Village Spillage

I filed my papers over the lunch hour, and am officially on the ballot.  Trustee Richard Foster is also on the 3-year term slate.  If no one registers by the deadline, the race will be uncontested for the two 3-year Trustee positions.

However .. the 1-year Trustee slot now has a contested race!  

• Sean Finnigan, whose name should be familiar.  Finnigan and Richard Foster were the final 2 back in September when the Trustees were appointing a replacement Trustee.  Finnigan lost on the 5th ballot.  Here's his work website.
  
  
• Jay Miller .. Miller is currently on the Plan Commission for WFB.  No other information is known at this time.
  

Last Tuesday, when I announced I would volunteer to run for Village Trustee, I was quickly humbled by receiving a few dozen emails from new supporters within a couple hours.   It was interesting meeting with all these folks who are fans of this blog, but I've never met before.   Honored to meet so many supporters in such a short time.

I have enough signatures to be on the ballot.

I admit .. I've been profoundly remiss in publicly beating the bushes for candidates to run our Village.  Privately, I've tried to goad people into running, but that only goes so far. 

While I (and the NOW) are unaware of any changes since the New Year, NO CANDIDATES have filed for the One-Year Trustee position.

The deadline is Tuesday, January 6th at 5pm.

So .. Think you have something to offer Whitefish Bay?   Even if you don't want to run a campaign, the One-Year term is sitting there, waiting for someone to step up.

It's interesting that 4 short months ago, seven Villagers wrote out applications and went through an interview process to be appointed as a Trustee to fill out Brennan's term.   Today, none of those folks (besides incumbent Foster) have applied to run for the "sign and you're in" 1-year term. -- There was talk that one of the "finalists" was seriously considering putting his name in, but so far .. that hasn't happened.

So .. unless something changes, in April, the first order of business for the Trustees will be to .. drum roll .. ask for applications for a 1-year appointment to the Board, just as they did 4 months ago.

So here's what you need to do:

Monday - File EB-1 and EB-162 at Village Hall.  They are easy, short forms to fill out.  They must be presented at Village Hall BEFORE you can collect signatures.

Tuesday - 5pm - File EB-169 - Nomination papers.  You need a minimum of 20 signatures, but you should get a few more, just in case any of them are incorrect (signed by someone under 18, not living in the Bay, etc.)   I found that most households were "good" for two signatures, so you're really going for 10 households, if you have some luck.

Yes, time is tight.  It's not easy getting 20+ signatures in such a short time.   Come by my house, my wife and I will sign. 

After being asked by a number of folks, I am entering the race for Whitefish Bay Village Trustee (3 year term.)

I admit this was a tough decision on my part, mainly because of the "job" I have as the "Village Spillage" blogger.    I started writing this blog about Whitefish Bay almost two years ago, posting many of the good things, and problematic issues in Whitefish Bay, from the viewpoint of an 11 year resident.  

Last year, when asked to run for Trustee, I rationalized my decision not to run because .. I was already serving the community in my own way, covering WFB with some new-media attention, as the regular newspaper’s coverage was and is, paper thin.   The same is true today.   

While I will not stop blogging if I were selected by the villagers to serve, there’s no doubt the "voice" of Village Spillage would change, from the local crank who points out issues, to a Trustee who is part of the system.

So why run now?  Perhaps because there is an obvious lack of those willing to volunteer their time to serve.    I understand.   I estimate the job of Trustee must take  somewhere north of 150+ hours per year of time (for the princely compensation of $600/year!)     That’s a tremendous time commitment for anyone.  

There are three Trustee positions up for election in April, and at the moment, only one other individual has submitted paperwork to run, and time is running out.

Trustee Richard Foster, who joined the Board a few months ago, is running for a 3-year term, instead of the 1-year "Brennan Seat" to which he was appointed.  

No word from current Trustee Rita Cheng whether she is running or not.  I sent a message to Trustee Cheng two weeks ago, asking her what her intentions were and she did not reply.  The deadline for "non-candidacy" was last week, so she is either late to submit papers, or possibly doesn't want to campaign again.

My "platform" is an open book.  Indeed, the voters of Whitefish Bay may know more about me than any candidate in our history, as I’ve written some 120 pieces of commentary about our Bay, all lurking around the WhitefishBayNow site for all to read.  

In summary:

1. Help Silver Spring:  Work with the BID board to understand what merchants’ need to thrive.   We need to improve our marketing of the soon-to-be streetscaped district.  We need to evaluate merchant-unfriendly codes.  We have a reputation of a red-tape municipality, and need to bend over backwards for all new businesses who knock on the Village Hall door.
   
   
2. Defend Homeowner Rights:   Whitefish Bay has curtailed the rights of homeowners often to the dismay of anyone who seeks to improve their homes.  Whitefish Bay is landlocked.  The main way we increase our tax base is through homeowner improvements, and we must do what we can to encourage and streamline that process.
   
   
3. Communicate:  With the lack of media attention of Village happenings, as a blogger, I’ve tried to fill that void.  I will continue to do so in the future.   We only have one other Trustee (Fehring) who is reachable by email.  If elected, I will be the second, open to your comments.  

So, loyal readers:  I need your help.  I have filed the initial papers to begin circulating a nominating petition .. if you are willing to sign, I’d be happy to visit you at your home .. Please email me at KevinBuckleyWFB@gmail.com .. Thank you!

