Comments by Franklin Voters in the article “Voters advise city not to make mayor full-time -But alderman thinks voters missed cost-saving intent“by Mark Schaaf in the FranklinNow don’t support CCP Steve Taylors analysis of Tuesdays vote against a full time Mayor.
In fact they all pretty much tell him what he can do with his analysis.
As one comment by a person that goes by the name of Morning Glory stated:
Franklin voters don’t appreciate being told that they “didn’t understand” just because they may not have agreed with the Common Council President, Steve Taylor. A city the size of Franklin needs a professional as the Director of Administration who is experienced and knows the job, not someone who is elected or kicked out of office every few years.
Alderman Taylor I hope you have better luck on the budget because considering that your name and Alderwoman Wilhelms name are attached to the Finance Committee. I know that voters will be fresh out of patients come April election. But you already knew that having worked on the Scott Walker campaign, didn’t you!
I can see the campaign brochures now “Taxes have Risen every year that Steve Taylor has been on the Finance Committee” – Just like Jim Doyle only worse!
One can only hope that Mayor Taylor, Alderman Taylor, Alderwoman Wilhelm and Alderman Skowronski who are up for re-election in April (or possibly planning on running for County Executive as stated in the JS about Mayor Taylor) have learned from Tuesdays election that voters are not happy about their incumbents!
The Poll you see on the right side of this blog, the two polls conducted by FranklinNOW and the one by Franklin Today all showed that residents DO NOT WANT A FULL TIME MAYOR.
But why don’t we want a full time Mayor?
We now have a professional City Manager who runs the day to day operations of the city. Whether you like or dislike Mark Luburda (our current Director of Administration) he is a professional that has a background in city administration and that is key to running a city.
We would have to get rid of the City Manager if we had a full time Mayor. You would then have a politician trying to manage city government not just setting policy. If we wanted someone experienced in managing city government, that would limit the qualified candidates.
Imagine if you would, electing someone like CCP Steve Taylor, who in the past has had such jobs as car salesman and is currently an insurance agent for an obscure insurance company. Would you want someone with those kind of credentials running the city and looking to make it a full time job. I wouldn’t!
The current Mayor Tom Taylor has stated over and over that he sees no reason for a full time Mayor.
The Common Council with the exception of Steve Taylor has said they see no reason for a full time Mayor.
Very few other cities of our size have a full time Mayor.
The City of Franklin has now said NO twice to a full time Mayor.
Even Alderman Doug Schmidt gets it when he asked “if this is rejected is this going to come up again next year?”
Sorry CCP Steve Taylor, but the people of Franklin did understand the referendum, I guess you just don’t understand the word NO! But then again you have a history going back to La Crosse dealing with that, don’t you?
I awoke this morning to a flurry of e-mails from my conservative Republican friends (yes I am a card carrying member) about some fantasy local liberal Democrat blogger Greg Kowalskidreamed up last night.
Now you have to remember first that this unemployed, self proclaimed CCD Vice-President (not the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine – we Catholics grew up with) has a history where he makes up whatever he can not actually get fed to him by his “sources” mostly CCP Steve Taylor, Alderwoman Wilhelm or his new supposed buddy Tom (Mayor Tom Taylor).
So now when it comes to his conjecture about what the local Republican Party will or won’t do about the future campaigns of Larry Gamble, his information is just plain old made up. Nobody credible would talk to him.
Kowalski says:
……. it’s even worse when my sources are informing me that the Republican Party itself is very upset at Gamble for what they firmly believe was a smearing campaign on one of their finest legislators – Jeff Stone.
No credible Republican Party members (with the exception of CCP Steve Taylor) would ever talk with a liberal Democrat blogger such as Greg Kowalski.
Kowalski further says:
If the Republican Party is upset with Gamble, why would they endorse or encourage their Franklin members to vote for Gamble in future races, especially if Gamble is challenging CCP Steve Taylor or Mayor Tom Taylor? CCP Taylor currently is an active coordinator for Scott Walker’s gubernatorial race, and Mayor Taylor contributed well to Stone’s campaign and is also a friend of Walker. Expect the Republicans to give no favors to Gamble; in fact, expect them (or at least the party at the county level) to openly endorse and encourage its membership to vote for Gamble’s opponent. They’re angry, and this level of anger is very hard to forgive and forget.
