Does anyone else find it amusing that the Waukesha Taxpayers League and their minions are likely spending more in gas money to circulate petitions and attend rallies than their actual personal share of the money that is being spent on the extra supervisors?

I actually support reducing the size of the board to maybe 19 or 25 supervisors. The push for 11 is a joke and will ultimatly result in the people who need the County the most (towns and small villages) being screwed. Not that the County board hasn't screwed the towns already. Just ask the Town of Summit about how the board bowed to pressure from Pro Health to kill the rezoning that would have allowed for the Aurora Hospital to be built. If the board is reduced, look for more and more crappy decisions.

Russ Feingold For President? No So Fast.

I like Russ Feingold if only for the fact that he says what every elected Democrat wishes they could say but lack the courage to say it. With that being said, I think that he is barking up the wrong tree with his push to censure the President over the wire tapping issue. While I don’t necessarily disagree with his position, I think it is a non-starter with the American people. Nobody really fears that the government will illegally listen in on their phone conversations and if they do, most Americans have been so scared by the Bush Administration that the terrorists are lurking everywhere that they really don’t care about wire tapping. If the American public refuses to get upset that they were lied to over and over again about why we went to war with Iraq why would they get upset about this?

More comments on the County Board issue

The County Board appears to be seriously considering looking at elimination of the County Executive position. I feel this is an absurd and asinine plan. They are acting like a bunch of babies. You want to cut our jobs, we are cutting yours. What a joke. Who is going to oversee the day-to-day operation of Waukesha County? Some supervisor making $9,000 a year? Come on. I think all parties need to look at this rationally. The tide of public support is on the side of downsizing and eliminating the County Executive is a non-starter (plus it makes the board members seem like immature babies.

Some ideas:

- Reduce the board to 19-25 members ensuring that the districts are drawn in a manner to ensure equal representation among all Cities, Villages, and Towns.

- Reduce the pay of supervisors and cut the number of meetings down. Looking at all of the boards, committees, and commissions, I think there is room to consolidate agendas. They appear to meet way too much, which is likely the reason for Jessica McBride going on and on about the cancelled meeting on February 14. I think a board could probably delegate some decision making to department heads and reduce the number of meetings. I think elimination of the 9:00 AM meetings would attract more candidates to run for County Board. How many of you can actually go into work and tell them that you need a few hours off every couple of weeks for a County Board meeting? How many of you would want to leave work even if you could?

Reduce Reduce Reduce!!!!!

Its all the rage among the "Government is Bad" crowd. It started with the Tom Ament recall and subsequent reduction of the Board size in Milwaukee County and is now become the topic de jour in Waukesha where the Waukesha Taxpayer's League has started a petition to reduce the size of the County Board from 35 to 11. I can agree that 35 is a bit high for a County of this size but to arbitrarily reduce it to 11 without fully examining the issue and impact on representation is about as irresponsible as it gets.

Now I am not a huge fan of the County Board. This Board after all was so arrogant, stupid, and beholden to special interests that it voted to block the change in zoning to allow for the Aurora hospital in Oconomowoc (no I am not an Aurora employee). Fear not residents of western Waukesha County. You'll be getting your Aurora Hospital soon. Although the County and City of Oconomowoc taxpayers will be footing the bill after the lawsuits are settled.

The reduction to 11 is basically reduction for reduction's sake. Wouldn't their time be better spent combing through the County and Local budgets in Waukesha County and seeing where there could be cuts? My suggestion would be to start with Fire and Police no matter how unpopular it is. I believe the most wasteful spending is done under the guise of public safety. Then move on to municipal libraries. Oh wait, that won't garner the headlines so I guess we have to resort to arbitrarily cutting the size of elected bodies. Heck, maybe they should spend their time encouraging all of the lazy bastards in Waukesha County to get out and vote. The Waukesha mayoral primary attracted something like 11 percent of the population! That is disgraceful.

I am guessing that the Taxpayers League doensn’t have a redistricting map drawn up yet. If they do, I would love to see how they plan on dividing the County into 11 districts that ensure adequate representation of all Cities, Villages, and Townships in the County.

Even the Republican's knight-in-shining armor Dan Vrakas (the current County Executive) has advocated for 25 or 19, which seems like a more reasonable reduction.

Consolidation of representation in Waukesha County will do far more harm to the communities that are mostly affected by County decisions namely the 12 individual townships as it is likely their representatives will live in incorporated Cities and Villages, who have more local control. For those unaware of the County's role in township government, I would suggest you do your homework before you come knocking on my door begging for a signature.

Entering the Fray

I recently moved to Waukesha and have been enjoying the Mayoral Race and several of the local political blogs, mainly Musings of a Thoughtful Conservative, Widgerson Library and Pub, Spring City Chronicle, and Fletch (which I just found today). Seeing the lean to the right in all but Fletch’s blog, I feel that it is time for me to join the fray. There are several issues facing Waukesha and I feel like I want to comment on them.

I moved here knowing that as a liberal I have a lifetime of being on the losing side of elections ahead of me. In twenty years I anticipate a large pile of Bryan Kennedy for Congress yard signs gathering dust in the corner of my garage while Jim Senselessbrenner continues to gather dust in Washington.

What I hope to do is comment mainly on Waukesha issues but will expand my commentary to regional, state, and national issues as well.