Franklin Today

Tumbleweed shutting its doors

I was notified by Metro Milwaukee Today reader Mike that Tumbleweed is planning to shut its doors on all restaurants in Wisconsin, including its Franklin location. Mike mentioned to me that patrons who scheduled an event at the Franklin restaurant next week were told that it had to be cancelled due to the ceasing of operations after this weekend.

This has been quite a year for Franklin in the retail world. While we gained stores like OfficeMax, Sendik's Fine Foods, and Target, we also lost several local businesses, including 5 Star Coffee, Ka Martini Lounge, and the Goodyear Tire Shop on 31st & Rawson. Tumbleweed is the first national chain that I know of that announced closure of a Franklin location.

UPDATE: Here's what the Appleton Post-Crescent has to say about Tumbleweed's closure:

One of the restaurant’s cooks, Joe Huss, said employees were told the restaurant might operate through Saturday, then shut down.

Tumbleweed's corporate executives considered purchasing the seven restaurants, but as of Tuesday had not been able to reach an agreement with the company and its creditors. Talks are ongoing.

“The prospect of losing viable markets which have embraced the Tumbleweed brand for more than a decade is disappointing,” said Tumbleweed president and CEO Matt Higgins in a statement. Despite the challenges of operating the restaurants from a distance in this economic climate, “We’re hopeful an agreement is still possible,” he said.

Brookfield vs. Franklin politics: Do we even compare?

I was extremely bored earlier today and decided to take a gander at what's going on elsewhere. I ended up stumbling upon Brookfield Alderman Scott Berg's blog, which linked up to the City of Brookfield's budget for this year. Being bored, I chose to take a look to see what's different between Brookfield's and Franklin's regarding presentation. Naturally, I found plenty of differences, but perhaps the biggest one was the concept of including the public. Brookfield was geared towards the people, with a formal letter from Mayor Jeff Speaker and including detailed analysises and down-to-earth explanations. Meanwhile in Franklin, Mayor Taylor stays far and away from even saying a mere "hello" in the letter, and instead puts the Director of Finance, Cal Patterson, in charge of the whole thing. Noting that Cal is purely a numbers guy, and not one that's hired to focus on the "people" aspect, Franklin's budget is dull and does nothing to communicate directly to you, the Franklin taxpayer. Heck, the letter doesn't even address the Franklin public...only the Mayor and the Council.

For a leadership in Franklin that touts a willingness to become more connected to its constituency, I think we're far from that and it's disappointing. In looking over the Brookfield budget, I came upon this document right after the personal address from Mayor Speaker and an award Brookfield won regarding budgetary issues. Here's the document:

You can click on the document to make it larger if you need to.

Again, it shows a commitment by Brookfield leadership to put the citizens first above all else. Furthermore, the Mayor's position (a paid full-time position totaling over $100,000/yr, by the way) is shown as the 3rd tier in Brookfield government, underneath the citizens and the Common Council.

Who in Franklin could easily announce that Mayor Taylor is the 3rd tier in Franklin government? I'd bet hardly anyone...I'll assume just those who cater to the Mayor's every need and want, or get favors from his office. To be frank, this is what ticks me off about our Mayor the most...the power grab and dominant control of the Mayor's office.

In my opinion, there's a series of items that occurred AFTER April 1st that pushed me over the edge and made me one angry Franklin resident. Ever since that day, I have to wonder if we were all fooled on April Fool's Day. If you don't believe me about the Mayor controlling too much of Franklin's future, then I ask you: Where does the Council come in regards to power in Franklin? Does the Council have the ability and strength to overcome a strong push by the Mayor's office on an issue or appointment? If you answer NO to the last question, then you get what I'm saying. It seems that whenever an issue or appointment comes up that the Mayor is strongly favoring or disliking, the vote just happens to go his direction at least 85% of the time...even on issues that end up not making this city look any better politically than it did 4 years ago with Franklin Citizens for Responsible Leadership.

In closing, for once I'm actually happy and pleased that I was bored. In my boredom I ended up awakening something that has been hidden and stashed in a corner of my life for too long - - which is my passionate viewpoints and my yearning to state my opinions regardless of what the political view of the day happens to be. Franklin residents are focused on the national economy and what's happening abroad. It's understandable and reasonable for this to happen, but it also allows for bad decisions and power plays to affect our backyards that much easier. That's why I'm still around - - to hopefully keep all of you informed about the "other side" of some serious issues here at home.

