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
   

 

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 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
   

 

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Whitefish Bay's own Milwaukee County Supervisor Joe Rice put out an e-newsletter today.   I gotta admit, I love this kind of stuff.

How often do your elected officials communicate with you?  Not very often.   Besides the occasional news McNugget in the paper, you know very little of what your officials are doing on your dime.

Rice's newsletter can be read here. 

Better yet, you can add yourself to his distribution by shooting an email to Joseph.Rice@milwcnty.com with "subscribe" in the subject.  

One of the graphs in the newsletter is interesting .. it describes how the average per capita Milwaukee County tax burden is $269 .. but for Whitefish Bay, Shorewood, Bayside, Fox Point, River Hills .. the average is a whopping $546.

That's just an amazing stat.  We pay more than twice the rate the rest of the county pays in Milwaukee County taxes. 

What makes that especially galling, is where the vast majority of the $1.3 billion expenditures go:  The City of Milwaukee.  Think, for a moment, how many County dollars are spent on Whitefish Bay.  Well .. there's Klode and Big Bay Park ... they gotta pay someone to mow those in the summer.  Ummm .. I suppose we have a few bad apples who end up using the Milwaukee County Court System, but you can assume that's a tiny fraction of the people that flow through that building.  

Northshore residents use the zoo, museums, and golf courses in higher numbers, cashing in on the few bucks in County Resident discounts.   I suppose we're pleased the Sheriff's Department is patrolling I-43.

Suburban taxpayers pay twice the rate Milwaukee residents pay, and use probably a fifth of the services that are provided.  Residents get a fraction of the value, while greatly subsidizing the City, where the lion's share is spent.

With the secession conversation circling MATC's district, how about the Northshore communities join up with Ozaukee County?  They're right next door.

Mental Note .. You can subscribe to a couple other newsletters:

Rep.Wasserman@legis.wisconsin.gov

And click here for Sen. Alberta Darling's Email Club

And, of course, you can subscribe to this blog, and get it in your email box:  Click here to subscribe.

Well, the filing period came and went, and we've got a few races. 

While I'd focused on the Whitefish Bay Trustee spots, of which two are open for three candidates, a last minute entry came into the dock for WFB Board President to challenge Katie Pritchard.  Doug Weas, who, if Google is correct, is this guy, and heads Weas Development, which appears to be a real estate developer, or consultant of some sort. 

I'm pleased that Weas has entered the race, as uncontested races are no good.  I will try to get interviews with Pritchard, Weas, and David Fee in the next few weeks.

State-wide, we have a race for State Rep (22), since Sheldon Wasserman is challenging Alberta Darling for State Senate.   Sandra Pasch (of Whitefish Bay) and Rosemary Ponik (Brown Deer), both Democrats, will face off in the September 2nd primary.  Winner coasts to victory in November.

Back in August, I read in Milwaukee Magazine:

Sam Rowen, 31 is said to be pondering a run for the 22nd Assembly District seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, who will attempt to unseat state Sen. Alberta Darling in 2008. Sam now works as legislative aide for Milwaukee Alderman Mike D'Amato.

But now .. the JS reported:

Milwaukee Ald. Mike D'Amato, who has represented the city's east side since 1996, will not seek re-election in April.  His departure sets up a scramble for a seat that covers one of the most politically active parts of the city. Already, five have filed to run, including D'Amato's aide, Sam McGovern-Rowen.

So .. Since Wasserman is running for State Senate vs. Alberta Darling .. and Rowen isn't running for Wasserman's seat .. who is?  

UPDATE: Ok, I did some Googling.  I've found two candidates:

Whitefish Bay's own Sandra Pasch .. Website: http://sandrapasch.com/

And Rosemary Ponik, from Brown Deer.  (No known website.)

 Both are Democrats.  No Republicans have registered to run for the 22nd district.

Well, what do you know. As mentioned right here a few days back, Rep. Sheldon Wasserman is taking on Sen. Alberta Darling for her seat in the Wisconsin State Senate.

Clearly, a blog such as this with literally TENS of readers had something to do with the timing of his announcement, right? Clearly. Hah.

