Janesville City Council Refused To Reject Corporate Personhood

Tweet

During Monday's Janesville City Council meeting, two council members sponsored and introduced a resolution asking the Janesville Common Council to go on record in calling upon the Congress of the United States to begin the process of amending the Constitution to provide that corporations are not entitled to the entirety of protections or "rights" of natural persons.

A council majority consisting of Kathy Voskuil, Russ Steeber, Deb Dongarra-Adams and Tom McDonald went on record refusing to demonstrate support for the core premise of the resolution. It never made it to the table for a vote.

Watch it:

Epic Fail: Janesville City Government Enters The Abyss

Tweet

At Monday night's Janesville City Council meeting, council members approved in a 4 to 1 decision to use their governmental power and tax revenue collectivism to leverage an advantage for a single private-for-profit business, SHINE Medical Technologies, with over 80 acres of free land, free capital and a taxpayer backed loan guarantee valued at $4 million. This is an outrage! The $9 million "incentive" package pledged to this single small business venture is almost one-quarter of the city's annual operating budget. By comparison, this deal was greater than the TARP bail-out was in proportion with the annual federal budget.

But first and foremost, this is about elected officials using government power and collectivism to leverage an advantage for a single private-for-profit special interest. That cannot be overstated.

Secondly, Janesville officials follow a notoriously backward status quo growth model that promotes the plowing under of our surrounding "Napa Valley." Rock County is home to some the deepest and most fertile topsoils on Earth, but no one would ever know it around here judging by the low value, priority and low esteem many area officials and residents show for the land. They view the level well-drained glacial-driven six-foot thick topsoil as the perfect substrate to lay curb, gutter and asphalt.

Make no mistake, local governments, mayors, city managers and councils all over the state and country are grappling with wrong-headed anti-competitive anti-market "incentive" packages and economic development guidelines written by corporate lobbyists and legalized in statehouses to lure existing businesses and start-ups away from one community to another.

These policies deliberately place a false onus on local officials for job creation and economic growth when in truth, there was absolutely nothing, city ordinances or other laws, stopping SHINE from starting up their business in Janesville on their own free will like other businesses have. In the end, these deals have a zero sum effect on the state economy while accomplishing their one true goal very effectively - redistributing wealth upward through elaborate capital shifting tax credits.

The other truth is, many of these business entrepreneurs have either strong investor backing or are wealthy venture capitalists themselves who comb state maps for Qualified New Business Venture Credits and Enterprise Zone Credits and mark economically distressed communities with pliable special interest controlled leadership like Janesville as an opportunity to exploit even further through intricately woven TIF District agreements and other financing derivatives. Economic tools offering access to government and tax treasury have become counter-productive and do little more than expand an entitlement mentality for the well-connected and other freeloading opportunists.

As a political blogger on my own soapbox, I have spoken out against tax credits for jobs, even roasting Sen. Russ Feingold for proposing them, and criticized the Janeville City Council when they endorsed the sprawl expansion pro-tax legislative agenda of the local WMC satellite, Forward Janesville. These closed loop trickle-down policies including TIF District modifications have successfully shifted taxes for the benefit of their membership while leaving the average taxpaying wage earner footing the bill. It's easy to spend someone else's money. Let me be clear. I ain't no tea party.

Lastly, at a time when I thought the public’s awareness of a captured government working deals to advantage private special interests was at it’s highest, I never thought this “incentive” package deal in Janesville would have ever gotten this far, but I was dead wrong. I never thought four members of our city council, in Fitzwalkerstan style, would ram through one of the most absurd and abusive uses of local government and collective revenue power I have ever thought possible on this scale. Regardless of your politics, Janesville and/or Rock County does not have a grassroots voting bloc actively working on local issues at all and it's beginning to take it's toll on our quality of life and trust in government. We are headed into the abyss.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King,
Robert La Follette, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, Gaylord Nelson and Ronald Reagan must be all turning over in their graves after this one.

Rocked By Walker - Janesville Considers Higher Taxes and Fees

Tweet

According to this report from the City of Janesville, due to fiscal constraints with Scott Walker's draconian budget the City’s funding from the State will be reduced by almost a million dollars.

So City officials have created a survey asking residents to weigh in on some of the options they are considering to deal with the lost revenue. Among the considerations are reductions in police, fire and emergency service and the introduction of a vehicle tax, new charges on seniors and downtown businesses paying to maintain downtown parking lots and snow removal.

JG Excerpt:
Over the last couple years, the city reduced about $500,000 in salaries by eliminating jobs or holding jobs open, Levitt said.

But have they reduced salaries? Not that I know of.

City officials apparently have not yet received the message or don't fully understand what the election of Scott Walker really means to them. You didn't think that the ALEC-written Walker/Fitzgerald/Koch agenda was only meant for school teachers and unions, did you? Everyone will have to do with less and that includes you. The ratcheting down of wages and benefits in the private sector over the past decade was merely the preliminary groundwork to raise the wage-envy temperature of the average taxpayer against the public sector and government. Walker even alluded to this when he described public sector workers as the "haves." While the plutocrats continue to enjoy record profits at the expense of their workers, they knew their wage-earning employees were also taxpayers who would not let the taxes collected from their ever declining compensation continue to support "union" class public sector wages and benefits that they no longer can relate to.

Walker and his class war Tea Party conservatives knew his budget proposal would pit brothers against sisters against brothers and create a never before seen friction between neighbors and communities. In the beginning if you recall, he was prepping for a National Guard response to the expected public's outrage. They knew all along this would start a taxpayer driven class war.

So the City of Janesville is not alone in this wage envy battle and public sector workers of all stripes should consider themselves targets of this new and regressive economic contract. Unless you are a card-carrying member of a Fortune 500 family or one of their bought and paid for politicians or employees - you are one of us - a person made to feel lucky to have a job, if you have one at all.

The temperature within the Janesville School District is even higher than at city hall. Here the Janesville School Board is looking for ways to find $2.1 million to balance this year's budget.

UPDATE:
It turns out the Janesville School District's current deficit of $2.1 million was a charade. This article published Aug. 24th states the school district actually has a surplus of about $3 million. The Walker class war budget won't begin effecting the district until next year, when the district is expecting a $9 million deficit.

