Shhh, it's a secret (part V)

The Waukesha Freeman nails it in this editorial:

DART. To the city of Delafield. Officials did not release the names or any information on the finalists for its city administrator position prior to hiring Timothy Schuenke, former city manager in Park Ridge, Ill., at a special meeting Thursday night. Mayor Ed McAleer said the city did not reveal any information on the finalists because they were involved in negotiations with the city, but we feel the citizens should have been given some idea of who might be selected as the next city administrator, given the importance of that position. Releasing the names of finalists after the fact does citizens no service, as the decision has already been made. Schuenke does seem to be very wellqualified, however, and we hope the city can move forward with its new city administrator, leaving behind the divisions and drama created by the November termination of former City Administrator Matt Carlson.

Given all the controversy surrounding the firing of Carlson, city government in Delafield owed it to the citizens to make this process as open as possible.

Pretentious? Moi?

Concerning Mayor Nelson's remarks about the ostentation and pretentiousness of Brookfield and Delafield, I comment in this week's column that I don't think the mayor is anyone to talk,

...this is the same mayor who promotes the downtown Art Crawl and is the prime proponent of the luxury Clarke Hotel and The Black Trumpet restaurant. Hanging out with Robert Redford in Sundance, Colo., to discuss water conservation is not the activity of the ordinary proletariat. And last I checked, most people don’t visit the factory in Europe to see their new Saab come off the assembly line.

But I also add that I don't think an apology is in order:

After all, just what would he say? "You’re right, I forgot about the big ugly mall in Brookfield and the giant glop of retail stores right off the freeway in Delafield. There’s nothing ostentatious or pretentious about them. In fact, they’re really just common examples of suburban sprawl."

I tapped into my inner Jim Rowen for those lines.

A quick and somewhat related note on the news the Pabst Farm developer is getting cold feet, is this really a bad thing? I came late to the Pabst Farms issue and so have been reluctant to stick my nose into it, but it looks like to me the county just saved $1.75 million in freeway costs, we saved a few million gallons of water, and we aren't artificially subsidizing competition to the business districts in already existing areas (ya know, like downtown Waukesha). Take this land off the books as retail property and you've just made the existing retail property in the county that much more valuable.

It seems to me we've just been given a chance to re-think the entire idea, and we should take advantage.

Find classic movies at Amazon.com

New poll on the mayor

Or should I say "mayourre"? Feel free to make multiple choices in the poll at left.

Find classic movies at Amazon.com