Wasserman says:

"When Alberta first ran she pretended to be something she is not, a socially moderate and fiscally responsible leader. Her record over the years has drifted further and further from that ideal," Wasserman said in his statement, adding:

"She now follows a hard right-wing Republican agenda. This is the same agenda that ignores real issues while making gay marriage extra illegal and banning stem cell research and the life saving hope it may offer."

Can't quibble with most of that. As Darling climbed the leadership in the Senate, she did seem to tack further right as the years went on.

But .. Wasserman has a tough road ahead, I think. As I said earlier, I like the guy. But a comment on the JS article (here) caught my eye: "Not content to be a below-average Assemblyman, Rep. Wasserman now apparently wants to be below-average Senator. After 12 undistinguished years in the Assembly, this guy has nothing to offer."

While it pains me to copy/paste that, I think it has a ring of truth. While I think Wasserman is honest and fair, I struggle to remember anything he's done that made the papers .. besides the odd law about health care.

Taking a look at his current legislation .. Antibiotic drug treatment for chlamydial infections (AB318) .. Automated external defibrillator: persons required to complete course in use of specified (AB262) .. Mother may breast-feed her child in any public (AB109) .. Health professional shortage (AB90) .. Of course, being the only physician in the WI Legislature, I can understand he's tapped for these medical type bills. But honestly, those aren't the kind of bills most citizens actually give a hoot about.

Now .. I do recall a few bills Wasserman floated that I think were very worthy .. he tried to get legislators to give up their preposterous sick leave accumulations (AB23) .. and he did try to reduce the number of Wisconsin counties reduced from 72 to 18 (AB428). And I want to say he was a co-sponsor of an attempt to eliminate the minimum markup boondoggle for gasoline merchants, but can't find the bill.

But you know what unifies those three pieces of great legislation? NONE of them got done. Zero.

So .. Rep. Wasserman: Let's hear your case. Let's see how you do over the next 15 months before November 2008.

This region is one of the wealthiest in Wisconsin, which means we're the footing a large part of government, too. Pick an issue, say, taxing and spending, and make some noise. Signing the "Americans for Tax Reform's tax pledge" was a great step, albeit completely unadvertised. (I'd have sent you a thank you note had I known you'd done that.)

In the end, having Wasserman take on Darling is really great for this region. Both of these legislators have been cruising along with safe seats. When you’ve got a safe seat, it’s pretty easy to relax and go along with your party.

If Wasserman wins? My guess is that he’ll be more responsive to the district as his margin of victory will be small, and he’ll need to govern from the middle to keep getting elected. And that’s great for Wisconsin.

Months ago, I'd read a theory that Rep. Sheldon Wasserman might run for Sen. Alberta Darling's seat.

I guess that has become closer to reality.

I was reading this month's Milwaukee Magazine, and a quote caught my attention:

Sam Rowen, 31 is said to be pondering a run for the 22nd Assembly District seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, who will attempt to unseat state Sen. Alberta Darling in 2008. Sam now works as legislative aide for Milwaukee Alderman Mike D'Amato.

I suppose those "in the know" will pish-posh this as yesterday's news. I'm guessing it's going to come as a surprise for many in North Shore.

For the record, I'm not sure who I'd support in that race, Wasserman or Darling. I've voted for both of them, being independent minded. I think both of them do a pretty decent job.

I can say I was impressed with Wasserman a couple times .. I emailled him and he phoned me up .. we ended up chatting for a good 20 minutes, as if we were two guys having a beer over pizza.

Maybe they should just switch places. Darling is voiceless in a Senate controlled by Democrats, just as Wasserman is, in the Republican controlled Assembly. -- While I believe it's in the best interests of Wisconsin to have the chambers controlled by two parties, having two reps who have little sway in their respective chambers means our districts lack power in the legislature.

Regardless, it'd be a good race. Anyone know anything about this Rowen guy?

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Follow up: I received a number of comments from my commentary about the "condo-tastrophy" on Silver Spring and Lake. All of them were in support. Maybe Whitefish Bay can use eminent domain and we can get that "do-over".