Saying it might be just a matter of additional cuts or taxes doesn't quite tell the whole story. The relationship between the school teachers, the school board and administration continues to suffer at the hands of the Pro-Walker Janesville Gazette, while the propaganda machine pummels the local teachers union with anonymous sources in their weekly "news" articles and Sound Off column.

Last year, I wrote that the Gazette and their political base was closing in on victory after a decades old local "cleansing" campaign against living wages, decent benefits and organized employee unions. In their view, the school teachers collective bargaining power is hopefully the final remnant of any leverage the working and middle class might strive for in Janesville. With the Walker union-busting budget, that battle is nearly over. The more anger they manufactured against taxpayer supported public employee wage and benefits - the better for their agenda. Taxes are bad. Taxes pay for government­. Government is bad. Government enables the people and everyone knows we can't have that.

Over the past few months, Bliss Com, the Gazette and their affiliates have started to soft-pedal their GOP politics and anti-union rhetoric a little. They cut loose the bomb-throwing Dan Conry from WCLO while the Ayn Rand worshipping Janesville Messenger appears, for the moment at least, to have halted their vicious attacks against Democrats and have embarked on a phony community outreach campaign all in the name of making amends towards compromise and bi-partisanship. It's too late. Besides, before compromise can be reached on genuine bi-partisan proposals - many reversals would be in order first.

It is as if they are all taking their marching orders directly from Scott Walker himself. They know the tide is changing and they don't want to lose any of the gains they've made on the working poor and middle-class.

This tells me more than ever before that ...this is our time.

Related:

Walker increased spending by $1.1 billion, property taxes are projected to rise an average of 2.6% while communities are shortchanged.

Odd Story On Proposed Janesville City Council Ethics Policy

Tweet

Does the Janesville City Council have a problem with ethics? Not bad enough where they need to prioritize or institute an ethics policy, at least not in my view.

I watch Janesville City Council meetings as often as I can and they are generally carried out in a very subdued if not alarmingly blase atmosphere. But, it's probably best to have something on the books just in case. My main worry is that there are two for sure, and possibly up to four control freaks on the seven member Janesville City Council who want nothing less than to keep all council members in procedural lockstep and borg-like personality shirt and tie. I'm afraid if the control freaks had their way, they would disband the council altogether and walkerize a czar to dictate policy and decisions. I hope this doesn't give them any ideas.

In this story from the Janesville Gazette, I also don't blame the person (council president) who wrote the policy for refusing to articulate to the media the reasons or instances that compelled him to propose it in the first place. It should have been left at that, but the Gazette proceeded to offer their own list of recent council member activity they view as individual behavior/ethics problems. It gave me the impression that if their subject won't provide the content they are looking for - they'll just provide it themselves anyways.

One blog commenter at the Gazette posted what I thought was a fairly accurate portrayal of the entire situation.

Comment at Gazette:
Nielsen (journalist) should have killed this story, because to be honest, Janesvillians should not be interested in what behaviors she felt were a priority to list. If Brunner feels comfortable enough to waste his time as our council member presenting this nonsense, then he had better be strong enough to present the reasons for which he feels it's necessary.

You can read the entire comment here. It's at lakennedy 4:19 AM.

Janesville Cashes In TIF Surplus Cache To Help Balance Walker's Cuts

Tweet

In a move not likely to have happened before Scott Walker's budget proposal to cut Janesville’s portion of state shared revenue by 23 percent, the Janesville city council voted unanimously to approve terminating a TIF District ten years earlier than required by law. A total of $1.67 million is expected to be distributed to cash-strapped local jurisdictions within the next 30 days.

JG Excerpt:
The city has a policy of dissolving TIF districts as soon as the bills are paid, “and we waited a little big longer on this one because, quite frankly, it is a hot area and there is still land to be sold,” Grassman said.

It's no secret that Janesville administrators are very fond of enticing well-heeled local developers with tax revenue capital from these legalized slush funds, but to now use the excess money to help plug budget holes created in part by state aid shortfalls to local jurisdictions including the school district is unheard of around here, but a natural response to Walker's budget proposal. I applaud this decision by the city council.

Unfortunately, this also works right into Walker's hands of centralized government. While Walker's budget cuts over $800 million from education and plumps his centralized economic development corporation with $250 million in state tax revenue, Wisconsin communities are making up for the state aid shortfall by shifting local economic development money back into education. This of course will leave communities without the capital resources to seed economic growth.

Knowing Walker's apparent lust for power, I'm also surprised he hasn't demanded all municipal TIF surplus capital throughout Wisconsin be turned over to fill the treasury of his new economic development corporation, or to at least call a moratorium on early TIF terminations. That might be his next move.

But what Janesville did could be the start of an interesting trend to watch for and follow. If other communities start cashing in TIF surplus usually destined for economic development to make up for Walker-induced state aid shortfalls, Walker eventually will be the only authority in town for developers.

Perhaps that is exactly how he wants it.

Anti-Partisan Crusader's Selective Rage Targets Labor Unions

Tweet

During last Monday's Janesville City council meeting, council members offered starkly different opinions over whether Ed James, a strongly opinionated letter writer and emailer to the newspaper and city council, should be appointed to the city's transportation committee. In recent correspondence, several council members apparently felt targeted by James, that his written perspectives and attitude created an unworkable relationship with the council.

First, here's a little Rock Netroots history on Ed James. Several years ago he wrote a letter to the Janesville Gazette complaining about what he described as increased political infiltration by the local labor union's open and pro-active citizen public support for a few city council candidates in Janesville's non-partisan city council election. The anti-labor Gazette quickly picked up James' ball bat and began to pound on the targeted candidates through their newsprint by painting the candidates union supporters as having partisan motives, all just two days before election. In hindsight, it can be said that James and the Gazette blackballed a city council candidate simply for his affiliation with a labor union. Back then in 2008, I wrote my take on that episode here, and a follow-up a month later here.

