Business as usual
I saw this post over on Council Member Tony Palmeri's blog. I couldn't resist commenting on the irony.
It sure looks like business as usual was applied to the River Mill Road sidewalk issue. Here's how Tony described "business as usual."
*Limited public input
*Limited public buy-in
*Questionable financing and/or planning
According to Tony, "Challenging or putting an end to business as usual (BAU) was one of the main themes of the campaign season, and pretty much every candidate said that BAU was unacceptable."
It doesn't seem to have worked out that way in my neighborhood. And that makes it hard for me to see how this Council will deal with the bigger issues before them, such as the Waterfront and 100 North Main.
It sure looks like business as usual was applied to the River Mill Road sidewalk issue. Here's how Tony described "business as usual."
*Limited public input
*Limited public buy-in
*Questionable financing and/or planning
According to Tony, "Challenging or putting an end to business as usual (BAU) was one of the main themes of the campaign season, and pretty much every candidate said that BAU was unacceptable."
It doesn't seem to have worked out that way in my neighborhood. And that makes it hard for me to see how this Council will deal with the bigger issues before them, such as the Waterfront and 100 North Main.
posted by Miles Maguire at 11:31 AM
24 Comments:
Excellent points, Miles. It would be interesting to hear Tony articulate his position on this.
I agree Miles. The actions do not reflect the campaign rhetoric.
I think the public has bought in to the fact we need sidewalks on all our streets. As for the finances, we have a sidewalk plan every year and it fit in nicely. I think business as usual would have been special interest groups pressuring the council and the council caving to those special $$$ groups. I thought you wanted to give the sidewalk issue a rest?
I say we give mayor wannabe Paul Esslinger a rest. It's pretty clear with the votes and comments he's been making that he's in need of a rest.
This topic is boring! Let's start bashing Paul Esslinger again!
11:17 is standard BlaBlaBla from the "River Mills Whiners"
They just can't get over the fact they lost the sidewalk vote.
Dennis, Tony, Paul and Frank...how dare you!
C'mon! Everyone explain why they hate Paul Esslinger.
The shadow government is losing its hold on the city.
"The shadow government is losing its hold on the city..."
No, it's just a shadow government from the other side. That's all.
The "other" team is reaching critical mass. For once we have McHugh, Palmeri and Esslinger voting for the average working person in Oshkosh. There have been too many votes cast for the "progressive crew" that haven't lived up to the expectations. The 3 mentioned above along with a wild card of Mayor Tower and/or Bryan Bain mean we have a 4 vote majority. That scares the "shadow government" crew and thats why the new council is all good!
Yeah right, about Esslinger representing us. Is that why he got up halfway through a workshop the other night and left. It's not the first time he's shirked his responsibility to his fellow councilors and the taxpayers. These are signs of a poor public servant. If he needs a rest we can give him one.
9:28 is just more Esslinger bashing. It is clear that this contributor to the blogs simply has a Paul Esslinger fetish. I think he should disclose this fetish to his wife and seek medical and mental heath help.
Esslinger has simply gotten under the skin of the River Mill crowd and now they have a bash mentality as they didn't get their own way. Paul has always gotten a large percentage of the city vote, and if he chooses to keep running, I expect that will continue. After all there are more middleclass working people (those who Paul represents) living in Oshkosh than there are silver spoon in the mouth wealthy new sidewalks in their subdivision whiners.
Anon 12:00pm wrote: "After all there are more middleclass working people (those who Paul represents) living in Oshkosh than there are silver spoon in the mouth wealthy new sidewalks in their subdivision whiners. "
Just wondering if you were aware that Paul's house is worth more than a number of houses on River Mill and a guy who owns a house worth $200,000+ so does that mean he has a silver spoon in his mouth too?
Who cares what kind of house he lives in as long as his ACTIONS support the needs of the common man. Most politicians don't live in $60,000.00.
What we don't want is wealty politicians who only act in the interest of the weathly and forget all about the common man.
Pauls Voting history demonstrates that he is an advocate of the common middleclass taxpayer in Oshkosh. That kind of history will keep him relected.
This blog is sucking. With all the hot topics in this city right now, y'all are still hung up on the same old stuff. Even the blog leader.
I thought the header for this blog described what would be an interesting place to visit.
Disappointing and B-O-R-I-N-G.
Hey 4:45-- This blog certainly sucks less than some of the votes from your hero Paul Es-SLING-er. But if you don't like it the answer is simple, and with all your intelligence I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. Just don't come here. Go to one fo the Monte blogs where you'll fit in better and find quite a flurry of activity. Ha!!
When Paul Esslinger brought forward his politically motivated resolution for sidewalks on River Mill he DID forget the common man, 12:19. At least the common man in the wheelchair. Even more commoners were left behind by streets that still have no sidewalks but pedestrians walking to and fro. But hey, as long as he stuck it to Jon D and the others he considers upper crust it's a good day in the mind of power-hungry Paul.
