Menomonee Falls trustee frustrated by the lack of transparency in village government

VILLAGE OF MENOMONEE FALLS – When village Trustee Paul Tadda received a letter of concern from one of his constituents, he said it was a call to action.

The letter was from an overseas service member on a 10-month deployment. His wife lives in a Menomonee Falls home near the site of a December crime that Tadda described as “brazen.”

Two juveniles attempted to grab a woman’s purse in broad daylight while she was walking close to her house in the 9500 block of Joper Road. The serviceman said this made his wife uncertain of her safety.

Although crime is down throughout the village, Tadda said he’s having a difficult time responding to residents who bring it up to him as a concern.

“I just want information, to see where I can help and find out how to address resident fears,” he said. “It’s about having an inactive board member mindset vs. an active one.”

This led him and fellow Trustee Jeremy Walz to ask for additional information from village staff on Jan. 21. Those requests were: to have the board review and approve its yearly calendar of scheduled meetings, to receive a yearly report on emergency services and to set up a meeting with representatives of local retailers — including Woodman’s grocery store — to discuss ways to curb criminal activity on their premises.

But those requests didn’t go over well with other board members. Trustees Randy Van Alstyne, Bonnie Lemmer and Village President Dave Glasgow voted against each one.

“When oversight isn’t robust, bad things happen,” said Tadda, who is up for re-election this spring. “From what I saw, the other board members are happy with the amount of information they’re getting now, which is basically the same amount of information the public gets.”

Read more at https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/northwest/news/menomonee-falls/2019/01/28/menomonee-falls-trustee-wants-more-transparency-village-government/2649200002/

TAX INCREMENTAL FINANCING IS A RECIPE FOR ABUSE

THE LEGISLATURE SHOULD FIX THE COMPLEX PROCESS THAT BENEFITS DEVELOPERS AND POLITICIANS AT THE EXPENSE OF TAXPAYERS

By RICHARD ESENBERG for the Spring Issue of Diggings

Tax incremental financing might seem to be a dry and technical subject. The details are real green-eyeshade stuff. But their impact on the political process teaches us a tantalizing lesson: Tax incremental financing is an occasion of sin.

There are two problems — one related to the obscure and difficult to understand nature of tax incremental districts (TIDs) and the other related to the simple way in which politicians can sell them. In other words, what we can’t see is critical and what we do see can be misleading.

Let’s start with the fuzzy stuff. The idea behind tax incremental financing (TIF) is that a subsidy to a developer is necessary to cause the development to happen. Because the subsidy is “paid for” from the taxes levied on new development that would not otherwise occur, the creation of a TID is supposedly a win-win. But determining whether the conditions for the creation of a TID and whether the subsidized development would not otherwise occur is a complicated inquiry.

Read more at RightWisconsin…

Fox 6 News Catches Dave Glasgow in a Lie

Watch online:

http://fox6now.com/2018/03/29/beyond-unacceptable-menomomee-falls-apartment-project-misses-key-deadline/

But it’s what Trustee David Glasgow said just before the vote that caught some of his colleagues off guard.

“We’ve been getting regular status updates from Mark Fitzgerald about the delays and worker shortages,” Glasgow said in comments addressed to the developer during the meeting.

His fellow trustee, Katie Kress, said she does not recall any updates given to the board about project delays.

“I was surprised,” she said. “I don’t believe that is an honest statement.”

Walz also says no updates were given to the board.

“I don’t ever recall getting an update on these delays that were happening,.”

But in an interview with FOX6 Investigators, Glasgow doubled down on that claim.

“All seven of us have known for quite some time – we’re talking 6,7,8 months – of the delays involving the developer and what they were experiencing,” he said.

“Were you getting emails? Were you getting memos? How were you getting these updates?” asked FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn.
“In meetings,” he replied.