Now enter 2011 and James recently injected himself into the caustic email attack initiated by council member Frank Perrotto against fellow council member Yuri Rashkin. Rashkin you might recall, attended the Forward Janesville dinner and left the event early to engage with labor union supporters when Gov. Scott Walker entered the stage to deliver his speech. This action caused Perrotto, also attending the event, to become unhinged and he proceeded to write Rashkin exactly what he thought, calling Rashkin's behavior despicable, stupid and partisan among others. James, soon afterward then sent emails to the council taking Perrotto's side in the attack and named three council members responsible for bringing partisanship to the council. James also added that the city council letter sent earlier to the governor in favor of collective bargaining rights was inappropriate.

Now enter this week and Ed James has asked to be appointed to the city's transportation committee. Appointments for committees are finalized by the seven member city council, and it was at Monday's meeting where those three council members voiced their concerns about Ed James. They eventually wanted to direct the committee to search for a new candidate. That motion failed and James was appointed anyways.

The Janesville Gazette in the meantime, opened up their story on the city council James appointment discussion with this.

JG Excerpt:
Three city council members on Monday tried to blackball a resident recommended to serve on the city's transportation committee, saying he had been too critical of certain council members.

Blackball? In open discussion on public television? Okay, we know that the Gazette supported James' anti-labor views in the past. So a defense was expected. Over time, the committee appointment process in Janesville has become somewhat of a rubber stamp for a revolving group of establishment insiders and generic agreeables, so the go-along-to-get-along Gazette suddenly reverses direction to satisfy their defense for James.

In their follow-up editorial on Thursday, the Gazette picks up where they left off with James nearly three years ago and in his defense writes up the three dissenting council members as indifferent to residents holding a perspective contrary to prevailing viewpoints.

Councilman Bill Truman agreed, saying, "That's why we have the committee appointments, so the council doesn't pick and choose the 'yes' and 'no' men on the committee."

But, exactly why does the city council reserve the right to committee appointments if it can be argued that they are choosing only "yes" men when they appoint, or when they don't appoint - the local media monopoly writes up their favored applicant as being blackballed?

So what's all the hoopla really about? Well, Ed James might think of himself as some kind of a anti-partisan crusader, but I believe Jame's anti-partisanship, including that of the Janesville Gazette's, is very selective - to an extreme. Here's why. When the Janesville City Council endorsed the legislative agenda of the local business establishment lobbyist group, Forward Janesville, James was silent - and so was the Gazette. No letters to the editor decrying partisan lobbyists taking over city hall, no editorials and no emails about political infiltration either. But that endorsement at the time was a political endorsement no different than if the city council endorsed the legislative agenda of the local UAW 95. Yet, had the council endorsed a local UAW union agenda, you can bet James (and the Gazette) would have went ballistic.

But you might also say, "didn't the city council send a letter to the governor expressing their support for collective bargaining?" Wasn't that very similar to the council's Forward Janesville endorsement as well? The answer to that is - no, it's not the same at all. When the council developed that letter, they expressed their value and support in "collective bargaining" which is little more than a legal framework for two parties to reach an amicable agreement. They did not endorse the legislative agenda of a politically active lobby nor did they spell out the name of an organized voting bloc in that letter. That's important. But the city council did exactly that two years earlier with the Forward Janesville endorsement resolution. The letter supporting collective bargaining doesn't even come close to the same level of political pandering and partisanship. Back then, I thought it was and still do believe that endorsing the legislative agenda of Forward Janesville was the worst possible partisan action a so-called non-partisan city council could undertake. Yet to someone who pretends to be Mister anti-partisan politics in Janesville city government - Ed James was completely silent.

Of course I believe James is entitled to his aggressively partisan opinion, and different even opposing views should always be welcome and engaged with in the city council and on committees, not rejected. But with James' history, there are solid reasons why his one-sided anti-partisanship rhetoric doesn't hold water and if his perspective on something he thinks he's an expert on can't stand up to a simple test - what are we to believe?

Janesville City Council Incumbent Defeated

Tweet

After initiating a highly insulting personal attack against fellow council member Yuri Rashkin in an email a week ago, incumbent Frank Perrotto, known for his flippantly arrogant comments during council discussion, was unseated last night from the Janesville City Council. During a recent city council meeting, it was also Perrotto who used his council position on live TV to voice his support for Gov. Scott Walker and his budget repair bill.

In a Janesville Gazette web article posted soon after election results, the newspaper spins in defense of Frank Perrotto as a "victim" of partisan politics. The Gazette endorsed Perrotto.

With one seat wide open of four seats in the mix, Deb Dongarra-Adams and Sam Liebert captured two while incumbents George Brunner and Russ Steeber prevailed over the remaining challengers. Congratulations!!

Janesville Council Member Attacks Fellow Council Member In Email

Tweet

Janesville City Council member Frank Perrotto went on a scathing personal attack against fellow council member Yuri Rashkin when Rashkin simply vacated the Forward Janesville dinner when Scott Walker went on the stage to speak to the business dinner crowd.

According to Rashkin, he left to engage with the throngs of Janesville residents and protesters outside the building because he felt it was necessary and to exercise his rights. Fair enough. Soon afterwards, Perrotto sent Rashkin an outrageously reprehensible email attacking him with childish name-calling and describing Rashkin's behavior as despicable, stupid and a partisan just to name a few. This behavior though is not unusual for Perrotto as he is known for his outbursts of cross-eyed vein popping smart-alecky rage and blusterous arrogance during council meetings against one of the city's council critics, K. Andreah Briarmoon. But this is the first time that I'm aware of where he punishes a fellow council member with his self-righteous wrath. That's his right too and Perrotto stands by his words. It should be noted that Frank Perrotto is up for re-election to the city council on the April ballot.

Being a voting and taxpaying resident of the city of Janesville with a non-district at-large city council, what I want to know is how Janesville City Council members Kathy Voskuil, Frank Perrotto and George Brunner represented the folks protesting outside the Forward Janesville dinner. In their own words. The fact is after the fact – they didn’t. Yet according to all counts, there were more folks outside the Holiday Inn than in.

Even without that, I want to know how they represented the majority position of Janesville voters. In November when Janesville voters spoke, they voted for Not Walker – 56%, Walker – 44% and that was when voters trusted Walker. Walker of course won the statewide election, but Janesville city council members do not represent or speak for the state of Wisconsin nor should they represent the business membership of a politically active lobby group. They are supposed to represent all of the city of Janesville – for good or for bad. That includes the folks outside too.

