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Dear Friend, At the Fitchburg Common Council meeting on Feb. 25, there were numerous charges of spreading "misinformation" leveled at those of us who
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 Working to preserve the land west of Lake Waubesa from poorly planned development |
Dear Friend,
At the Fitchburg Common Council meeting on Feb. 25, there were numerous charges of spreading "misinformation" leveled at those of us who circulated our petition, and now I'm going to confess: I did spread misinformation in our last e-newsletter, though when I wrote it I thought it was true. Here it is:
"Speaking to the Council is actually a painless procedure. Very few speakers get questioned (unless they are experts) and Fitchburg alders are always polite to the public." |
 Rich Eggleston testifying |
It turns out that's false, as evidenced by Alder Richard Bloomquist's angry outburst against Fitchburg resident Rich Eggleston, who spoke against the motion. Alder Bloomquist took offense at Eggleston's recent letter to the editor where he compared Fitchburg's recent spate of development to a drunken binge.
I'm sorry for my false statement and I pledge to be more hard-nosed in assessing the manners of Fitchburg officials.
(Click here and then go to 1:01:10 on the timeline to see the Alder Bloomquist outburst, then back up to 00:57:45 to see Rich Eggleston's statement. For former alder Ron Johnson's reaction, go to 1:14:30.) |
 Holly Adams giving testimony |
The bad news
Yes, it's bad news: bad for Fitchburg's taxpayers, and bad for Fitchburg's democracy. Six alders voted in favor of submitting applications to the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) for Urban Service Area Amendments for the Northeast and North Stoner Prairie Neighborhoods. They were:
• Alder Carol Poole
• Alder Patrick Stern
• Alder Richard Bloomquist
• Alder Jason Gonzalez
• Alder Dan Carpenter
• Alder Becky Baumbach
(Mayor Shawn Pfaff was also in favor, but the mayor only votes to break a tie.)
Here's what they ignored when they voted yes:
• 625 voting-age Fitchburg residents signed our petition against bringing the Northeast Neighborhood into the Urban Service Area at this time,
• about 72 people turned out on a frigid night to oppose the motion,
• 66 people registered in opposition to the motion, and
• 12 people spoke against it. One of my favorite speeches was by Holly Adams, a resident of the NEN. Click here to see the video and forward to 00:43:40. |
In contrast,
• nobody signed a petition for it,
• 10 people registered in favor of it,
• 5 people spoke in favor of it, and
• 3 businesses or groups wrote letters in favor of it.
Two stalwart alders voted against the motion:
• Alder Steve Arnold
• Alder Dorothy Krause
Alder Arnold was especially eloquent, factual, and persistent in his arguments against it. Here's a memo where you can read a lot of what he said at the meeting. |
The good news: we can still appeal to CARPC, and we will!
Some time in the next couple of months the Fitchburg proposals will be on the CARPC's agenda, and the meeting will probably be held at the Fitchburg City Hall, if history is any precedent. That will make it convenient for local residents who would be affected by the developments to come and testify against the proposals.
I'm going to risk my credibility again by saying that I have never witnessed a CARPC Commissioner being hostile or rude to a member of the public who testified, so I hope you will be willing to share your opinions with them! The arguments we make will need to be different though: the CARPC is only allowed to judge an Urban Service Area Amendment Application (USAAA) on water issues. So talking about how your taxes are likely to go up won't cut any ice with the CARPC: we need to make arguments about the dangers to the waters: surface waters like streams, lakes, wetlands; groundwater and springs; water contamination; flooding; erosion and silting from storm water; etc.
In the next two months we'll inform you about some of the water-related dangers that we see in these proposals. In the meantime, you can browse the fitchburgvoices blog, where we have collected letters and testimony on the water issues around the proposed Northeast Neighborhood development since 2007. |
A new petition
Our 625-signature petition was addressed to the Fitchburg Common Council, asking them to not submit a USAAA for the Northeast Neighborhood. We have a copy of those petitions that we'll give to the CARPC to show community opposition. But we'll also start a new petition addressed to the CARPC, with points about water.
We have maybe 2 months to increase the visibility of this issue, so please help us circulate this petition. It will not only produce evidence of controversy (important for any public body being asked to turn something down), it also gives us a way to talk to people about the issue. We'll let people sign it if they signed the first one, but we'll keep a count of how many signed both, so that we don't appear to be trying to inflate our numbers. |
Help us petition on Election Day, April 1
On April 1 there will be an election in the northwestern part of Fitchburg, as current County Supervisor Dorothy Krause (that's the same person as Alder Dorothy Krause) runs for re-election. Her opponent is Alder Patrick Stern. If you live in the 27th District (shown below), hopefully you'll be voting.
And for your information, Dorothy Krause voted against opening up 2 new neighborhoods for development, and Patrick Stern (who works in the building industry) voted in favor. |
 This map shows County Supervisor District #7. It's southern border is McKee Rd., and Fish Hatchery Rd. makes its eastern border. |
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 Photo of the NEN by Nadia Olker |
Voters in the Oregon School District or Verona School District will also have an election, so there will be plenty of opportunities for us to gather petition signatures on April 1. Will you help? Election Day petitioning outside the polls is the most convenient way to gather signatures, since the people come to you! (Well, they come most of the way to you; you still need to walk up to them!)
