Thank you Teri!

Teri Huber has been running the Janesville Farmers Market for the last 4 years and now that its season is officially over, Teri deserves a great deal of gratitude from our entire community.

I don't want to speculate, but it's pretty obvious that without Teri, the market would feel and just be very different. (You may have seen Teri skate up and down the market in her roller blades, but did you know that she had to replace the wheels on her blades this year because she wore them out at the market?) Her enthusiasm and willingness to make the vision of local producers marketing their goods to local buyers has come true and we are all better for it.

At the same time, Teri has had a lot of help from different people including Renee Dommershausen and the entire JATV crew, who filmed and broadcast the Weekly Market Updates. The Busker program, featuring street performers (spearheaded of course by Judith Detert-Moriarty) helped raise the market experience to a new level.

The market has become a weekly community event where one can not only buy some local produce, as well as check out arts and crafts, but also the place to meet and chat with friends and even see what the different organizations such as the Beloit Janesville Symphony are up to.

By helping make all of this happen, Teri and the Janesville Farmers Market reminded us of the fun and the value of shopping Local.

And for this, Thank You Teri!

For those who want to learn more about Teri and the JFM, check out this Discover Janesville interview with Teri from earlier this year.

NBC 15 features the Ice Arena

Today, I got a call from Chris Woodard at WMTV NBC 15 in Madison. He read my post on the New Ice Arena and was able to come down and do a story about it. Here it is. I think it turned out quite well: entertaining, informative yet respectful.

On the New Ice Arena

So the question is: if you take a stand and the Gazette does not cover it, did it really happen? Thanks to WCLO for including my comments in their coverage.

Over the last few weeks and months, I have heard quite a bit from you about the possibility of building the new ice arena. Some of it was to my face, some of it was anonymous, but I very much appreciate all the feedback that I get though I will always give more credence to opinions with real names attached to them. Being on the council is a huge responsibility and it is very important for me to hear from you.

There is no question that comments have been mixed but I felt that the reasonable argument last night rested on the side of waiting to see what impact the Jets will have on the existing facility. When the old ice arena is known in the community as the "white elephant" for 30 years, it should take more than a handful of exciting games by a new semi-pro team to warrant building a new ice arena. After all, the current ice arena is likely to be in usable condition for at least a couple more years and at that point, with the Jets doing well, hopefully, I would expect the community to demand and expect a new ice arena to be build.

Naturally, I appreciate the private partners stepping up and looking to raise millions of dollars for this project. At the same time, the city will be borrowing its share of the funds and at this time of economic distress, I feel it is perfectly justifiable to be cautious about overextending ourselves.

As far as "let's not pour money into the old facility" argument: the current ice arena location is only one of possible sites for the future fire station #1 and it is not unlikely that the old ice arena facility will continue to exist but serve a different purpose for the residents than it does now. In that case, it makes a lot of sense to do the basic improvements such as addressing the roof needs. And considering the the compressor would be moved to the new ice arena, paying for the piping underneath which would remain with the facility regardless of its future use, would have been a good price to pay to ensure that the ice arena continued to function while we took a reasonable amount of time to figure out what is the best thing to do next.

I think it's important to point out that I have been a supporter of the new hockey team in Janesville from the beginning. Having lived in other communities, I've seen first-hand the value of sports to a community's spirit. Frankly, considering how much of our state pride seems to be affected by how well the Packers and the Badgers are doing, one does not have to go far to see the importance that sports play in our lives.

Finally the location. I continue to insist that it is disingenuous to speak of the value of the Downtown to Janesville, and then proceed to take away a facility that is finally bringing over 600 people to the area every Friday and Saturday. But considering the moving parts involved such as the possible location of the new fire station #1, and the overall rush to get the new ice arena under way, the south side of town in my opinion is the better of the two real choices available.

The key to our future success continues to lie in working with other communities and to take advantage of our central location in the region. Beloit is in at least or probably more of a dire need of a new ice arena than Janesville, and taking the time to bring them or perhaps even the County into this discussion would have been another good thing that the council could've accomplished last night by delaying making the decision to proceed with the new ice arena. After all, the new location was chosen to make it more attractive to Beloit residents.

When I ran for a position on the Council two years ago, I said that it is very important to make sure that all the voices are heard when an important decision is made. I feel that last night we missed an opportunity to hear other voices that will be impacted by our decision.