So far, Voskuil, Brunner and Perrotto only showed us how they represent a tiny albeit wealthy minority of Janesville. So, I want to know not only how they represent the Janesville majority who did not vote for Walker, I want to what their personal position is as well and what they intend to do to transmit the wishes of the at-large Janesville majority and incorporate those views into city government.

Do tell.

But what Rashkin attempted to do in my view, was the impossible. He tried to bridge a gap, represent and placate both sides in an environment that is fast approaching civil war levels at the same time showing his personal distaste for Walker’s Budget Repair Bill. Whether he did this to gain some political advantage is pure speculation. It could back-fire. But he was completely entitled to exercising his 1st Amendment rights for his statements and position without being trashed by the hyper-partisan sycophant capitulating Perrotto.

The fact is Kathy Voskuil wouldn’t even try to bridge that gap. Perrotto ran away from it and George Brunner wouldn’t do it either. Instead, they stood on the inside with a small exclusive minority of Janesville voters who for the most part, do not represent the at-large Janesville population at all. This time, I give Rashkin much credit for his courageous decision.

Read another blog perspective here.

It's Time To Move Public Notices To The Web

Tweet

During last week's Janesville city council meeting, at least two residents complained about the city's lack of communication and said they were unaware of public meeting and hearing notices regarding an ordinance effecting consignment and resale shops. After their comments, Council Member Tom McDonald offered this statement...

City Council Transcript:
"I'm a little bit concerned with the communication process because we've hearing alot from people who didn't get communication. On the other hand, there was an initial reading and when there was the initial reading of this ordinance, this story was in the newspaper. And then two weeks later it was in the newspaper again, not just as what's going to happen at the council meeting but there was a second story in the newspaper about how it effects consignment shops. And I'm just curious because there were alot of people here tonight, and people seem to communicate with each other tonight, why that didn't happen? Does not one pawn shop, gun shop, second hand dealer follow the newspaper or listen to stories on the radio - when these kind of things come up? Because we hear this, not just specific to this issue but it's other issues that come to the council as well. We get people who after the fact that say "I didn't know this was going to happen." But, we can't mail out the agenda to every single business and every single home in town. So we will look into the communication issue to be sure, but I'm also going to say residents and businesses have the responsibility to pay attention to what's going on in our city and I'll just leave it at that." -- Council Member Tom McDonald

I completely disagree with the direction of McDonald's statement. It is not incumbent upon residents to purchase (read) a newspaper or listen to the radio to find out what city government is up to.

McDonald's statement however did not surprise me at all. In the past he opposed televising city council study sessions on public television because he was worried how it might cut into the Janesville Gazette's ability to monopolize the public meetings for their own interests. He was also responsible for cutting the city's highly informative newsletter. In fact, had it not been for the mandated annual water report, the now once-a-year summer edition newsletter would have also been scrapped. And it was McDonald again who worked on the Gazette's behalf to change the city charter and start council meetings a half-hour earlier so the newspaper could meet their new editing deadlines. With his latest comments, one has to wonder whether McDonald has a vested interest in Bliss Communications and/or whether it's right to use his position on the city council to the newspaper's advantage.

But McDonald's statement brings up a great counter-point for hard-pressed Janesville taxpayers to consider. Everything is now about saving dollars we supposedly don't have. Public meeting and hearing notices published in newspapers cost local governments tens of thousands of dollars a year. What's the point to spending that kind of money when we can simply post and archive them on the city's web site. The same goes for the county's board meetings and foreclosure notices. Many communities are now only beginning to realize a huge cost savings by switching to Web only notices.

Milwaukee News Buzz Excerpt:
Roys argues that the costs of advertising are too great for local governments. “We will have to have a public discussion and decide: Do we want to continue to force local government to spend their scarce resources on printing notices when there are better ways of communicating?”

Why bother with a public discussion? Particularly now that we're living in a state governed by scorched earth budget cuts across the board without debate or negotiation. That's the new leadership. It's pretty much "f!#% you" - we can't afford it. Yet aside from that current intellectual belligerence, there is no reason to continue paying tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars to post notices in newspapers nobody reads. Now is the time to do it.

Will Janesville Post Delinquent Developers Names On The Web?

Tweet

For years Janesville taxpayers helped private developers skirt the free market banking and loan system by underwriting loans to pay for development infrastructure improvements. Few people thought it was wrong - except me of course. But now it's come home to roost as the city finds itself in a $3 million hole. Oftentimes billed as a public/private partnership, Janesville taxpayers have suddenly found ourselves without a partner when it came time to help share in the losses.

Excerpt:
The amount delinquent on the lots is about $1.77 million, with additional amounts owing, but not due, of $1.15 million. Of the $2.92 million total, about 65 percent is owed to the general fund, 18 percent to the water utility and 16.5 percent to the wastewater utility.

So the question is: will the City of Janesville take the same kind of pro-active approach the state has taken with delinquent taxpayers and post the identities of the delinquent developers on a dedicated page on the internet? Why not? The state now posts the names of delinquent taxpayers who owe $5,000 or more. Janesville taxpayers deserve to know exactly who failed to keep their end of a bargain that will eventually cost us $3 million. We should also have the duty to warn others so this won't happen to another unsuspecting lender.

Where Are All The Proud Self-Made Business Entrepreneurs?

Tweet

Here we go again. Another local business is requesting government assistance, this time to help pay the rent ...and oh, we can't forget the 30 jobs it will create.

JG Excerpt:
With Janesville City Council approval Monday, URT would receive a $50,000 forgivable TIF loan. The company would use the loan to lease a 40,000-square-foot facility from HCP ...and create 30 jobs.

The names of the players really don't concern me (they do, but for sake of web crawlers I replaced them with initials), but what does concern me is the monotony of these requests, their automatic approval by our city council and the steady lack of journalistic curiosity from our monopolized media.

Like in any and all of these government freebie deals, whether it involves a single individual or idea, but even more so particularly a hand-out to for-profit free enterprise business, I would want to ask for documented proof of hardship. In today's Orwellian political and social environment, I know many would call me a Socialist or worse for asking such a hurtful question, but there should be no good reason for government to distribute taxpayer dollars to private-for-profit entities just for the asking without a viable system of means testing.

