My take on Tuesday’s elections
A number of people I spoke with the day after the elections were rather surprised that I was not too upset about the outcome. In fact, they commented on how amazingly calm I was. I guess I was – and still am – because I’m looking at the whole thing with a realistic approach.
First with respect to the mayoral race, Paul Esslinger as mayor is something I would have preferred not to see, but let’s face it; it’s also not the end of the world as we now know it. After all, by himself he can’t screw up too much or even make any changes for that matter. He’s still just one person and only has one vote. I expect he’ll do a lot of chest-thumping and be filled with even more puffery than we’ve witnessed in the past because he has the so-called “bully pulpit” now. While some have not used that position as such, I think it’s safe to assume the mayor-elect will. I will, however, be pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. We’re going to see, I suspect, pretty quickly, just how much Esslinger really believes in listening to the people and doing what they want, as opposed to moving forward with his own mission.
One of his first “tests” of not only listening to the majority of his constituents, but also working with others and being willing to compromise, will be in the selection of a successor for his council seat. I’ve blogged on this in the past that it should be the runner-up in the council election. But since that person was Steve Cummings and Mr. Cummings doesn’t necessarily have the Paul Esslinger anti-development, anti-budget mindset, it’s unlikely he’ll get the nod from the mayor-elect. It will be interesting to see who Esslinger recommends for this position. But considering any successor will require an affirmative vote by four council members, this could be an interesting, but let’s hope not lengthy or dragged out, situation.
I did find Esslinger’s comments interesting in that he wants to sit down with the city manager to discuss their individual “visions” for the city and try to find some common ground. Inasmuch as he only has one vote, I would think the mayor-elect would want to discuss the council’s collective vision as opposed to just his own, then compare it with the city manager’s. Of course, I would have thought that would have been done when they hired Mark Rohloff. But since they didn’t enough foresight – or “vision” to bother setting any goals for their new hire last summer, it’s possible they didn’t compare visions either.
Next we come to the school board race. Imagine a Becker, Schneider and Monte all on the school board at the same time. Even if they can sway one more vote their way I think we can expect to see as little getting done in the district as we have under other school board compositions. Let’s hope Ben Schneider II was sincere when he said he could have handled certain situations differently when he was on the board previously, and that he will carry that attitude forward as he takes his new oath of office. To just vote no because you don’t get your entire way, as we’ve seen some board members do in the past, solves nothing and proves only that you’re a spoiled brat who wants everything their way or nothing at all. But these candidates have made some rather bold statements during candidate forums and in interviews, so it will be interesting if they can actually accomplish what they said they were going to do. For the sake of the district, let’s hope so, but I have my doubts, just based on the reality of the situations and circumstances they’re dealing with.
One thing some people are expecting is that the district – and city, for that matter – under new “leadership” will “get a handle” on salaries and benefits. Good luck with that. It doesn’t matter who you have in appointed/hired positions or who you have in elected office. The fact remains you have certain controls put in place under state laws and while it might be nice to see public sector benefits brought more in line with those of the private sector, it can only be taken so far. And if our newly elected people try to take it too far they will find themselves in arbitration – and probably losing – more than we’ve seen in the past.
I am hopeful the new school board – once seated – can get the repairs made to buildings, as provided for in the referendum question that did pass. I also hope they find a way to maintain other buildings, without sacrificing safety for cost. And I will be curious to see exactly what they do with facilities, long-range planning, the calendar, etc. I wonder if it will be as easy as the newly elected board members have made it seem. Some citizens I’ve talked to are already talking a recall if they can’t make the things they’ve promised happen within the first year.
All in all, despite a changing of the guard, so to speak, in both the school district and the city council, I predict there will not be quite the changes these newly-elected folks have promised and things may go along pretty much as they have for the last several years. And while I’d like to see some changes that I think would be for the better, we must be cautious to not go too far back in our history. It’s part of our history, after all, and some of the people involved with it, which caused the troubles we are struggling with today.
(For a very in-depth take on what one citizen expects under mayor-elect Esslinger, check out The Chief’s blog.)