Earth to Greg … Unlike the Obamites of the Democratic party which Greg Kowalski purports to be, the Republicans could give a royal rip about a local NON PARTISAN election such as Mayor or Alderman of a small city like Franklin. He forgets that Stone reached out to many local, and State politicians and no one endorsed Stone with the exception of the democrat leaning Mayor of Franklin!
In addition it is a ridiculous stance that Kowalski makes that because Gamble lost so big he‘s unwinnable in the future. This past April is a prime example where Doug Schmidt, who lost by a landslide to incumbent County Supervisor Mark Borkowski in 2008 won the local election against yours truly!
In an email post to me from a local GOP member it read:
“The GOP is NOT upset with Gamble. Why would the GOP go against a conservative who lost 82-18? They have bigger fish to fry.
The GOP could care less if Gamble ran for alderman in April or any other office. Name one GOP official that is angry at Gamble!”
One can only surmise that Greg was blogging while having one too many margaritas at his favorite Franklin Mexican restaurant and talking to one his imaginary sources.
UPDATE (9/20/2010)
This Article just came out today in the JS Online. The headline reads: TeaParty Energizes State GOP
In part it reads:
Now, weeks before the Nov. 2 midterm elections, Republicans in Wisconsin and across the country appear upbeat, their election prospects buoyed by the energy and voting of tea party activists.
While the tea party movement has wreaked havoc with some Republican races nationally – political upstarts knocked off establishment candidates in Senate primaries in states such as Delaware and Alaska – the movement has found common ground with the Republican Party in Wisconsin.
< …………… >
What brings all the tea party groups together is frustration over spending, taxes and deficits, Rasmussen said. A little less than 20% of those polled identify with the movement, he added.
“What is fascinating, you can take that number and you begin to push and probe a little bit, you find there are some people who kind of agree what they think the tea party is standing for but they’re not sure they want to be that loud and that brash,” he said.
“A lot of people in the tea party don’t care about the battle between Republicans and Democrats,” he added. “They have a dim view of both political parties. Nearly half of all conservatives in this nation do not consider themselves Republican. This notion that the tea party is an adjunct to the Republican Party is mistaken.”
But for now, at least, in Wisconsin, the GOP appears poised to capture the votes of tea party supporters.
Yet, the party cannot take those voters for granted.
Lora Halberstadt, co-founder of the Racine Tea Party, said her organization will “be activating and motivating our fellow citizens to pay attention to what the candidates are saying.”
“This is just the first battle in a long fight,” she said. “The Republicans, if they get in charge, will have their feet held to the fire just like everyone else.”
Sort of looks that way if you read this press release from the Grandsons of Liberty:
WISCONSIN GRANDSONS OF LIBERTY
PRESS RELEASE
9 September 2010 Contact: Norm Reynolds 414-529-2428
82nd Assembly District Tea Party/Patriot Groups Disappointed by Rep. Jeff Stone’s Unwillingness to Confirm Debate
Milwaukee, WI – The Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty and the Greendale Tea Party express their dismay that Rep. Jeff Stone has apparently backed out of a debate with Rep. Stone’s challenger, Larry Gamble, scheduled for Saturday, September 11th, at Root River Lanes starting at 3:00 pm. Despite working with Rep. Stone to accommodate his schedule and his demands, he has not returned numerous phone calls and the debate is now two days away, making it difficult to proceed without his confirmation.
We believe that the voters of the 82nd Assembly District deserve to be able to hear both candidates expound on their positions on the issues and also to hear Rep. Stone explain his support of the RTAs and his co-sponsorship of AJR-96, which would strip the voters of the right to vote for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices. We are interested in Jeff Stone’s reasons for failing to support SJR-62, which would have amended the state constitution to protect Wisconsinites’ right to choice in healthcare and also the bill to provide reform of unelected boards.