$50,000 might sound like a cheap good deal to create 30 jobs, but that is not the point here. The point is why an established business can't seem to expand or create jobs without some sort of a tax perk or cash hand-out. Now, some might argue that if the government assistance is available, they would be foolish not to take it. I guess. Others could say I'm targeting the wrong party here, that its' the government's fault for making the assistance available. Yeah, I suppose.

Given our completely upside-down world of growth economics, this will probably sound either a bit old-fashioned or eccentric, but where are all the proud Americans, you know, the kind of people and business folks who would find it beneath them to take a government hand-out unless only as the very last resort for survival and existence. I know they're out there, I just never hear about them. But I hear and read about the businesses that request and capture tax payer's dollars all the time as if we're supposed to be all jolly and giddy over it. They get all the exposure.

So, I'm taking a different turn on this one and request to hear from anybody who started an independent business (unaffiliated, non-franchise) or business expansion in Janesville or anywhere in Rock County (10 employees or more) AND did not apply for or receive ANY type of government assistance such as a low interest government loan, TIF District advantages or funding, federal grants, contracts, a rail spur, or any other assistance or special exemptions paid for with tax dollars - when it was available to you. You know, NO federal, state, or local government assistance whatsoever - just pulled up by your own sweat and bootstraps.

You are the people the government and everyone else needs to hear from. We need to know what drove you away from government assistance and into the arms of private venture capital, private lenders or your own pockets. We need to know from where you learned these bizarre self-respecting and patriotic free market values. What schools did you attend? How you came to possess these virtues and how these valued traits could be passed on to others. In addition, you are the local businesses area residents need to become aware of and support with their spending dollars. You are my heroes.

I can't say for certain our local media would care to publish your self-made success story framed as I'd like to tell it. But if you're out there, I'd sure be willing to post your story here - with all the bells and whistles I could offer.

Note: There seems to be a controversy brewing in the Gazette's comment section involving the company requesting the TIF funding. It appears a former employee has accused the company of unethical business practices involving the disposal of contracted goods. I'll keep note on whether the Gazette follows up on the allegations and how the Janesville City Council handles the request for tax payer dollars.  

City Hides Developer's Payment Request During Council Presentation

Tweet

During last night's Janesville city council meeting, the city administration and council had another one of those increasingly trendy hidden-government-crony-favoritism-double-standard-class-war-Janesville-style-politics moments when they quickly approved without discussion a request from a development investment firm to extend the term payback period for road and infrastructure assessments from 5 years to 10 years.

Janesville Online Excerpt:
Economic Development Director’s Recommendation. Staff recommends that SARA Investments be granted a ten year payback period for the extension of watermain and sanitary sewer along with road improvements instead of the normal five year period.

Much like the last time Janesville's city government reframed a corps-favor by burying it in a TIF agreement, this time not only did the administration official and council members completely avoid any reference to the payment term change, they also made no request to require any proof or documents of hardship from the firm for reason why an extended payment plan is needed in the first place. This was all in stark contrast to the council meeting two weeks ago when a Janesville homeowner requested a nearly identical payment extension (from 5 to 10 years) on $2,600 for a sidewalk installation. Keep in mind the homeowner's request is not a hand-out from city taxpayer coffers. It is merely a homeowner asking to have their payments spread out with the incurring interest over a longer period of time.

Although the homeowner's request was eventually approved based on hardship inflicted by high medical bills, two council members made a fuss that the city should establish better guidelines to prove hardship with tax records or other documentation when homeowners seek an extended payment plan. Apparently no such proof of hardship is necessary when investors call for the same favor.

It should be noted that the Janesville Gazette, yes even the Janesville Gazette, called reference to the firm's 10-year payback extension request in this article about the upcoming city council agenda published several days earlier. This relatively unfiltered coverage is so unusual it might be the result of a communication break-down or a squabble between the city administration and the newspaper. Anything is possible around here.

For the sake of appearing not too class-battle-hardened, lets forget all of the juxtaposition and obvious double-standard between the requests and just focus on why the city administration would deliberately hide any reference of the payment extension during the open-to-the-public council meeting. Are TIF agreements regularly being used as a vehicle to shelter other crony capital favors? Is the investment firm facing hardship for requesting the extension? Why was the city official's speaking presentation absent of any reference to the payment plan? Why didn't city council members inquire about the request?

Janesville's Cash Cow Not For Everybody

Tweet

During a Janesville city council budget session last week, it was announced that the Rock County Humane Society asked for $173,000 more than last year for operations for a total of $290,000 from city of Janesville taxpayer coffers.

Soon afterwards came a high level of dissonance, sharp criticisms, straw man arguments and accusations of extortion against the not-for-profit public service animal shelter from the council members.

The following is a sample of some of their comments.

Council member Russ Steeber:
"They've got us in a predicament,... the Humane Society is doing us a disservice. This is a humongous increase, they could have spread this out over several years...got us stuck between a rock and a hard spot," he said. "It really is unthinkable that they would do this to us. They know that we need their services, but they've got us by the short hairs and taking us for a ride." It's almost criminal... They are forcing the fact that they have the only ball game in town, and if you don't play with their rule - you're stuck.

The citizens of Janesville will suffer because of their lack of management and control of their costs...They're still using it as a tool to extort us from money, like I said they're the only game in town...it kind'a sucks."

Council member Tom McDonald:
Who actually disagreed with most of Steeber's comments but..."if we find out they're making a profit off of this, then I'll come a little closer to your camp of criminality and extortion."

Council member George Brunner:
"I really think the Humane Society has lost focus, they found cash cows" in the cities of Beloit and Janesville. I'm really starting to question whether or not the Rock Humane Society is a not-for-profit operation because of the idea of having cash cows out there." ...I'm just a afraid with the humane society asking for this huge increase, that the trend will continue and where does it end?"

Council member Bill Truman:
"I agree this is getting out of line. It's getting close to criminal."

Council member Yuri Rashkin:
"I think this is a public relations disaster on their part no matter whether the building is falling apart around them, it's not creating any good will whatsoever.""One question ... Is the Rock County Humane Society in this situation trying to take advantage of their unique position or are they trying to cover the costs that have increased?"

