Common Ground

I believe President Ronald Reagan said that. I believe that quote could be applied to our local political system. Today, Friday, I paid my property taxes and got the new dog tag for Kanook. While I was able to walk up to the City Clerk's counter immediately, once I came back from getting the dog tag at another window, there was a line going down the hallway and to the entrance door! Good timing. It would have been an excellent time to interview homeowners about their perception of local government. No better time than when they are about to pay up several thousand dollars! Which brings me to the topic.

Several Alderman positions are up for election this spring and it is time for anyone interested in running to file their papers and prepare for doorbell ringing, hand shaking and shivering. The positions are part time and don't pay much money so there can be only a few reasons why a person wants to be alderman. Because it isn't a partisan position, the main venue of information about who the candidates are and what their positions are on issues is through the local news media. Blogs have been a substantial source of information, albeit often slanted and not necessarily reliable as to truthfulness of content, but some say the same of more mainstream sources of information.

The last election for Mayor was covered very well by the media and local organizations sponsored well attended debate forums. Each eligible voter was given two opportunities to vote. I am disgusted that so few used that oh so important right. But we did elect a well qualified individual and my contacts with The Honorable Mayor Nelson have been all good and he has been proactive in helping me understand government process.

So back to the taxes. Do you understand who has the greatest impact on your taxes? That would be your alderman and county supervisor. They are part of the committee system that makes recommendations for spending which is then given to the council that votes on the recommendations.

So, I ask you, are you pleased with the status of the city? Has your alderman voted the way you would have wanted on important issues? Most of us trust that they do, but we need to verify that come election time. How can you do that the best? The city has a website. Google Waukesha City and it will come up. Spend some time clicking around there and reading committee agenda and minutes. Consider attending some meetings of interest. Next is to look for the newspaper articles. Remember, they report the news that has happened. You need to help make the news happen so make the most of the City's website.

Educate yourself so the best person is elected or re-elected to the position.

You will read it from better writers than I that the city council passed the measure to donate $5,000 from the park development fund to the county to create the Minooka Dog Park. The next step is for New Berlin to perform the same steps as Waukesha has done the past two month. That is, their Parks Committee must consider to recommend the $5,000 contribution and if so, then the city council will vote upon it.

The discussion was certainly facinating. You see, Aldermen Johnson and Waldenberger are both on the Parks, Forestry and Recreation committee. Of the committee, Alderman Waldenberger was the sole vote against it. Alderman Johnson was absent this evening so Waldenberger present the board's recommendation. He immediately moved to add an amendment to the measure that would pay back the $5,000 to the city from the permit fees for the dog park. This in effect would have made the $5,000 a loan rather than a contribution. Fortunately after discussion the amendment was voted down.

After further discussion on the motion of the initial Parks committee recomendation, it was a roll call vote. That means there is likely opposition and a voice vote would not be accurate. In the end, the measure passed with two votes against it, as I recall. The arguements against were "the county has enough of it's own money to do this. Why should we spend money on it?" and "Let's save the money for when we build our own dog parks." I can understand their arguements, but I disagree with it and fortunately so did the majority of aldermen and alderwomen. A special thank you to Alderwomen Cummings.

Monday evening the Parks Board voted for, with one vote against, recommending to the City Council to provide $5,000 to the county to develop a dog exercise area in Minooka County Park. At this time it would be an effort funded primarily by the county but with contributions from New Berlin, City of Waukesha and The Waukesha Kennel Club. If you don't have a dog and would rather not spend the money, here is why you should be interested in this and even contact your alderman in support of the proposal.

Dog parks are rapidly developing across the country. Over 900 are in existence. Madison and Dane county alone have nine. Often the availability of such parks are a quality of life consideration when choosing the desirability of a community to live in. The city parks department has been looking into them and know that they are needed here. They have identified two existing parks where they could be constructed. A dog park can cost $100,000 or more to develop. The county is going to do it for an estimated $45,000 by supplying the labor itself. The county is also going to maintain the park and manage it at no cost to the city. While the maintenance will be covered by user fees, there is the administration that will take time, and time is money.

For $5,000 the city can help create a dog park convenient to the city taxpayers and incur no further expenses. This could eliminate or at least greatly delay the need of constructing our own such park features. The savings are tremendous! For this reason each city taxpayer should be interested in this proposal and urge their alderman to vote for it at the council meeting next Tuesday evening. The money for this will come from a park development fund already in existence.

One public comment was that she has been paying for a dog license fee for many years and nobody can tell her where that money goes. She also pointed out that more dog licenses would be sold due to the need for one to enter the park. Another comment was that the dog park should be thought of as more for people than for the dogs. People come to socialize and exercise themselves as much as for their dogs. Another person in attendance who is a realtor has pointed out that some people just moving into the area are looking for such facilities for themselves and their dog.

This proposal is something that everyone can feel good about. But all the alderman are not sold on it, so your participation is crucial. Please call your alderman in support of the proposal. You can email me with any questions that you have about the dog park concept or the county's proposal.