By Steve Erbach on Sunday, May 10, 2009 10:43 AM

Writing in March about my meeting with the Realtor's Association of Northeast Wisconsin, I couldn't quite figure out their angle.  I think I finally did.

During my meeting with them, the theme was Affordable/Workforce Housing: what did I think about Affordable/Workforce Housing, what would I do as Alderman to ensure Affordable/Workforce Housing?

I had the feeling during that meeting that lots of cards were being held close to their vests.  They talked a bit about the cost of city infrastructure and fees for city services.  What they did not talk about was zoning.

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By Steve Erbach on Thursday, April 23, 2009 6:13 AM

The Appleton Post-Crescent reported this morning that Alderman Nick Piergrossi was elected by members of the Neenah Public Services & Safety Committee as its new chairman, replacing outgoing Alderman Bruce Rhoades. Congratulations, Nick!

By Steve Erbach on Friday, April 17, 2009 8:47 AM

A friend of mine in Minnesota exhorted me to do a better job reporting on the Appleton Tea Party.  As parital recompense for the luke warm job I did yesterday, here is a small exchange I had with an e-mail friend of mine, Jim L.  Jim is from Candada and has a bit of a different take on events in these United States.

I started off in the e-mail discussion with:

Speaking of the Appleton Tea Party:

story: http://tinyurl.com/ctl5g2

pictures: http://tinyurl.com/cp7x54

I wrote a bit about it here:

NeenahPolitics.com

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By Steve Erbach on Thursday, April 16, 2009 7:27 AM

I went to the "Tea Party" last night at Fox Banquets in Appleton.  A very nice venue, perched atop the Kimball St. embankment overlooking the Fox River.  It was a nice rally, too. Lots and lots of polite folks, I'd say 1500. One thing the Post-Crescent didn't mention is that after the event the parking lot was spotless!

I saw one fellow wearing an Obama t-shirt walking through the crowd with a small video recorder, smiling and shaking his head. He, of course, was in no peril from this crowd.

I enjoyed the history teacher (professor?) the most as he was the best speaker. Jerry Bader may know how to handle a microphone but he needs to practice his public speaking.

The event was nifty in that a lot of frustration and discontent had a public outlet; but it was unfocused. Better to have this kind of rally during an election year. Political action needs to be more focused and consistent. "Throw th ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, April 03, 2009 3:03 AM

The League of Women Voters Candidates Forum was broadcast on the cable local access channel last night, April 2nd.  Here is the link to the Neenah city web site page that contains the video:

http://www.ci.neenah.wi.us/meeting_20090326.html

The aldermanic forum makes up the first 45 minutes of the video while the Board of Education forum takes up the remainder.

I'd appreciate hearing what you think about it.

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, March 28, 2009 6:45 PM

In making my rounds today, talking with people in the 3rd district about the upcoming elections, I had a real-time opportunity to expand on the topic of political pressure.  The essential fact of it is this: the pressure needs to be constant.

For example: sidewalks.  If a neighborhood subcollector street is slated for sidewalk installation in the 5-year plan or in next year's proposed budget, the property owners can circulate a petition to oppose it.  Then they bring it to City Hall, contact their aldermen with their concerns, appear at the budget hearing when sidewalk budgets are discussed, and make presentations before the entire Common Council. The pressure is more effective and directly proportional to the percentage of people in a neighborhood that sign the petition.  Also, the more neighbors that show up at a public hearing or a committee meeting, the greater the impact on the aldermen. Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, March 27, 2009 8:24 AM

I had a very stimulating time talking with a couple of folks on Baytree Lane while I was making my rounds last weekend.  I followed up my visit with an email detailing the portion of the March 24th Public Services & Safety Committee meeting as well as e-mail correspondence with the City Attorney and the Deputy Public Works Director.  Here's what I wrote:

The sidewalk issue is big.  It's also convoluted.  I did a bit of research before the Tuesday night Public Services & Safety Committee meeting and I came prepared to ask for more information.  Here's what I said before the committee:

When I was out knocking on doors in the Baytree Lane area the other day, I talked with a couple of people that had signed a petition asking the city not to build sidewalks on their street for the possible construction of the school out ... Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Friday, March 27, 2009 4:47 AM

I participated for the second time last night in a League of Women Voters Candidates Forum.  This time there were just two candidates "debating": myself and my opponent, Mr. Hamblin.  Gone were the multiple contested races and the full panel of candidates as in '07.  At that time, two ex-Neenah police officers were on the ballots for Districts 1 and 2, making for very lively and significant races.