Why am I writing on Christmas morning?  We just hit that post-present-opening calm, where the kid(s) are playing with their trains and firetrucks.  This isn't a Whitefish Bay blog entry, so much as it is relevant to every family across the US this morning. 

I'm turning 40 in a few months .. and I just had my first grown-up Christmas.  I'm a relatively new father, with a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old.

It started a couple weeks ago when we picked out our tree and put it in our living room.  My son couldn't control himself when presented with boxes of tree trimmings and lights. 

When informed the tree needed to thaw out before we could get started, he really couldn't control himself.   "After dinner, we'll decorate the tree.  No, not now.  After dinner.  When it gets dark, it'll be time."  -- So he goes to the window and looks out and commands "GET DARK!!!  GET DARRRRRRK!!!"

The 2.5 year old is right on the cusp of understanding Santa.  After 4 weeks of my wife and I pounding the Santa story into his tiny brain .. my son had a tough time getting to sleep last night.

He chattered away in his dark room .. "Santa .. Reindeer .. Chimney .. Presents .. Noisy reindeer!  DOWN CHIMNEY.  NOISY!  Cookies for Santa .. open presents.  NOISY on roof!" over and over for 90 minutes before he conked out.

Now that he's in a big-boy bed, he unfortunately can get out of bed himself.  6:30, he comes in to our room.  "PRESENTS.  SANTA.  GO DOWNSTAIRS!"  

It made me wonder, how many other parents in Whitefish Bay were up at 6:30 with children too excited to be restrained?  I'm guessing quite a few.

Merry Christmas, Whitefish Bay.

Merry Christmas. 

Enjoy your roast beast.

You haven't finished your Christmas shopping.  You still need a present for your mail man.  Your babysitter.  Your kid's teacher.

Here's a few ideas that will help you out, plus help out WFB:

1. A Gift Certificate to Silver Spring's newest restaurant:  Berkeley's.   It's a perfect way to gift someone in the Bay, plus help keep this new gem open.  Read my blog here, or visit their website.

2.  A Gift Certificate to Elements for a massage.  Guys, you can do no wrong giving your wife a gift certificate for a massage.  NO WRONG.   And honestly, us guys want one too.  We're just too shy to ask.  For my wife's birthday, I bought a 3-pack, fully intending on using one.  You can even buy their gift cards on line, 3 for $59/each.

3. Anything at Winkie's.  In fact, make it a priority to buy one gift there this December. You are going to buy some toys this year, and Winkie's got a ton of them.  Help your local business.

4. Want to give a piece of charity?  The Friends of Lydell are selling engraved bricks for the construction of a walkway at Lydell to raise money for the playground.  Contact Carin Keland at 963-3888 or Lisa Sprink at 967-3024.

5. Gift Certificates to the Fox Bay are always nice.

6. If you're getting jewelry, it better be from Thiet's or Schwanke-Kasten.

7. Your pet wants something from Hounds Around Town.

8. The musician in your life wants a gift certificate from Milwaukee's Finest Guitars.

There's 20+ other places to buy gifts on Silver Spring this Christmas.  Make sure you buy at least one from a local merchant this year.  Otherwise, next year, you might not have the chance.

Make sure you read other items:

1. Drugs & Whitefish Bay
   
2. Grab Bag: Lots of WFB Updates
   
3. Here's an idea: WFB Wi-Fi
4. New SS Restaurant: Berkeley's
5. WFB Wins Voter Turnout Championship
6. My LASIK experience
7. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   

  * Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

I don't often have truly important things to write about.  Sure, writing about WFB issuing citations for sign violations may be fun to read, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not all that important.

This is.

I got an email from a WFB resident, and have received permission to publish its cautionary tale.   Myself not having children old enough to have been challenged in this way, I was unaware of the drug problems in Whitefish Bay.  Clearly, there is zero media attention to the issue, and this specific death.

Her story begins with Ben Paliafito, a 19-year old, who died from an overdose two weeks ago, just a day after Thanksgiving.   You can read Ben's obituary here.

But take the time to read some of the entries from Ben's funeral "Guest book" located here.  I don't know the Paliafito family, but from reading that guest book, you can surmise they are just like any typical Whitefish Bay family, with hopes and dreams, friends and family, all shocked and in mourning over Ben's death.

Please, gentle readers, if you are a parent of a teen, don't dismiss this story as something that can't happen to your family.  Children are extraordinarily gifted in hiding issues from their parents.

Learn from this story:

TOO MANY DRUGS IN WHITEFISH BAY

I am a Whitefish Bay parent of 3 boys (11, 16 & 19) and am totally fed up with the amount of drug trafficking that starts within the middle school and continues on into the high school with very high incidences.  Just two weeks ago, Ben Paliafito, a young man from WFB, only 19 years old, died from a drug overdose, a combination of "Oxy" and alcohol.  Ben's death is the 2nd drug overdose death in a little over a year and a half in our area.

