Thursday evening, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz will break bread with local developer Terrence Wall, a guy who thinks the world would be a much better place if local government would simply green light his developments and refrain from asking tough questions.
The dinner evidently benefits the Goodman Atwood Community Center, which is a great cause. It seems that one of these opportunities rolls around every couple months or so. It's the result, no doubt, of someone wondering "Who wouldn't pay to see the mayor and so-and-so together?" Thankfully, the money usually goes to a good cause.
But wouldn't it be a novel idea for people like the mayor and even private business owners like Wall to make it a regular practice to sit down with people who disagree with them? And for nothing more than the opportunity to discuss important issues and attempt to arrive at a consensus or at least try and see things from a different point of view? Wall might realize that that there are good reasons citizens shouldn't just take developers at their word and the mayor might discover that Wall has other interests aside from devouring the countryside with corporate boxes.
MAYOR CIESLEWICZ WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Monday, June 30, 2008
9:00 a.m. Joe Conway, Kevin Sherry, Joel Plant (Mayor's Conf. Room)
10:00 a.m. Policy Staff Meeting (Mayor's Conf. Room)
11:30 a.m. Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the East Washington Avenue bicycle and pedestrian bridge at Marquette Street
12:30 p.m. Comptroller Overview to Mayor of Agency Capital Budget Requests (Mayor's Conf. Room)
2:00 p.m. Barb Dimick, Ray Harmon (Mayor's Office)
3:00 p.m. Common Council Leadership Meeting (Mayor's Conf. Room)
4:00 p.m. Dick Grasmick, George Twigg (Mayor's Office)
6:00 p.m. Northside Neighborhood Concert Series (Warner Park)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
8:30 a.m. Deb Archer (Marigold Kitchen) 9:30 a.m. County Executive Kathleen Falk, Policy Staff (Mayor's Conf. Rm) 10:30 a.m. Mayor's Management Team Meeting (Mayor's Conf. Room) 12:00 p.m. Brown Bag Lunch with Tom Heikkinen (Mayor's Conf. Room) 1:00 p.m. Kevin Briski, Ray Harmon (Mayor's Office) 2:00 p.m. Taping of "The Mayor's Report" (MMB 260) 3:00 p.m. Budget Meeting (Mayor's Conf. Room) 4:00 p.m. Brad Clark, George Twigg (Mayor's Office) 6:30 p.m. Common Council Meeting (CCB 201)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
8:30 a.m. No meetings - office/work time 10:00 a.m. Staff Meeting (Mayor's Conf. Room) 2:00 p.m. Welcome visiting Korean scholars/government officials (Mayor's Conf. Rm) 3:00 p.m. Final interviews for Community Development Director (Mayor's Conf. Rm)
Thursday, July 3, 2008
9:00 a.m. Major Projects Work Group (DPII) Meeting
11:00 a.m. Maribeth Witzel-Behl, Mario Mendoza (Mayor's Office)
2:00 p.m. Katherine Plominski, Joel Plant (Mayor's Office)
3:00 p.m. Steve Hiniker, Brad Murphy, Ray Harmon (Mayor's Office)
4:30 p.m. Common Council Leadership Meeting (Mayor's Conf. Room)
6:30 p.m. Dinner with Terrence Wall, Mary Lang Sollinger, benefiting the Goodman/Atwood Community Center
Friday, July 4, 2008
10:00 a.m. July 4th Parade (Elizabeth St - Marquette, Tenney-Lapham Neighborhoods)