Road rage
I liked Alan Talaga and Jon Lyons’ “Off the Square” cartoon on Walker’s transportation budget (9/22/2016). If you think about it, it makes perfect sense what Walker is doing here:
The Verona project delay is simply punishment for that large Verona-based software company full of the 10,000 millennials who voted for Bernie and its CEO, who has donated large sums of $$$ to Hillary!
The Milwaukee Zoo interchange delay is punishing the liberals and Democrat leaders in Milwaukee!
Providing funding for the I-90 highway project is simply a reward to his billionaire benefactors, the Uihleins and Hendrickses, so they have a nice, smooth drive to their vacation properties in the north!
Jeff Luther (via email)
I just sat down in the UW student union with a copy of your newspaper; I understand this is the paper to have if you want to acquaint yourself with the area. This is my second trip to Madison this year from Chicago; my partner and I have been seriously investigating a possible move here. Just ironic, I guess, that the first page I open to contains a cartoon that suggests that I and my people are rude, gas-guzzling, gluttons. I know, I know, it’s just a cartoon; really I’m not that sensitive. I live in downtown Chicago, no car, but certainly with a sea of tourists, especially in warmer months. Even walking to the grocery store is a challenge, people not looking, people not cooperating by sharing the sidewalk, etc. But honestly I wouldn’t even consider insulting these out-of-town folks; we NEED them. I am not jealous of them — I welcome them.
Roberta Ross (via email)
Taking issue
Alan Talaga’s editorial, “Karen McKim and the Problem with Single-Issue Candidates” (Madland, 10/11/2016), intelligently engages real issues. But it put me in a bind. Talaga accused me of not liking the incumbent while asking me to find more issues with his performance.
First, none of this is personal. I’d happily sit beside Scott McDonell on a plane. He’s been a good politician, Democrat and supervisor.
And yes, I have an issue that he doesn’t check our election results’ accuracy. If the county clerk doesn’t do that, it doesn’t get done.
Are there other problems? Yes, and it’s true I haven’t been stressing them. Talaga is right: I need to say more if people are going to see the need for change. Here goes:
Issue: collaboration. As county clerk, I will seek out community concerns and suggestions and provide constructive paths to resolution. My 30 years’ experience as a public servant taught me to listen to and work with community advocates and other officials. Here’s how it should work: In 2014, I and other volunteers saw a need to ask the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board to alter some instructions for local clerks. The board allowed me to present evidence and arguments in an open meeting, and they improved their instructions. Even if they hadn’t agreed, the process built trust.
For four years, well-informed, respectful citizens advocating for the recommendations of a Presidential Commission have received scant response. Communications go unanswered, invitations ignored. Approach other county officials for help on an election-administration issue, and you’ll be told they have no influence, either.
As county clerk, I will make voter ID education videos only in collaboration with voting-rights advocates. I won’t develop an election-observation program without relying on the local League of Women Voters’ decades-long experience.
Still another issue: professional management practices. If I’m county clerk the next time a voting machine makes up its own votes, my official investigation will determine the cause and how to prevent it from occurring again. If I’m county clerk, the next time uncountable ballots are mailed out, the public will get more explanation than a few contradictory statements to the press. Procedures will be in writing so that, for example, a citizen will be able to come to a county canvass meeting and hold me accountable for following them.
I wish the likable incumbent the best, and hope that voters will move both of us into jobs that make the best use of our passions and skills for the benefit of Dane County and our vibrant democracy.
Karen McKim, Candidate for Dane County clerk (via email)
