Curmudgeon's Corner

Reading the recent article by Amy Guckeen in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I was astounded to learn of the problems associated with the new compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

They last up to ten times longer than standard incandescent bulbs and use 75% less energy. End of good things…

Once they burn out they need to be recycled. Since we Germantown residents live in Washington County, we will need to take those burned out CFLs to Port Washington, WI for disposal. That is the sole disposal site for both Washington and Ozaukee counties according to the story. Wow, that is certainly convenient. We’ll spend a lot more on gasoline than we’ll save on energy. Was this simply an error in the story, or is it correct that we’re unable to take these to our G’town recycling center?

Oh, and if you drop one and it breaks…you are to open a window and leave the room for a minimum of 15 minutes [no mention is made of what one must do if in a windowless room]. Then you scoop up the fragments and powder using a stiff piece of cardboard or paper. You are not to vacuum the residue or use your bare hands to clean it up. Finally, you are supposed to wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel. And, seal everything in a plastic bag. This is enough to give us all a warm and cozy feeling about CFLs.

The average CFL bulb contains 5 milligrams of mercury. I used to play with "quick silver" as a child before anyone knew enough to tell me I’d be dead within minutes. Apparently not knowing that saved me.

Is this yet another example of runaway technology or is it the nanny state saving us from ourselves? Should we just go back to burning candles and kerosene lanterns? Are we still permitted to buy kerosene?

How in the world have we gotten this far without severely harming ourselves I wonder?

Finally, be honest now…how many of you have already thrown one or more of these time bombs in your garbage?

Memorial Day, 2007 sees our country with troops deployed in many countries worldwide. Many of those troops are under hostile fire day-in and day-out. Most are away from family. At last count, some 75 members of the armed services from Wisconsin have died in the service of their country during the Afghanistan and Iraq missions (the “War on Terror” for those who are politically incorrect enough to appreciate the facts as they exist and not as one might wish they existed).

Every single person wearing the uniform today does so voluntarily. Every man or woman made his or her own decision to join whatever branch of our armed services they preferred and for which they were qualified. These are among the best and brightest of this generation. They are not in the armed forces because that was the only thing they could do. They are there because they believe in our freedoms and are willing to give their all defending those freedoms.

Mothers and fathers faced the fear only a parent can understand as they watched the loved one go off to serve, literally not knowing if they would see them again in this life. They live with that fear every day.

Some of those parents are fervent supporters of the doctrine that brought us to the battlefield, while others are as ardently opposed. But, each of them has the same stake in the outcome so far as their loved one is concerned.

Our politicians too often act exactly as we have come to expect politicians to act:

…they wrap themselves in the flag of our country even as they argue the right of citizens to deface that flag.
…they proclaim themselves fully supportive of our men and women in battle while they engage in arcane debate over fine budget points, and haggle with their associates to gain that last little piece of political cover.
…they conveniently try to convince us that they did or didn’t have all the facts when they took the vote they wish they could erase from their records.

Beyond all this, however, our conscience sits on our shoulder whispering in our ear (or at least I hope we each have one of those). It is that frequently dimming voice that gnaws at us when we see a flag flying at half-staff, when we pass a cemetery, when we read of yet another death in a faraway land.

Where will we be this Memorial Day week-end? Will we be thinking of all those brave souls who went to battle to protect our freedoms? Will we be mindful that we enjoy what we enjoy today because of those who’ve gone before? Will we be able to avoid thinking about that altogether because it makes us uncomfortable? Will we be camping and fishing and partying without so much as a moment’s thought of what this long week-end is truly about?

I hope our collective conscience is calling each of us. I hope you’ll see the flag flying just a bit differently this week-end. I hope you’ll remember that relative who served our country. I hope you’ll walk just a little bit taller when you remind yourself that you are a citizen of the greatest country on earth even given all the problems we have today.

I hope you’ll have a bit of a tear in your eye the next time you see one of this country’s finest wearing the uniform…regardless of your political persuasion. I know I do!

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of May 23rd reported that the meeting of the Washington County Board on May 22nd ended with the group agreeing to abide by the decision of the 2005 Board regarding the promises made to Cabela’s.

I am troubled still, however, in that there are five supervisors who continued to vote “No” as a show of disapproval for the original decision taken. Their disapproval is a matter of record at this point and it would’ve been, in my opinion, a very good thing if they could’ve found it within themselves to signal solidarity with the majority in light of the tremendous amount of negative publicity already heaped on our county.

Finally, the meeting was conducted behind closed doors and leaves a bad taste that only fuels those who might think there is skullduggery afoot. Three of the five supervisors who voted “No” also stood against the closed session. I think that vote was a very proper response since it is difficult for me to think there could be any more scorn to be endured by holding an open meeting on this subject that has already consumed gallons of printers’ ink and embarrassed the supervisors and the citizenry.

