Village Spillage - All Comments

re: My LASIK Experience

Kevin Buckley — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:11:51 GMT

Well .. just remember, mine is just a story. Ask 100 people, you get 100 stories, and I think 80% of people are fantastically pleased with doing Lasik. 2-3% have some moderate to serious issue, and the remaining group are like me .. no real problems, but didn't meet expectations.

That's one of the first things the doc did when I first came in .. they flood you with stats on success rates.

So .. my advice isn't to read my story and give up. I'd tell you to think about your eye health .. have you been wearing contacts (especially hard ones) for decades? Did you ever have an eye injury? .. In most regular cases, like 90%, just go to the $1500 shop and you will do fine. Remember .. they use the SAME equipment. I'm not saying the same kind of equipment .. I mean the exact same device that they all share.

re: My LASIK Experience

Jeanne — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:14:50 GMT

Kevin, thanks for posting this. I have thought about LASIK off and on for about five years now too, and I was just thinking about doing it after the first of the year when I read this. I know plenty of people it has worked for, but I have heard a few horror stories that have kept me on the fence.

Based on your story, I think I'll stay on the fence. I don't want to pay $4,000 to wear my contacts 75 percent of the time.

re: Why is the NY Times picking on Whitefish Bay?

Gordon E. Lang — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:08:38 GMT

Congratulation, on this being the BESTOF THE BLOGS in the North Shore

NOW, November 6, 2008. Your service to Whitefish Bay and the North Shore is outstanding.

re: Why is the NY Times picking on Whitefish Bay?

reactor — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:57:03 GMT

Thank you for the info.It is interesting.

re: Local Election Predictions

Kevin Buckley — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:16:57 GMT

Wanting to improve the parks is an honest, legit vote. I respect that.

But .. just remember, the referendum says it's for $130M, minus $67M in prop tax shifting, which means $63M in new taxes to be spent on "mass transit; parks, recreation and culture; and emergency medical services."

That's a lot of buckets to pour a scant $63M in to. And the details are left to our wonderful County Board.

Personally .. I'd like to see the county cede neighborhood parks to the municipalities they sit in. Shorewood should take over Atwater. WFB should maintain Klode and Big Bay. (Hmm. Klode isn't listed on MilwCty's Park map, odd. www.county.milwaukee.gov/AbTheParkSystemmap10627.htm)

While "regional" parks, like Bradford, Lake, Mitchell, Washington, all the parks downtown and a smattering of others that have a regional draw .. would remain in the County system.

BTW, TedH .. generally speaking, early/absentee voting ballots are scanned in AFTER the polls close on Tuesday. That means, you can go and vote on Tuesday and explain that you'd like to cancel your absentee vote. They should be able to accommodate that request.

re: Local Election Predictions

Ted H. — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:08:57 GMT

You overlook one category of voters on the referendum: those who, like me, don't do their homework and vote 'No' thinking the referendum is just another Republican attempt to lower property taxes. Alas, I voted early and would have voted 'Yes' -- fund the parks! -- had I correctly remembered what the referendum was intended to do. But I hadn't thought about the issue in months and forgot it was going to be on the ballot. When I saw that rhetoric about 'property tax relief' I figured the referendum must be supporting Scott Walker's side, the we-pay-too-much-property-tax-already side, so I voted against it. As soon as I got back online I looked up the issue and saw my mistake.

Alas, just another confused and uninformed voter...

re: WFB RFP

wfbdoglover — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:23:26 GMT

Whatever happened with this?

re: WFB SCAM ALERT .. plus Halloween update

wfbdoglover — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:54:33 GMT

Well, as I mentioned in a comment under your post about door to door, I called dispatch and got - is that a law? So maybe if you hear from our good Chief again, you could ask him to give his employees a refresher course on not only the ordinance on solicitation but the one on unregistered vehicles in a driveway - especially when they DROVE to this driveway without registered plates.

Thanks for the giggle on trying to change the Trick or Treat Ordinance. :)

re: Ding dong.. Can I see your permit?

wfbdoglover — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:04:55 GMT

SO I called dispatch tonight because some guy came about 7:15 with no permit and way after sundown. They weren't aware of this ordinance.

Maybe you could let your friend the police chief know to let his guys know. Another one they should know about it, you can not have an unregistered vehicle on your property. When I called, because my little neighbor friend had someone with that type of vehicle visiting them, the dispatcher didn't know that was breaking the law either.

re: Silver Spring Blame Game

TomDixon — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:15:01 GMT

Kevin,

As the Owner of Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers I have been very frustrated by the lack of progress on the street. We have had a perfect storm in many ways. In-effective government/ apathetic residents and short sighted building owners. There have been many missed opportunities along the way.

The Village government has turned the corner with the BID, Retail recruiter and planed street construction. The Village residents have taken notice and are now involved. We must make the Building owners understand they need to invest and improve their buildings to complete the turn-a-round. Only with all three groups working together will the street revitalization take hold and be successful. Property values and rents are high. We have wonderful anchor stores, outstanding demographics and terrific housing stock. We do have many positives to talk about.

I am very optimistic about the future of East Silver Spring Drive.

My company has survived two world wars, the great depression, and past Silver Spring road construction. The good business will do the same.

Staying Positive

Tom Dixon

President

Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers

re: Silver Spring Blame Game

wfbdoglover — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:42:07 GMT

Kevin, I'm not defending anyone here - I'm just stating my opinion and initiating a discussion.

Trustees are elected to run for their positions. I would like to point out that they are only paid $600's annually and that Katie Pritchard is paid only $1,2,000's annually. With the amount of hours that they work for these positions, (early morning meetings, committees and the board meetings) their job is basically volunteer.

