Mega Round Up

I hate it when I take a few days off from blogging . . . I never know how much to try to catch up on and how much to let go . . .but fortunately, or really, unfortunately, the local media is really weak these days, and catching up on 5 days is a little easier, cuz there’s not much to round up. Here’s what I’ve got.

OOOOPS
Yet another reason why those training exercises are dangerous for the public.

WHY NOT BOTH?
I really hope the statement about alders isn’t true. You need to be both. An alder who only cares about their constituents doesn’t serve the city well either.

A local pol recently told me that there are two kinds of local office holders: The policy types and the constituent types. While the former has an ideology and see themselves as advocates for a cause, the latter pay more attention to the day-to-day needs and interests of the people in their district, often shunning ideology in the process.

The comment about the student newspaper, is equally ridiculous. It shouldn’t be either/or. It should be both.

SMART?
Hmmmm, is the middle really where you get things done? Why can’t you get things done from the left or the right? You can have principles, fight hard for them, and get things done. Politicians have done it for years . . . lets stop the dumbing down of America. Again, you can do both. And, if you abandon your principles in order to get things done, what do you stand for?

STORY ON MAYOR’S RACE
Kudos to Dean on a good article. But . . . most people I talked to said the piece was biased towards the Mayor. Perhaps people thought that because of the above editorial? Perhaps not. Perhaps it was just the amount of space devoted to the defense of the Mayor, and not the criticisms. My take away from the article is that you can grow in the job, and you can expand your interests and concerns, but abandoning your core principles, if he ever had them . . . that is the key mistake. And I’d like to know, how has he pissed off the right? He’s getting high praise from Jennifer Alexander from the Chamber of Commerce. I don’t think this is a move to the middle . . . its a full move to the right. He’s not appealing to mainstream, he’s appealing to the right and the business community. And that is why the State Journal (editorial) is singing his praises.

CRITICISM NOT TOLERATED
Why do criticisms have to be seen as “down and dirty”?

CAN’T WE DO BETTER
Can’t we plan our road construction around the huge student and downtown move-ins better? I think we can. Yes we can! You know the slogan.

WILLY STREET TRYING TO DO BETTER
I really hope the 6th district and the Willy St. businesses can help continue to reform our road building process. I’m hoping that through their advocacy we will see ripple effects.

WILL WILLY ST. CO-OP DO BETTER?
Wow, this is a rough one. The neighborhood is up in arms . . . or something. The listserve is buzzing, questions aplenty and emotions are running high . . . I, too, thought there was a promise not to have the driveway on Jennifer. I work on the same block and don’t know the solution, but I’m hoping the neighborhood and the co-op can figure it out.

300?
Wouldn’t you think if this is the hot business topic, there’d be more than 300 registered for this conference? I’d think there’d be 300 people here in Madison that would attend. And, why is this news? There are conferences in Madison all the time and they hardly get a mention.

THE AUGUST ADJUSTMENT
August 15th marks the 20th year of me living downtown Madison. And although there are some things about living downtown that are maddening, I’d rather live here than anywhere in Madison. But, Robbie Webber talks about one of the dangers this time of the year, as people adjust to their new environment. Be safe out there, whether you choose to walk, bike, bus or drive your car.

WILL SHROOMS SAVE THE LAKES?
Interesting idea . . . might as well try it.

TOO BAD
Too bad they didn’t do more to fix up the Mifflin and Wilson bike boulevards before they did something more controversial.

REALLY?
This had to be explained? I think I learned that in 8th grade.

CVS
It really sucks that a drug store and apartments are more profitable than a bus station. Which does the city need more? And what could we have done to stop this from happening? I’m guessing that $16M for a bus station would have been a bigger public benefit than the Edgewater. And now, we’re paying much, much, much more for a multimodal station downtown. Seems like our priorities are all screwed up. $62M for development around the train station and $70M for the bus barn?! The mayor was quick to note that 80% of the bus barn would be paid by the feds, but that doesn’t make it any better. He also asked a better question, why are we doing all this before the RTA?

IS ALLEN ARTNSEN RUNNING FOR MAYOR?
I never understand these puff pieces.

CRIMINAL CHARGES?
This bothers me. Why should there be criminal charges for accidents? I’m guessing just living with himself is punishment enough for this guy.