Initially, Rep. Stone stated that he would not participate in a debate sponsored by tea parties and later agreed to the debate if the Republican Party would co-sponsor the event. Discussions with the party confirmed their acceptance and support of the debate although Rep. Stone has not returned any calls to finalize the debate for the last several days. We are disappointed at the political gamesmanship that has occurred in pursuing this debate and must wonder why our representative is showing little regard for his constituents.
WISCONSIN GRANDSONS OF LIBERTY is a non-profit, non-partisan organization pro-Constitution & Bill of Rights based Wisconsin patriot group that provides related information and sponsors educational events to the general public.
And in reply the Milwaukee County Republicans released this:
Republican Party of Milwaukee County: Disappointed by falsehood of confirmation of debate between Rep. Stone and challenger
9/10/2010
Contact: David Karst
262-455-1554
The Republican Party of Milwaukee County express their dismay that the Wisconsin Grand Sons of Liberty and Greendale Tea Party have inaccurately communicated that the Republican Party agreed to co-sponsor the debate on September 11th between Representative Jeff Stone and challenger Larry Gamble.
We believe that the voters of the 82nd Assembly District deserve to be able to know the truth. The truth is that we did not confirm our acceptance and support of the debate. We have been in contact with the Leader of the Wisconsin Grand Sons of Liberty and challenger Larry Gamble to retract their statements concerning this issue.
We realize that we are a few days away from the September 14th primary. However, we believe the election should be about the issues that concern the citizens of the 82nd District. The Republican Party of Milwaukee County request that candidates maintain their integrity and honor to serving the people. We are disappointed at the political gamesmanship that has occurred by a “non-partisan group” Wisconsin Grand Sons of Liberty. We must show a greater respect to the constituents of the 82nd District.
Well as a resident and a Republican in the 82nd District, I am feeling like the Milwaukee County Republicans are being disrespectful to me. Now you know why I am voting for Larry Gamble and not Jeff Stone.
One last quick info bit from WisPolitics.com:
AD 82 GOP
Larry Gamble: $1,118 raised, $958 spent, $272 cash on hand
Jeff Stone: $9,354 raised, $15,296 spent, $61,078 cash on hand
Last year Mayor Tom Taylor, performed one of those “what didn’t you approve that in my budget” slight of hands that gave him additional money to do background checks on selected people he appoints or reappoints to commissions or boards.
Aldermen recently became aware of this NEW practice of the Mayor having background checks done on selected candidates for boards and commissions. Most were not so warm to this new development nor did they know that they had approved the additional funding for this in last years budget as it is not specifically broken out for that purpose. It is hidden in the City Clerks budget not in the budget for Boards and Commissions.
Budget Item for Background Checks for Boards and Commissions
Alderman Steve Olson is listed as the sponsor for the only item on the Common Councils Committee of the Whole meeting at 6:30pm in the City Hall Council Chambers.
Some of the questions that may be brought up will be:
Will Aldermen be required this vetting process since they are appointed to boards and commissions?
Who gets the results of these background checks and what prevents the Mayor from using them to his political gain. (IE. one of his appointee’s decided to run against him or for alderman)?
Will everyone equally be vetted through the background check?
Can the appointee sue the Mayor and or the city for using or releasing the information?
Is this information open to open records laws just like the financials that are supplied by the appointees are?
Nowhere on the rules for Boards and Commissions is there a requirement for background checks.
Background checks are normally reserved for volunteers that deal with children not city business.
Why would the Mayor not have sufficient information from the application and from his interview in the vetting process?
Will qualified volunteers have second thoughts of working on these committees and boards? Given that the Mayor has a tough time keeping qualified people on the commissions and giving of their time for free.
Does this increase in background checks have anything to do with the Mayor’s appointment of Roseanne Lewandowski (one of his fellow FCRL members) to several boards and commissions and her later legal issues. Would a background check have found anything that would have let the Mayor know she would be committing crimes later?