Things that cost nothing but a moment of recognition include…

…a hug or a kiss or a smile
…the scent of new flowers or fresh-mown grass or a rain shower
…the giggle of a child or the sight of a new puppy
…the look of delight when a child opens a gift
…the beauty of a sunrise or a sunset
…the sounds of a baseball game
…the delight in racing to lick an ice cream cone before it drips
…the sight of a loved one whom you’ve not seen for too long a time
…the joy when we see the price of gas drop a nickel or dime
…buds on a tree reminding us that spring and summer are almost here
…a thank you from a neighbor or a stranger whom you’ve helped
…a compliment you’d not been expecting
…the feeling when a tough job has been completed
…the smells of a clean tee shirt as you pull it over your head
…the beautiful new vehicle that catches your eye
…the feeling of relief when your physical exam turned out well
…falling asleep in your own bed
…being loved even when we might not be so loveable

This isn’t very curmudgeonly of me, I know, but we’d each do well to reflect on the many small treasures with which we’re blessed each and every day.

A day will come when we’d give almost anything to be able to see or enjoy just a single one of these treasures and we’ll be unable to do so.

The board Chairman now asserts that he made a mistake and voted “No” when he really meant to vote “Yes”.

If a mistake was made, it was that the Chairman didn’t have a sufficient feel for what the old and new board members were going to do. This is more the Chairman trying to give his board members a soft landing place. And, that is notable and shows some leadership. That is known as taking one for the gipper.

Anyone who is right-minded knows by now that the board vote in 2007 directly contrary to the board vote in 2005 was an egregious miscarriage…if even by a vote or two or three.

Supervisor Russell voted “No” on both resolutions in 2005 and changed to “Aye” votes on both issues this time around. Supervisor Stern voted “Aye” on the first resolution in 2005 and “No” on the second. This time around, Stern voted “No” on both resolutions. Supervisor Strupp voted “Aye” on both resolutions in 2005 and “No” on both in 2007.

Those are the flip flops. Something happened to cause them to change their votes. Outside pressure? A clearer thought process? We’ll never know.

The new members of the board included four who voted “No” on both resolutions this year. Those were Supervisors Justman, Gundrum, Ewert and Knodl. It is one thing to vote your mind, and an entirely different thing to countermand the action of the earlier board on a matter of this nature, at least to my mind.

That brings us back to the integrity issue. No one is going to place a whit of reliance on the future boards’ positions if this continues. People will understand that a vote may or may not be binding. We cannot tolerate this kind of waffling on the part of our county board if we expect it to have any semblance of certitude on other issues over the coming years.

Maybe the “institutional” we will have learned a valuable lesson, and can still do the right thing on May 22nd and beyond!

And then again…maybe not. Time will tell.

Wisconsinites are in the midst of the single biggest money grab by any political party in my memory…and that covers some ground.

The combinations of all proposed (some accepted already) new or increased fees and taxes will equal nearly $3 Billion in additional payments to the state. There are some 5.5 Million of us in Wisconsin.

Our rulers are expecting an average of an additional $545 from every person in the state. If you and your wife constitute your household, then you can expect to pony up another $1,091 for the state. If you and your wife have two children at home, then your equivalent share will be $2,182, and so on. These are averages, and the people who pay the majority of taxes (those earning $50,000 and more) will be hit several times harder.

This does not begin to take into account the additions that will be required of communities such as Germantown, and of our school districts, and of our county, and on and on. This does not take into account Governor Doyle’s latest, the promise of a college education in a Wisconsin institution of higher learning for every current eighth grader and all future students who maintain “B” averages, stay out of trouble and sign a contract. So far, many of the 75,000 eligible this year have signed this document even before the program has been approved. By the way, we aren’t even being told the ultimate cost of this boondoggle.

This does not take into account that the state will have managed to move up a slot or two or three on the “Highest Taxed States in the Nation” list that our current rulers seem to think is an honor.

This does not address the negative impact on our business environment, and on the purchase of new vehicles, and on the sales tax collection fall-offs, or our children leaving the state and it does not address another thing…

When, if ever, will enough be enough for Governor Doyle and the Democrats, our rulers?

We are now going through the charade of state budget “debate”. It is during this time that the Joint Finance Committee, comprised of eight Democrats and eight Republicans meet regularly to make changes to the budget submitted by the Governor. One small problem exists, however, in that the Democrat members of this Committee have almost consistently chosen to vote against any changes in the budget.