If you can spend an hour or more on Election Day, please let us know at westwaubesa@gmail.com. The morning and evening hours are the most fruitful, but any time from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. is worthwhile. Though our petition has nothing to do with the election, we'll still stay 100 ft. away from the door to avoid problems. We'll train you on what to say to people.
We're not confined to Fitchburg for this petition. The CARPC is charged with protecting the waters of all of Dane County, and people from all over enjoy Lake Waubesa and its wetlands, so any Dane County resident of voting age can sign this new petition. |
A word about misinformation
It's really hard to sit still and quiet while people are making arguments that you could poke holes in if you only had the chance. It's even harder when they make false statements about you. At the Fitchburg Common Council meeting on Feb. 25, both things happened. For those of you interested, below my signature I'll include some of what I was thinking while listening to the alders discuss the issues. |
Thanks so much to all of you who did any of the following:
• signed our petition
• registered in opposition on Feb. 25
• spoke at the Common Council meeting
• wrote letters to the editor
• wrote, called, emailed or visited your alders and Mayor Pfaff
• came to the Curbside Chat or watched the video (click here to watch)
• donated money to the WWPC
• watched our 3-minute video and passed it on
• phonebanked
• told a friend about our issue
You are the reason that we keep on fighting!
We aren't done yet! Fitchburg deserves leaders who respect the people and look out for their interests. |
 The southern end of Lake Waubesa, looking northwesterly towards the Northeast Neighborhood.
Photo by Nadia Olker |
Yours,
Phyllis Hasbrouck
Chair of the West Waubesa Preservation Coalition
www.westwaubesa.org
westwaubesa@gmail.org |
 Phyllis Hasbrouck testifying |
If I could have answered them...
Notes on the arguments made at the Common Council meeting.
First of all, I was so proud of all of you who came out, who registered, and who spoke! Our first speaker held his ground admirably under testy questioning by Alder Poole as to where he got his information. (I did feel bad about my false assurance that non-experts would probably not be questioned, but he responded with admiral self-confidence!)
I also apologize if anybody's blood pressure went up as we were forced to listen to so much spin with no chance to answer it! Of course, I do recognize that the Council needs to have a chance to discuss among themselves after hearing from the public, but that doesn't change the frustration at not being able to answer faulty statements or untruths. |
 Alder Carol Poole |
Alder Poole repeats a lie and invents a new story
At the Feb. 18 Plan Commission meeting developer Phil Sveum said that "a few people" told him that they were told by someone asking them to sign the petition that "raw sewage would be pumped directly into Lake Waubesa."
This is a preposterous lie; none of us ever said such a thing. After Phil Sveum was done talking, I asked Alder Poole for a chance to refute the untrue charges that had been made, but she responded "You had your three minutes." So I just called out, 'Well, it's not true!"
So I find it most disturbing that Alder Poole repeated the fabrication during the debate on Feb. 25, and then spun a new story about us being out in 10 degree weather at people's doors saying, "Sign this or your taxes will go up!" Her presumption that people would sign it just to be able to shut the door shows that she must not have done much canvassing; people always ask us lots of questions before signing, and it's a lot easier to say no and shut the door than to sign!
In fact, we haven't gone door to door since it got so cold: November was our last time out. Since then we've been talking to people on the phone and through the mail and email. |
 Mayor Shawn Pfaff |
Imagined Dialogues
Here's how I would have answered some of the council members' arguments, if I could have.
Mayor Pfaff: Just because we bring an area in to the Urban Service Ares, development is not necessarily going to happen soon; it might be 1 or 2 years, or longer.
WWPC: This is not a valid argument. If people don't want something to happen, they are not impressed with the fact that it's not 100% sure to happen immediately.
Alder Poole: The developer pays to put in the infrastructure, not the taxpayers.
WWPC: We've always made that fact very clear. Don't try to make it look like we said anything different! But the taxpayers then have to pay to maintain, inspect, repair, and eventually replace all of that infrastructure. |
Alder Poole: Just because land is brought into the Urban Service Area, doesn't mean that roads will be built immediately. And developers wouldn't build more than they can actually use, so you won't get empty neighborhoods that need street sweeping and plowing.
WWPC: It's true that land can sit vacant for years in the Urban Service Area with no infrastructure being built. But when a developer thinks that he can make money by building streets and selling lots to builders, it will be done. And if the builders guess wrong about the market, and homes don't get built, or if homes are built but not bought, it doesn’t matter to the developer, who has already made his millions.
And if it's true that developers never build more streets than are necessary, how does this happen? The picture below is a recent one of a neighborhood Sun Prairie, where some developer or builder obviously miscalculated the market. |
Well, there's a lot more that could be said, but we'll save that for a future newsletter! Thanks for all your help, and remember that we run on donations. So if you can give one, click here for a Paypal option, or info on where to send your check! Sorry - it's not tax-deductible, but it is a good investment in your community! |
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