Gas Pains

I have been away.

Upon my return to Tosa I was thrilled to learn that I had received my very own personal copy of campaign muck - Authorized and paid for by Tosans for Responsible Government, Stanley L. Zurawski, Sr. Treasurer - as an unbiased and ostensibly independent supporter of the Didier for Mayor Campaign.

Do I sense that things have gone down-hill lately at Didier High Command? 

Since I posted the first of two Campaign Finance Disclosures I have had a number of folks tell me that as soon as they saw a member of the Zurawski clan supporting candidate Didier for mayor...that was all they needed to know.

They would not consider voting for her - no way - no how.

Zurawski, Sr. is predictable for getting the facts wrong.

Seems most well-adjusted Tosans don't get too worked-up over images of - mall mannequins - or related campaign hyperbole.

For sure there are a few others who will see things differently.

So to a certain extent Ms. Didier will be judged by the company she keeps.

If I was running for mayor I certainly wouldn't want the help of someone who has lost so many mayoral elections.

That would be like inviting the Curse of the Mummy.

We'll know after election day.

Tom

Oh.  Almost forgot.

That piece of literature from Zurawski. Sr. that I was talking about - well it was included with Alderman Grimm's reelection piece.

Imagine that.

To learn more about Bernie Grimm just Google Bernie Grimm - last time I looked it was vying for second or third place as a Google hit.

Bernie Grimm - you have arrived.

In keeping with my practice of performing a valuable public service I have saved all of you a trip to City Hall and $5.00 in copying costs.

Here are the candidate's campaign finance reports.

Stepaniak2.pdf       Didier2.pdf

Both reports were received by the City Clerk's office yesterday. 

Curiously, the Didier report is dated March 17. 

Therefore it conveniently excludes any disclosures about the March 19th fundraiser.

You know - the one where the candidate was caught playing hooky from her city duties.

So the question of the day is this:

Why is the Didier Campaign making the voters wait on this information until after the election?

I'm wondering when the mainstream media is going to start paying attention to these shenanigans.

Tom

Edit- The Didier report is in-fact compliant.  The cut-off for the reporting period is the 17th.  The cut-off for the filing date is the 24th. 

No cover-up.  My error.

We'll have to wait until after the election for the answer to the question of the day.

The Joint Committee on the Preparation of the Comprehensive City Plan is the group charged with reviewing the city's master plan on a regular basis.

You know - the vision thing that's been bandied-about in the four public mayoral forums.

The group is composed of members of the City Plan Commission, representatives of the Tosa Common Council and the mayor.

Meeting dates are scheduled months in-advance so that the Committee can be counted-upon to meet and do the people's business.

Guess what.

There was a meeting scheduled for last night and only one Council member was in attendance - Jerry Stepaniak.

I know that Alderman Treis had a good excuse.  I suspect there might be other Council members who have a good excuse.  If they want to share - post it here.  

If any Council members were at a fundraiser for a certain mayoral candidate the taxpayers are looking forward to your posting of an explanation. 

Tom 

Edited to include additional useful links.

Can't you just anticipate spring waiting to be sprung tomorrow?

With spring practically here summer is not far behind.

No pictures of dirty and crusty snow. 

More native (one non-native) plants.

A couple of critters too.

Can you identify any of the following:

Big Blue stem - Sometimes called Turkey Foot

Eastern Tiger Swallow-tail butterfly on Orange Hawkweed

Black-eyed Susan

Monarch butterfly on Red Osier Dogwood

Spotted Touch-Me-Not

I'll reveal the correct answers in a couple of days.

Tom

The final organized Public Forum devoted to Tosa's mayoral race was held on Thursday, March 13th.  I was there and it was excellent.  I was told that approximately 120 people attended.

The students at Tosa East and Tosa West along with WauwatosaNOW deserve a big hand for all of their hard work in making this happen. 

I have now been to all four of the public forums and two observations stand-out:

I have the candidate's presentations committed to memory.  They both do a reasonable job of consistently repeating their respective messages.

