The Wisconsin State Journal’s Saturday Editorial, once again, shows how their editorial board could care less about the facts. Between the whining on AM radio and the grandstanding of Ald. Brandon and typical clueless editorials like one in the recent WSJ, one would think that hours of staff time were being spent and city government was coming to a screeching halt while we stopped to debate impeachment and thousands of city taxpayer dollars were wasted.
The reality of the situation is that, when a resolution such as this is introduced, the community group and the main sponsor are the ones who draft the resolution. It then takes less than 15 minutes for a city staff person to enter it into legistar.
Then, like many resolutions like this, there are no referrals to committees. The Council simply takes the matter up at a later Council meeting. The amount of time we “waste” on these types of resolutions are typically dependent upon:
a. How many people show up to testify.
b. How many speeches council members make.
Typically, there are City residents who show up in support because it is important to them. I never find listening to citizens of the City of Madison to be a “waste” of time.
Then a few people make some comments, and an equal amount of time is “wasted” by those on the council who feel it necessary to make speeches about how this is a waste of time, thereby prolonging the amount of time being “wasted”. We then vote, and move on, and vote on about 150 other items.
Ironically, AM radio, the WSJ and the alders who don’t like wasting time, probably spend more time on these things than the people supporting them. Perhaps they should look in the mirror to discover who is “wasting” time.