I know that there is a whole group of kids that buy and sell drugs here in the area and I know this only too well because my own son was involved with them until I had him arrested.  Yes, that's right, I had my own son arrested because he was involved in drugs!  I saw this coming; I forewarned my son that I would conduct random searches of his room for drugs, and I have always told my boys that if you don't follow the rules and believe what the consequences will be, you will pay the price.  My own son tested me beyond the limits.  He may have hated me at the time, but I do know now that what I did not only removed him from the WFB drug scene, but I also saved his life and got him the help he needed to change his life.

While I was at Ben's memorial service last week I spoke with a lot of kids, asking them if they felt all of this drug usage is really worth it or if more kids needed to die from a drug overdose before they started questioning their own behaviors.  I told them to talk to Ben's family and ask them what this has done to them and to think about their own families.  What I really wanted to do that night was stand up in front of everybody and shout "Is all of this worth dying over?" I can only hope that just one of these kids listened and saw the reality of why we were all there that night.

I also spoke with one of the guidance counselors at WFB High School following this recent death of one of their graduates and they know drugs are being sold in school!  Yes, I am sure that it is happening too, and all parents of students need to be aware of this and help to put a stop to it now before we lose more of our kids to this senseless behavior for nothing more than a momentary high!

What we need here in Whitefish Bay are more pro-active parents who know their kids are on the verge of this behavior or already involved in drugs and aren't afraid to stand up to their kids.  Ignoring this drug problem is not going to make it go away!!  There must be plenty of parents out there who do exactly that -- pretend that there isn't a problem or hope their kid will straighten themselves out.  It doesn't happen that way folks . . . it only gets worse!

DRUGS ARE A REAL PROBLEM HERE IN WHITEFISH BAY AND MORE YOUNG KIDS ARE GOING TO DIE FROM THEM IF MORE PARENTS DON'T WAKE UP!!

June Rubner
A very concerned parent

 

 

 

Make sure you read other items:

1. Grab Bag: Lots of WFB Updates
   
2. Here's an idea: WFB Wi-Fi
3. New SS Restaurant: Berkeley's
4. WFB Wins Voter Turnout Championship
5. My LASIK experience
6. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   

  * Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

WHAT'S POPPIN!

From Ciao Café, to Sal's Pizza (almost), to "What's Poppin" .. 404 E. Silver Spring should have a new tenant shortly.

What's Poppin is going to sell "30+ varieties of popcorn .. Fudge .. and Candy Apples."  Cherry, blueberry and vanilla popcorn?  Redonculous.

The real hook is that they will also serve soup, sandwiches, and ice cream.

I'm not sure what the emphasis is on, whether it's the fudge/popcorn, or soup/sandwich, but I'd say Silver Spring is in dire need of an ice cream shop.   I'll write more as details come in.

Their website can be found here:  http://www.whatspoppin.com

CDA MEETING: WHAT IS KILDUFF DOING FOR THEIR $29,000?

Back in September, the WFB Trustees voted to hire The Kilduff Company as a recruiter for Silver Spring to "seek retail businesses that will help enhance the success of the entire business district."   Village Manager James Grassman called the $29,000 six-month contract, "an experiment."   From this article, "at the end of six months, officials will decide whether the experiment shows enough promise to go further."

So, three months into the six month contract, an issue I've been talking to landlords about came up at this week's CDA meeting:   Apparently, Kilduff has not contacted all (or any) of the Silver Spring landlords to inquire about their vacancies.

Wouldn't that be Step #1 in recruiting businesses?  Don't you need to know the inventory of what you're trying to sell?  How does Kilduff know what properties are available, what are their specs, electrical, plumbing, rates, square footage, and expansion possibilities are .. unless they ask the landlords?  This makes no sense.

Apparently, no Kilduff representative came to the CDA meeting and therefore could not answer these basic questions or give a status report, at this, the mid-way point of their contract.

Whitefish Bay officials should demand that Kilduff give an immediate status report, and get some of these basic questions answered.  This contract is over in 90 short days, and it would appear Kilduff hasn't done the basic homework.

POLICE EMAILS

As I'd written about and hoped for, the WFB Police Department has slowly started adding "announcements" to the Village's website.   The announcement page can be found here.

However, as I imagine very few people read the announcement page with any frequency, you can sign up for "Recent Crime Notification" emails.  I signed up two weeks ago, and so far, no emails have been sent.  I guess that means Whitefish Bay hasn't had any crime in the last few weeks, right?

Sign up for Crime emails here.

SILVER SPRING WI-FI

As I wrote this weekend, there's a pretty inexpensive way to throw a wireless cloud around Silver Spring, for around $3k.  I got many emails on that subject, unanimously positive.  One asked how, as a villager, they could help make this happen.

1. Contact the Village Trustees (Send them an email here: manager@wfbvillage.org -- Yes, that's the Village Manager's email.  Unfortunately, that's how you contact your Trustees.)
2. Contact CDA Members
3. Talk to the new BID Board members.  The BID might be the best place to start, as they have funds, and are in control of business improvements.
   

LEAF PICKUP

As I'd previously suggested .. November 17th is too early to end leaf pickup.   Every weekend, I rake my leaves.  In the two weeks after Nov. 17th, I bagged enough leaves to hide an SUV. 

Here's half of them, before I dutifully bagged them (11 bags and counting):

Of course, not everyone follows the rules.  My neighbor was dumping them in the gutter a week later, and I told him the bad news:  Deadline passed.  You need to bag your leaves.  

His response? 