Another change this time: because there were only the two of us, the League allowed each of us two minutes to respond to the questions.  That is an enormous difference from the standard one minute.  I remember in '07 that I saw the 15-second warning sign frequently.  This time, only once or twice.

The city of Neenah will upload the video of the forum very soon.  I'm quite interested to see it because of what my brother, Dan, said. Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:12 PM

I was promised that the Realtor's Association of Northeast Wisconsin would get back to me by Monday to let me know if they supported my candidacy for alderman instead of my opponent's.  I got the letter today:

Our Association's Board of Directors has chosen not to endorse your campaign.  It is our hope however, that the prevailing candidates will consider our Association's expertise, particularly on issues related to housing, land use regulations and economic development, a valuable tool in solving problems that we'll surely be confronting now and in the future.

What does this mean?  Probably very little.  The group was very professional and the members were tolerant of what I had to say.  But in the end it boils down to whether the voters approve of me, not the Realtor's Association.  It would have been nice to add its endorsement to my political resumé, but I don't ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 9:38 AM

I've been to three, maybe four Sustainable Neenah Committee meetings, now, and I've become more interested in their activities.  I started going to its meetings when I read an article highlighting the steps the Madison Zoning Board is considering for future zoning law changes to incorporate "sustainability" and "climate change" factors.

So I took the step of applying for membership on the Committee. The "Application for Appointment" asked me to write "a brief statement outlining your interest and qualifications for this appointment".  Here's what I wrote:

I am currently a member of the Mayor's Citizen Advisory Committee. In the past (2006-2007) I served on the Neenah Common Council, the Public Services & Safety Committee, and the Waterworks Commission.

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By Steve Erbach on Friday, March 13, 2009 9:52 AM

Yesterday afternoon I met with half a dozen board members of the Realtors' Association of Northeast Wisconsin.  This outfit has "jurisdiction" over an area in Wisconsin that encompasses about 240 units of local government: cities, villages, towns, counties, etc.

They wanted to interview me regarding issues that were important to them.  They asked questions like "How would you encourage development and maintenance of affordable/workforce housing?"

I told them that in all the years that I've been attending committee meetings and Council meetings, not once did the topic of "affordable/workforce" housing come up.  I got a bit better view of what they were driving at; that is, fees that cities charge for storm water sewers and for water and fire protection, garbage collection, recycling, building permits, etc., are things that affect the affordability of real estate whether it's comm ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, March 05, 2009 5:39 AM

Last night's Neenah Common Council meeting started off with a nicely produced video promoting the YMCA Strong Kids program.  It featured the story of a young Mexican father of two young children who lost their mother to an auto accident.  It's narrated by that young man in a very affecting way and shows scenes of him enjoying the company of his kids at the Y.  The second half is a series of still pictures of kids at the Y as well as members of the staff. Some of the staff had mugged for the camera.  One fellow mimicked dancer Michael Flatley's pose on the cover of the "Lord of the Dance" DVD, so I burst out laughing.  Maybe no one else saw that video or didn't see anything funny in his pose; because in that room with almost 30 people I was the only one who even chuckled.  Tough crowd.

I would say that the theme of the meeting was budgeting.  My opponent in the upcoming April 7th election, Tim Hamblin ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:05 PM

I received a request from Bernie Peterson of the Appleton Post-Crescent to fill out the standard candidate's questionnaire by March 2nd.  Here are my answers to the main questions:

Political Experience: Neenah Common Council Alderman, 2006-2007; Neenah Public Services & Safety Committee, 2006-2007; Neenah Waterworks Commission, 2006-2007; Mayor's Citizen Advisory Board, 2007-present.

