest sense is a payment in exchange for a service. And, as opposed to a tax, it is a voluntary involvement. Some good examples here in the city is the fee charged to play on a softball team in the city leagues, or to close off a street for a block party.

I have no objection to such fees. It follows the rule: If you want to play, you’ve got to pay. The choice is yours.

Government units have expanded the definition of “fee” to include so-called “dedicated funds.” Examples of that here in the city are the fire department fees and water run off fees. Such a “fee” is not voluntary. It is assed like—and essentially is—a tax.

This involuntarily assessed government fee is use for two purposes: to hide a tax increase and/or to circumvent a tax levy limit.

This involuntary fee is not a direct exchange for a service rendered. It pretends to be, but is not. For instance, it does not cost the fire department 150.00 to inspect smoke detectors of a store or apartment building. It doesn’t cost the fire department anything extra except for a little gas money to run the fire engine around town. We are already paying for the vehicle and personnel in our property taxes. These fire department fees were used to increase the fire department budget without using property taxes…for the reasons stated above.

Then we have the UNIT “fees.” Our City Council has developed a “fee” which by anyone’s comprehension, is not really a fee at all, but a fine. It represents the cutting edge of fee oppression.

The reasons for assessment in this manner is to bypass the burden of allowing constituents their right to due process and appeal.

My alderman, Jim Kaplan, has suggest to me that the way to eliminate UNIT is for everyone to just obey the “law of the land” (as he put it) and do what UNIT wants. I use Jim as an example, but I have total certainty that the rest of the City Council is in total lockstep agreement with that concept.

There is a new fine procedure of which most Council members must surely be aware: the traffic signal cameras, used in many cities around the United States and the Western World, wherein a motorist who runs a stop light, is fined by the camera and its associated computers…through the mail.

Great fund raisers are these cameras. And despite proponents of the cameras using the same argument Jim uses—just obey the law and we will get rid of them—California courts, and a few other cities, are ruling the use of these cameras illegal…for lack of due process. Not one of these judges is saying it is OK to run a red light. What is senior in importance to monitoring this reckless practice of motorists, the courts are saying, is constitutional rights to due process.

No one I know of is recommending getting rid of UNIT, as Jim suggests. I am only saying put UNIT back on the constitutional basis on which UNIT operated before they were given this fee power.

Just Wait!

2009-10-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

Alderman David Mack visited my blog here recently. He did not leave a comment, but did say something to me at a break in the proceedings at this evening’s (October 28)—what I am going to call—"budget study session." His statement (referring to my blog, A Soul Searhing Event) was that it is not yet the time for aldermen to vote on or make changes in the budget. Just wait! That will happen when they go into discussion later on.

That may well be the case, David, but I didn’t hear any expression of any kind at that first session of any concern about any of the items presented. Questions were asked, but the follow ups were poor and there was no indication in any of the discussion that evening that any changes would be made.

My comment to him was that I have never known the Council to cut the mayor’s budget further. I have watched the council add to the mayor’s proposal. I have watched them switch a few things around. I have heard them discuss budget items to show those listening that they know what is in the budget and what it is for. But I have never seen them actually reduce spending from the mayor’s proposal.

I guess I will have to
Just Wait.

Discussion : SC Johnson’s new development helping fund district to revitalize Uptown

2009-10-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Discussion : SC Johnson’s new development helping fund district to revitalize Uptown:"We manage a building in Uptown and we would most like to see that vacant lot occupied. This BID-TID will not suffer from Jwax’s money. I opposed the BID, but it is looking up, right now.
The major tripping point will be the artist thing. But government never does it the easy way, at least not this government. Why not let everyone participate equally?
If you have a business and want to rent one of the stores out, whether you are an artist or not, it should be: COME ON OVER.
Everyone should be welcome."

A Soul Searching Event

2009-10-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

After three hours of inquisition, no council member showed a modicum of interest in cutting anything from the budget. The entire three hour session was dedicated to listening to City Administrator Tom Friedel, Mayor John Dickert and nine of the Department Heads each explain his or her part of the city budget.

I heard nothing that challenged any of the spending. Any question about spending, if it was meant to be challenging, said challenge was quickly dispelled with a brief explanation of how or why the money was spent. In bobble head fashion, no alderman pushed on stating it did not need to be spent that way or any way. Each in turn acquiesced to the flow, took the easy way out, and continued on with the program.

Departments covered: General Administration (Aldermen and Mayor), City Development, Assessor, Finance, Health Department, Neighborhood Watch, Car25, MIS, Library and Civic Center.

The City Assessor stated that assessment would remain level for this year. But in 2010 it looks like they will be coming down 5 to 9%. Assessors, aldermen and the Mayor are hanging dearly onto their lie. The Assessor still maintains that their are "two markets:" one where buildings are selling at the true price and the other where (most) buildings are selling at a depressed price—evidence of typical government practice of denying the existence of the free market.

Alderman Greg Helding added to the "two market" myth, observing that "good, high priced, well kept" properties will have to bear a greater percentage of the tax burden as so many run down properties will have their assessments lowered because of their "condition."

ATTENTION MR. HELDING: This will occur only if you continue to deny that even the high priced edifices are dropping in value.

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EVENING, for me anyway, came after the meeting was over when Alderman Bob Anderson approached me in the hall. What I had stated in my three minute talk-allotment last Tuesday at the Oct 20 Council Meeting about UNIT being unconstitutional had been bugging him.

