Sometimes, the good ol’ boys give you a gem . . .
Tonight, at the James Madison Park Surplus Committee, they elected a new chair. The person who is the chair is David Wallner, a former district two alderperson. There’s a whole lot more going on there which I will tell you about in a separate post, but this comment/joke was so stunningly inappropriate, I thought it deserved its own post, lest it get lost in the other horrors of the evening.
Anyways, Wallner got elected chair, mostly because there are three alders, and alders can’t chair meetings. Mayor’s staff and Park’s staff, which would be really odd if they were chair of the committee, but they did elect Kevin Briski, head of the Parks Department, the vice chair. Then, two citizen members. David Wallner and Bob Shaw. Shaw was quick to nominate Wallner. Wallner grumbled and stomped his feet and whined, but took it anyways.
His first act as chair of this committee, was to start off with a “joke”.
Wallner asks “How many alders does it take to serve on a surplus committee?”
Bridget Maniaci pipes up “three”.
Wallner basically pats her on the head and says yes, you get an A.
He probably should have stopped right there. But he didn’t.
The punch line?
Wallner says the answer is indeed three. One who says its not my problem, its the problem of my predecessor. One who says it’s not my “damn district” and I don’t care.
Mark Clear jumps in and says that is him.
Wallner says “And one who says the mayor is going to owe me, I hope I get my library.”
Wow. What is it they say about behind every joke is a bit of truth. I think this one was more truth, less joke.
I’m not sure which predecessor he was talking about – but currently, its not my problem, and I doubt Barb Vedder thinks its her problem, so maybe he means himself.
.
The library comment was directed at Joe Clausius, who has been trying to get a library on the far east side ever since he was elected.
So, it seems pretty truthful. Wallner seems to have a headache, Clear piped in a little too quickly admitting he doesn’t give a damn and Claussius really wants his library
They continued to make it clear throughout the meeting that they all just want to get this over with. Another post on the meeting on the way, with all the goofy details. Meanwhile, chuckle, chuckle, ha, ha, funny joke, eh?
Stunning.
Gotta love bad poker players.
Brenda,
I hope your entertaining delivery doesn’t put people in a position to discount your message.
I really think that your position should be paid, given how many insights we all glean from your work showing up at all of these meetings, and paying attention.
Thank you, for that.
Brenda: I don’t get it. What’s so offensive about what Wallner did? Is it that he told a joke, or that you don’t like the joke? Pls explain. thanks, Marc
Too much truth, too little funny. They really all don’t want to be on the committee. They all complained about it the whole time. I’ll get the notes up soon – you’ll see. I intended to get them up earlier, but the council meeting went til midnight, I left for Appleton at 5 am this morning and didn’t have a wireless connection on my computer . . . and have another 13 hour work day tomorrow . . . non-profit work is brutal these days.