I was handed a copy of this information a few days ago and I did not know what to do about it. It is not new information, the whispers had been heard around town for a while and now there is an actual printout (allegedly) from the city, rumored to be handed out by the mayor to a vocal local merchant on North Street. Is this a Biggest Bully contest? Or is the mayor taking out "Troublemakers"? Do the Hekkers have the right of a taxpayer to file complaints or did they go too far? Did it cost the city and taxpayers with the huge volume of them? Why is Mayor Scrima going after one of his biggest former supporters all the sudden (allegdly)? What is the rumored connection between Mayor Scrima/ IT department/ Derek, the human target/leaked info on Lori Luther and Derek? There is a big difference between proposing a Cry Wolf ordinance and going after someone with a personal vendetta (allegedly), right? I do not know the answers, and I am tired of this. Peace on Main.
HBR and Freeman took the high road and did a nice article with a lot of restrain... Even Danny and Alderman Patton said something nice with a lot of restrain. We all love this city, and we all show it in our own ways, and at times things can go way too far and become something ugly, yet it takes intense love to have intense hate instead of indifference, but can we all remember the part we have in common first is the love and work from there? Now I feel like this guy...
Good enough...
More fight ahead...
City Hall needs some help...
SOUND OFF
Letters to the Editor-Darryl has a fan.
POLICE BLOTTER
Real info on water.
See you there?
First meeting coming for the Downtown Task Force.
I consider Vicky to be a friend and though I may disagree with some of their ideas about downtown Waukesha, she (and Tom) put her money where their mouths are. They have purchased and rehabbed dilapidated buildings downtown and turned them into incredible spaces. I don't know the exact number but I would wager that their investments in downtown far exceeds a million dollars.
ReplyDeleteThe Maple and Main building is amazing as is their home a few doors down. They were some of the early pioneers of the downtown renaissance. They have so much invested in downtown it's hard to fault them for looking out for their investments. Instead of selling out to the first person that comes along looking to open a bar they hold out for retailers that fit their vision, even if they aren't as safe as a bet as a bar or restaurant would be.
However with so many complaints filed they have lost any sort of voice with the City, the Police Dept. and the BID. You cannot complain that much and expect the people to take you seriously. By complaining about the small things (which I agree should be addressed) they have made it easy for everyone to write it off when they complain about larger things. They would be better to change their approach and focus on a handful of serious issues instead of all of these small property maintenance issues. If they would focus their approach it would be easier to gain allies. Its going to take a while to regain the City's ear but I like that the City Admin. is going to sit down with them and have an open dialogue. Its a step in the right direction.
Also I am not saying that what the Hekkers are doing is in any way wrong, I am just saying that it is human nature to tune out people who complain that much.
Eat,
ReplyDeleteThe real story here is not the Hekkers and the number of calls and emails, it is the attempt to marginalize them with this information. It is clear from George’s reporting and the word on the street; there was a concerted and organized attack on the Hekkers. Thank goodness Sarah wrote a balanced article. I know I’m sounding like a broken record but it’s indicative of the bully behavior so prevalent downtown. The only way to break the pattern of abuse is to talk about it openly. It’s uncomfortable and shouldn’t be necessary but it is the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about.
George, I want peace on Main too. I’d much rather concentrate on my business than deal with all the nonsense that I’d had to deal with over the past year. Peace will come only when we ALL treat each other with mutual respect, agree to disagree on issues without it being personal, and quit demonizing individuals and their businesses. We need to have an inclusive downtown and not one that has a “duck and take cover” attitude.
Oh I know its not really about the complaints. I don't like how the info was just offered up as ammo against them. Especially since the Hekkers were pretty instrumental in getting Scrima elected.
ReplyDeleteI admire what the Hekkers have done with their properties. And I'm glad they are advocating for the betterment of downtown.
ReplyDeleteBut. Seeing this REALLY PISSES ME OFF. By making so many complaints about "nuisance" properties, it is clear they have become "nuisances" themselves.
It sounds like the Mayor and his allies are revealing this information in order to marginalize the Hekkers. I could care less about the motives...yeah, it's mean-spirited. But the table speaks for itself. How can you look at that table and defend the Hekkers? As a City resident, I would hope that City staff is focusing its energies on issues all over the city, not just the downtown.
And to respond to Jeff Barta's comment: "Peace will come only when we ALL treat each other with mutual respect" Is the Hekker's behavior respectful? I am not usually one to defend the Public Works department. But really, don't you think Fred Abadi has better things to do with his time? It seems like a lack of respect for him, when you can just walk down and talk to someone in a neighborly fashion about putting their garbage out too soon, or ask when they are thinking about repairing their awnings.
It really does strike me as a classic Waukesha response, to call the police or e-mail a city official over something that could be resolved by talking to someone face-to-face. My mom was pulled over by a police officer one January because someone had flagged him down and reported her for not properly covering my 3-month-old son's head. C'mon people!
One more thing. I hate posting this under my name, because I'm afraid that somehow the things that I'm advocating for downtown might get mixed up in some kind of conspiracy theory or people might insist that I am one "one side" or another.
But I'm going to go ahead and do it because I don't like the kid-glove treatment of the Hekkers that I see here and in the Freeman article. What they are doing is wrong and a waste of a lot of people's time. There. I said it.
Thank you all for commenting, and to the defense of HBR, she said about half of her article was on the editing room floor. I am guilty of kid gloved this, it is true. I am walking that line.
ReplyDeleteIf I got 4 complaints a day from the same people for all of 2010 there is no way I would take them seriously. My point is that they have legitimate gripes but their approach is obviously not working and will never work, in fact it was such a bad approach that the City removed the complaint system from their website so now nobody can use it. Sounds like they are meeting with Steve Crandell soon so hopefully a better, more focused approach to downtown issues can begin.
ReplyDeleteTo the business owners, especially bar owners, it is not a bridge builder so to speak to have lot of complaints called on you or when they made the blotter by making personal appearances.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the noise curfew in the city, is it 9pm or 10pm?
I certainly hope no one get targeted by speaking their mind, a lot of us want a peaceful downtown and all the fighting is bad business.
On the record, I welcome all of your input. Only through respectful open discussion that we can get somewhere. I know I sit on the fence a lot and I can be accused of being vague at times, but this is a forum for all of you, agreeing or not agreeing with me. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSonia, that is the bullying everyone is trying to avoid, you know the fear is real and it is there.
ReplyDeleteI do just want to say one thing and that is that my remarks above were made assuming that the information in that table is accurate. I also don't know the whole story behind all of those calls. So it may be true that there is another part of this story that was left untold.
ReplyDeleteFYI, Just a messenger
ReplyDeletehttp://takinittothestreets.us/cgi-bin/word/topic.cgi?forum=2&topic=53