Alderman Hernandez's explanation for his vote in favor of the stadium

Alderman Chris Hernandez gave his explanation to the residents of Phoenix Heights why he voted in favor of the stadium at Frame Park. Based upon audio I received of the meeting, the following is a transcript of his answer:

A Phoenix Heights resident asked Alderman Hernandez why he voted in favor of the stadium. “That was at a point in the time when I couldn’t go around and knock because I broke my ankle. I had a couple of screws put in so I was laid up for a long time, couldn’t walk or anything. So I was mostly relying on phone calls at my residence as well as e-mails. My plan, of course, before I broke my ankle was to go down to Frame Park, walk through Phoenix Heights, walk through the rest of the district ‘cause this is a bigger issue than – yes, Phoenix Heights is adjacent to this, but it’s also a huge city issue as well so it has to be looked at from that larger spectrum. So from the volume of phone calls and e-mails that I had plus being in law enforcement that of course I track everybody’s phone call and I look everybody up and whatnot so I got a lotta phone calls and e-mails from people saying that they were in my district that weren’t. By the time I completely tallied it up it was basically one and the same. So I had to look at it from the bigger spectrum of the city and not just the neighborhood and this is one of the issues that, of course being a brand new alderman I get thrown in the deep end right off the bat. So you know within, like, two months of being sworn in I got hit the hardest decision that I made and especially being completely limited – my wife was pregnant and she had these really bad migraines so the house was completely dark and I can’t see to do anything and it was the most probably miserable time of my life. So, and, you know, just being stuck on the couch and then since everything that I was remodeling in that room had to go in the rest of my house I could barely take my crutches to the opposite end to go to the bathroom and come back and flop down on the couch. So, unfortunately, I had to strictly rely on just phone calls and e-mails but you know my initial plan before I took that fall was to, you know, walk around like the rest of the aldermen, go down, you know, throughout the district, including Phoenix Heights, {garbled}

At this point he was interrupted by Marty Larson asking about the Alderman’s ability to walk, at which point another resident offered to get Hernandez a scooter.

Pete and Rick

Pete Kennedy thinks Alderman Rick Tortomasi is ridiculous because he appeared to be voting like a windsock on the stadium proposal for Frame Park (ht: Spring City Chronicle). Well, okay, he looked ridiculous by being for it (minutes of an ad hoc baseball committee meeting), against it (per the word of his wife County Supervisor Jean Tortomasi at the Stroll through the Park protest), and then for it (the night of the vote). But hey, by his own admission he looked no more ridiculous than he did when he proposed the smoking ban in Waukesha.

Kennedy objects to Tortomasi's claim that he would vote the way his constituents want, regardless. It's actually a sentiment shared by a few aldermen, which should serve as a strong reminder to any political group that politics is always two-pronged. Not only do you have to convince the politicians, often you have to convince their constituencies.

And while Kennedy is right we do elect politicians to make decisions for us, there are exceptions where their constituencies have a right to expect obedience. For example, when there are those issues where the politician simply is not moved one way or the other. Another example would be when the alderman has not made a case to his constituents ahead of time to explain his vote, the leadership Kennedy asks for in his column. It doesn't do a politician any credit to get so far out in front of his constituents that they lose sight of each other. Finally, and I think most importantly, when the interests of the district are so adversely affected by the proposal the alderman is compelled to vote a certain way. (That's why I make such a fuss about a representative living among his constituents.)

While I don't hold it against Alderman Ybarra for having his mind made up before he answered the first call, I'm sure many of Alderman Hernandez's constituents are left wondering at his decision. After all, it's his district and his constituents that were the most adversely affected by the vote.

Whether or not Hernandez draws an opponent in the next election will probably rest on his accomplishments the rest of his term and his responsiveness to constituent concerns. He may also want to do his part to bring his district to accept the baseball stadium. If he does draw an opponent (I think likely) than we'll see if he was too far out of sync with his district.

As for Alderman Tortomasi, whether or not he draws an opponent largely depends whether his windsock approach to government can keep him in good stead with a majority of his constituents, provided they aren't too embarrassed by his ridiculousness.