Despite problems, Janesville has residents with right stuff

Here's my latest Messenger column published today:

Late last year, while talking with a friend who specializes in video production, I said that I'd like to host a talk show that features regular people as guests; not stars who have books and movies coming out, but regular people who are busy living their lives and making a difference every day. my friend like the idea and helped me with the taping of the first episode. This month, we taped the 11th episode of "Discover Janesville," and there are more on the way. You can watch the program on JATV and at www.DiscoverJanesville.com.

This has been quite a year for Janesville as we near the one-year anniversary of the closure of the General Motors plant, and it is fair to describe Janesville as a blank canvas. We are a community that can be anything we want to be. We continue to have a great location and we will remain attractive to businesses that understand that value of a city with all the amenities, located close to Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago.

But as a community in upheaval, it is clear that we need to recognize and celebrate our strength and assets. The main asset of any community always is its people - people who who leadership and who work hard to preserve our culture and history, and people who make our businesses and our city services run.

So, what is "Discover Janesville", and what does it look to help the community? Of all the different types of talk shows out there, the one that appeals to me the most is when the host does the least amount of talking possible and gives the guests the time they need to give a thoughtful answer. In other words, "Discover Janesville" is designed to be about the guests. My guests have included the person who runs Spotlight On kids, the chairman of the Janesville Historic Commission, the vice president of the Friend of Riverside Park, as well as a member of the Janesville School Board, two Rock County Board supervisors and a great-grandson of George S. Parker.

What do all of these people have in common? They all care about doing good things for our community, an dI am really interested in learning what it is that motivates them. Why are they involved? What lessons have they learned? And of what are they most proud?

"Discover Janesville" also offers an opportunity to learn about people who work and make Janesville a better place for the rest of us. Too often, we only know people in our immediate circle, and we forget that we live in a community where our neighbor could be running the farmers market, or be a longtime school principal and an accomplished educator. All of these people have lessons they learned while becoming engaged and taking on leadership roles. Theirs are the stories that I want to share with the viewers.

In fact, one of my proudest moments on the show actually occurred off camera. While preparing for the taping, it turned out that two of my guests lived only a few houses away from each other for years, yet they did not meet until they were both guests on "Discover Janesville."

In the end, it is simply important to see that, no matter what happened in the past, there are people in Janesville who are optimistic about the future, and they ware willing to work hard to make sure that we get there as a community.

New Polls

Take a look at the new polls on the ice arena. Your vote is appreciated.

Celebrate Arts During October, Throughout Year

My guest editorial was published in this morning's Gazette. Here it is:

October is not only national arts month but the state of Wisconsin and city of Janesville have declared October the official Month of Arts in Janesville. This first-time observance replaces ArtsFest, which took place at the Janesville Performing Arts Center in October in years past. This year, the United Arts Alliance, the organization behind the ArtsFest, decided to devote the entire month to promoting and featuring all of the events that are presented by its many members. ArtsFest will resume next year.

For those who might not know, the UAA represents many Rock County arts organizations and individual members such as myself. The Beloit Janesville Symphony, Janesville Little Theatre, Hedberg Public Library, Spotlight on Kids, Janesville Presents and Badger Chordhawks are just a few of the UAA organizations. The UAA is the opportunity for all county artists, artistic organizations and businesses to work together towards the greater role of promoting the arts and their value to residents.

Another thing you may not have known about UAA is that it's the organization behind the buskers - street performers - who have been entertaining crowds downtown during the Janesville Farmers Market and other events the past two summers. In Janesville, a street performer can only solicit money when representing a nonprofit organization. UAA stepped up and created a program that allows these performers to join the organization and keep all of their proceeds, which for some have become fairly lucrative.

The value of arts to our quality of life is beyond question. however, it's important for the artists to network, meet and support one another. UAA encourages local artists and supporters to join the organization in order to meet and get to know other artists in our community, either at our regular meetings or at various events that UAA hosts and sponsors throughout the year.

