4A

The First Amendment

The Platteville Journal

DECEMBER 2, 2015

ETC.

Block voting

ou might think a project that,

three years after it began,
generated considerable public
opposition to its details would have
generated more than one Platteville
Common Council No vote.

But all Ald. Ken Kilian said he wanted

to do was to delay the vote, not vote
against the Holiday Inn Express, new
Platteville Public Library and remodeled Steve Prestegard
Neighborhood Health Partners clinic
plattevillejournaleditor@
coming to Plattevilles Library Block for
gmail.com
$1.5 million or so of our tax dollars.
The issue is not whether Platteville
needs a new library. (One can reasonably ask who lacked
foresight when the current library was built to realize that
expansion space might be necessary someday.) One could reasonably ask if Platteville needs a new library built right now
with all the citys other financial needs (new fire station and
road work, to name two), and its certain it would not have
been built without the opportunity this project presented.
People who have developed buildings and projects in this
area have misgivings about this project. (And those who make
statements that people oppose the project because it doesnt
line other peoples pockets, frankly arent helping, frankly.)
Government shouldnt be picking winners and losers, but
building a 77-room hotel in a city that is not lacking for hotel
capacity probably prevents any other hotel from being built,
and, unless an existing hotel owner builds one, a convention
center that Platteville needs. (Which probably needs an attached restaurant too, and none of Plattevilles existing hotels
have attached restaurants, nor will the Holiday Inn Express.)
Common Council president Eileen Nickels called the project
an example of publicprivate partnerships the city needs more
of. Regardless of how you feel about publicprivate partnerships, public information about how public tax dollars are used
in a publicprivate partnership is not something youre going
to get more of. There will be numerous closed-session meetings, and then aldermen will proclaim that its an excellent
project, and we voters are supposed to take their word on that.
It would be nice if aldermen would be a little more considerate of the views of those with misgivings and not walk up
to the line of condescension and patronizing in their public
statements that you can read starting on page 1 of your favorite weekly newspaper. Such statements are why mistrust
of government at every level is at an all-time high.
I lived in a city that tried a publicprivate partnership
that turned out to be an unholy litigious mess. A group of
investors came to Ripon, announced grand plans for a hotel and spa and 21st-century retail and occupational space
where you could live and work, purchased several downtown buildings with taxpayer help, and, well the renovated pizza parlor is quite nice. The rest is winding its way
through the court system, with accusations, counterclaims,
and profit only for attorneys. Blame is somewhat pointless,
but suffice to say Ripon will never have another publicprivate partnership of any consequence.
This is also a demonstration that poor past policy has consequences. If District 3 Ald. Barb Daus is correct in saying
that essentially no development took place in the city in the
1980s and 1990s, whose fault was that? The city cannot pay
for a new fire station or renovations to the Municipal Building, nor can it get ahead of its crumbling streets, nor can
it do other things the city would like to do not because tax
rates are too low, but because the tax base is far too small
for a city where 12,000 people live most of the year.
In the past year the city has given its EMS service, which
operated essentially break-even, to Southwest Health because the city could not afford to build a new EMS garage.
Now to get a new library that was supposed to be free, the
city will spend $1.5 million in rent and give a developer a
$2 million loan from a red TIF district to get back $2.685
million, but not until 2036. The guaranteed TIF increment
wont pay back the library lease, if my math is correct, until
two to three years after the lease expires.
So what, you ask? The city will have to find the lease
money from someplace, and thanks to state tax levy limits its probably not going to come from raising taxes. (Nor
should it.) Take the rent of about $220,000 per year minus the guaranteed increment $100,000 in 2017, and
$155,000 per year from 2018 to 2024 and you can see that
the guaranteed increment is already gone, with a $120,000
city budget hole in 2017 and $65,000 holes until 2024.
Whatever the city would like to do with that money, it cant,
unless tax revenues from the project exceed estimates.
We have to hope this works. We also have to hope that
the city can find a buyer for the former Pioneer Ford properties who will make that project worth the taxpayer money
that has also been and will be spent. If either project doesnt
work, guess who gets the mess?

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W ashington J ournal

Kind, Pocan: Get back to D.C.

by Lee H. Hamilton
Purdue University Center on Congress

hen Paul Ryan became

House Speaker a few
weeks ago, he made it
clear that he has no intention
of spending too much time in
Washington.

Ryans wife and children are in Wisconsin, he pointed out, and he plans
to commute, as hes done since he got
elected to Congress. I just work here,
he told CNN, I dont live here.
I have great sympathy for Ryans
urge to strike a balance between family and work. It is very, very tough for
every member, let alone the Speaker,
to live and work far from home, and
to weigh constantly whether to be in
Washington or back in the district. I
remember that when I served in Congress, I felt I was in the wrong place
wherever I happened to be. If I was
home in Indiana, I missed important
meetings on Capitol Hill. When I was
in Washington, the calendar in Indiana
was filled with events I should have
been attending.
Yet while we should sympathize with
the compromises members of Congress
have to make between their duties in
Washington and their responsibilities
back home, theres no question where
they must be to discharge their public
responsibilities. If we want a well-functioning Congress, they need to be in
Washington more.
When I first got elected to Congress
in 1964, members didnt have to split
time between their colleagues on Capitol Hill and their families back in the