When this Committee deadlocks at eight to eight, as it usually does, the Governor’s proposed budget remains in place. And, our Governor has chosen to load his budget with nearly every conceivable spending and gifting proposal coupled with increases in everything that already exists. (I use the word “nearly” since his creativity has outstripped my imagination. There are probably more yet to come.)

It would be interesting to see the list of taxes and fees that are not being increased. Certainly it would be easier to list those than all that are going to be, or already have been, increased.

And, what’s worse is that elected Republican officials can do virtually nothing about this except to hold news conferences to try to get the word out. That, too, is made difficult since the mainstream media appears to be enjoying this renaissance with its newly promised government largess.

These rulers do not represent me. I presume they also do not represent many others! Will our memories last long enough to get us to the polls and to remember that changes are necessary?

It was widely rumored that this was Governor Doyle’s last race for public office. If so, it seems he has decided to get everything on his list accomplished during this last term.

We can only hope for two things: that this is his last term, and that we’ll be able to put food on our tables after he’s gone.

There are apparently some misgivings amongst Washington County Board members over their "two" narrow votes to renege on the agreement with Cabela’s.

According to the Daily News, indications are that there “may” be a special meeting called for May 22nd for such a review.

The Minutes of the 5/8 meeting have still not found their way to the county website, so we don’t yet know who voted how; but that will come out soon.

Let’s hope that the board restores the integrity of our county. And, may this serve the board well as a reminder that every vote is important; and that each member must be certain of his or her position.

This is becoming mindful of some of our presidential candidates on both sides that seem to want to change their minds when public opinion turns out to be against a stand. A stand taken should be capable of being defended with reason; if it could not be so defended, then maybe it shouldn't be taken in the first place.

Unintended consequences come back to haunt over and over again.

We have apparently, at least, established the price of integrity for our Washington County Board. It’s about $4 Million give or take a few bucks.

The board voted, narrowly according to the Journal-Sentinel report, to renege on an earlier board’s commitment of some $4 Million to attract Cabela’s new site at the intersection of Hwys 41 & 45. That commitment dates back to 2005 and there has been a change of members on the board since that time.

In looking at the Agenda for the meeting of May 8th, I noted nothing about this specific item although it could’ve been buried in jargon. I also sought the Minutes to determine from whom the negative votes had come. The Minutes have yet to be published, and that may well be simply the process flow.

My fear is that we citizens of Washington County have just lost our credibility for a long time to come and we did so for $4 Million. What in the world were these folks thinking about, other than the big bad corporation that was taking taxpayer money into its account. The decision had been taken after what appeared to be due deliberation in 2005. There was opposition, but it was outweighed by support. It was a “done deal”.

The lesson to be learned is apparently, “if Washington County promises to pay you something, get the money right now; don’t wait for bonding issues because you may lose what you thought you had.”

Board Chairman Tom Sackett was reported as saying that, while he voted against the subsidy, he thought it would pass. He hadn’t heard much opposition to the plan before this board meeting. I understand that the open meetings laws are tough, but wouldn’t you think there could’ve been a more accurate estimation? It sounds as though the chairman is trying to say that we shouldn’t blame him for his No vote.

I’ll be interested to see the Minutes and will likely publish the list of Yes and No votes in a future Blog. Deals like this simply cannot go unnoticed…because everyone outside our county has taken note.

I suspect that attorneys for Cabela's have also taken note. The $4 million could get to be a lot more by the time the defense costs are cranked into the equation. Would punitive damages be possible against a governmental body? If not, maybe that would be a good law to change.

By the way, I wasn’t happy when the original vote gave the $4 Million to Cabela’s…but I am even more disappointed with this board’s decision.

Here’s another of those "Are you bothered by this…or is it just me?" things.

I went to our local Pick ‘n Save store this morning to get bratwurst, buns and some coleslaw to beat the rush. The rush was ahead of me, so I followed a lady to the “take a number” machine and took the next number. There were some five or six folks waiting.

It dawned on me that apparently numbers meant nothing, after two ladies who hadn’t been in line when I arrived, and who hadn’t taken numbers, barged in front and asserted their “right” to be served ahead of the rest of us,

A couple of things…had it not been Sunday and had I not minded being noticed, I would’ve first asked the two "very special ladies" if they were so important or in such a hurry that the rest of us didn’t exist? And, I would’ve found the store manager on duty to inquire why in the world they had a “take a number” machine if, when long lines existed, they ignored the numbers being pulled?

I feared what might occur when Jewel closed it store. The lack of solid competition can make a company forget what it is all about.

I have since found the Pick ‘n Save parking lot an unbearable mess on a regular basis. I have since found that the quality of service at Pick ‘n Save has degraded. I have since found that some of my favorite brand products are no longer carried because Pick ‘n Save makes better profit on its own private branded products.