"The Village can do what they want with these leaves.  Pick them up now, or plow them when the snow comes."

Super.

Make sure you read other items:

1. Here's an idea: WFB Wi-Fi
2. New SS Restaurant: Berkeley's
3. WFB Wins Voter Turnout Championship
4. My LASIK experience
5. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   

 *** Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

I'm a big proponent of wireless internet projects.   Part of it is the geek in me, who loved playing with walkie-talkies as a kid, but I think a case can be made for free wireless internet in business areas to add this increasingly important amenity.

I've been a fan of a company called Meraki, who've created a few cheap, extremely simple wireless devices that are perfect for turning areas large and small into wireless zones.

Meraki just rolled out a $10,000 package that contains enough "repeaters" to blanket one square mile with internet connectivity.  How big is our Silver Spring business district?   About 2/10ths of a square mile, or 14 acres.  Heck, all of WFB is a mere 2.5 square miles.  Imagine blanketing the whole village for $25k.

Suffice it to say .. covering the Silver Spring business district, from Lake to Lydell would be in the $3,000 neighborhood.  Peanuts, in comparison to the $3m we are spending on sewers and street-scaping on Silver Spring.

The Meraki system starts with an internet connected router that costs $150 and needs internet connectivity and electricity.  The remainder of the system are these little boxes ($180) that are simply plugged in to your regular electrical outlet.   (See picture)

The wireless signal goes from box to box, and is "repeated" creating a wireless mesh of connectivity.

Meraki has some case studies on their website, and I'd direct you to the one they did for Ypsilanti, Michigan an area of 270 acres.   They were able to deliver internet access to all 270 acres for a grand total of $3,725.

So .. what would this do for Silver Spring?   Just ask Starbucks why they have wireless internet access.  It brings in customers.

But further .. I'd think the businesses along SS themselves would appreciate the internet connection, instead of each business paying for it individually. 

It's really something to think about, especially with the reasonable price tag.

Make sure you read other items:

1. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   
2. WFB Scam Alert
   
3. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
4. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
5. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS

 *** Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

Berkeley's Cafe has been open for a few weeks now, so I stopped in to see how life on war-torn Silver Spring was going.

Answer:  Pretty well.

Anecdotally, I've heard from a number of people who have eaten there, finding Berkeley's a tough table to get on Fridays and Saturdays during the hour.

Sadly, my wife and I have not gotten to Berkeley's, as our twice weekly dinner outings have been sharply curtailed by the birth of our second child.  However .. after helping my neighbor, they thanked me with a Gift Certificate from Berkeley's, so we should be dining soon.

And to show how well Berkeley's is doing .. the manager told me their first printing of Gift Certificates was sold out.  Pretty good first month.

Other bits:

First, you can read Berkeley's entire menu on their website: http://www.berkeleyscafe.com

They are open for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, all of which are available for take-out (Phone: 897-8624), and of course, have a nice bar for drinks.

They also have a quick to-go menu (see picture) with coffee, espresso, soups and salads, ready for a quick purchase.

Here's a sampling of their menu items:

Breakfast:

• Egg Croissant or Wrap 
• Belgium Orange Waffle
• Huevos Rancheros Omelet
• And all the basics .. Eggs, pancakes, bacon.
• Prices: $5-$9

Lunch:

• Appies: Cheese Plate, Fondue, Wings, Nachos, Samosas $6-12
• Soups: Tomato Rosemary, Whitefish Corn Chowder $4-5
• Grilled Burger / Chicken
  
• Tuna Salad
  
• Mustard Egg Salad
  
• 1/2 Soup, Sandwich
  
• Prices: $8-10
  

Dinner:

• Most of the Lunch menu plus..
• Roasted Pork Loin
• Apple Duck Confit
  
• Chicken & Mushrooms
  
• Fish & Chips
• Cafe Meatloaf
• Prices: $14-19

They have a great, cheap kid's menu, if I do say so myself:

• Chicken Strips
• Grilled Cheese
  
• Pasta & Marinara
• Mini Burgers
• Fruit Cup 
• Prices: $3-5
• They have high-chairs, crayons, the usual kid-friendly stuff
  

Deserts:

• Warm Sugar Donuts
• Chocolate Bouchons 

Now listen up, Whitefish Bay Villagers:  Many of us, myself included, have been waiting for a decent restaurant on Silver Spring.   It has arrived.

It's about a 3 minute drive from wherever you live.

And YOU and I have to support it.   Silver Spring is going through tough times right now.  With the economy in the tank, times will get tougher.  It is now more important than ever to support these local merchants, or .. guess what?  They'll close. 

Imagine if Berkeley's succeeds, turns a profit, and has some spill-over customers for the rest of the Silver Spring merchants, from 7am to 11pm.  That would be fantastic.  Imagine a 2nd restaurant (Hooters!) .. and an ice cream shop.  Bingo.  Silver Spring is back on track.

So how do you support it?  Take the pledge:  Eat at Berkeley's every 3 months.  Something, anything, a breakfast here, a dinner there.  4 times a year, once a season.  If you have kids and can't make it out, fine.  Do take-out.  Here's the phone again:  897-8624.

Marija Whitman, co-owner passed along this bit:  

Kevin, it has been the most wonderful feeling to see the outpouring of support and sincerity from customers.  What a warm welcome. We thank them sincerely for coming, and they thank us sincerely for being here. 