Also, each forum has been a reunion of sorts as I'm always bumping into long and fast Tosa acquaintances.  For instance, the East faculty member that assisted the students at this venue was a classmate with my daughter all the way from Roosevelt to Longfellow through East High School. 

This is the culture of community that Tosa is all about.

According to my Debate Index Calculator - Candidate Stepaniak is the winner.  A copy of my notes are here:  TosaEastForum.pdf

Didier 112 Points and Stepaniak 279 Points

Some observations:

Pandering is back - with Didier injecting the word crime into unrelated topics or using it more than needed. 

When asked about the plans for Hart park she strayed into the past by stating that "the city never had a plan".  This bugs me and I know is has rankled others.  She said the same thing in the March 3rd forum.  She didn't misspeak. 

The truth of the matter is that there has been a Master Plan dating back to 2001.  Candidate Didier has known about this all along.  She was on the committee that is responsible for the Plan.   

Does the candidate have a poor memory, is she engaging in double speak or trolling for votes by misrepresentation? 

If the candidate is so wrong about this can you trust the accuracy of her other statements?  

What we know for sure is that the hard working folks from the city, the Park Board, and volunteers from a variety of community groups might not appreciate their countless hours spent working on the Plan over the last seven years being summarily rejected out of hand.

The loss of only two points but a major faux pas. 

When asked about the lifting of the bonding cap her answer was a rhetorical question about why it wasn't raised years ago - ostensibly before her less than 2 year tenure on the Council. 

Of what use to us is this query today? 

A useful debate adage is never to answer a question with another question.  A correct answer would have provided substantive details about alternative(s).  Redirecting a question to a different subject or backsliding into crime was a reoccurring mistake by the candidate.

Both candidates were Righteous and Hopeful although Stepaniak scored higher on this measure.

As for vision Didier certainly is enthusiastic but fails in taking enthusiasm to the next level - tell us the details please.  Stepaniak comes across as a policy wonk and played his strong suit of being detailed to the point of routinely running out of time.

Everyone was on their best behavior.

Intangibles: Candidate Didier made a point of stepping away from the podium which resulted in sporadic loss of the mic.  Candidate Stepaniak could have been more animated.  The house lights were turned-off and I struggled with my notes and pens in the darkness.  Next time I will pack my headlamp.

There is some time yet leading-up to the election so I'll probably post an observation or two on subjects brought-up in these forums that are deserving of more attention.

Stay tuned.

Tom

Reports have been filtering-in from around the city about a resurgent campaign being mounted by Tosa's third candidate for mayor.

The comment section is open for business so feel free to weigh-in on this startling phenomenon...

Tom

So last Sunday afternoon I returned home from hunting with girlfriend - exhausted.  Looking forward to putting my feet-up, I strip down to my long johns and stretch-out in a comfortable chair to read the papers.  

Ding Dong  

My reverie is shattered as the ringing of the door bell launches girlfriend into a frenzy of barking accompanied by a headlong charge for the door.

Since there are rules and social conventions that discourage the greeting of callers in your underwear - my wife springs from the couch, restrains the dog and answers the front door.

Standing on the porch is one of my alderman - Bernie Grimm - with a fistful of reelection literature.

Being the modest guy I am I remain on the chair and listen-in on the conversation that ensues:

"I'm Bernie Grimm - your alderman.  You have Stepaniak and McBride signs"

"Yes, we do"

"You know you don't have to vote for them"

"That's ok - we're decided"

"Do you have a computer?"

"Yes"

"You need to check-out that Stepaniak.  Google Stepaniak.  You won't believe what you see"

"Anybody can put anything on the internet"

"You need to Google Stepaniak"

"My vote is firm"

"You need to Google Stepaniak"

"Really!  My vote for him is firm"

"I ask that you vote for me.  I have the support of the fire and police departments"  (Hands over literature).

End of exchange. 

The alderman wheels-about and departs.

With a twinkle in her eye my wife nods to the Joeythelovesponge For Mayor yard sign in our living room.  We both start chuckling at the same thought - what if we had that stuck in the yard. 

Tom

You can learn more about the 4th District aldermanic candidates here.

Three Forums so far - good ones I might add.