He asked me a few pertinent questions about this illegal condition, which I answered and he understood.

We ended the conversation outside in the cold rainy weather. He left with his usual good natured smile...but bothered.

I left knowing if we persist, we can win.

They will try to ignore you, they will pretend to not listen. But if you speak the truth, and do it frequently, the goodness that lies deep within their souls will hear you. And it will eventually respond.

Assessments: Do as I Say; Not as I Do

2009-10-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

It is fairly common knowledge that the City Assessor got stuck in 2007 and has yet failed to wake up to real property Fair Market Values (FMV).

But someone in the City government is wise to it.

The Planning Department wants to purchase the property owned by the County at 1132 Irving Place for its Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The property is assessed at $36,000.

The maximum authorized for the purchase is $10,050, or about 27% of the FMV established by the City Assessor.

(These notes from the Common Council meeting 10/20/09)

The Armadillo (armored car)

2009-10-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

The Police Chief was granted authorization to accept a donation of a 1999 armored car.

So far, no harm done.

The problem arises when it gets used. Apparently the plan is to install surveillance equipment in the car and the park it on the street and “stake out” the area with the car.

It is almost laughable. Certainly anyone living in the area or anyone who knows about the car will be on their good behavior when in the locale of the car. So who will it catch doing dishonest deeds?

Is the money that will be used to tool up the car and get it to its locations well spent?

(These notes from the Common Council meeting 10/20/09)

The UNIT and the Great City

2009-10-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

At his budget address last night, Mayor John Dickert expressed a goal of returning the City of Racine to its former greatness. It is a goal I heartily endorse. But can he do it?

Racine became great because there was a great deal of freedom here a hundred fifty years ago. And government was very small. A Mayor’s term, for instance, was only one year. And Mayors changed almost that often too.

Now government is very large and imposing. We can’t even hold a rummage sale when we want to. Just try to start a business in town. And people in government stay there way too long.

But what I am most concerned about is the violation of constitutional rights. You cannot have a great city while at the same time violating the rights of constituents. And we have an institution in City Hall that does just that. It is called the UNIT.

The UNIT issues fees which in reality are fines.

And in the assessment of these fines, the UNIT violates a citizen’s right to due process and there is no legitimate appeal.

In addition the fines are issued arbitrarily and capriciously. What they fine is not clearly defined by ordinance. When UNIT inspectors asked about this, their boss is reported to have told them, “Just look at it. If it looks OK, then forget it. Otherwise, write it up.”

If the inspector is having a good day, then it is OK. If he or she is having a bad day, then you get a fee. That is arbitrary and capricious.

When government violates the rights of its constituents, a wall of separation starts to build up a between the two of them. And then the government and its constituents become opponents in a game instead of team members working towards the same goal.

They start to live in two different worlds: the world of government, and the real world.

A while back I was talking to an alderman about this violation of constitutional rights. He did not like the idea of an appeal of UNIT citations. His statement was that when they get appealed to municipal court they just get dismissed!

Those in government understand his feeling. They want the money. Those of us in the private sector prefer our constitutional rights.

Recently the UNIT found a car parked on the lawn of a single family rental unit that we manage. Instead of fining the tenant, UNIT issued $125.00 in fees to the owner of the property, twice what the police department would have charged the owner of the automobile.

Those in government will rationalize that UNIT action. But most in the private sector find it appalling. Why not put responsibility where responsibility should be: fine the owner of the car.

At least there should have been a route of appeal for the owner of the property.

Like I say, government officials and their constituents live in two different worlds. And as these worlds grow further apart, those goals will become more difficult to achieve. Watch out when the T shirts appear saying don’t cooperate with the cops.

It’s an $84 million budget. The Aldermen can’t be that desperate for the $350,000 UNIT generates in the illegal manner I have described.

Unit can operate legally, just like it did before Gary Becker and Rick Heller devised the new system.

It must operate legally if we want to achieve the greatness for this city that we all desire.

(This is an edited version of my statments to the Common Council at its 10/20/09 meeting. You can see and hear them "in the body" on Car25.)

City Budget Introduced

2009-10-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

The crowd gathered for the proclamation with photographers, recorders and reporters at the fringes. The Mayor brought coffee to the lectern, casually sipped from the cup and proceeded to introduce the budget document.

“Every challenge amount to an opportunity,” he proclaimed as he dove into his monologue announcing the decline in State shared revenue funds of from 2 to 5%. (The actual amount, he then went on to admit, was 2%.)

The shared revenue drop was $400K but the city cut back in spending an amount of $628K. The appearance is that he covered the drop, with some to spare. But in the end, the tax levy still increased $634K over the estimated spending for 2009.

The tax rate will finally rear its ugly head. Tax rates have declined for eight years according to the budget document. My guess is that it has been longer than that. But the chart only goes back to 2001. The burgeoning housing market driven by speculation and lowered interest rates have allowed the Mayors Smith and Becker to cloud their spending proclivities claiming a drop in the tax rate.

But not this year. The tax rate will increase about 6%. But that is only a start as the City Assessor has continued to proclaim false assessments between 50 and 100% above actual fair market values of properties.

Dickert says he did not lay off any bureaucrats because of the 17% unemployment rate. He backs up this position stating,“Never in my life have I seen such selfless sacrifice as I have this year,” referring to the role the bureaucracy played in keeping the budget at the level at which it came out.

He finished his presentation with statements about his plans with housing, crime and jobs.