It makes us want to try harder to never let our amazing community down!

Make sure you read other items:

1. Election Prediction wrapup
2. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   
3. Local Election Predictions
   
4. WFB Scam Alert
   
5. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
6. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
7. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS

 *** Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

Last week, I got an email from a WFB resident temporarily living in Germany who discovered that the DMV was charging residents of the 53217 Zip Code an additional $20 "Wheel Tax" which was recently enacted in the CITY of Milwaukee.  WFB shares 53217 with Milwaukee, Glendale, Fox Point, and Bayside.

UPDATE: The 53211 zip is also effected, as it has part of Milwaukee, WFB, and Shorewood.

So, thank you to the Yunker family for discovering this, and passing it on to Village officials.   They have sent out an email alert, although I imagine not many people have subscribed to this system.  I am reprinting the Village's warning for your pleasure:

Recently the City of Milwaukee enacted a Wheel Tax on all vehicles owned by their residents.  The State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is enforcing this "wheel tax" by including it to the cost to register a vehicle.  Unfortunately, the DMV has been including the tax on all residents who live within a shared zip code where both the suburb and portion of the City are located.

This charge is only for City of Milwaukee residents, and all Whitefish Bay residents who received this charge in error are encouraged to call the DMV to have it removed.  Please choose the following options to have this corrected:

If you feel you've been incorrectly assessed the City of Milwaukee wheel tax, you can call the DMV's Vehicle Records Section at (608) 266-3666.

If you believe that you erroneously paid the tax without realizing it, you can call the DMV's Research and Information Section at (608) 266-1466 or send a written request for a refund to: Department of Transportation, PO Box 8070, Madison, WI 53708-8070.

Residents are reminded to list Whitefish Bay and not Milwaukee as their place of residency when registering their vehicles.  This information is important because it is used to help calculate State funding sources like shared revenues which are important to the general operation of the Village.

Generally, the renewal fee is $75 for autos, but more if you have personalized plates or other special items on your bill.  You can determine the correct DMV renewal fee by hitting this site:  http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/vehicles/veh-fees.htm

But, hey, Whitefish Bay Village Hall .. thanks for sending out that email bulletin.   That's a great use for that system, sending out news alerts villagers need to know.  It'd be great if we could get other pressing information, like the status of Silver Spring closures, police reports of frequently occurring crime we should be aware of .. plenty of other examples.

Email is free, use it!

Make sure you read other items:

1. Election Prediction wrapup
2. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   
3. Local Election Predictions
   
4. WFB Scam Alert
   
5. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
6. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
7. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS

 *** Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

The paper version of the NorthShoreNOW has a little table with the voter turnout for the North Shore suburbs, Bayside, Brown Deer, Fox Point, Glendale, Mequon, River Hills, Shorewood, Thiensville and Whitefish Bay.

Who had the best voter turnout?  Whitefish Bay with a whopping 89.4%.   Thiensville was 88.5%, followed by Fox Point at 87% .. the remainder of the suburbs were around 70-83%.

That's really a fantastic turnout.

Voter turnout for the rest of the US was around 61% .. Wisconsin's was 2nd in the nation at 71%.

Personally .. I'd like to hear from the 10.6% who didn't vote.  I'll bet half of those "non-voters" are really errors in the voter registration database.

About 5 years ago, I started thinking about getting LASIK.  I've worn glasses for 25 years, and thought it was about time for an upgrade.

When I first looked into it 5 years ago .. there's clearly a two-tiered system of LASIK doctors. 

The first tier "shop" is the kind of place you see advertised in the Sunday paper .. $399 per eye!  The second tier is the professional ophthalmologists who also do LASIK surgeries.

So, I went to both, admittedly 5 years apart.  The low-cost LASIK came out to $1,500.  That $399/eye figure is for their lowest, most basic, old technology type surgery.  I'll bet a total of zero people opt for that.

When I went to the regular ophthalmologist, the charge was around $4,000.  

What's the difference?  Neither doctor actually owns the multi-million dollar equipment .. they both RENT the exact same machine in the same building, performing surgeries.  Most of the work is done by computer anyhow.

There is a difference in sales technique, though.  The low-cost guys tend to "upsell."  When I went in, they tell you the cheap price is for the old dusty machine, you want the new technology for double the price.. they explain for an extra couple hundred, they'll throw in "free lifetime tweaks" .. so that, 10 years from now, you want your vision tweaked, they'll do it free.

I asked the ophthalmologist about that .. he said, in general, he does "tweak" operations for only 1 in 20 patients, and almost never after a year or so.  

Another up-sell: Tear Plugs.  The low cost shop explained the various plugs that could be inserted into my tear ducts, so that healing would be quicker, eyes less dry, etc.  For a fee, of course.   The regular ophthalmologist said he never puts tear plugs in, as generally speaking, if you have a condition that required tear ducts installed, he would refuse to do the operation. -- Sure seems like tear plugs are a revenue generator for the low-cost shops.

When asking a tech about what they thought the difference between the high and low cost LASIK shops was .. she suggested that it isn't the LASIK technique that is any better from one doc to the next.  -- She said they could teach ME to use the LASIK machine in a week.  -- The true difference is the care before and after the surgery, where a highly trained ophthalmologist would be able to recognize ocular health issues where a low-cost doc might not.