First with respect to the mayoral race, Paul Esslinger as mayor is something I would have preferred not to see, but let’s face it; it’s also not the end of the world as we now know it. After all, by himself he can’t screw up too much or even make any changes for that matter. He’s still just one person and only has one vote. I expect he’ll do a lot of chest-thumping and be filled with even more puffery than we’ve witnessed in the past because he has the so-called “bully pulpit” now. While some have not used that position as such, I think it’s safe to assume the mayor-elect will. I will, however, be pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. We’re going to see, I suspect, pretty quickly, just how much Esslinger really believes in listening to the people and doing what they want, as opposed to moving forward with his own mission.
One of his first “tests” of not only listening to the majority of his constituents, but also working with others and being willing to compromise, will be in the selection of a successor for his council seat. I’ve blogged on this in the past that it should be the runner-up in the council election. But since that person was Steve Cummings and Mr. Cummings doesn’t necessarily have the Paul Esslinger anti-development, anti-budget mindset, it’s unlikely he’ll get the nod from the mayor-elect. It will be interesting to see who Esslinger recommends for this position. But considering any successor will require an affirmative vote by four council members, this could be an interesting, but let’s hope not lengthy or dragged out, situation.
I did find Esslinger’s comments interesting in that he wants to sit down with the city manager to discuss their individual “visions” for the city and try to find some common ground. Inasmuch as he only has one vote, I would think the mayor-elect would want to discuss the council’s collective vision as opposed to just his own, then compare it with the city manager’s. Of course, I would have thought that would have been done when they hired Mark Rohloff. But since they didn’t enough foresight – or “vision” to bother setting any goals for their new hire last summer, it’s possible they didn’t compare visions either.
Next we come to the school board race. Imagine a Becker, Schneider and Monte all on the school board at the same time. Even if they can sway one more vote their way I think we can expect to see as little getting done in the district as we have under other school board compositions. Let’s hope Ben Schneider II was sincere when he said he could have handled certain situations differently when he was on the board previously, and that he will carry that attitude forward as he takes his new oath of office. To just vote no because you don’t get your entire way, as we’ve seen some board members do in the past, solves nothing and proves only that you’re a spoiled brat who wants everything their way or nothing at all. But these candidates have made some rather bold statements during candidate forums and in interviews, so it will be interesting if they can actually accomplish what they said they were going to do. For the sake of the district, let’s hope so, but I have my doubts, just based on the reality of the situations and circumstances they’re dealing with.
One thing some people are expecting is that the district – and city, for that matter – under new “leadership” will “get a handle” on salaries and benefits. Good luck with that. It doesn’t matter who you have in appointed/hired positions or who you have in elected office. The fact remains you have certain controls put in place under state laws and while it might be nice to see public sector benefits brought more in line with those of the private sector, it can only be taken so far. And if our newly elected people try to take it too far they will find themselves in arbitration – and probably losing – more than we’ve seen in the past.
I am hopeful the new school board – once seated – can get the repairs made to buildings, as provided for in the referendum question that did pass. I also hope they find a way to maintain other buildings, without sacrificing safety for cost. And I will be curious to see exactly what they do with facilities, long-range planning, the calendar, etc. I wonder if it will be as easy as the newly elected board members have made it seem. Some citizens I’ve talked to are already talking a recall if they can’t make the things they’ve promised happen within the first year.
All in all, despite a changing of the guard, so to speak, in both the school district and the city council, I predict there will not be quite the changes these newly-elected folks have promised and things may go along pretty much as they have for the last several years. And while I’d like to see some changes that I think would be for the better, we must be cautious to not go too far back in our history. It’s part of our history, after all, and some of the people involved with it, which caused the troubles we are struggling with today.
(For a very in-depth take on what one citizen expects under mayor-elect Esslinger, check out The Chief’s blog.)
Meanwhile, to those outgoing people on the Common Council and school board - Frank Tower, Bryan Bain, Amy Weinsheim, Dennis Kavanaugh and Wayne Traska - thank you for your years of time and service. It is a thankless job that you've done and some of you have had to endure more than your fair share of nastiness and non-relevant comments and personal attacks from certain people in this community. Those people may not like or appreciate the job you've done and they may disagree with your politics, but by their nastiness they've also shown that, political differences notwithstanding, they cannot begin to hold a candle to the class and maturity with which you've done your jobs. Best wishes to each of you in whatever you choose to pursue in the future.
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 2:57 AM
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