If I remember correctly, and you have pointed this out as well Kevin, we have a hard time finding people to run for these positions.

As frustrating as our Village situation is, we do have to remember that pointing fingers does not solve anything. (I'm not saying you personally are doing that Kevin. I think you are very objective)

Katie Pritchard is the first Village President that has made herself available one Saturday a month to meet with residents and discuss issues. Anyone can call the Village Hall at 962-6690 and get the dates and times. They then can go and attend. I have done this once a year, for the past two years.

At every Village Board Meeting there is an opportunity for the public to speak. There are two board meetings a month. Any Village Resident may speak and if you do not know exactly when, you can ask in advance. I have a couple of times either called or emailed Katie and let her know. When the proper time came at the meetings, she gave me a nod so I knew to raise my hand.

With that being said, I am extremely frustrated with our Villages situation as well. My dad and I had coffee this week, sitting outside Brueggers, he just said that Silver Spring looked like a ghost town.

Now, if we want to point fingers, we need to look at all the trustees and keep track of their voting records. When Trustee Buscalacci resigned, Katie Pritchard (to the best of my knowledge) wanted to replace him. We had six trustees and three voted to replace him with a local resident and three voted no - to leave the seat vacant. A tie vote is a no. The position was not filled. (After you posted the website link to the ordinances Kevin, I did see that is what we are suppose to do - according to our by-laws)

The next year and a half, every time Katie Pritchard presented a change - especially on Silver Spring, the same three that voted NO to a new trustee, also voted no to many of these changes. Many ideas and changes did not pass.

I am an regular reader of the Village Board minutes (when they are updated regularly) and have gone as far as to contact the N.S. NOW people asking them to report the voting records. The response that I received was that they had been incorporated into the articles and the editors had taken them out.

Maybe now that the JCC expansion is completed, those remaining two that ran for the purpose of blocking the JCC will elect not to run again for trustee OR the residents of Whitefish Bay will take ownership and vote different people in.

We can only vote people in if they run for the position.

On another note, I do know that I did expect flowers and enhancements THIS summer on Silver Spring. Am I shocked that it didn't happen? NO.

Do I think, when many people are out of town, that summer might be a better time for construction on Silver Spring - yes.

There may be communication now on this construction with the business owners - what every Wednesday at 9? maybe that should have happened before the Village decided to do the construction. Who is responsible for that? Village Employees.

Village Employees do the work, report to the board. The board makes decisions. This isn't the City of Milwaukee or Glendale, where the positions are full time and paid. All of our Trustees have day jobs.

Then as you mentioned Kevin, the booing at meetings. Shameful.

The silly rules and regulations - definitely needs to be changed.

I agree, it is a frustrating cycle.

Maybe employees should get out of the office, walk the street and meet business owners face to face - kind of like a sales call. Small business owners do not have time to run to every meeting held during the business day. Most are running their business and the time they spend out of work, they want to spend with their families.

Yes, there is a start - a door to door visit with your customers.

re: Creme closing .. Silver Spring going to 1 lane

ThomF — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:17:01 GMT

re: construction will be suspended from Thanksgiving to Jan 1. Raise your hand if you think that will make a difference. What does "suspended" mean, anyhow? I'm guessing it'll still be 1-way traffic with no parking. How is that going to help?

_________________________

Kevin: The contractor is required to close all trenches and provide a temporary asphalt cap during the suspension period. Normal traffic and parking are expected to be available between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day...

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

wfbdoglover — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:36:45 GMT

7:10 p.m. this evening; 4700 Block of North Berkeley. 3 WFB squads and one Milwaukee squad had in custody one young man who looked to be mid-late twenties. He didn't look like he was around here. Want to guess his nationality Kevo? Or are you afraid to admit you are wrong.

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

wfbdoglover — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:23:16 GMT

Oprah Monday - www.oprah.com/.../89614 A family that made $80,000 - $100,000 per year - homeless and hooked on herion. Mom, Dad and two teen sons.

Milwaukee Magazine - current issue.

www.milwaukeemagazine.com/.../full_feature_story.asp

Mom and Son - herion users. 4 page story.

Fox6

Waukesha - www.myfoxmilwaukee.com/.../Detail

Fox6 - Herion in the Suburbs Part 1

www.myfoxmilwaukee.com/.../Detail

Fox6 - Herion in the Suburbs Part 2

www.myfoxmilwaukee.com/.../Detail

Fox 6 - is the Herion problem being ignored?

www.myfoxmilwaukee.com/.../Detail

Do you need more? Specifics to Whitefish Bay - ask our own PD

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

wfbdoglover — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:06:21 GMT

I have, I'm telling you where to get the information for you were asking about.

I know first hand and I know from talking to THREE different people from the police department. You asked me to back up my facts and I did.

OPEN your eyes. We do not live in a bubble.

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

Kevo — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:41:44 GMT

So your answer is no then, you have nothing to support that assertion. I'm not going to do the leg work for you.

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

wfbdoglover — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:57:01 GMT

call and ask for the CO on duty. (That's Comanding Officer, incase you didn't know)

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

wfbdoglover — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:55:16 GMT

Yes, just call the police department and ask yourself or call a block watch meeting.

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

Kevo — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:30:11 GMT

That's a pretty massive generalization. Can you support that with any facts or data?

re: One less bad guy on WFB's streets!

wfbdoglover — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:01:44 GMT

I think you are being overly sensitve Kevo. Most of the breakins around here are resident herion users. A FEW of them are not.