Do you have a campaign Web site? (If yes, please include its address): Yes!  www.NeenahPolitics.com

Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Monday, February 23, 2009 6:47 PM

Cancellations first: The Feb. 25^th meeting of the Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue Joint Fire Commission has been cancelled.  Next meeting March 25^th.

Monday, Feb. 23^rd:

The Community Development Authority meets at 4:00pm. They're going to continue to talk about the little wedge of land that the city will acquire from K-C that sits on the shore at the mouth of the Fox River just to the north of the location of the new Plexus headquarters. The diamond-shaped sliver of land to be acquired amounts to 2822 square feet, bringing the total to 41,250 square feet (just under an acre). It has to do with cleanup costs of the groundwater contamination.  Looks like the city will be more responsible for that than originally proposed...but ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Monday, February 23, 2009 9:18 AM

If any of you read the Appleton Post-Crescent you may have seen my regular pieces appearing in the Reader Reaction Forum in the op-ed pages of the paper.  Last Monday the topic was "How has the economic downturn hurt you?"  I submitted the following on Thursday, Feb. 12th for publication Monday, Feb. 16th:

Our oldest son works at a popular restaurant.  He works fewer hours and gets fewer tips. One Sunday three customers left no tips; one had a $70 tab.  My wife actually works more hours than before, so she's doing fine. I don't have "layoff survivor syndrome" yet, mainly because there haven't been any layoffs where I work.  But hourly workers there now work seven hour shifts, not eight.  Gas prices are good, as low as they were four years ago. I really don't think that we're heading into a depression.

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By Steve Erbach on Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:57 PM

Before the Council meeting started last night, I saw Kevin Chaignot in the audience and went over and introduced myself.  I told him that I was going to speak in favor of granting his license and that I had written about it -- some would say, "extensively" -- on NeenahPolitics.com.  He was understandably a bit apprehensive and in a high state of excitement, but he appears to be a fellow that can handle it.

He was the first to speak during the Public Forum segment of the meeting, and he repeated his main point that he didn't knowingly withhold information on his application (full details here).

I spoke my piece next:

I read the Mayor's Council Update of last Friday, including the paragraph in which he expressed a bit of frustration with the Public Services Committee -- and with the ... Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 4:22 PM

Today I received an invitation to the League of Women Voters of Neenah-Menasha Voters' Forum on Thursday, March 26th from 6:30-7:15 pm at the Neenah Public Library, 204 E. Wisconsin Ave.  Since the 3rd District is the only Aldermanic district in Neenah with a contested race, the aldermanic section will be pretty small.  There'll be a forum for the Neenah Joint School District School Board candidates immediately following the Aldermanic forum.  That will constitute a somewhat larger group.  But the aldermanic candidates get the first shot.

I'm going to urge you starting now to give up a bit of your Thursday evening five weeks from now to sit in on the voters' forum.  In my experience, the forums are sparsely attended; so I'm asking you as a personal favor to come to the aldermanic portion at least.  It's just 45 minutes in a very nice setting!

The LoWV forum has an interesting format: each candidate ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Monday, February 16, 2009 3:16 PM

Two races appear on the Neenah ballot tomorrow: Winnebago County Executive and Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Here are the candidates and a bio for each one:

Winnebago County Executive

• John Daggett
• Jay Schroeder
• Mark L. Harris (incumbent)

Here are the Appleton Post-Crescent profiles of the three County Executive candidates:

Mark Harris (incumbent)

Address: 2425 Sandstone Court, Oshkosh
Age: 53
Occupation: Winnebago County executive

Political experience: Winnebago County executive, April 2005 to present; member of Winnebago County ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, February 14, 2009 7:39 PM

I have a three-question [survey for you here].  Would you mind taking the survey?  It deals with the issues raised in my post from yesterday.  Thank you!