I also think the trained ophthalmologist is quicker to turn you down as a candidate for LASIK, if you're not nearly perfect .. the low-cost guy is looking for volume and has a higher tolerance for risk.

So .. I think it comes down to .. 98% of the time, you'll come out with the exact same outcome.  If you're a good candidate, with a "simple" LASIK procedure, no complicating factors (like you wore hard contacts for 20 years, or have some scarring, or whatever) .. I think you will be happy going the low-cost route.  I mean, $1500 up to $4000 is a HUGE difference.  

So, I had my surgery in February of this year.  I did go with the high-cost ophthalmologist, not having learned the above, but also, being financially comfortable enough to pay the premium.

I won't get into the details .. suffice it to say, LASIK took about 25 minutes, beginning to end, which is a fact I state because knowing the short amount of time got me "through it."   Truth is, I was pretty scared.  Apparently, the prep-nurse wasn't the "usual" one, and didn't explain the steps.  They tell you to focus on this red light .. I was unaware that at some point, you can't see anything, no red light, nothing, and you are effectively blind with your eye open.  That's scary without being prepared in advance that something like that happens.

Anyhow, all went well.  I had very little discomfort, my eyes felt pretty good right away.  They give you pain and sleeping pills, but I did not need them.

The next day, I went in for another exam.  The 20/20 line was razor sharp.  All was well.

A week later, another exam.  Suddenly, that 20/20 line was fuzzy.  My vision had slipped to 20/25.

A month later, another exam.  Now I'm 20/30, and having troubles reading, watching TV, the whole deal.  At the end of the day, my eyes hurt.   The doctor gave me a prescription for glasses.

Six months later, I'm still 20/30.  At that time, the doc examines me for a possible 2nd LASIK procedure to "tweak" my vision.  Apparently, I'm now more astigmatic than nearsighted (or something), meaning a 2nd surgery could do more harm than good.

So .. I went from wearing my glasses 100% of my day before LASIK .. down to about 75% of the time, after LASIK. 

20/30 vision is "pretty good".  I'm sure lots of people walk around with 20/30 all the time.  I CAN read and drive with 20/30.   But after having 20/20 vision, with glasses, for 25 years .. 20/30 is an intolerable downgrade, so I wear my glasses most of the day, so I'm pretty much back to where I started.

In the end, I paid $4,000 to not wear glasses for a few hours each day.   I can't say I'd do that over again. 

1. Election Prediction wrapup
2. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   
3. Local Election Predictions
   
4. WFB Scam Alert
   
5. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
6. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
7. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   

 *** Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

So .. on Monday, I wrote about the local elections .. let's see how my predictions panned out:  

1. I was wrong that Sandy Pasch would beat Wadhwa by 20 points.  The beat-down was THIRTY points.  I think back to when Wadhwa called me about the blog, how incredulous he was when I told him he'd lose by a landslide, as if no one had told him that before.
   
   
   
2. I predicted Wasserman would win by 2% .. looks like I got that flipped.  Alberta Darling won by 2%, who, as a Republican will remain in the minority in the State Senate, which means she'll be powerless once again.  Interesting that even in a Democratic tsunami election, a solid guy like Wasserman couldn't win .. that's what you get with gerrymandered districts.
   
   
   
3. I predicted the Milwaukee County Sales Tax increase would fail by 10%.  I am flabbergasted I got this wrong, as the referendum passed by 2%. 
   
   Honestly, I'm stunned.  I really had the Milwaukee area as a populace with a tremendous anti-tax bias. 
   
   Clearly, there are two groups who voted for this.. First, those voters who think their tax burden is not too high, don't mind increasing it by $63M/year, and want to increase support for Parks, Transit, Emergency Medical Services and Cultural services .. I FULLY understand there are people out there like that, but I'd put them in the 1 out of 5 range.  And I'll salute the folks who voted for this on the basis of its merits: They want more money for parks, et. al., and they are OK paying more for it.  As I said, that IS a legit vote. 
   
   The second group of people are the voters who didn't understand what they were voting for, exactly.  The warnings that the referendum's wording was confusing was spot on .. They read "property tax relief" and said, hey, something for nothing, let's vote for that.   The referendum wording didn't mention the sales tax would COST $130m.  Just that it would save/lower the property tax by $67m.  It's extremely doubtful this group really knew they would be paying $63m in the end.
   
   Well, guess what, County Supervisors who pushed this:  You succeeded, through tomfoolery and confusing language.  You didn't go for a legitimate referendum, where people knew the costs.  You wanted "property tax relief" in the wording so you could fool people into giving up $63M more of their dollars in a shell game.  Congrats on gaining your victory through the ignorance of voters.  You spun the language and won the game.
   
   
   
4. Speaking of something for nothing .. I predicted a 10+ point win for the City of Milwaukee's Sick Pay referendum.  Got that wrong, it won by a whopping 36%.  No surprise there.  Why should 9to5 stop there?  How about some other direct-legislation winners to benefit Milwaukee workers:  "Everyone gets a 50% raise!"  .. "All workers get a company car to drive!" ..  "Massage Mondays!" .. "Free Donut Fridays!" -- All of those would pass with HUGE margins too.
   
