Franklin Today

The Spring races are official

Here is a summary of the races going on in Franklin for the April elections. There will be no need for a primary in February for any race.

DISTRICT 1 ALDERMAN - Alderman Steve Olson will be facing me

DISTRICT 2 ALDERMAN - Alderman Tim Solomon will be running unopposed

DISTRICT 5 ALDERMAN - Bryan Maersch will be facing Doug Schmidt

FRANKLIN SCHOOL BOARD - Incumbents Debbie Larson & Jeff Traylor will be running, as will Melissa Klein, Hugo Nguyen, and Paul Rotzenberg. 

I don't know if you know this or not, but when you look at the School Board races, ALL the candidates come out of the 4th Aldermanic District. Furthermore, when you look at the School Board as a whole, after April 6th there will be five School Board members from the 4th Aldermanic District. There are a total of seven members on the board. Doing the math, that means 3/4 of the School Board comes from one aldermanic district. I thought that's an interesting tidbit to share!

The 1st Aldermanic District has a race!

I just received word from City Clerk Sandi Wesolowski that 1st District Alderman Steve Olson filed his paperwork to run for re-election. His filing comes one day after I turned in my papers to be on the ballot this April for the seat.

It will be an interesting election this April!

An update on the Spring, 2010 races!

A lot has happened in the past few days that residents should be aware of, especially in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th aldermanic districts. Here are the updates!

Mayor Taylor revitalizes debate on 27th Street's future

Back in April, Mayor Taylor called a special Common Council meeting to discuss the future of the 27th Street corridor, in particular the 27th Street Steering Committee. Back then, discussion amongst the council members included several options:

1. Keep the current status-quo with the committee in place and keep trudging forward
2. Eliminate the committee and create a new entity that will have more oversight and attention to the development of the corridor
3. Modify the committee and possibly its membership

At that time, option #2 seemed to really have support from the mayor and Common Council President, and was strongly opposed by the current Chairman of the committee, Alderman Steve Olson. The council at that time debated the issue, to which Alderman Sohns proposed a motion to "determine which members of the Common Council are willing to delegate their authority, including control over the money that is available to spend, for the implementation of the development of the 27th Street Corridor area to a separate entity." All voted YES to that motion. However, nothing came of it. That is, until now.

Budget passes deadlocked council with mayor breaking a tied vote

After several hours of debate in a packed council chambers, the Common Council approved a budget with a levy increase of 2.9% last night. The votes are as follows (aldermen are in order of district):

1. OLSON: NO
2. SOLOMON: YES
3. WILHELM: YES
4. TAYLOR: NO
5. SOHNS: NO
6. SKOWRONSKI: YES
7. MAYOR TAYLOR: YES

An update on budget coverage

Two days ago, I made several remarks of disappointment with the FranklinNOW. I noted that while the aldermen whose districts are going to be impacted most weren't quoted, Alderman Steve Olson, representing a district with no significant impacts due to unfilled vacancies, was. I posed the question:

With all of that said, if I was the NOW reporter would I take a quote from Olson or from an alderman where the vacancies really hurt, like Taylor or Wilhelm?

Well, it was a plus that the NOW, in their full article, decided to include a mention of CCP Taylor's efforts:

Looking for a budget compromise to add police and fire positions

Keeping a closer eye on the FranklinNOW as the Spring 2010 elections loom, I was disappointed to see the coverage on the compromising to ensure a police officer and firefighter/EMT is hired in 2010. While correct in saying that aldermen are looking at ways to add another officer and firefighter, little-to-nothing in terms of credit goes towards the aldermen working to make it happen.

What are your neighbors talking about? (51st Street Edition)

This is the third installment of a series appropriately titled, "What are your neighbors talking about?" Franklin Today receives many e-mails from residents in our community about a variety of topics. Over the past several days, I have heard from many residents about sidewalks along 51st Street in front of Franklin High School.

To date, I have not heard anyone in support of what Alderman Olson and pal/State Senator Lazich's aide Kevin Fischer attempted to promote, which in my opinion was the savings of a buck or two in your wallet and in return the students and residents going to FHS would still put their lives at risk trying to get to the school on foot.

The following e-mail to me I thought was one of the best. Here it is:

Yes, I believe a life could have been spared...

Within two hours, Alderman Olson's good pal (and State Senator Lazich's aide) Kevin Fischer posted a lengthy piece on his blog basically defending Olson's NO vote for the sidewalks and improvements along 51st Street in front of FHS. One of the lines Fischer uses in his argument was, "So spare me the wailing and gnashing of teeth about how this is for the children and if we can save just one life, yada, yada, yada."

Yeah, Franklin could have saved a life several years ago if sidewalks were installed along 51st Street, along that very section of road.

Ridiculous voting by Olson on 51st Street

Those who have read Franklin Today know that I have my issues with 1st District Alderman Steve Olson. I have several blog entries (some would say tens) stating why. Well, his votes tonight added another reason for my frustration!