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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Sep 30 2008, 08:22 PM
...Dazed and Confused?
Possibly like at minute five and beyond?
Nationally and locally, politically it can be a little bit confusing, don’t you think?
One minute Obama seems to be ahead in the race, he picks a VP candidate, gives a speech and literally seems on top of the world, and the next thing you know, his world seems turned upside down.
Then McCain pushes forward and things seem to be going great and now…things seem to be back to about even again.
Next, whoa…a financial crisis on Wall Street! $700 billion bailout FAILURE…
Chavez says we need a new constitution …talk about people being CONFUSED!
…and a hurricane in Canada?
Well, moving on…
Back here in Franklin we have our own problems.
The Boomgaard District issue with the 27th St. Jt. Steering Committee hasn’t been resolved, the Foxes have violations issued against them that are in limbo, the Mayor has been issued charges against him for election violations... fee waivers were voted out and then that was vetoed by the Mayor…and Don Dorsan, “President of the Franklin Cultural Arts Center,” seems to have come out of nowhere all of a sudden on a freaking mission just because the world does not revolve in the same direction as he does when it comes to fee waivers.
Well, fee waivers do not mean that people don’t support the actual cause. All anyone has to do is let me know about a cause and as long as I’m on the same page with it, I’ve got no problem supporting it on my blog…I’ve been glad to do that in the past. I’ve done it with actual posts and for an entire month on my side bar. Some people are obviously selective readers of the blogs, and that’s fine. Anyone who knows anything about me knows I support volunteerism and charities.
I don’t know if Don went to Marjorie for help, or if Marjorie went to Don and asked if she could help…after seeing Bryan’s post today. But I have to say, Bryan’s right on in my opinion.
What’ up, Don? Are you going after any corporate sponsors? Or are you just aiming for some bake sales? $20 million? And you’re worrying about fee waivers and commenting on blogs? Maybe you should be concentrating on writing letters for donations.
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Mar 6 2008, 07:15 PM
It was announced today that the candidates for Franklin School Board, Mayor and Aldermanic districts will be participating in a forum at the Franklin Public Library on Monday, March 24th, at 6:30 p.m.
This date is the day after Easter Sunday, and it is during Spring Break.
I would assume many Franklin families will be out of town during this time and will not be able to benefit from attending this forum.
Also, I am aware of at least one School Board candidate who would have liked to participate in the forum, but had a family vacation planned before being made aware of the event.
This reminds me of the Franklin Public Schools Be Heard! Sessions, which were scheduled during the month of December.
I will be nice if there is a large citizen turnout for this forum.
I will be very surprised if there is.
The concept is great.
It’s wonderful of the Franklin Area Junior Women’s Club and South Suburban Chamber of Commerce to sponsor this forum, and for the Franklin Public Library to host it, but this is just poor planning in my opinion.
I do understand Common Council and School Board meetings needed to be worked around, but perhaps it should have been planned sooner.
Isn’t the function of a forum like this to inform voters about the candidates?
If the forum is being held at a prime vacation time for citizens, then this is a disservice to both the voters and the candidates.
Planning 101….
If you want to get as many people as possible to attend a gathering….
Hold the gathering when people are most likely to attend….
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Mar 6 2008, 07:05 AM
I attended the Common Council meeting Tuesday at City Hall.
Although informative and I’m glad I attended, I thought it was uneventful.
Even if you aren’t concerned about what’s going on in your city government, it wouldn’t hurt you to attend one or two meetings just to see how things work.
The more I thought about it, though, a couple things stuck out from the meeting.
If any of the Aldermen I speak about want to respond, I welcome their comments.
But these are my observations and comments.
Alderman Hammelman twice made statements about his constituents in his district, regarding Wal-mart.
He appears to be very caring and open to suggestions from you out there in District 3.
Here is what concerns me.
Regarding one issue, he stated that because he had not had any phone calls or emails from you, his constituents, either in favor or against the issue, to him that meant everything was O.K.
There were no problems.
Now, to me that means something else.
To me, that means either apathy, or citizens just didn’t want to contact the Alderman.
So, District 3….pay attention.
Alderman Hammelman pays very much attention to your phone calls and emails regarding his decision process.
He takes them seriously.
If you don’t make phone calls or emails voicing your opinions, then, to him, this means everything is O.K. and going smoothly.
My question to you…does Alderman Hammelman ever reach out to you, the constituents, if you are not contacting him?
On another issue, Alderman Hammelman said his constituents would be 100% in favor of his decision. 100%.
