Pin the Tail

No, I’m not talking about the U.S. President—he’s the same as he ever was, except that he’s not flanked by the same GOP Congress. (But, similar to the national level, here in Monroe County, local “Ws” are flanked by more Democrats thanks to a successful election on tuesday.)

New “W” is the newly appointed Republican City Councilman who has assumed Jason Banach’s old seat.

An open discussion took place at the Youth Services Advisory Board meeting yesterday concerning the lumbering juvenile services discussions that County Government has been having these past 15 or so years…last February the YSB Advisory Board was very helpful in stating a position of support for increasing the continuum of care for wayward youth in Monroe County. That was instrumental for influencing the County Council’s vote of support for moving forward with a plan called “Option 4″ that was discussed at a County Council Special Session entirely devoted to the needs of youth in Monroe County.

Yesterday, New “W” offered much needed insight to YSB Advisory Board that is newly gleaned from his vantage point as an appointee to the City Council. Some of the insight he shared was in response to points I mentioned about carrying legislation to the state in order that operating costs might be paid for with new revenue. In the past a food & beverage tax has been attempted. Both “W” and I spoke before the YSB Advisory Board about that being problematic.

A COIT increase is another possibility. Using a county option income tax for the purpose…when that purpose dwells inside something called a CREED— was a topic “W” had done substantive homework on. Interestingly he spoke of coming upon the same experience many of us who have initiatives find when first asking about such matters: it’s a puzzling revelation that hardly anyone among the full-time bureaucrats in government really knows how to answer seemingly pertinent questions off the top of their head.

It’s a good thing to have a New “W” who has his finger on the pulse of the Youth Services Advisory Board AND a newfound position to affect policies, legislation, public support or opposition, through the Bloomington City Council.

Is he a true fiscal conservative? Is he property-rights oriented? Is he civically engaged? It appears so—and all of those things are in keeping with his party’s traditional values.

It’s refreshing to find myself in a proactive board meeting where there is a direct bridge to the city government, particularly the City Council, in order that deliberative dialogue might take place. It’s now officially on record that a discussion of the reality of a needed tax increase for juvenile services has been conducted at an official meeting as of November 9th.

Now we’ll likely see that reality bites—pushing for a tax increase is going to get shoved around really hard but push has come to shove—not one more contracted study is going to prove anything other than that we’ve arrived at the point where we have to take the hardest steps if we’re going to pick ourselves up, on behalf of Monroe County youth services, and move forward to address children’s needs here at home.

The New “W” is Brad Wisler. He’s been an active public servant thus far through the YSB Advisory Board. He’s demonstrating energy and verve already—which already surpasses that of the outgoing “W” who will exit County Council at the end of December.

If the County Council might initiate establishing a Revenue Committee my personal wish is that it will be a joint committee between the County and the City. In the spirit of a bipartisan effort it would benefit from the kind of work New “W” is putting into his role, who’s showing that he’s reasonable, open, and sincerely interested.

Last spring I asked for all City Councilmen to please contact me with their thoughts about the County Council’s Special Session. I wrote them a letter and prepared a copy of the special session’s minutes for each of them. Only Councilman Andy Ruff spoke to me about the subject. We’ll be resuming a discussion related to it, in the context of a broader planning issue, soon.

Again, I say it is valuable that New “W” serves on a board where I have access to him. This is an example of the healthy results to be found by having a presence of both political parties at a table.

Keep your eye on Councilman Wisler and let him know how you feel about issues, especially youth issues, if he’s your representative. Insist that he serve you as a dynamic New “W.”

This entry was posted on Friday, November 10th, 2006 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Current Council, city-county. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.