Council member Frank Perrotto:
"We're all outraged!"

Oh, the outrage!!

Yet, where was the outrage when W.W. Grainger, a Fortune 500 company with shareholders and $460 million in cash on hand, asked for a 1000% increase in the form of a $227,000 hand-out from modest Janesville tax payers to pay for "restructuring?"

Well, that's different huh? That's one of them thar' good-steward-public-private-community-partnerships-TIF-district-forgivable-loan-slush-fund-hand-out-whatcha-ma-callits. THAT'S what that was.

The Rock County Humane Society doesn't qualify for any of that - they're one of those not-for-profit do-gooder outfits with plenty of volunteer help. They practically operate in a socialist vacuum, so how could costs and needs ever go up - right?

Are TIF District Maps Privileged Information In Janesville?

Tweet

Apparently, the Janesville city administration does not offer access to public viewing of the city's nearly two dozen TIF districts on the city's website. It's possible I may have missed it labeled under a different name, but after searching the planning and development sections and the maps link, I've come up empty.

What's the deal with that?

City Officials Update Privileged Ice Arena Group

Tweet

Headlines here!…read all about it! City Council extends $2 million to privileged leisure group!!… read all about it!!… Food pantry use on the rise while donations are down!!.. Get your news now and read all about it... read all about it!! School board member says worst economy since Hoover, community can’t afford teachers!! Headlines here!…read all about it! City Council extends $2 million to privileged….

Ahh, life is good …iddin it?

Don't look now folks, but Janesville city officials at Monday's city council meeting appeared to be testing the winds when they openly discussed the idea of giving away city facility naming rights so a privileged group of city hall insiders can sell it in order to help meet their $2 million commitment to build a private-partnered ice rink - instead of the city leasing the intellectual property as a means of paying down the taxpayer's burden and subsidy for the current arena. Apparently, the fund-raising group ran out of their own cookies and donuts to sell - they now want ours.

The city manager favors the idea because he considers the private group an extension of the city's efforts to raise capital for a new arena. Council member Russ Steeber agreed.

Other tidbits from the Monday's Janesville city council meeting:

* The city manager said the location of the current ice rink is a sufficient, but not an ideal location for a new fire station.

* Council member Yuri Rashkin noted that no representative from the fund-raising group bothered to attend the council meeting. Instead, the city's ice arena advisory Committee Chairman, Steve Walker, who also happens to be a VP of the Janesville Hockey Club apparently spoke on their behalf. The city's ice arena advisory committee by the way, is weighted down with pro-hockey arena expansion advocates - and not by chance. City officials want it tilted that way.

Despite mentioning at least four solid reasons why the new arena project should not move forward, among them location problems, unknown costs, the city budget, the fund-raisers shortfall and the declining local economy - Rashkin tossed those concerns to the wind and voted to re-commit $2 million and extend the group's deadline to Dec. 31, 2010.

* Overheard through the chatter that 10 acres of vacant land in the city should cost $350,000 despite earlier fear-promoting remarks from the city administration and council that vacant land for a new fire station would cost $1 million or more. This lower figure brings the cost of land acquisition for a new fire station more in line with reality. In addition, why the city would need 10 acres of land for a new fire station is anybody's guess.

* That the cost of an additional sheet of ice for an arena expansion in Eau Claire is pegged at $5.5 million, which is more than double the costs projected for Janesville's second sheet. Eau Claire's expansion figure calls into question all of the cost projections for Janesville's new ice arena boondoggle.

* GOP operative and businessman Bill McCoshen made a request to clarify and change portions of a sugar-coated lease that allows his business, the Janesville Jets junior hockey team, to skip out on paying the office rental fee at the city facility if the average attendance falls below 600. He wants the contract to read only paid attendance will be counted with the trade-off lowered to 500.

* The council approved McCoshen's request without having an accurate record of paid and unpaid attendance figures or establishing a set of rules to follow for promotional and free give-away tickets. As it now stands, the Jets could free ticket-give-away their way out of paying monthly rent.

One thing I have to add is the commentary and vote by council member Tom McDonald. He was the only member to get it right and vote against the $2 million/deadline extension boondoggle (I think this is the third deadline). Bravo!

Janesville Gazette Editorial Excerpt:
(Titled - Ice Arena Plan Makes Sense)
Besides, by pledging $2 million in tax money in hopes of getting a new rink, the city could save up to $1 million in repairs to the current rink and another $1 million by not having to buy land for a new central fire station.

The Conservatives new fiscal conservatism - you have to demolish a $1 million facility and SPEND another $2 million in order to eventually save $1 million? The Gazette's been regurgitating and pawning off those distortions from ice arena advocates since the beginning to help sell the new facility.

First of all, renovating the current community ice rink facility is said to cost about one million which means the city won't spend the entire $2 million they set aside. This means the city saves one million. That's not too complicated to understand. The city can then look for a new fire station location equally not as ideal as the Beloit/Tyler location for probably $250,000 or less. Remember, they don't need ten acres. Plus, the city won't pave over the southside green field they originally earmarked for the new ice arena. We end up saving about $750,000 that we can actually hold and count. The city (without a middle-man) can then bid away the naming rights lease for an annual paydown subsidy fee. Start the bidding at $100,000 annual. Win-win-win.

The ice arena fund-raising group, God bless their hearts, claim they have raised $700,000 of which they could give $350,000 to pay for the latest sound and lighting system, jumbotron, etc. for the newly renovated community ice rink. We could post a plaque in their honor in the ice arena main lobby. The other $350,000 could be divided among ECHO, Salvation Army, community food pantries and homeless shelters. This way they will have partnered their good will efforts for the entire community - just like they've always intended.

More Taxpayer "Skin" Expected In Hockey Arena Boondoggle

Tweet

The Janesville City Manager, Eric Levitt, is requesting the approval of a concessions contract at the current ice arena with Janesville Youth Hockey that is expected to bring in $1,400 less annually for the city, based on a percentage of last year's sales figures.

City of Janesville Web Site:
The City Manager is requesting consideration of approval of the City’s agreement with Janesville Youth Hockey Association (JYHA) for operations of the concessions at the Janesville Ice Rink located on Beloit Avenue. The fee for the operation would be for the City to receive 12.5% of net proceeds.