I know there is at least one Alderman who has an extensive record on CCAP and would most likely not appreciate that information be more easily be presented to the public. Will he be speaking out for or against these background checks.
From the City Website on the Boards & Commissions:
Boards and Commissions of the City serve primarily in an advisory role to the Mayor and Common Council in developing policies and managing the affairs of the City to best serve its citizens. Boards and Commissions allow for additional citizen input beyond that of the elected officials. Certain Boards and Commissions are required under Wisconsin State statutes (e.g., Board of Public Works and Plan Commission); others have been established to oversee certain activities (e.g., Civic Celebrations Commission).
Members of Boards and Commissions are appointed by the Mayor subject to Common Council confirmation. Each nominee for membership to any Board or Commission submitted for Common Council confirmation is voted upon by the Common Council separately and not together with any other appointee.
Citizens appointed to a Board or Commission must be a City resident for at least 10 days preceding the date of appointment, and any appointee or Board or Commission member who moves his/her residence from the City shall constitute an automatic resignation and forfeiture of office and such office is then vacant. A nonresident citizen may be appointed, confirmed, and serve upon a Board or Commission, provided the Common Council determined by majority vote that such individual appointee has an expertise, experience, education, position, or representation preferred by the Common Council for assistance to a particular Board or Commission and that such nonresident appointment is in the best interests of the City.
This issue will be brought up before the Committee of the Whole at 6:30 on Tuesday September 7th meeting and is the only item on the agenda. If you are a member of a commission or board, it may be an important meeting to view and listen to Mayor Taylors reasoning why he needs to know more about your background and just what he plans to do with it.
Greg Kowalskialso has a posting about Tuesday nights meeting.
Sept. 2, 2010 | Madison - The state’s elections agency is predicting a record or near-record turnout in the Sept. 14 primary, with up to 28% of the voting age population expected to turn out.
With Gov. Jim Doyle not seeking re-election, there is the first open governor’s race in the state in 28 years as well as an election for U.S. Senate. Up to 1.2 million of the 4.4 million people in Wisconsin who are old enough to vote are expected to do so in the primary, according to the Government Accountability Board.
“There appears to be tremendous interest in this election,” said agency director Kevin Kennedy. “The governor’s office is open for the first time in many years, as are 20% of seats in the Legislature.”
In records going back to 1960, the highest voter turnout in a September primary was 27.9% – reached in 1964, according to the Accountability Board.
Wisconsin’s elections system doesn’t require voters to declare a party to be able to vote in the partisan primary, but voters can choose candidates only from a single party in the various races.
Keeping this in mind, I have observed more Larry Gamble signs going up and even replacing some Jeff Stone signs after Larry Gamble or his wife Edith come knocking on their door. I believe the key to this elections is “who is more conservative” Jeff Stone (who has become more complacent) or Larry Gamble (the Tea Party backed candidate). My bet is on Larry.
Larry recently published a paper on his website that gives residents a better view of Jeff Stone and his laissez faire attitude toward the RTA situation here in Wisconsin. READ LARRY’S POSTING HERE
Quoting Larry in his final lines of his post:
Eight voting actions on AB 282 clearly show that Rep. Stone supports both of the governor’s commuter trains and fully endorses commuter rail expansion as stated as the SERTA goal and ultimately the car speed train to Madison.
Rep. Stone is known as a proponent of comprehensive regional transit cooperation. Call these eight actions political gamesmanship or flip-flopping on the issue, but as a six term incumbent and member of the Committee on Transportation, Rep. Stone knows exactly what he is doing.
He is hoping that you do not know what he is doing. And frankly, saying you never supported something is not the same as voting against it.
I have observed that even Jeff Stone’s fellow republicans in the State legislature are not endorsing Stone in this primary.
I will close this posting with another reminder of how voters are getting tired of the run of the mill, complacent Republican Candidates and are replacing them in office with Tea Party backed candidates. The most recent example is Joe Miller (Republican Tea Party Backed) primary winner in Alaska’s election just days ago beat Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. READ L.A. Times POSTING HERE.
With a real down to earth, door to door campaign, Gamble has a real chance of winning the State’s 82nd Assembly District seat.