   Whoop .. We didn't have to wait long for that first lawsuit, challenging this referendum.

Make sure you read:

1. Local Election Predictions
   
2. WFB Scam Alert
   
3. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
4. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
5. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

A number of loyal readers have passed along links to the growing story about five Wisconsin School Districts that invested in a complex investment to bolster their pension/retirement funds which have now gone "south".

You may have read any of these articles that explain that Whitefish Bay and the other Districts have joined together in a lawsuit against the financial firms who sold them the instruments.

Yesterday, the NY Times, yes .. THAT New York Times .. had a front page article on this story which centers around Whitefish Bay.   No body reads that, right?  

So last night, as I'm watching Lehrer on The News Hour, I had to back up the Tivo and listen twice.  Sure enough, they were talking about Whitefish Bay's school district and how devastated they will be due to this financial scheme.  (You can listen to the broadcast here. .. NPR also did a radio broadcast.)

Why focus on WFB?  The entire amount that these five School Districts invested was $200 million.  Whitefish Bay's share of that? A $1.2 million slice of that total.   Yes, 75% of that may be gone, so we're talking about a $900k loss.  And we may get a part of that back through a lawsuit filed by all five districts.  That's not peanuts, but it IS a fraction of the $175m that's been lost in total.

Kenosha, West Allis, Kimberly .. those districts invested far more and are exponentially more sensitive to economic disasters.  Waukesha is the 5th.

I'm not saying losing a million bucks is not a story .. but national news?   (That's what got Whitefish Bay into the spotlight? Not our poor choice of Trick or Treat times?)

Well, on the bright side, Shawn Yde got his 1.5 minutes of national fame!

Make sure you read:

1. Local Election Predictions
   
2. WFB Scam Alert
   
3. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
4. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
5. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

 While I doubt many of you care what I think about Tuesday's election .. tough noogies.  I'm going to tell you anyhow.

State Rep:  Sandra Pasch will beat Yash Wadhwa easily, and win by 20 points.  Pasch won a long, tough primary battle against 3 tough, solid candidates.  I attended a forum with Pasch and Wadhwa, and two things were obvious:  Pasch was a solid candidate with a great grip on the issues, and second, Wadhwa was not ready for prime time.  In a Democratic year, Pasch wins this race easily.

State Senate:  This is a tough race to call.  Our district knows all about Wasserman and Darling, as both of them have represented us.  Wasserman is a new face in 2/3rds of Darling's district, so he had a lot of work to do to get known.   There's no doubt there are fewer Republicans in Wisconsin than 2-8 years ago, as people flip parties.   That reduction occurs all across the state, which includes those districts which are "solid Republican" areas.  

I've voted for both Darling and Wasserman, so this is a tough vote to cast.  Indeed, Wasserman has a thin resume of legislative accomplishments while Darling has some, albeit not recently.  Why?  Wasserman has spent his entire career in the Republican dominated Assembly.  Darling was a leader in the Republican Senate until the Dems took that over.   Now that Darling is also in the minority, she's also stuck in nowhere land just like Wasserman.

That's why I'm voting for Wasserman.  Having a rep in the minority party does NOTHING for you, as they are powerless, and none of the leadership listens to anyone in the minority party.   Wasserman is a decent guy.  I remember the first time I wrote him, he called me up one night around 8pm, and the two of us chatted about issues for 30 minutes like two guys drinking beer, eating pizza.  He's very likable, and will do well.  -- My prediction:  Wasserman wins by 2 points.

Milwaukee County Sales Tax Referendum:  This won't pass.  It'll lose by at least 10 points.  There are two types of voters who will vote yes.  The first group is those who want to pay more taxes, believing this sales tax increase will improve the parks.  The second, much larger group will vote yes because they don't understand the issue, and are taken in by the poor wording, suggesting a yes vote will somehow magically lower their tax burden.  It will only shift their tax burden from property tax to sales tax, plus add some.  Don't be fooled.

Finally, While I don't live in the City of Milwaukee .. I'm sure their referendum on mandating sick-leave will pass by 10 or more points.  There are far too many people who will look at that as a vote to give them something for nothing, and while I like this type of "Direct Legislation" referendum by the people, this is a terrible example.  Next, we'll see a referendum to give all employees a weekly massage.  Everyone will vote for that, too.  This is a travesty, and I'll bet a lawsuit will be filed by Wednesday morning on its validity.

Sensenbrenner will win by a million points, as well as the dozen other uncontested races that clutter up our ballot. 

Of course, I don't know what our ballot looks like this year, as it wasn't published in the NOW paper, like it is every other election cycle.    Odd.

Make sure you read:

1. WFB Scam Alert
   
2. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
3. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
4. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

.. two teens were "collecting money" for a Children's Hospital fund raiser.  They were asking for money to buy books for children that were too sick to go home for Christmas.  The cost of each set of books was $55.  They "posed" as the children of a neighborhood woman who was a nurse at Children's.  They also said that their dad was a cop and they all lived in the neighborhood.  They name dropped many of the people on our street and concocted a story that most of my neighbors had donated. They even showed me a few of the checks.  In spite of their familiar "pitch" something just didn't feel right and I turned them away.  (My Neighbor) felt it was probably a scam and contacted the police.  She was right .. and the girls were arrested.
 
