The Forum

The Streets & Buildings Committee heard last from a representative of Shorewood Little League regarding moving the old lights from the SHS football field to Spector Baseball Field. The move would coincide with the planned removal/replacement of the lights during the Drive to Distinction renovations, which will soon be underway.

The Committee has not yet approved the placement of the lights, pending notification and input from area residents. The commitee also asked for additional information regarding engineering specifications, and payment for engineering work and ongoing maintenance. Action on this may come at future meetings.

At tonight's Village Board meeting, they passed Resolution 2007-11, urging the State Legislature to pass the annual budget promptly. The resolution mirrored one passed earlier this month by the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council of Milwaukee County. The ICC has urged member municipalities to pass similar resolutions to increase pressure on the legislature.

Also included in the resolution were requests to avoid creating new unfunded mandates, and to include a cost of living increase in the budget numbers. These, along with levy limits and state aide to municipalities are the primary ways the State of WI budget affects municipalities and school districts.

The soon to be built condos on the 4500 block of Oakland have gone up for sale. There is now a Shorewest sign up in front of the vacant lot.

I looked at Shorewest's website to read up on the new development. Here is what I found.



Address: 4541 N Oakland Ave.
Price: $229,900 - $454,900.
Parking: 1 to 2 space in attached garage.
Rooms: 1-2 BR, 1-2 BA

"New construction luxury in the heart of the North Shore: twenty-two luxury condos in Shorewood! WiRED Properties competition winning design features gracious terraces, master suites with walk-in closet and baths, in-unit laundry and custom unit designs are just a few of the amentities. Luxury finishes such as hardwood floors, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and more are standard. Underground heated parking and owner storage included in every unit. Prices arrange from $229,900 to $454,900."

See full listings here.

In each of the last 3 election cycles, I have heard the question posed many times: "Would you support bringing back sidewalk snowplowing?" This is a question best addressed during budget season, since this is the time when real changes can be brought about through choosing which programs to fund, and at what levels.

For those of you interested in sidewalk snowplowing issue, or any other funding priority, now is the time act, since budget season is when programs like this are enabled. If you think we should repave our streets more often, or keep the library open later, or stop spending money on marketing Shorewood, or if you think you pay too much for parking tickets, this is the time to say so. Now is the time you can suggest finding a full time trampoline compliance officer…Or maybe we can put that one to rest once and for all.

The article in this week's edition of ShorewoodNOW mentioned that only 2 residents attended the budget listening session this last week. For those of you who did not attend, but who feel strongly about any of the issues above, I invite you to send me your comments and suggestions on the budget.

Some things to think about...

Should we bring back sidewalk snowplowing? Should we spend money to rejuvenate Atwater beach? Should we keep spending money on marketing Shorewood? Should renters have to pay $45 per month to park in public lots overnight? Should we fund a full time code compliance officer? Should the Library be open longer? Should the Library be given money for more books? Should we acquire the 5 acres next to the Milwaukee River? Should we have more Police? A new Police Station? Should all of our polling stations open for every election? Should we enable online payment of fines, bills, and taxes to the Village?

Which of these issues are important to you? Open dialogue is the only way our elected officials will ever know what is on your mind, or what issues are important to you.

Now is the time to speak up.

I receive the below letter in response to my recent post on the potential of lawsuits against NOW bloggers.

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Dear Steve,

A while back, you wondered why some people responding to your blog remained anonymous--I think you have your answer. Intimidation.

Alas, there are always a few people in a community who call the police or the lawyers before they pick up a phone or knock on a door to discuss a problem with a neighbor. No wonder people are afraid to speak up.

Bloggers play an important role in public discourse in the community. They are not journalists and the ShorewoodNOW disclaimer makes it crystal clear that their opinions are just that--opinions.

As for "getting the facts straight," the Shorewoodians I've talked to would love to have the local government officials find more effective ways to communicate facts to their constituents, but as you've pointed out, the news coverage of Shorewood issues is rare. Village Board meeting minutes are not published, and eventually make their way onto a website weeks later. Village and School Board meetings often run for hours, and many people feel intimidated about going to a meeting for less than the entire time.

I wish the individuals who feel personally attacked would have the courage to speak out and offer their neighbors their point of view and add to the discussion rather than going to lawyers in an attempt to suppress dialogue in the community.