12.5% of net proceeds instead of a $5,000 flat fee produces the loss of $1,400.

In this article from the Janesville Gazette, the Director of Administrative Services Jay Winzenz said the decision to take a portion of profits (percentaged based instead of a flat fee) was made to capitalize on increased sales they expect from Janesville Jets games. However, the figures posted at the Janesville City Website (page 13), which are what the $1,400 loss is based on, already takes in a great portion of revenues collected from last season's Janesville Jets games. The figures are fiscal year ending 3/31/2010.

Yet, according to the Janesville City Web Site (page 2), the city administration expects to make up for the lost revenue by shifting other revenues due to the taxpayers from concessions contracted out in the facility's warming room.

Either way, Janesville taxpayers are expected to see an even smaller return on their investment which must eventually be made up with increased subsidies. All the while special interests profit more.

At the last Janesville city council meeting, a pro-hockey-arena "neutral" consultant hired by the pro-hockey-arena city administration had this to say about re-evaluating existing contracts at the arena.

Council Meeting Excerpt:
"If you were to construct a new facility, like all of your existing contracts it would be prudent to go back and re-evaluate those, particularly on the attendance side of things, selling tickets, to be sure that they're going to to fill that new arena that would be built for them ...that there would be a little more skin in the game for them - to keep them around." -- Rink Consultant speaking to the Janesville City Council

Whether we're talking about $5,000 or $5,000,000, the more money city taxpayers pour into our once-upon-a-time "community" ice arena, the more "skin" Janesville taxpayers will have to give up to the privileged special interests that are pushing the boondoggle in the first place. Contrary to all the basic principles of free market risk, competition and supply and demand, we (taxpayers) will pay even more to the very folks that make sure our investment never pays off.

What a racket.

"Chicago Politics?" In Janesville?

Tweet

More junk journalism from the Janesville Gazette attacking the Rock County coroner, Jenifer Keach, for challenging the papers of a ballot petitioner in September's primary.

Newspaper Excerpt: ("anonymous" comment published in the Janesville Gazette)

On Coroner:
Just opened the front page of Saturday's Gazette. I thought the carrier had made a mistake and left me the Chicago Tribune. Jenifer Keach, you better hope that your challenge is successful and you knock Holder off the ballot because if you don't, I'm voting for Cary regardless of who is more qualified. We don't play Chicago politics in Janesville.

Excuse me? But you just played it like a fiddle.

Those are the kind of cheap-shots and veiled threats they're used to hearing around election time in Chicago. Unfortunately, it's also been standard-issue politicking in Janesville for quite some time. Not just by the useful idiot who supplied the comment (supposedly) to the newspaper, but the newspaper itself for publishing such baseless remarks built for personal destruction. What passes for open public discourse and authentic free speech opinion in Janesville is actually a newspaper actively campaigning and publishing against a candidate "Chicago" style.

Here are just a few recent examples:

Chicago politics in Janesville is when a newspaper propagandizes just like a party machine against a citizen running for public office, simply because the candidate or their supporters might not fit their establishment clique or socio-political agenda. Or for any reason they can just make up.

Chicago politics happens when elected city officials favor wealthy individuals, for-profit businesses and special interest groups with access to city taxpayer coffers under the guise of public-private partnerships.

Chicago politics happens when unscrupulous members of a government board or commission attempt to game the system by playing procedural tricks to strip away an office from an elected official and voters, and almost get away with it because a Chicago-politics-enabling-media deliberately failed to publish the heightened sense of alarm that such an important event deserved.

Chicago politics happens when good paying jobs are held open for the children and relatives of top city management officials.

Chicago politics is when a newspaper can pretend to be above the fray and neutral when they willfully publish unattributable cheap-shot political comments and statements of personal destruction against candidates, incumbents and other public officials.

Chicago politics is when a city council disregards the majority wishes of a residential neighborhood for the sake of an outside special interest.

Chicago politics happens when power-seeking insiders and their media enablers attempt to rig a primary with a puppet candidate under false pretenses.

Chicago politics is when a newspaper maligns a lawmaker by attempting to mix his private life into his legislative positions without producing any substantive proof of ethical wrong-doing. Chicago politics is when a newspaper tears down a legislator on issues the newspaper itself actually supports.

Chicago politics happens when a city administration hires a pro-issue "neutral" consultant.

Chicago politics happens when a small group of revenge-driven "connecteds" file complaints against an official based on exaggerations and distortions of the truth. Chicago politics happens when those allegations are repeated by a newspaper as legitimate judgments despite being deemed unfounded.

Chicago politics happens when a newspaper and their partisans twist commonly held legal procedures exercised by their perceived opposition into a raging affront against the law.

Chicago politics happens when certain officials, their ideas, positions and decisions can be challenged every step of the way with contempt and ridicule, but their challenger's positions and petitions cannot - or vice-versa.

Chicago politics happens when a city council, administration and a monopolized media favor one community service group over another.

Chicago politics in Janesville happens when an elected official is accused of engaging in "Chicago politics" just for following the letter of the law and openly exercising their due rights.

Chicago politics happens when anonymous voters claim to prefer the less qualified candidate if it means to "knock off" another. Chicago politics happens when those anonymously made malicious comments pick up legitimacy through unchallenged publication.

Obviously, Chicago politics in Janesville has nothing to do with being democratic or republican. But it has everything to do with revenge politics built on clout and personal destruction, and being part of a concerted if not underhanded effort to gain power and wealth at the expense of others. From all the countless efforts by the local establishment machine and their governmental insiders to usurp power without democracy, aside from the discounted and disempowered Janesville residents themselves, I can't think of a greater victim of Chicago-style politics in Rock County than our own coroner, Jenifer Keach.

Perhaps it's high time to man'up and stop blaming Chicago for this Janesville brand of personal destruction journalism and revenge politics, all the while pretending that a hateful and power corrupting environment doesn't exist here, and instead call it what it is - Janesville politics.

Sidewalk-Less Property Sales In Janesville Should Be Illegal

Tweet

During Monday night's Janesville city council meeting, the council was confronted by the city administration over the city's broken sidewalk program.