Now the bad news.  Apparently these girls were arrested the day before in Whitefish Bay.  They are dropped off with a dozen other teens out of a van and they "work" the neighborhoods.  Most likely they are not even Wisconsin residents. Since their crime is a misdemeanor, they are free to continue deceiving people AND they keep the money they have collected!  If you were one of the generous people that fell victim to this ploy, CANCEL YOUR CHECK IMMEDIATELY!   

1. As always, ask every solicitor for their permit.  As I wrote before, besides RESIDENT children (example: Girl Scouts) everyone selling something, or asking for money NEEDS A PERMIT.  Don't be fooled by some kid from Milwaukee who says because he's under 18, he doesn't need a permit.  That's untrue.  RESIDENT children do not need permits.  All others do.
   
   
2. Hello, Whitefish Bay police?  I hope they are reading today.  Chief Jacobs called me over a month ago, asking my ideas on how to communicate with WFB residents.  I offered many suggestions, from updating the WFB village website with news, starting a crime email bulletin, to writing a guest blog here, to opening their own blog (as Greenfield has done) .. including .. just send me information, I'll post it right here.
   

This scam story is a PERFECT example of the need for timely crime news.  How did I find out about this?  Not through the WFB police.  Not through the media.  I found out because someone in MENOMONEE FALLS, who gets CRIME BULLETIN EMAILS from their police department sent it to a friend who forwarded it on.

That's just not the way it's supposed to happen, guys.  

Let's not let another month slip by without doing something.   Our village website HAS the capability to manage email lists, as you can sign up to have meeting agendas emailed to you the moment they are posted.  The infrastructure is there already.  You've just got to use the technology the residents of Whitefish Bay have already bought for you to use.

Halloween Update:

Traffic was down a bit yesterday.  Last year, I counted 600 pieces of candy .. this year, I bought 600, had about 100 remaining, so maybe 500 kids stopped by.

I had a number of people tell me they'd read the blog from last year, about my desire to bring Halloween back to its traditional day, October 31st, when the rest of the United States find the time to celebrate it safely.  A few asked me why I didn't launch another campaign this year.

My answer is this .. Last year, I did collect 80 email addresses of people who signed up with GHOST-PAC (Getting Halloween on Spooky Thirtyfirst Political Action Committee.)  My original plan was to rally the masses, have them contact the Trustees, get this thing changed.

But over the past year, as I've attended a few Trustee meetings and gathered a better understanding of how things work in the Bay .. I realized there's no way in freaking hell that would have worked.  The Trustees would have gotten a bunch of emails, asking for the change, and they would have hemmed and hawed about how afraid they'd be if anyone complained about removing it from the anti-traditional Sunday date.  

The Trustees would have worried about the noisy residents who would have told them tales of woe, how they're at work until late, how the boogy-man preys on young children only after sunset, the existence of WFB vampires, how their kid is allergic to darkness and how this would be unfair because it's not the same.

The Trustees would have created a Halloween Investigation Board (HIB), staffed with Trustees, police department representatives, Health department representatives, and a few citizens, carefully balanced between pro-tradition folk and anti-tradtionalists.  The end goal of HIB would be to craft an advisory voter referendum on Halloween to be on the ballot by 2012, that would need to be ratified by 2/3rds majority of the Trustees, plus the approval of the Wisconsin legislature and Governor.

But what the heck, my angry mob:  Let's try this next year.  Halloween will be on a Saturday in 2009, Sunday on 2010.   Contact the Trustees and tell them for the next two years, let's rejoin the rest of the United States, and Trick or Treat on the traditional date and time, October 31st, when it gets dark .. just like those unsafe hell-raisers in Waukesha, Brookfield, Big Bend, Cedarburg, Racine, Sheboygan, Waterford, Elm Grove, Dousman, and Menomonee Falls, not to mention .. Cleveland, St. Paul, Des Moines, Boston, Phoenix .. Chicago, Detroit, Bismark .. well, you get the idea .. everyone else.

(You may notice I don't have links to some of those cities' ToT time listings.  Why?  Because Trick or Treating isn't scheduled.  It's like Christmas.  It happens when it happens, on October 31st.)

Make sure you read:

1. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
   
2. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   
3. WFB Picks New Trustee 
4. Grim Silver Spring Prediction .. a Local Merchant's thoughts..
5. Bits & Pieces (New Engineer, Leaf Collection, Crime .. Fire)

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

Sorry I haven't written in a while.   Sometimes the blogging well goes dry.  Here's a few bits:

SUNDAY - LAST CHANCE TO BUY BREAD AT GREAT HARVEST

As previously reported .. Rodd Hall, the owner of Great Harvest, closed up his retail shop in early October.  However, he is keeping his annual commitment to let the kids of Richards hold a fund raiser for the Hunger Task Force.

The bakery will open from 9am - 2pm, with kids helping out, staffing the cash register, the works.  A musical tribute for Hall will be going on from 11am to noon.  

This is a great event.   Get down there, support your local merchants, buy some bread, raise some dough for Hunger Task Force.  Seriously.  I mean it.

iPIC iTroubled

The iPic movie theater at Bayshore is going down the tubes.   It never paid rent to Bayshore, and the