Fall Creek Water Rate Change
For all those concerned (as I was initially) with the rate increase on our Village water rates, I strongly recommend that you visit the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin’s Electronic Records Filing System, and read the documents for our own Docket (ID 1920-WR-105).
Here is a direct link to the docket and its documents:
I think the most important documents to note are:
- The original application (simply marked as “Application” at the bottom of that page) which showed the reasoning for the request of rate change, as well as quite a bit of other useful information.
- Data Request-PSC-Elmer-1 – which is the PSC asking our Village Administrator for some additional information and documentation to address items that appeared to be surprising to the PSC
- Response-Data Request-PSC-Elmer-1 – showing our Administrator’s responses to this query
- Ex.-PSC-Revenue Requirement – provides a good summary of the rate case to date, as well as the PSC’s investigative findings
- Ex.-PSC-COSS and Rate Design – shows the PSC’s proposed rates, as well as the numbers and reasonings justifying the rate change
- Final Decision Signed 11/10/22 and Served on 11/11/22 – regards the final, legally binding, decision by the PSC, in detail
It is a great wealth of information, and I believe that there would have been substantially less public outcry if such information was pushed out to the public throughout the process. We should consider doing so in the future. As it stands right now, it appears that the Village relies largely on a “pull” process, where citizens must request information (which they may not even be knowledgeable enough to know to ask for!), rather than a “push” process, where the information is pushed out to all residents.
A more informed community, is a happier, healthier, and better community, in my opinion. I hope that we may all learn from this process, and be better for it going forward. I’ve certainly learned much that I didn’t know before.
Endorsements and Promises
I’ve been giving thought to standard campaign practices lately. Two of them are campaign endorsements and promises. I’d like to talk for a moment about each, if I may.
Endorsements
Frankly, I don’t believe in them. They amount to a form of peer pressure, and I find them insulting to myself and my fellow citizens. The concept of endorsements suggests that citizens are too ignorant to make their own choices, and must rely on the opinions of others to form their own thoughts. I believe that anyone that pushes endorsements or seeks them thinks less of myself and my fellow citizens. I think more highly of us than that. I think we are wise enough to look at each candidate on an individual level, and decide for ourselves the measure of their worth and their words, and decide for ourselves whether we align with that candidate on the issues.
To that point, I will neither seek nor give any endorsements. Now, you may see some of my signage around town and consider this a hypocrisy to my previous statement. I, however, do not see these as endorsements, but rather as citizens that believe in free speech and have decided that the message on my sign is inoffensive enough to be worth being posted publicly. I do not expect their vote, nor do I expect them to pressure others to vote for me. A person with my signage on their lawn may or may NOT be voting for me. They may or may NOT believe in anything that I say or write. They just believe that information should be spread, so that the electorate has the ability to make the wisest choice possible.
I would be happy to share lawn space with any of my “competitors” for office, and I invite any local candidate running for Fall Creek office to place their signage on my lawn. More information is always better than less. When it comes to the state or national levels however? That’s where I have to be a bit more “choosy” because of how strongly tribalism has invaded those realms.
Promises
Promises can be hard to keep when you are in a governmental body that contains more than just yourself. Making outlandish promises like that you’ll make X or Y happen can just lead to disappointment if others in that body don’t share your views. As such, it would not be wise to make such promises. However, what I can promise is my own behavior.
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Flyer
A lot of people are doing these “flyer” things. So here’s mine:
Fall Creek School Board Meeting Informational Packet 01.16.2023
School Board Meeting 01.16.2023
The Dream List
On my mind today, with the primary coming in a little bit over a month, I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to see happen if I can get onto either the Village Board or the School Board. So, I’ve made a short “dream list” of what I’d like to see happen in Fall Creek, my ideal ultimate goals. Now, mind you, these goals are not my PRIORITIES. No, my priorities as I’ve stated in the past is to ensure that the boards are more accountable and transparent to their constituency, and that we continue to gradually improve over time. These are the “perfect world” goals that I have set, and I would hope that most of my fellow citizens would agree to these goals.
- The Fall Creek School District becoming the highest academically achieving district in the state, rather than sitting at 142 out of 420. Frankly, we haven’t broken the top third of districts for the past decade. I’d like to see that change, and for us to celebrate academic achievement more and more.
- The Fall Creek Pond as a swimmable recreation option. As it stands right now, it’s so full of sludge and muck, that I wouldn’t want to push my worst enemy into it. I’d love to see it one day crystal clear, and allow my kids to happily swim in it.
- Fall Creek having our own indoor multipurpose Recreation Center, similar to Chesterfield Virginia’s Mayes-Colbert Ettrick Recreation Center. That town has a population a little over twice as large as ours, and they have THREE different indoor recreation centers, while we have only our Village Hall. (I did have the words “dear little” in there before, which I meant sincerely, but my inlaws believed that it could be misconstrued as insulting, so I removed it from that spot), which is fine, for small meetings like the board meetings, but not so good for things like, say, small concerts, plays, art gallery exhibitions, and other such things. Come this spring, we will have THREE baseball/softball fields that sit useless for half the year during our more frigid months, while we have ZERO public indoor entertainment venues that could be used year-round.
Again, this is my “pie in the sky” list of things I’d like to see someday. But, I’m not an autocrat, nor a dictator, just the opposite. If my fellow citizens don’t want these things, then I won’t push for them. But I hope they do. These are just my hopes to help make Fall Creek a desired home, for now, and for tomorrow.
Village Board Meeting 01.09.2023
Fall Creek Village Board Trustee Ballot Order
The names have been drawn, and below you can see the names of all of the individuals competing for three open spots on the Village Board. I have denoted incumbents with an asterisk (*) and attempted to link next to all candidates’ names either their official website(s), and/or their social media page(s), if I could find them, so that you can learn more about us.
- Karen Hurd* – Election Website, Business (2), 2022 Assembly Election (2), Personal Facebook (may be old/out of date)
- Mark Pranckus – Personal Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
- West Bennett – You’re on my election website, Facebook (2), LinkedIn
- Dusty Levasseur – Personal Facebook
- Karen Herbison* – Business, Facebook, LinkedIn
- Matt Mattoon* – Personal Facebook
If any of this information is inaccurate, please contact me and I will correct it immediately. Good luck to all those participating.
Mobile Site Now Functioning
It had been brought to my attention that the mobile version of my site wasn’t displaying properly to some users. I believe that I have the issue resolved, and the site should now work for all users, on either mobile devices or desktop computers.