Even the liberal, campus paper in Madison – The Isthmus has this to say:
“The “true conservative” in the 82nd Assembly District GOP primary takes Rep. Jeff Stone to task for supporting regional transit authorities. Funny, I remember Rep. Kelda Helen Roys telling me that she liked working with Stone on occasion. No wonder he’s getting primaried.”
Candidate Larry Gamble, who is running in the Republican Primary on September 16th against Jeff Stone for the State’s 82nd Assembly District seat is having his first meet and greet.
Voters interested in meeting the candidate are invited to join in on Tuesday, August 3rd at the Root River Center’s sports bar, The Pickled Pig from 7 to 8pm for Larry Gamble’s first “Meet the Candidate” session.
Larry believes that over the last several years, we have seen the career politicians run our state to the edge of bankruptcy and we have a $2.5 Billion Dollar budget hole looming over our heads. Gamble will start the evening with a short statement about his plans to make the government more accountable to the people, he will then open the forum for your questions and comments.
Check out his page on facebook: Larry Gamble for Assembly
The race for the 82nd district assembly seat is now official. I received an e-mail from Larry Gamble that he has submitted more than the required 200 signatures needed for his nomination papers to become official.
Jeff Stone will not be running unopposed and I have yet to see the Democrats announce a candidate for that seat. Larry told me he had no problems getting the signatures from conservatives in Franklin, Greendale and Greenfield. They are tired of Jeff Stones moderate stance on the issues and are looking for someone more conservative. We are talking Republicans here folks, not the mamby pamby Democrats that fill the State Senate and Governors house.
My discussions with other right leaning citizens is that Jeff has gotten too complacent, has not represented the folks in Franklin and basically is to moderate for their taste. If the trend continues as it has across the country, then Larry with his ties to the GrandSons of Liberty (a local tea party group) will be a shoe in for the spot in the State Assembly.
The way I see it, as I have said before is that Larry Gamble is good for Franklin. I look forward to letting you know more about the candidate as time goes on.
Larry Gamble’s Press Release:
(Franklin, WI) – It’s official, the Larry Gamble for Assembly campaign entered its next phase. Gamble filed his nomination papers with the Government Accountability Board on Monday afternoon. He started circulating his papers on July 1st. In this short time, the citizens of Franklin, Greendale and Greenfield signed 31 pages of nomination papers for Larry Gamble to challenge Jeff Stone, a six term incumbent, to represent the 82nd Assembly District.
Gamble, who is considered a conservative candidate with roots in the popular Tea Party movement is a new comer to politics and making his first attempt at winning public office. He is a retired US Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel, former businessman and airline pilot.
Meanwhile, Jeff Stone is described by a local blogger in “Franklin Today” as a moderate Republican who enjoys immense respect among area business and political leaders. When asked why run against Stone now, Gamble said; “Stone’s been in office since 1998 and we need to give the people of the 82nd District a fresh, conservative alternative.”
Gamble and Stone face off in the September 14th Primary with the winner advancing to the November 2nd General election.
Larry Gamble, stopped by our home tonight to collect three more signatures for his nomination papers in his run for the 82nd district assembly seat moving closer to the 200 signatures required to file papers.
Gamble a Franklin resident resides at 3121 W Southwood Drive with his wife, Edith and two of his three children. My wife and I have know the Gambles for many years as Larry’s wife Edith was my son Nick’s pre-school teacher when Nick was 3. My daughter and his youngest daughter have been friends through high school. So Larry’s run came as no surprise when it was announced the other day.
The September Republican primary for the 82nd District looks to be a final election for the district unless the Democrats can pull together a candidate with the required signatures by next week Tuesday, July 13th. Currently Larry has a campaign website and blog site in it’s early stages.
This can be a WIN – WIN situation for Franklin residents.
If Larry wins, Franklin wins. If Larry does not win, he will have had major exposure in the City of Franklin, giving him the opportunity to run for another office in April possibly Alderman or Mayor.
Larry is a resident of the Aldermanic 4th District!
