IT CAN BE DONE!!!

The audio tape of the April 7, 2008 meeting was sent, transcribed, sent back, copied for board members, reviewed by board members, and then put on the April 21 Agenda for board approval.

ALL IN TWO WEEKS!

IF the current Village Board continues to resist doing the right thing and making meetings available (gavel to gavel) on CH25, then the least they can do is make sure they keep this turn around going. I can find examples but for certain there are cases where minutes were not approved for as much as 8 weeks!

KUDOS for this performance, but it still DOES NOT give average Joe Q. Public a chance to see before the subsequent meeting. Perhaps the village website can post a 'provisional' version of the minutes ONLINE so that village activists can have a look to, and possibly comment prior to approval??

Once again, a move in the right direction, but still more can be done.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE COUNTY BOARD SUPERVISOR JOE CLARK elected BOARD CHAIRMAN

CONGRATULATIONS! to CB DIST 21 SUPERVISOR Joe Clark on his election by the COUNTY BOARD to be the next CHAIRMAN. Joe Clark succeeds CB Dist 3 Supervisor Terry Rose. This has been a tumultuous couple of months on 56th Street, and I personally welcome the level headed business minded approach that Joe Clark will bring to the chairmanship.
Also kudos to traiblazer CB Dist 11 Supervisor Anita Faraone on her election to the Vice-Chair. She succeeds Joe Clark in that spot, and if tradition holds she will also be the first female Chairman when Joe's term is over.
http://www.co.kenosha.wi.us/cb/index.html

PLEASANT PRAIRIE SCHOOL DISTRICT???

The last comment on my post below asked that we change course and start a posting on PP schools.
Well, I was way ahead of your idea in late January. I have refreshed this posting and brought it to front burner.
So here you have it. At yesterday's village board meeting this topic was brought up again. What say YOU???????????????


Pleasant Prairie School District #1 -- has a nice ring to it??

Well, as you can imagine, I have a lot to say.

But, before tarnishing open discussion with my ideas, I would like to hear from you on the following:

1) Idea -- good or bad?
2) Financial implications (exit and start up costs)?
3) History of how and why the village joined Kenosha Unified?
4) Is Pleasant Prairie getting its FAIR SHARE based on taxes going to KUSD?

Ideas/thoughts????

Is PLEASANT PRAIRIE better off now?

2005 -- contested races (Tiahnybok beats Terwall, Lauer beats O'Toole, and Matson nearly beats Steinbrink). Debate is alive and well and people are talking.

2006 -- contested races (Matson and Hauck are defeated by Kumorkiewicz and Serpe). Debate is alive and well and people are talking.

2007 -- contested races (Tiahnybok nearly beats Steinbrink, Lauer defeated by Allen, and Matson defeated by Yuhas). Debate is alive and well, and people are still talking.

2008 -- no contested races (peace, silence, perfection?, not even a mention in the Kenosha News). Compared to the previous 3 years, one might wonder if Pleasant Prairie had any elections at all. Debate is all but gone. Maybe it's time to check for a pulse.

You probably know what I think, but what do YOU think? Is Pleasant Prairie better served by having issues debated in public, or by silence (with the hope that the fox is not guarding the henhouse)?

Maybe our experience here from the last couple of rounds inspired some people in Kenosha. They had a mayoral contest and MANY aldermanic races. Even the county board had more competition and turnover.

Anything is possible if you can imagine it. Kudos to all the candidates (incumbents and challengers in Kenosha), and a sad day in Pleasant Prairie.

Congratulations to the "WINNERS" at least from this member of the "WHINERS".

"VIDEO'S -- WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN VIDEO'S"

Folks, this is what IT is all about.

You are busy -- probably too busy.

You work, you take care of your family, you pay your bills, you exercise, you go shopping, etc, etc. You (most of the time) have little time for being a government watchdog. The beauty of our democratic process is that YOU have the choice to participate or not. I choose to participate, because, I really don't think many of our elected leaders (local, school, state, federal) have our best interests in mind. The "CHANGE" that they are concerned about is that 'change' that you have left in your pocket. So, what do you do, and what options do you have?

I suppose you can go to village hall, and the school board, and the state capitol, and Washington, or you can count on others to do some 'watch-dogging' for you. Plenty exists at federal and state levels, but gets awfully scarce locally like at municipal, county, and school levels. At village hall, you have about 4 people that regulary watch what is going on. 4 out of 19,000 people. Everyone else is there to either try to get something, or to protect what they've already got. YOU are not part of the equation except for the funding part.

YOUR village government has come up with every imaginable and contrived reason (like individual LCD screens in front of board members faces) not to put ITS board meetings on ITS government access channel 25. I find this sad, and unforgivable, since it IS possible currently and over time can be improved.

On this last Monday, March 17, citizen activists AGAIN rose up (on your behalf) and commented on why this is not being done. At the previous meeting (see posting below for detail), about an hour of everybodies time was used again to explain why this was not possible -- surprize, surprize again.

BUT, a new element by a board member was added -- POLICE OFFICER SAFETY. As a further excuse on why videotaping meetings was not going to happen, a sense of prioritization was thrown in to show how many other pressing things needed to be accounted for prior to meeting videotaping.

Comments on the penultimate posting to this one revealed (once again) the ability to occasionally find a 'pearl in pig slop'.

ORWELLIAN was the term used to describe recent activity at Village Hall. I am not going bother you with the definition of Orwellian here (you can do that yourself), but it kind of hit it on the head.

ORWELLIAN OBFUSCATION is the play du jour (or du month, or du year, or du permanance). Please review the video clip below. While at it, take a look at this link: http://www.pleasantprairieonline.com/assessmentsandtaxes/finance.asp -- it directs you to the FINANCE Dept at Village Hall. It shows the 2008 Budget Summary and Budget Presentation. Please review and see for yourself IF the POLICE CAMS were a considered budget item, and it was NOT RECOMMENDED.

(Page 27 of the PRESENTATION (below) and Page 71 of the SUMMARY).

By who it was not recomended is uncertain, but EVERY BOARD member had (or should have) reviewed every page of these documents along with the binders that showed detail. There IS NO EXCUSE for re-inventing historical fact or for denying doing one's HOMEWORK. Face it, lights at a ballfield were more important than squad car cams. Intent or neglect are the only explanations.

There it is -- 100% fact. What do you think?