district, because most of us moved our

families to Washington. But over the
years, the politics of the country have
grown strongly anti-Washington. Members of Congress do not want to be associated with the city. They want to
show they havent been seduced by the
lifestyle of the Nations Capital or adopted an inside-the-beltway mindset.
They take pride in rejecting the elitism
of Washington. Todays politics make it
hard to argue that members should be
spending more time on Capitol Hill.
Yet as Washington Post writer Dana
Milbank noted recently in an insightful column on the topic, Its no mere
coincidence that in the time this trend
has taken hold, much of what had previously existed in Washington disappeared: civility, budget discipline, big
bipartisan legislation and just general
competence. In place of this have come
bickering, showdowns, shutdowns and
the endless targeting of each other for
defeat in the next election.
Expanding the Capitol Hill workweek, in other words, isnt just a symbolic gesture. Its one of the keys to reversing congressional dysfunction.
For starters, you have to get to know
your colleagues in order to do business
with them. The amenities are crucial
in politics, even more than in most
spheres of working life. In any legislature, whether its on Capitol Hill or in
a state capital or in City Hall, the very
nature of the job is going to involve disagreement. Yet everyone there is there
to solve problems together; they have
no choice but to work together. Its
hard to attack a person you know well,
but even more important, getting to

know one another and one anothers

families is an essential lubricant for
resolving the issues you confront together.
Second, drafting legislation is highly
demanding, because the core of it involves building consensus. This takes
time. It cant be forced. Members have
to have the time and room to consider
the options, look for common ground,
and think through alternatives. Politicians, in other words, need sufficient
time to be good politicians and good
legislators. The array of tough issues
that face Congress cant be dealt with
by part-time legislators.
Which is what they are right now.
Members of Congress work hard, but
they do not work hard at legislating.
They work hard at constituent relations and raising money and campaigning. Legislating, whether we like it
or not, takes a five-day week, not the
three they put in at the moment.
What Im arguing for here will not
be popular with members of Congress,
and it certainly wont get a warm reception from their families. But they
are elected to do the job of legislating.
For the good of the institution they
serve and the work product they owe
the nation, members need to spend
more time in Washington.
Lee Hamilton is a Distinguished
Scholar, Indiana University School
of Global and International Studies;
and a Professor of Practice, IU School
of Public and Environmental Affairs.
He was a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives for 34 years.

LETTERS
The Platteville Journal, P.O. Box 266, Platteville, WI 53818-0266 plattevillejournaleditor@gmail.com

A thoughtful moment
On the evening of Nov. 24 I was in
front of Piggly Wiggly ringing Salvation Army bells for the red kettle.
Many people were rushing in and out
of the store, some with a few groceries,
some with supplies for their Thanksgiving meal. It was about 6 p.m. and
even though the moon was up and
bright the parking lot, full of cars and
well lit, was shadowed. As one car left
I could see a dark hump on the pavement where the car had been, and was
curious about it, but couldnt leave the
kettle. A man with a Fahertys shirt on
and a young girl came out of the store
and as they walked in the parking lot
saw the article and picked it up. It was
a womans purse, and he gave it to the
girl and they brought it back into the
store.
I dont know any of the names, but
I can imagine how extremely thankful
the woman was to get her purse back.
Id like to say thank you to this man
and the girl. If they hadnt picked it up
a car could have run over it. Hopefully
the purse and woman were reunited
quickly. You two made my night an especially happy one as I thought of how
devastated it feels to know youve misplaced your purse and all the treasures
in it, and then to get it back again. I
witness so many kindnesses as a bell
ringer, but this was a major one.
Karen Canny
Platteville

The new clinic

When Dr. Brian Sachs told my

brother he was leaving Southwest

Health to open a direct primary care
clinic, my brother assumed hed have
to find a different doctor. He really
liked the personal relationship he had
with Dr. Sachs, so we asked lots of
questions. Knowing Medicare and his
supplementary insurance would cover
any hospital stays, lab work, etc., he
joined the clinic.
It was well worth it. An email or a
phone call gets immediate feedback
from Dr. Sachs. Appointments are
scheduled at our convenience. An evening email brought instant response.
We cant say enough good about the
personal care my brother is receiving from Dr. Sachs. Were very grateful this area has a health care provider
whose basic concern is for his patients.
Congratulations, Dr. Sachs, for being
among the first too open a direct primary care clinic in our area.
JoAnne Marshall
Livingston

Stress and smoking

Holiday classics often mention peace,

joy, and comfort, but the sad truth is
that this season can also be a very
stressful time. Whether its holiday
shopping, travel, or cooking, stressors can sometimes get the best of us,
and even keep us from making healthy
changes ... like quitting cigarettes or
tobacco.
While using tobacco products might
make users feel better about stress levels in the short term, the stress usually
comes back quickly afterward and often at a higher level since its combined

with nicotine withdrawal. However,

stress is just the tip of the iceberg compared to tobacco use consequences like
higher risk of heart disease, heart attack, or lung cancer.
While quitting might be difficult at
first, the benefits really pay off down
the road. Shortly after quitting, users
notice that their blood pressure has
lowered. Just a few short months after
quitting, users have better circulation
and their lung function has increased.
You dont have to do it alone. Free
help is available through the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-QUIT
NOW or wiquitline.org. Contact the
Quit Line today and make your plan
for a tobacco free holiday season.
Carrie Bluel

Program Assistant, Southwest Alliance for

Tobacco Prevention

The Platteville Journal will print

most letters to the editor, regardless of
the opinion presented. The Journal reserves the right to edit material that is
libelous or otherwise offensive to community standards and to shorten letters The Journal determines are excessively long. All letters must be signed
and the signature must appear on the
printed letter, along with a contact
number or email for verification. Some
submitted letters may not be published
due to space constraints. Thank you
letters will not be printed. All letters
and columns represent the views of the
writers and not necessarily the views of
The Platteville Journal.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
United States Constitution Amendment I