The Pantheon Restaurant is looking to expand

Amist several closings by popular Franklin hangouts, including 5 Star Coffee and Ka Martini Lounge, one Franklin establishment is looking to grow bigger. The owners of the Pantheon just west of 76th & Rawson are bringing forward plans to expand their current location by a little over 1,000 square feet.

The Plan Commission will be reviewing the project on Thursday. I have yet to see the plans, but I did hear that the drive thru that's been there since the Burger King days will be gone. Amen!

Individuals to be reappointed or proposed for commissions

On Tuesday, the Council will lookover the following candidates for the following spots in Franklin commissions:

• Mike Reichl-Civic Celebrations Commission.
• Jeanine Olson-Civic Celebrations Commission.
• Rob Spitzer-Community Development Authority.
• Linda Ryan-Community Development Authority.
• John Michlig-Economic Development Commission.
• Divaker Desai-Economic Development Commission.
• Norman Hintz-Economic Development Commission.
• Diane Baranowski-Environmental Commission.
• John Nelson-Fair Commission.
• David Adam-Library Board.
• Kevin Haley-Plan Commission.
• Warren Mittelstadt-Technology Commission.
• Leary Peterson-Board of Water Commissioners.
• Gary Grobner-Board of Water Commissioners.

While I'm disappointed that John Michlig didn't get the coveted Plan Commission opening, I support him for the EDC spot. I also support my good friend Jeanine Olson on the Civic Celebrations Commission and another good acquaintance of mine, Kevin Haley to continue his role as Plan Commissioner. Both Jeanine and Kevin have done excellent jobs in their respective roles. You can thank Jeanine for doing a great job yearly with the 4th of July Parade in our community, and kudos to Kevin for standing firm in demanding nothing but the best for the Shoppes at Wyndham Village.

If other commissioners get light shed on them within the next few days, you'll be certain to see a discussion here.

"Weird, dumb, stupid, unconscionable, crazy"

That was the quote used against FranklinNOW blogger Janet Evans by our recently re-elected State Senator's aide, Kevin Fischer, before he announced that he'll now have a guest blogger for the duration of the week and all next week. You see, trying out a different flavor for the Franklin people on the NOW must be a terrible thing, especially when the "uninformed moonbat" just happens to be little 'ol me.

What can I say? He couldn't toss peanuts from the back row when I was in control of Ms. Evans blog earlier this week, but he certainly can lash out like a pit bull when I've departed for several days. At least I can hold my head up high and note that the first entry I did on Ms. Evans blog put a smile on everyone's face. As I'm reading it right now, Fischer's guest blogger went the exact opposite, and instead chose to criticize the parents of those students who caught head lice at Ben Franklin a few days ago. While his guest blogger might be convinced that head lice is only a "public school" thing, private schools on a regular basis get similar outbreaks.

Oh well, I guess that was supposed to be funny... Ha, ha, ha?

The results are in

I just received my copy of the results of the election per district from the City Clerk. It certainly tells a lot about Franklin!

In the Presidential race, Barack Obama only won in the 3rd Aldermanic District by a vote of 1522-1518. All the other districts were solid in John McCain's camp by hundreds of votes. Here's the breakdown:

1st District: 1526-1189 (McCain by 337)
2nd District: 1807-1248 (McCain by 559)
3rd District: 1522-1518 (Obama by 4)
4th District: 2043-1466 (McCain by 577)
5th District: 2050-1435 (McCain by 615)
6th District: 1747-1488 (McCain by 259)

What interested me further was the solid Democrats and Republicans in Franklin. Typically, those who vote straight party are those who will do so again and again, and aren't those who would be "undecided" minutes before the election. In Franklin, 2868 were solid Democrats and 4032 were solid Republicans. When you add up those two, it comes out to 6900 voters.

Here's what's interesting to me. From keeping track of several past elections, the number of voters per "normal" election (aka not Presidential or superly special) is roughly 6500 total. When you take that average number and throw it up against the "solid" voters, it indicates that those voters are generally the ones who go vote in every election. The other 12,139 voters made this election either because it was Presidential, an important race to them, or both.