What meetings? Glasgow said it was discussed in at least one closed session in January and possibly open sessions of the Community Development Authority. However, a FOX6 Investigators review of Menomonee Falls Village Board records shows the Riverwalk on the Falls project hasn’t appeared as a discussion item on any meeting agenda since 2016 — open or closed. And Glasgow never did specify a particular meeting in which the delays were discussed.

Did Dave Glasgow compare Romney voters to Nazi soldiers?

For the last few days we’ve been getting calls from people referring to Dave Glasgow as “Crazy Dave”. They said he had some very disturbing views and was extremely intolerant of people who vote differently than he does. We pushed for the proof and got it. During the 2012 election cycle Crazy Dave likened Romney voters to Nazis!! Here it is.

—- Original Message —–
From: “Dave & Marion Glasgow” <dmglasgow@aol.com>
To: <dmglasgow@aol.com>
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 1:14 AM
Subject: Elections and Christians

Thoughts worth considering………

I throw in my vote for one evil man or the other to “rule” over the lives of millions who will suffer under such “rule”, and thus I bear a certain responsibility. There’s no way of getting around that. Do we see no inherent conflict with preaching Christ, while bearing the fruit of supporting, condoning, even bringing into prominence evil, or evil people? I don’t see how we can use the reasoning “well, it wasn’t my fault”, any more than Nazi soldiers can say “it wasn’t my fault, I was just following orders”. And I don’t see how we can preach standing for holiness and righteousness on the one hand, condemning ungodly rulers elsewhere, then vote for an ungodly ruler for our own country, under the pretext that he isn’t “as bad” as the other guy. Once we go down that “lesser evil is better than worse evil” road of compromise, we have opened the door to all manner of “lesser evil” and as a result have lost the principle of purity and holiness.

I am not against voting in general. But I cannot reconcile preaching truth and righteousness on one hand, while on the other hand helping to place in power over the culture (and in reality, that’s exactly what voting for a ruler does), a man and his administration which is, or signs into law, what is contrary to that same truth and righteousness.

A recent article entitled “A Vote For Romney is a Vote for the LDS Church” written by Warren C. Smith contains a quote I completely agree with:

“To elect a Mormon President is to advance the cause of the Mormon Church. Non-Christians likely don’t care much about this point one way or the other. But for the Christian, this is a vital issue. . . . The validation of the false religion of Mormonism would almost certainly have the effect of leading many astray. Evangelical Christians should have no part of that effort. . . . A Romney presidency would have the effect of actively promoting a false religion in the world. If you have any regard for the Gospel of Christ, you should care. A false religion should not prosper with the support of Christians. The salvation of souls is at stake.”

Amen!

How many board meetings did Dave Glasgow miss in one year?

Dave Glasgow has missed 5 board meetings in the span from October of 2016 through September of 2017. Interestingly, Dave Glasgow has not served a full term on the Village Board.

Supervisor Brandtjen congratulates Pridemore on retirement

Earlier today State Rep. Don Pridemore announced his retirement.

Waukesha County Supervisor Janel Brandtjen (District 5 – Menomonee Falls) congratulates Representative Don Pridemore on his retirement announcement.

“Don Pridemore has been the conservative’s conservative since he was elected in 2004 to the State Assembly. I have looked up to Don as a mentor over the years and have appreciated his insights and wisdom.

“No legislator has been as accessible as Don has; I would always know that he would take my phone call if it was concerns over legislation affecting the county or helping a constituent with government services.

“Too many legislators believe in being ‘career politicians’ – when Don ran for office he pledged to fight for the conservative message, accomplish his mission, and not make a career out of being in office. Today, Don has finished his race, and everyone in his district is the better for him having served us in Madison.

“Whether it has been relentless advocacy for the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, advocating for school choice as Chair of the Assembly Urban Education committee, defending the Second Amendment, respect for the sanctity of human life, or standing with Governor Walker on Act 10, conservatives knew that Don Pridemore did not just have their back, he was leading the charge. You have earned a well-deserved retirement.”