I just can’t believe that on any issue there would be 100% agreement.
Call me a pessimist.
Next, regarding the Wal-Mart expansion project.
An 8-foot wall is proposed to be built.
A resident, during the comment period, voiced his concerns about the wall saying it is just not a pretty sight and could something be done about it.
Well, first there was a discussion between the Mayor and Aldermen about trees and shrubs.
I guess there isn’t enough space to plant and have such greenery survive.
Then talk of vines.
Hard to maintain and might ruin the fence?
Well, we seem to have ended up with wild grasses.
Wild grasses?
Boy, that will sure cover an 8-foot fence nicely.
Maybe if you plaster it all over the fence.
I’m sure the gentleman who voiced his concern over the fence left the meeting with a smile on his face.
I think he was “stonewalled.”
Next, there was discussion about the refuse collection in Franklin and the ongoing complaints the city has been receiving regarding garbage pick-up.
The service just plain stinks.
It’s not the best job in the world.
We all know that.
And the weather hasn’t cooperated much this winter.
But it sounded like there has been a problem for quite some time with skipped garbage pick-ups.
After a having had a very critical meeting with the service, the City is going to give them another chance, and they have promised to improve their services.
Lastly, remember that video clip of former President Clinton nodding off during a church service?
And the video clip of the Diet Pepsi Max commercial from the Super Bowl where people are nodding off but after a Pepsi, they are rearing to go?
Well, Alderman Kosovich could have used some of that Pepsi Max Tuesday night.
He was actually falling asleep during the meeting.
Eyes closing, head slightly bobbing.
He even did what appeared to be laughing at something everyone else was even though he didn’t quite catch the drift of what was going on (just like Clinton in that video).
Geez, if you are too tired to attend the meeting, call in sick.
Kosovich didn’t appear ill.
He spoke to someone I was sitting next to prior to the meeting and seemed in good spirits.
How can you listen and vote correctly if you are falling asleep and not paying attention?
There were some bright spots at the meeting.
One of them being Scott Thinnes was appointed to the Community Center Task Force.
Congratulations Scott.
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Dec 20 2007, 08:05 AM
Photo courtesy of cirrusimage.com
((YAWN))
I stopped over at the Environmental Commission meeting at City Hall at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday.
By the time it was 8:10 p.m. I was really "bugged" and had to sneak out of there (well, I had been to the School Board meeting prior to the EC meeting).
Remember back at the beginning of November, when Kevin Fischer said he had run into Kristen Wilhelm, Chairperson of the EC, and she just "smiled" and said something like "we never do anything," after Kevin asked her what was going on with the EC?
Well, after hearing the "tapes" of the meeting from last month, and experiencing over an hour of the meeting this month, I can see why nothing ever gets done.
Kristen Wilhelm does not know how to run a meeting. I have nothing against her as an individual. She seems like a good person. That's not what this is about. It's just there is so much whining about City Government and whining about the lack of funds for the EC (which appears to be zero, so go make your copies at City Hall and stop whining about it).
And to hear that something as basic and simple as Policies and Procedures has been in the works since May of 2001, and they are still not approved. Hello .... it's 2008 in a couple days!
Then there is so much bloviating during the meetings. Some of it seems way beyond the scope of what our EC is capable of doing. I almost wonder if the Mayor and Alderman realize this and are sitting there chuckling to themselves as this is going on.
See, I really think the problem with this group is that they don't want to take the time to meet in special committee meetings. Maybe they are just too busy to commit to the Environmental Commission they care so much about. Because what they really should be doing is breaking up into small committees during the month to do the long projects, then coming back to the main meeting to quickly report and vote on them. Sounds simple, right?
That is what a Policy and Procedures Committee would have done. Meet to go over, line by line, of the proposed policies, then present it to the Commission as a whole, and then finally to the Common Council. Instead, they had the nerve to sit there and start going over the policies and procedures line by line during a regular meeting! I was shocked.
I was the only citizen in the audience. Could you imagine if the place was full? Also, the Mayor was there. I had to leave ... what they were doing was just too much to comprehend. I was embarrassed for them. I was once on a By-laws committee. It's a simple procedure when two people work on it. It does not take six years! The Mayor was rolling his eyes when he asked how long this has been taking.
By the way, they have decided the change the name of the Environmental Commission to the Conservation Commission (CC). It's a much friendlier name, don't you think? Titles are so important. I know it changes my impression of how I feel about the Environmental Commission.
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