For those who are interested in referendums and the like, those numbers should be taken with utmost importance. For example, if the School Board decides to do another referendum in the future, they should be aware that of the roughly 6500 voters that'll turn out, about 4000 of them will be considered Republican and might not favor referendums that are large in size, such as the $78 million one that was defeated in April, 2007.

As the city grows, I think there will be several shifts in regards to how many residents are supportive of which political party. It also explains why residents have watched our community transform lately from an average middle-class suburb to one that's on par with communities like Brookfield. Our Common Council for YEARS (if not DECADES) has been either heavily Republican or unanimously Republican. Common sense shows very candidly that the higher the income, the more red it gets. By constructing tons of high end subdivisions, the Common Council not only secured future upscale growth in the city, but it also tightened up the community to consistently vote Republican, and thus consistently keep them in office. Even if a Republican alderman can't seem to maintain his spot on the Council, another Republican fills it in, as was the case with Steve Taylor replacing Pete Kosovich this past April.

Ah...politics at its best! Don't ya love it?

Download november_election_results.pdf

Another classless thing done by former alderman

John Michlig says it well:

(Former alderman Pete) Kosovich is becoming quite the flier distributor, however, perhaps a holdover talent from his FCRG days.

"Peko" Pete Kosovich decided to go out and about and stuff newspaper boxes of Franklin Obama supporters with the flyer that's shown on Michlig's blog. As John noted, Kosovich seems to be on a roll with being the "flyer boy" of sorts; Kosovich also distributed smear flyers just days before the April 1st elections against Mayroal candidate Basil Ryan.

After Michlig's entry was posted, I received an e-mail from someone who was present at the Northwestern Mutual ribbon-cutting ceremony last month. As you know, NML recently celebrated the completion of their 2nd building here in Franklin. However, the individual wasn't discussing the ribbon-cutting but rather the distasteful thing Peko did at the event.

According to the source, our "distinguished" former alderman and current plan commissioner decided to go to the event with a large McCain/Palin button on his shirt. I'll simply assume that because Governor Doyle was in attendance for this positive and upbeat event for our community, Peko Pete decided to show the gov just who's boss. Needless to say, my source informed me that several people were rather disappointed in Kosovich's decision, and some were disgusted at the notion of politics enter into a nonpartisan event like a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Here's my opinion about both of Peko's stunts: They were done in poor taste. Furthermore, by doing such a thing in front of officials from the state, county, and Northwestern Mutual, it shows that Mr. Kosovich doesn't have any sense of decency. You just don't do those sorts of things, and a mature person would at least show some respect for the many leaders present at that event. As for the flyers, I think it was an attempt to bug Franklin Obama supporters and doesn't reflect well on people trying to display their pride via a yard sign. As my neighbor, a McCain supporter, told me after all the Obama signs in our subdivision were vandalized,

McCain and conservatives don't support these tactics. Freedom of speech and opinion should be respected.

Amen to that.

John Michlig: "I intend to vie for the newly vacant seat on Franklin's Plan Commission"

As if the past two weeks couldn't get any better for me, this amazing news comes out. If you don't know who John Michlig is, I'd highly recommend you to check out his blog, Sprawled Out. As a personal note to Mr. Michlig, all I have to say is:

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!

For the past two years or so, Franklin residents have had the ability to read the constructive criticisms written by Michlig, who'd like to see an overall change in regards to how we layout our developments and how we can create better site plans for our major projects. I'd say his most fervent opposition was aimed at the Shoppes at Wyndham Village (aka Target Center) for many reasons, including a terrible site plan that doesn't even promote an atmosphere of being in a village. How sad is that?

Many readers know I'm not one to sit on the sidelines, and that's why just a day after his public announcement this blog will be endorsing and supporting John Michlig to get that vacant seat on the Plan Commission. From my perspective, Franklin residents won't get any shift in the way developments are handled or discussed if the Mayor puts on yet another political appointment. We need individuals who aren't going to be manipulated and have some knowledge in the field of planning and development. In my opinion, if you want to see positive changes occur throughout Franklin, such as the two specific areas this blog highlighted recently, John Michlig should be your choice.

Best of luck to you, John.