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, February 14, 2009 5:19 PM

Some routine items and some not-so-routine items in this week's packet of materials for the Council members delivered yesterday, Feb. 13th.

On Monday, Feb. 16th, the Water Commission meets at its regularly scheduled time of 4:30 at City Hall.  The agenda can be found here at the City's web site.  I was a bit disappointed that the three attachments noted in the agenda weren't in evidence in the packet.  Specifically:

• the status of Fox Valley Energy, which just recently paid up a major portion of its delinquent water bill
• the status of the "Lead Issue". Someone in my part of town had mentioned it when I was out campaigning last weekend and I followed up on it.  The Post-Crescent has a Read More »
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By Steve Erbach on Friday, February 13, 2009 8:15 PM

Last Saturday I wrote about the range of issues that local government deals with in the entry titled "From the tiny to the huge".  This report will concentrate on the "tiny" issues that the City Council deals with and with the interesting pressure that can be brought to bear on its decision-making.  It isn't a story you'll see in the newspaper or hear on radio or watch on TV; but it's the small change of local government that goes on all the time and affects peoples' lives.

A young man, 27 years old, by the name of Kevin Chaignot, applied for a Beverage Operator's License to work at the Eagle's Club in the city of Neenah.  As I detailed in last Saturday's entry, the Public Services & Safety Committee was to vote at its Feb. 10th meeting on whether to recommend that the Council deny his application.  The Neenah pol ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Thursday, February 12, 2009 8:41 AM

Yesterday I put together a more-or-less tongue-in-cheek survey to ask people whether I should make a big deal out of the outrageous sustainability news stories I'd read recently.  I say "tongue-in-cheek" because the choices in the one-question survey were a bit "loaded".

In any event, most people (91%) said I should go ahead and lay it on thick.  I decided not to do that.  Oh, I read a few paragraphs from the article I'd saved from the Times Online; but I think I made the point about being concerned with the group's direction without hammering them over the head with it.

Here's what I said:

I apologize in advance for this being a little bit rambling, but it's a compilation of what I've been thinking about sustainability for the last month, since the previous meeting.

That meeting was startling. The presentation given by the gentleman who has all t ... Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 7:03 AM

I'm very interested in what the Sustainable Neenah Committee is going to grow into. I sure as shootin' don't want to see it become anything like Great Britain's Sustainable Development Commission. Nor would I like to see sustainability become the overarching, trumping virtue determining the course of development as it appears is happening in Madison.

Would you please take a one-question survey? What, if anything, should I say to the Sustainable Neenah Committee when I see stories like the two I've linked above? You can find the [survey on this page].

Thank you very much.

By Steve Erbach on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 6:10 PM

It took a while, but the Sustainable Neenah Committee agenda was finally posted on the city web site.  I'll be attending the meeting tomorrow night at City Hall.  If possible, I'll supply them with the unofficial minutes...have to get down to it and put them together!

There was a story last week or so in the London Times Online that I've saved to read to the committee during the Public Forum segment. It's about the British sustainability czar and his sweeping pronouncement about global warming, sustainability, and the birth rate.  I'm reproducing it here in its entirety because the Sustainable Neenah Committee is still feeling out its mission.  This story shows how far the sustainability movement can go if given half a chance:

Read More »

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By Steve Erbach on Monday, February 09, 2009 9:25 PM

At tonight's Finance and Personnel Committee meeting, the Public Forum segment featured an appeal from Dorothy Gain regarding what she considers to be the sorry state of affairs at the Neenah Animal Shelter, 951 County Road G. According to Ms. Gain, she is probably "the only volunteer left". The bulk of the Board of Directors has quit leaving "two women" in charge. They've hired a fellow for $40,000 a year who, reportedly, sits at the computer all day leaving the care of the animals up in the air. Speaking of the air, the smell of the place is the primary indicator of the decline in animal care. The two girls who are supposed to be cleaning cages and such, "have their little ways" of successfully deferring those duties if they whine enough to the new director, the fellow at the computer.