The February 21st forum conducted by the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce has had the largest turnout.  The questions were good.

The February 25th forum held at Eisenhower School included standout questions but was not as well-attended as I would have hoped.

Monday night's forum at St. Matt's included the best of both worlds - good attendance (I counted 60 people) and great questions.  Did you know this was my wife's idea?  Really it was.  She suggested it and I acted on it by contacting the League of Women Voters (LWV).

All the credit goes to the Milwaukee County League of Women Voters for doing the heavy lifting and for St. Matthew Church for providing the venue.  Bravo to them.

According to my Debate Index Calculator (the evening's notes are here: LWV Forum.pdf) candidate Stepaniak was the clear winner.

Stepaniak 160 Points and Didier 109 Points

Here are my immediate observations:

No pandering!  Can you believe it.  The candidates must have been inoculated or something.

Candidate Didier - Received a 2 point penalty for resurrecting the past in her assertion that there has been a lack of planning for Hart Park.  That's simply not true.  The city, many citizens and civic groups have spent countless hours and have been actively engaged in the process of directing the future of the Park. 

Both candidates scored very closely on being Righteous and Hopeful.

Again, Stepaniak's strong suite is detail on the Clear Vision thing; however, Didier is showing gains.  Both made good arguments directed toward their leadership strengths and how their respective administrations would be different.

Candidate Didier needs to renounce the use of clichés.  It's a style thing in public speaking.  The word proactive was used more times than needed. To her credit she admitted to this in one of her responses. No point reductions though.

Intangibles: Stepaniak has a folksy style.  Didier has a rah rah style.  They both need to change their wardrobe and mix it up.

Candidate Didier's closing statements alleged that candidate Stepaniak was a liar on the matter of her voting against the budget that included two new police officer positions. 

The gist of it was that the complicated budget proceedings allowed for money to be spent litigating the levying of property taxes on heretofore tax-exempt independent senior living centers.  Therefore, if money could be spent on litigation and not on cops, then money shouldn't be spent on one or the other or maybe both - which was why she voted against the budget.  I had trouble with the convoluted logic behind this and others in the audience had trouble making the connection as well. 

My suggestion is to adopt the KISS axiom to make difficult concepts easier for everyone.  No deduction of points.

Bottom line - Didier lost her endorsement from the cops to Stepaniak in this election.  

Since candidate Didier brought-up the subject of taxing senior living facilities (not me) I think the subject is deserving of a closer examination - in another post.

A copy of the calculator for you to use at the next forum can be found here: Debate Index Calculator.pdf

Bring one to the next candidate forum which will be:

Thursday, March 13 at 7:00 PM, at Wauwatosa East High School, 7500 Milwaukee Avenue.  Brought to you by WauwatosaNOW, in partnership with the two local high school newspapers - The Cardinal News and West Side Stories.

Score the candidates and have some serious fun. 

Tom

Tosa has been home to curling since 1920 - making the Wauwatosa Curling Club one of the oldest in Wisconsin.

Saturday marked the 49th Annual KrautSpiel. Here is the official award.

Starting the day with a Bloody Mary, hard-boiled eggs, followed by heading out on the ice with your friends is a good start.

It gets better.  Lunch is devoted to all manner of cabbage and pork products like spareribs, an array of sausages and homemade cabbage rolls.

Refreshing malt beverages from the Lakefront Brewery.  It doesn't get much better than that.

This guy is either the best of the wurst or the wurst of the worst. 

Terrific times with good friends on the ice - including all that cooked cabbage.

Somehow I think Tosa made its own unique contribution to global warming this weekend.

Good curling!

Tom

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Blogger's Note:  The name of this event is not supposed to be one word.  It seems the blogging tool recognizes the shortened derivative for sauerkraut as a really bad vulgarity.  Its publication is blocked.  If I attempt it - I get this:  *** Spiel.  Hmm.  I experimented with some even worse naughty words confirming there is a nanny in the software.  I figured-out that I could subvert the system by leaving out the space.  Don't tell the people at WauwatosaNOW.  Let's keep this our little secret.