- Nancy Peske Darrow, 9/12/07
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Many of the bloggers from the various NOW sites met last night with the editors of the NOW sites, as well as executives from the Journal Sentinel. During the meeting, NOW Editor Mark Maley mentioned that three individuals have threatened NOW and certain NOW-associated bloggers with lawsuits in the last month.

Maley mentioned personal attacks by bloggers against private individuals and government officials, as well as a lack of fact-checking by the bloggers as possible causes of the lawsuits being threatened. He did not identify either the bloggers who would be named in such lawsuits, or the individuals threatening the legal action.

The mood in the room was considerably more tense during this portion of the discussion than it was when they were showing the soaring page hit statistics for the blogs and the NOW pages in general. The question of whether a blogger can be sued for what s/he writes makes many bloggers (including me) very uncomfortable.

On the one hand, we are writing things about events and people. The writings are put in the public space, and on a newspaper's own website. On the other hand, blogs are in a very grey area between reporting, opinion columns, and letters to the editor. The expectation of each of these forms and the standards for fact checking are very different when these different types of writing appear in print media.

With blogs, it is much more difficult to set reader expectations as far as what standard the blogger is applying to himself or herself. Some blogs are closer to reporting. Others contain more opinion, with perhaps some facts included. Others are purely entertainment or opinion, and make no pretense at reporting factual information. Should each type of blog be held to a different standard, depending on what type of writing it is?

The underlying question in all of this is...to what standard should bloggers be held?

The Journal Sentinel does not edit the blogs that appear on the NOW sites. There is a clear disclaimer on each and every blog on NOW sites which distances the Journal Sentinel from any content appearing in the blogs.

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"The opinions and views expressed by Community Voice writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ShorewoodNOW.com, Journal Interactive, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel or Community Newspapers. ShorewoodNOW.com does not control, is not responsible for, and does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of, the postings on this Web log."
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AT&T's trucks were in Glendale this last week, signing people up for their new U-Verse system. For those of you who do not know, delivery of AT&T's U-Verse system requires giant grey boxes to be built in the public right of way. One of these boxes is needed for every 300 customers.

What does this mean for us in Shorewood? 15-16 of these boxes will appear in Shorewood's public rights of way soon.

I was intending to do a full D2D update this week, but am pleased to see a fairly detailed article on the topic in this week's edition of ShorewoodNOW.

The one D2D-related development that the NOW news story did not mention is a change to the dome plans. You will recall that the D2D committee and the School Board needed to decide early this month about whether the dome would be included in the overall design of the football/soccer field. Certain aspects of the design would different, depending on whether the dome is intended to be added later.

As it stands now, the dome will not be included in the football/soccer field. Instead, a dome may be included later, in the renovation of the softball field. Since the softball field renovation is scheduled later in the process, the committee now has more time to decide whether to include the dome, and raise the funds necessary to include it.

"The D2D Committee recommended and the School Board decided to shift the winter dome location study to the softball field, allowing for connection to the buildings and negating the need to spend money during Phase I for prep. work," said Sean Cummings, co-chair of the D2D committee. "This will give the group more time to study the revenue generating model, address resident concerns and raise additional funds while avoiding any delays to Phase I."



Comments

1. Steve, The latest articles I've seen thus far are hopeful, yet, when I saw THIS headline, I had to look twice, since it was all about the Shorewood/Messmer GREYHOUNDS!!

Knight pride
The community came out Aug. 31 to cheer on the Shorewood-Messmer football team and stuck around afterward to witness the groundbreaking of new athletic facilities that will open in a year....

A few quick updates for you:

1. We now have a new reporter from NOW assigned to Shorewood. His name is Dave Fidlin. Hopefully the quantity of reporting about what is going on in Shorewood will show a noticeable uptick.

2. Groundbreaking for the athletic field renovation took place this past Friday. They held a ceremony during the final football game to be played on the old field. There will be an update from the D2D committee at tomorrow night's Village Board meeting.

3. Oakland Ave reconstruction is now well underway.

4. Budget season has begun for the Village. Listening sessions are scheduled at the following times and places.

• Monday, September 10, 2007—7:00 p.m.—Court Room—Listening Session
• Tuesday, September 18, 2007 – 7:35 p.m.— Committee Room
• Thursday, October 4, 2007 – 7:35 p.m.—Committee Room
• Wednesday, October 10, 2007 – 6:30 p.m.—Committee Room
• Wednesday, October 17, 2007 – 6:30 p.m.—Committee Room
• Saturday, October 20, 2007 – 8:35 a.m.— Committee Room