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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Beat the Rush! Submit Your Questions Now - Holiday Edition of Monona Random Questions
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Random Question
The blog post title is self-explanatory. Get cracking! Submit a question. Random or otherwise.
"Monona - Home of a Really Big Bra."
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Do Mononans vote above the national average...those who do not vote makes a popular vote less than a majority of those eligible. What does the public want becomes a rhetorical question and polls substitute for knowledge. Do we have a real democracy in Monona or what Chomsky calls a polyarchy, a group of powerful interests that use elections to legitimate their lobbying?
ReplyDeleteWe vote at a higher rate than many places. My hometown in Southern Illinois about 2600 voters showed up for the 2009 mayoral election out of a population of about 17,000. Pathetic. Monona gets about that many voters out of 8,000 residents.
ReplyDeleteMonona could have whatever kind of local officials they want. There are no structural impediments. There are no polls. You can run an adequate race for $1500. Anybody can run and win. We get the local government we deserve - good, bad, or indifferent.
"You can run an adequate race for $1500."
ReplyDeleteHave you reviewed what the latest candidates for school board and city council have spent? I question your number- and for some 1,500 is a high cost of entry. This would be a great article for Sunny's column...
I would also point that Monnoa has not had a choice for Mayor for many years AND I think you need to include in your caculation that many in Monona during council and school board races are voting for one or two....as a result they disenfranchise themsleves...while thinking they are smart and turn elecations into a parlor game.
No, I have not reviewed what others have spent, but I've heard that some spent quite a bit more than $1500. (School Board candidates, of course, are running in two communities so their costs are probably double.)
ReplyDeleteI spent about $1600, I think, and bought lit (union label, BTW) to drop at doors, did two mailings (one joint with Chad), some yard signs, an ad or two in the Herald. I had to cancel my big TV buy at the end, however.
I would not expect a candidate to spend $1500 (or whatever amount they choose) of their own money. It is not too hard to raise that amount from small donations. There are people willing to contribute to help a candidate they support. Money is not a serious barrier.
The bigger barrier is getting people to decide they want to run and serve.
I don't know why we have not had a contested mayoral race since 1993. I guess you'd need more money than running for council, but I think people who may be interested in serving do not want to run in a contested election. But I agree it is weird.
What does the voting for one/two/three candidate question have to do with the ease of running for local office? Nothing that I can see.
(I don't necessarily vote for three candidates just because there are three seats up. I usually say only vote for the candidate(s) that you want.)
By the way, Travis Youman has decided not to run this time and I hear that Paul Ament has also decided not to run so looks like we will have four city council candidates (Kugle, Wiswell, Parvin, and Munson) for three seats.
There is still time to get papers and circulate them. Step up and give it a whirl?
CORRECTION: According to Sunny Schubert's column, Randy Parvin has decided not to run for city council after all.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have no issue giving $50 to a friend or quality candidate to help them get the word out. I personally think it would be shame if someone had to pay $1500 of their own cash to run. I think there are others like our family that would be willing to kick in $10-20-50 to help out a good candidate.
ReplyDeleteWill there be ice skating at the lagoon this year?
ReplyDeleteThe obvious role of special interest in Monona is the influence of those who live along Squaw Bay in designing and implementing the disaster of planning on lower Winnequah(Winnebago Squaw Road).
ReplyDeleteNowhere in the city is such influence so obvious, except maybe in the TIF awards to developers at Femrite and Monona and across the street...
Mall architecture and empty units.
We get the kind of government some folks think we need. The public may not care to get involved.
Is the city council going to re-write the sign ordinance so that it is constitutional and enforceable? The city's lax atitude about signs - not enforcing the regulation on the books, is one of the things that runs up the cost of elections.
ReplyDeleteThere has not been a lot of interest in changing the sign ordinance in the past. At one time we were waiting for the League of Munys to issue an opinion. I will inquire.
ReplyDeleteI can't really agree about this sign ordinance being much of a cost factor. Once you get any signs made, it is not that expensive to have a larger order.
So what is the sign ordinance?
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year & Happy New Decade too ;-)
ReplyDeleteI feel like it's still the holidays so I hope I'm not too late for a random question.
My question is regarding contacting CDA members who do not have email addresses listed on the mymonona site. What email addresses should be used or how can one easily include citizen appointed and non email listed city officials when distributing a widespread email?
I am seeking to inform, and seek support, from the Monona Community,city departments, committees, and officials,of a hearing for Assembly Bill 527. AB 527 consists of requirements for before a sale or other transfer of a manufactured and mobile home community.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing by the Assembly Committee on Housing, next week Wednesday, January 13, at 12:30 p.m. in Room 400 Northeast in the Capitol.
There were many who supported residents from Hickory Lane and now, four years later, there is hope for change.
Thank you Doug for your continued blogging and communicating to your constituents. You saw twice in twenty years, along with the community of Monona, the contention and human cost, when a park community closes with no structure through statutes or consumer protection.
The support now, from those who felt or saw the impact, by writing to their representatives at the State level, or attending to testify at the hearing, can assure that this doesn't happen to another affordable housing neighborhood of manufactured homes in the State of Wisconsin.
Cheers ;-) Tanya
(former homeowner at Hickory Lane, current owner of manufactured home on leased land in Dane County)
"My question is regarding contacting CDA members who do not have email addresses listed on the mymonona site. What email addresses should be used or how can one easily include citizen appointed and non email listed city officials when distributing a widespread email?"
ReplyDeleteExcellent question. I would recommend sending an email to the staff member and alder(s) listed for the specific committee.