I checked the web site and saw a statement on the h ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Saturday, February 07, 2009 11:36 AM

In a bit more impersonal detail, herewith the agendae for next week's meetings.

Note: the Board of Public Works meeting scheduled for noon, Monday Feb. 9th, has been cancelled.

Finance and Personnel Committee meets Monday, Feb. 9th at 7:00 pm and its agenda has three items:

1. The Parks and Recreation Commission wants to purchase a $30,000 parcel of land from the Neenah Water Utility. This is a budgeted item.  The parcel is located at the corner of Cedar St. and Belmont Ave.
2. Finance Director, Mike Easker, wants to deposit city funds immediately in money market accounts and CD's in banks and credit unions that are not yet designated as official depositories for those funds. There's a state statute, 34.05, that allows him, as Treasurer of the city, to deposit funds for 90 days, giving the City Cou ... Read More »
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By Steve Erbach on Saturday, February 07, 2009 9:19 AM

The agendae for meetings scheduled at City Hall in the coming week demonstrate the vast array of problems addressed by the committees, the Council, and by the staff of the city government.

First the miniscule: there's a fellow in town who wants to become a bartender.  I won't mention his name, but it's in the material attached to the agenda of the Public Services & Safety Committee meeting of Feb. 10th.  He filled out the city's Application for Beverage Operator's License and submitted it on January 9th.

One of the questions on the application is  [emphasis in orginal]: "Have you been convicted of a misdemeanor or ordinance violation with the past five (5) years (e.g., speeding, OWI, disorderly conduct, driving without a license, etc.)?"  The applicant answered "No".

Each application for Beverage Operator's license is submitted for a backgro ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Friday, February 06, 2009 7:11 PM

NeenahPolitics.com will be, I hope, a place the interested Neenah citizen can turn to for in-depth information and commentary about the political activities in our city. It won't be a place to turn for a list of community events, say; those activities -- like Streetball, Community Fest, the Bergstrom-Mahler Art Fair, etc. -- are covered elsewhere (for example, the "Leisure Connections" brochure, Jan - May 2009 [12 MB PDF], and the "Neenah Notes" newsletter, winter 2009 edition [300 KB PDF]).

The things I will focus on are:

• Meetings of city committees, commissions, boards, and authorities, including agendae and (decidedly) unofficial minutes of those meetings.  I attend a fair number of them, includin ... Read More »
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By Steve Erbach on Thursday, February 05, 2009 1:21 AM

The Neenah Council meeting was preceeded by a showing of the movie, "Edge of Reality", a production of students at Neenah High School.

"Edge of Reality" is a reality show-like chronicle of a teenage drinking party during which one of the boys passes out and falls down the stairs, banging his head hard enough to draw blood.  His tipsy friends decide to take him to the hospital. That's the start of the trouble.

The driver weaves along the road and hits one of two girls who left the party early to walk home.  The car swerves across the road and crashes into a light pole, throwing the girl in the passenger seat through the windshield. The boy who fell down the stairs is injured further and winds up halfway in the front seat.  The driver is relatively unharmed.  God watches over drunks and little children...

The girl he hit dies on the pavement. The girl thrown thr ... Read More »

By Steve Erbach on Wednesday, February 04, 2009 11:34 PM

As I left the Neenah Council chambers I came upon Alderman Marge Bates, bless her heart, trying to explain to Jake the rooster's owner, Mr. Rocke, her reasoning for voting to take Jake away.  In my commentary on the Public Services & Safety Committee meeting of January 27th, I was pretty hard on Mr. Rocke.  My opinion hasn't changed.

Why? Because Mr. Rocke said to Bates that "You've done nothing about the issue...the local radio stations are coming out this Saturday and they're recording it on CD and they're dubbing it a thousand times and I'll sit on my front lawn and play it all day long."

"Dubbing it a thousand times"... He was referring to Jake the rooster's crowing.  Do you think the local radio stations are coming at Mr. Rocke's request?  Might he be paying for the thous ... Read More »