For starters, we'll have to go back to 2008 when the council directed the administration to plan for and build nine miles of sidewalks per year for the next seven years in an effort to catch up to the backlog of existing unwalkable streets and sub-divisions within city limits. However, during a council meeting in April of this year, the council cherry-picked through a list of streets tabbed for sidewalks by the administration in the scaled down 1.5 mile plan for 2010 and exempted most of the properties. Of course the council faced about 25 angry residents at that particular council meeting, but that's what they should expect since it's the council that demands final approval. The administration appears to be the bad guy by following their directive, while the council sets themselves up as the good guy by opting-out a mob of angry property owners. This only defers the day of reckoning for the city council to face another angry mob again next year.

So who could blame the administration for suggesting that the city should scrap the sidewalk plan entirely and develop a petition process for residents who might want to opt-in for a $2,500 sidewalk? You know how far that one will go. At least that suggestion called the council's bluff on the sidewalk plan so to speak, forcing the council to either terminate the plan or re-issue their support for it.

After some discussion, the council did issue their unanimous support for the sidewalk plan, but scaled back the 9-mile target to a 5-mile minimum primarily because of the poor local economy. With that said, the council did not address why they enjoy cherry-picking through a list of properties every year to exempt. This is where a lot of the trouble comes from. Once property owners see their name on a list, they should have an appeals process away from the council to appeal to. But since sidewalks are mandatory in Janesville, the reason for exemption would have to be pretty darn serious. But wait! The "progressive" government of Janesville does not have a genuine appeals system. The council is it.

At Monday's meeting, Council member Bill Truman said he still wants to know the addresses involved in future sidewalk planning. For what? That's just laying the groundwork for more of the same old anger management politicking.

What needs to be done is a complete restructuring of Janesville city government and its processes. But it took them almost 90 years to create this mess. You think they have the stomach for progress? Not a chance - they like it like this.

One of the best ideas I've heard on the perennial Janesville sidewalk fiasco came from a comment at the Gazette blog.

Gazette Blog Comment:
"It's real simple. When the current home owner sells the house, side walks go in. Period. Let the new and old owners dicker over who is paying." -- Lifelonger

Great idea! The city absolutely should not allow any sidewalk-less parcels with or without a home to change ownership without setting up a sidewalk escrow account built into the sale price. No ifs, ands, or buts.

City Taps Empty Slush Fund For Privileged Group

Tweet

On Monday night, the Janesville city council approved of giving over $11,000 to a Janesville business group so they could erect a monument as a entry way sign for their business district on the west side of Janesville. The group, calling themselves the Westgate Corridor Group, will have their name emblazoned on the twelve-foot-long brick pillared structure to be planted in a public right-of-way.

We can assume that they should have their name on it, afterall they're paying for it, right? Wrong.

Taxpayers will pay for group's monument.

Agenda Excerpt:
...the Westgate Group has requested that the Common Council authorize funding for the project in the amount of $11,113.00 as a TIF District 28 expenditure.

The money is expected to be pulled from the TIF, but since the district hasn't generated any slush money yet, the city must borrow to pay for the sign.

Okay, let's forget about that part for now.

The Westgate Corridor Group touts itself as a caring “coalition of residents, businesses, property owners and community leaders interacting with the city to provide for opportunities and positive action. Certainly then, we'd at least expect to have the basic cooperation and interaction present to fund the monument with a public private partnership, right? Wrong. Noticeably absent from the presentation and council discussion was the term "public private partnership." No council members bothered to ask why this caring group of business people and "community leaders" could not pitch in to pay for a sign that will have their name on it. Pitch in 50%? 40%? 30%? Nope ...not one penny. The business group, completely aware that the city will likely have to borrow to pay for their sign, doesn't even blink.

But let's forget about that part for now.

Certainly the business group will at least make the council presentation and request for the money themselves. Afterall they're business people, they're in business to sell themselves, right? Sorry, wrong again.

City Administration Working On Behalf Of Business Group

Agenda Excerpt:
... the City of Janesville is acting as the applicant on behalf of the Westgate Group for the privilege to allow placement of the sign in the public right-of-way

No representative from the business group spoke at the council meeting, instead the city administration presented the private group's request.

Okay, let's forget about that part for now.

At least the project, design and construction will be competitively bid upon with community members offering free materials and a possible slogan and design contest for school kids or residents, right? You'd be wrong again.

Business group contracts for its own no-bid deal

Agenda Excerpt:
1. That the sign be constructed in accordance with design plans submitted by the Westgate Group, acting as general contractor for the project.

You gotta' love it! It really doesn't matter whether it's only $11,000 or $11 million that's at stake. With crony capitalist government picking the winners and the losers and a compliant media with no obligation to ask the right questions, it's best to just forget about it all.

Worth mentioning: I don't know what came over them, but Council members McDonald and Brunner voted against the request.

Are Some Council Members Worried More About Negative Publicity Than Truth?

Tweet

At Monday's Janesville city council meeting, a few council members spoke out about the controversy surrounding the Janesville Farmers Market after the Janesville Gazette posted a story about certain vendors being rejected from entering the market.

Unfortunately, in the Gazette's follow-up report covering council member's remarks, the newspaper deliberately omitted comments to the effect that council members expressed more concern about the negative publicity and fallout from the newspaper story than the actual potential for a corrupted administrative process as portrayed in the story. It was as if council members were surprised the newspaper would publish such a "negative" story about Janesville in the first place, particularly before they had the chance to hear it from the "horse's mouth." But since the Gazette is little more than a marketing publication for the city and business community and has a long record of sweeping the local dirt under the carpet, I can't blame council members for thinking that way. That I'm even writing about a farmers market controversy to this extent is laughable, but a testament to the tight lid the Gazette keeps on even minor controversies that might place Janesville into a negative light.

But do we really want a false reality for the sake of presenting only positive stories? Where is the quest for truth and fairness? Where is the integrity?

With the farmers market controversy kicking into the rebuttal phase, I can only hope for the sake of truth and fairness that the Gazette gives the market's director and board members a fair chance to respond to their article without reframing or juggling their statements out of context.

As a local media watcher, I was quick to point out what appears to be a rare clean and balanced article by the Gazette, without the usual socio-political message or public steerage that underscores most their local stories. I'm writing about this next concern because lightning never strikes the same place twice.