I have since found that I am getting used to shopping at Wal-Mart because I find parking more easily, and because I have found that they have good quality merchandise and pleasant employees who are genuinely happy to be working there.

What a concept!

I noted, while reading the Saturday Milwaukee JournalSentinel, that the selection of the replacement to Tom Kempinski as Trustee of District 4 will be held in a public forum at 6:00PM on Monday evening, May 7th. Apparently the Board had entertained holding the interviews in closed session with the stated reason that of keeping each candidate from hearing the response of the others to the battery of questions.

The move to an open forum with two candidates excluded from the room while the other is being interviewed appears to have been made following a JournalSentinel objection made on Friday. This seems a very reasonable solution to what might well have caused a furor in our community.

Two of the three candidates have run in election races before and are therefore better known to the public than the third person. The two who have run before are Mr. Wyatt Wiehr and Ms. Anita Hilleman. The third candidate, who has never run previously, is Mr. Dean Wolter. I have no personal knowledge of any of the three.

On the one hand, those who have been in earlier races are likely better known quantities than the third. That blade has two edges. Either of the two better known candidates may fare better or worse as the result. The third candidate will respond to the questions raised during the interview as will the other two, and the Board will make its decision. Might there be favorites amongst some on the Board? We would be naïve to presume anything else. Our Trustees are politicians, after all. Certainly one or more will have “a horse in the race” to paraphrase a cliché in honor of Derby week-end.

It is unfortunate that more citizens are not sufficiently interested to cause them to turn out to witness our democracy in action…self included. If we’re going to make judgments about decisions taken by our elected officials, it seems reasonable that we would gather some information before concluding.

Of one thing I feel certain…each of the three candidates feel a commitment to Germantown and we residents, and I thank each of them for that.

Remember when we were able to care for ourselves? That was way back before Governor Doyle came to be our benevolent protector and members of the Republican party seemed intent on doing him one better!

The Governor is intent on protecting us from everything but increasing taxes and fees that seemingly come out of nowhere. He is pushing fees on fees...or so it seems. But, I am to be protected even if I don't want to be protected! Daddy Doyle will look out for me!

Close on his heels are the Republicans that want to appear to care for us as much as does Daddy Doyle. Our own Senator Darling [R] is apparently now protecting me from smoking cigars in the cigar shop I frequent. She is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 150 that will forbid smoking anything in any establishment including places of employment. It actually says that one is in violation for simply holding something made of tobacco that is burning or smoldering!

Since my cigar shop employs people to sell me cigars, I presume that it is classified as a place of employment. That was my read anyway. So, I sent an e-mail to the Senator asking that she set me straight if I had misread the intent of Senate Bill 150. I have not yet heard from her, and am presuming that I did not misread the bill, but, instead that I read it precisely as it appears. I am still waiting to hear from her...and will report here if I should hear. Believe me, I'd love to admit that I was wrong...but neither you nor I should be holding our breath.

I have voted for the Senator in every election in which she has run where I was able to vote for her. I have defended her when my friends have taken her to task for this and that. At the least, I expected her to reply to my very civil e-mail. She has "people", so one of them could've been told to reply to my e-mail if she were indeed too busy. I haven't heard from any of her staff, either.

So, I am left to assume that I can buy cigars but that I cannot linger in the smoking lounge of my cigar shop since I must be doing great bodily harm to myself, my fellow cigar smokers and the employees [who are often also the owners]. These are also employees who have a choice of place of employment...but they also appear to need to be protected from themselves. And, they are also customers when not employees!

It is okay that I'll pay the significantly increased cost of those cigars since the tax on each will increase from 25% to some 65% [an increase of a small amount...about 160%] when the budget is passed and signed...unless a miracle occurs...and that seems very unlikely as it now stands since that is part of the Governor's budget. Yes, there is a Joint Finance Committee comprised of eight Democrats and eight Republicans. The only problem is that when that Committee deadlocks with an eight to eight vote...guess who wins? You're correct. Daddy Doyle wins. And when he wins, most all of us lose...unless of course we're among the favored few.

Cast me as a disgruntled former Republican. This is but one of the reasons that I am now affiliated with no organized political party [yes, that is an oxymoron]. Cast me also as a disgruntled citizen of Wisconsin...the great taxing place in the upper Midwest.

I am a cynic, as those of you who read my Blogs already know. BUT...even the cynic in me has been utterly amazed at the taxes and fees that are about to be increased. And, then, add the sheer dispair associated with our representative democracy run amuck. Where has all the common sense gone? Is there no sanity left amongst the elected? Is there no sense of embarrassment in even one of our elected representatives?

And, finally...the hypocrisy of banning the use of a LEGAL material, that still has government subsidization to growers, overshadows the whole charade.