Thursday, November 09, 2006

Double Dip

Wow - what a treat, a Helloooo Monona column and a letter from the former Mayor Dick in the same issue of the Heraldo. I feel so much better informed, he said sarcastically. Two dips in one issue.

Dick and Ms. Hellooo think newly reconstructed Winnequah Road is 'dangerous' and 'precarious'. They don't like the chokers, the striping, the... whatever, as usual they don't like anything. Dick's pickup truck won't fit in the lane?! The lane is 10'wide - is he driving a Bradley?

Gentle reader, drive the road and decide for yourself. It's different, yes; in my humble opinion, it's a lot safer for all users. The combo bike/parking lane near the south end was not supposed to be striped. Not sure what, if anything we'll do about that.

Helloooo also complains about Pheasant Hill, which was paved today - and I agree it took too long to get the final layer of asphalt, a subject the city will be addressing with the contractor.

Amidst the run up to the election I failed to comment on Hellooo Monona's inane confusion that the MG annual meeting had a 'predesignated moderator'. Well, of course, state law (s. 120.10 (1) Wis. Stats.) provides that the first power of the annual meeting is to elect a chairperson - that's who that mysterious 'predesignated moderator' really was - the elected chairperson of the annual meeting.

These people have done good for this city in the past and maybe they still do behind the scenes, but the relentless carping and negativity, the nastiness and incessant bellyaching, the sheer ignorance... AARGHHHH!!

10 comments:

  1. Hi Mr. Wood,

    Why are you so bitter with the Lichtfeld's? I used to remember you as the neatest Dad and the maker of the triple decker pb and J sandwiches. Now, you seem to be so mean and cruel page after page of picking on one subject. WHY?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, sorry if you're offended, but Marianne has a newspaper column every week in which she comments on local political issues. She is usually uninformed and very negative - nothing we do as city officials is good enough for her. Since her editor won't edit, I feel like she needs to be called on it. In my opinion, they have become a negative influence in the political life of the community. Politics is for adults - if they want to comment on politics, then it is fair for others to comment on their views.

    And come on, I've only commented on them in three posts out of about 70.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What is that Golden rule again? Treat others as you would want to be treated, or something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Anonymous..
    Have you at least read the columns that this woman writes under the banner of "Hello Monona"? If you have, I can't believe that you have any doubts about why people might be critical of what is written. This column has no real information, it has no humor, and is simply a platform for an angry post menopausal woman to issue vitrol rants week after week. It is beyond sad, and really should be stopped. Just compare the the Grove columns to this one.. there is no comparison. The Grove column is positive and makes one want to know and experience that community. Hello Monona makes one wonder why anyone would live here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Mr. Blair,

    I have read and I find the Hello Monona columns more entertaining and informative than the usual dribble from that so called newspaper. Some people may disagree with what she says and that's fine but for you to make a SEXIST comment about a "post menopausal woman" is way way out of line. Let me ask you this Mr. Blair: If you made that kind of comment about someone you disagree with at General Casuality Ins. during one of your board meetings, would you still have a job? High doubtful. People like you are an embarrassment to our community!
    P.S. If you like the Grove column so much and wonder why anyone would live here, well, there's plenty of houses for sale out in that community. Go buy one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. carrb'Entertaining and informative'? I suppose it could be entertaining, in a way, to read someone give vent to uninformed, half-informed, or mis-informed rants, but there you have it. She generally does not, in fact, know what she's talking about, but that doesn't stop her from grabbing the bullhorn. It's not that I or Jim B. disagree with her - although that is often true as well - but rather that her idea of fact-checking is asking in her column whether anybody know what is going with on the stupid things that some idiot is doing (using her standard terms).

    And to be fair, Jim B. said her column portrays Monona in such a bad light that it makes him wonder why anyone would live here after they read it - not that he believed Monona is a bad place to live.

    The 'post menopausal' comment may be sexist, but I think he was making a wisecrack (as people often do in posts on obscure little blogs like mine) to express her seemingly constant anger at the world.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Are you kidding? She is a fountain of negativity and misinformation. She regularly trashes people she doesn't like and praises those she does, and none if it is based on anything substantiave, it's all very personal with her. Plus, she's a snob. Did you see how her landmarks along Winnequah road are prominent people's homes? How obnoxious is that? How many people in Monona know, or care, where these people live? But Marianne has to drop their names to make herself seem important. She is an embarrasment to us all. For crying out loud, she couldn't even get anyone to say something nice about her in the paper and had to get someone to fake letters about her. I would have thought she would have crawled back under her rock after that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Anonymous,
    Actually, the term "post menopause" is not at all sexist. Here is a very recent citation on the effects and treatment of male menopause:http://www.medicinenet.com/male_menopause/article.htm.

    I would also have to say that I certainly admire the many past contributions of the Litchfield family to our community. But, my point is that those many contributions are being offset every time one of MA's columns appears.

    She certainly has every right to express her opinions and thoughts, but maybe letters to the editor versus a column would be a more appropriate vehicle.

    I also think that some of what you call "dribble" in our paper is very good! Coverage of City Council and School Board areas is well done, and the Monona High School sports as well as the Arts area generally covered very well. The columns by "Marno" are entertaining. Hopefully this coming week will have good coverage of the great celebration of the work and legacy of Teddy Studt and Playtime Productions that happened Saturday at the Capitol Theater.

    Last but not least- my thoughts are public. I have no qualms about attaching them to my name and integrity.

    ReplyDelete
  9. My only beef about the outcome of the Winnequah Road project is that it does appear that speeds are up despite the occasional presence of the Monona PD (saw a car go zipping by at what had to be 45 mph last night). Doug: How about a few more speed limit signs? I don't see any of the old 25 mph signs from days gone by out on the road (plenty of bike path/pedestrian signs though). Also, a three-way stop at Winnequah and Owen, with a more-than-occasional police presence and a stiff fine, to discourage the scofflaws?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I do think peole have slowed down, but there may still be excess speeds. In my experience, engineering solutions and enforcement are the most effective tools. Signs alone don't do it.

    I think the best bet is enforcement. We are probably adding an officer to the police force (albeit, under a community-policing grant), so there should be more tiome for speed enforcement. Beware what you wish for!

    I would put support stop signs at Winnequah/Owen unless there is an accident problem or something else correctable by stop signs. Generally, you don't use stop signs to control speed. (i know we just decided to put them on the ramp at Winnequah/Monona Dr., but in my estmaition we are oinly trying to lsow cars down for the first few houses from the corner - after that the upcoming reight-angle trun slows down any driver with a modicum of sense (granted that's not 100%).

    We could add some speed limits, but I don't think they'll do much good. People should know that the speed limit is 25 mph on any residential street in a city.

    ReplyDelete