An interesting comment from Kent Monte about why a roundabout should not be placed at Jackson/Murdock. He said "My opinion is that to build a roundabout at an expense of more than $600,000 to the city is ludicrous if they do not do anything to address the neighboring intersection of Wisconsin/Murdock that has posted more accidents in each of the last 2 years."
Wow!!! Isn't that something??? Funny how he wants that argument to work in this case - a proposal he is against - when he, his wife, and pal Paul Esslinger didn't consider that same type of reasoning when the River Mill sidewalks were ram-rodded through.
Bryan Bain wanted to do something with the Congress Avenue crossing to the WIOUWASH trail because that is where the real safety issues are. He wanted the city to take a more global look at the overall picture, but that got shot down. Now suddenly in this area you can't do one without the other because "the other" has greater safety issues. This is the same kind of doubletalk we hear from Esslinger all the time.
What I really do not understand is how the vote by the council for sidewalks in River Mill is a vote for "the common middle class taxpayer". How does that vote benefit that group--why would they even care?
Other than for "stick it to the people who live there", I can not see any other reason. What am I missing?
Well the issue was brought forward from a resident who was going to have sidwalks ordered on to his street. I believe in the West side, VanBuren area. The whole purpose he brought this to question was "how come we people living in modest homes have sidewalks ordered in and the wealthy people in River Mill get a pass"
So...there you have it. Now you have your answer to the "What I really do not understand is how the vote by the council for sidewalks in River Mill is a vote for "the common middle class taxpayer". How does that vote benefit that group--why would they even care?" question.
Nothing more than Esslinger himself is missing everytime he opens his mouth. It's sickening the way he always asks if he's missing something. Yes, the answer is he's missing a lot. Come next April, he'll be missing even more.
Here's a response to those who continue to claim councilman Paul Esslinger was only doing his job when it came to the River Mill sidewalk matter...
The issue they choose to ignore is it WAS and IS an abuse of power.
There is no love lost between councilman Esslinger and former councilman/mayor Jon Dell'Antonia who happens to live in this neighborhood. It's common knowledge that the fact there were no sidewalks there has been a sore spot for Esslinger for years. When he reaized he had enough votes on the council to get it passed (or at least a good chance to do so) he brought forward a resolution ordering in sidewalks in a single neighborhood and then had the audacity to say it was in the name of safety.
If his safety argument is to be believed then one would have to belive that there were no other streets in Oshkosh that needed sidewalks, particularly where people do, in fact, walk. We all know that is not the case. If it were a matter of eliminating disparity, as you call it, he would also have done his homework and brought forward a resolution to order in sidewalks on all other streets where sections of sidewalk or walks in their entirety are missing. We all know that didn't happen either.
Mr. Maguire has published numerous photos of places in Oshkosh where sidewalks are missing, where pedestrians walk and where vehicular traffic is greater than River Mill Road. And here's one more: how many years will the city or Schwab Properties allow the section of sidewalk to be out on Jackson Street just before the bridge heading south? People walk there too and when they get to that section either have to walk on Jackson Street (not a smart thing at all) or in the grass, which has ruts in it and someone could easily fall and break an ankle or worse. Additionally it looks stupid and shabby to have the Sidewalk Closed signs sitting there as they have been for years. And with all the recent focus on that area (Five Rivers, Akcess, the Marathon building purchase, the chamber building purchase discussion) you can't tell me Esslinger (or one of the other councilors) has not seen the signs, seen the problem, seen the traffic, and said "We really ought to do something about this."
Let's get moving on this Esslinger!! Since you're so hot for taking care of things that have languished for years, how about bringing forward another resolution to order in sidewalks there, Mr. Safety and Fixer of Inequities??
If the River Mill sidewalk issue was really about safety or repairing inequities Esslinger needed to do a better job of things. He failed...and miserably. People who know the truth and have all the facts about this situation totally believe Esslinger is full of it and (ab)used his power to get these sidewalks installed. They also believe there would have been nowhere near the uproar about them if he had been more fair and equitable in his approach. He wasn't and it's one more strike against him with many who used to support him.
Here's an example of a safety measure at its finest. After much public complaining and discussion about the difficulty WIOWASH trail users have in crossing Congress Avenue, there is now a small sign in the middle of the road that cites a state law, I assume about pedestrians and stopping for them. The problem is two-fold: You can't read the sign until you're practically on top of it; and, people travel too fast on Congress to pay any attention to it. Besides even if you were going the speed limit by the time you can read what the sign says it's too late to stop. To those you add that far too many drivers in Oshkosh are rude and don't give a hoot about the laws anyway. Sorry City of Oshkosh but I don' think this is the safety solution we need. Better get Paul Esslinger on top of this situation right away since he is the self-proclaimed safety expert.
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