Janesville and Rock County may not be New York City or Chicago, but we have a lot of talented and dedicated people who work very hard to put together quality theater productions for adults and children, run choirs, bring national performing artists to our area, teach, work to provide scholarships, engage the imagination of their audiences with great visual art, volunteer and inspire others to participate in the arts.

getting out and seeing the many events that are offered is a great way to spend an evening not only in October but throughout the year. The arts are truly for everyone, and those who are concerend about the cost of entertainment in these tough economic times should be aware that most arts organizations offer a variety of possible discounts, including pay-what-you-can performances and inexpensive or even free tickets for students.

the best way to learn about arts events in any community in Rock County is by going to the UAA Web site, http://www.rockcountyarts.com/, to see what's happening near where you live. If you're an artists and want to be a part of the next ArtFest or any of UAA's other activities, get in touch with UAA and let us know!

Polls - Volleyball bar and earlier starting time for Council meetings

Please vote on these two issues at the poll on the right side of this website. If you would like to post a comment, just click on the "comments" link below this post. Thank you.

Healthcare resolution - passed

Yesterday the City Council voted unanimously to support the Healthcare resolution, which was introduced by myself and Councilmember McDonald. Here's my prepared statement, which I read at the council meeting:

It is important for the City Council to stay only to issues that have directly to do with the City of Janesville. But some national issues affect everyone in Janesville. One of these issues is our health and its care.

Everyone in Janesville has been affected by the closure of the General Motors. Many of those with health insurance are scared of losing the benefits that they worked for so long and so hard to get. And there’s little question that health care costs played a key role in the General Motors' outcome.

I think we can all agree that our health care system is not functioning well. It does not work for the hospitals, patients, or doctors. The incentives have been set up in all the wrong places.

We live in a system where a person without health insurance considers it reasonable to wait as long as possible before finally seeing a doctor. Naturally, this person is likely to cost more to treat than a person who is pro-active about their health care. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed.

And it is about time that we acknowledge that Health is not a political issue. It’s a human issue. Regardless of political affiliation, we all want and deserve access to high quality health care. Yet it is becoming accessible at a higher price to fewer and fewer people.

The question of healthcare reform should not be a question of “if” but “how” will the system change. How do we make the changes that are needed, and how can a system be designed with the incentives put in the right places? How can people be motivated to stay healthy and to see their doctors at the first sign of trouble? How can the doctors be motivated to keep their patients healthy and out of trouble? There are a lot of questions and it’s about time we got some answers.

The point of this resolution is to have our federal representatives get the message loud and clear that people of Janesville want the healthcare system fixed because nobody should go broke when they get sick or die because they do not have health insurance.

I want to thank the members of the council for offering changes to this resolution, all of which were included in this document. I look forward to voting on this resolution, but I look forward even more so to having a real healthcare reform take place in our country.

On Budget

I read the following statement prior to the beginning of the budget study session this past Thursday:

"I’d like to thank the staff, the directors and the city manager for putting together this document. It took a lot of work and I appreciate the effort, the expertise and consideration that went into its preparation.

I’ve been very impressed with this budget because not only does it seeks effectively to minimize any possible damage to services caused by the cuts, but it also offers some exciting opportunities, such as looking at working with an outside vendor to develop sponsorship opportunities for private businesses.

This budget seeks to improve and to streamline. You may recall that back at the so-called “retreat”, furloughs were mentioned by several council members, including myself, as potentially a necessary way of dealing with the shortfalls in the budget. Yet in this document, there are no layoffs or furloughs proposed. And in today’s economic climate, that is extremely significant.

It’s hard to even say that I am looking forward to working on this budget because of how long and difficult the process was last year. One way to improve the situation, I believe, is for the council to keep in mind that this is as much about the direction that we want the city to take in the future as it is about the impact that our decisions will have on the tax payers. We will have a lot of choices to make, but let us remember that the city staff consists of highly trained and skilled professionals who have well thought-out reasons for their recommendations.

There will be a lot of questions asked and that is the way it should be, but I want to assure the staff as well as the residents that the council is as concerned about maintaining the best level of services possible, as it cares about the cost of these services to the Janesville taxpayers.

Finally, I'd like to thank JATV for broadcasting these study sessions at no additional cost to the city. "

Talking Janesville Mile with Stan Milam

This morning I was a guest on Stan Milam's show. Stan and I spent the half-hour talking about the Janesville Mile and what it would take to make this concept a reality. Check out the audio right here: http://wclo.com/podcasts/stan-milam-show/2009/oct/06/janesville-mile/

As always I welcome your thoughts and suggestions.