One of the reasons I started this blog was to respond to comments made on another blog of a local resident and former politician, Mr. Scott Noble.
Scott has pretty strong views on most things, including me.
Here is a link to his blog, it won't take long to find a story about me, he writes about me a lot. http://scottkennethnoble.blogspot.com/
Scott was a former Alderman, appointed by the Common Council to fill the term of a former Alderman who resigned. he was appointed to the 4th District Council Seat in mid-2009. In 2010, Mr. Noble ran for election for the seat he had been appointed to and lost to Alderman Gordy Earll. Mr. Earll is a favorite target of Mr. Noble as well.
Usually his posts about me revolve around the facts that I am "Anti-Walker" and that I "Ran around Madison with a poster of Governor Walker with a Hitler Mustache". These are untrue.
I've met Governor Walker and he is a likeable guy. I think we'd probably have a good time talking over a beer, but not about politics.
I will be striaght up honest here, I don't agree with everything Governor Walker has done. More specifically, I don't agree with the way in which he did it. As a State Employee, it is easy to assume I am bent out of shape about collective bargaining, but honestly, that isn't nearly as big of a concern to me as many of the other priorities and actions put forward in the last several years (including those before Governor Walker was elected). I actually supported reforms to collective bargaining, but didn't think it needed to be irradicated.
The actions that have me the most upset have nothing to do with Collective Bargaining. They have to do with something the Republican's have always been protectors of until recently, local control.
I am a big fan of keeping big government out of our lives. I understand and accept the role that Federal and State laws have in our everyday lives, but when control is removed from the local governments, then the local residents lose their ability to govern their communities. They elect fellow residents to serve on City Councils and School Boards so that they can have their voices heard and specfic actions taken locally to design their communties and schools the way they see fit. That is slowly being eroded as the State mandates controls that municipalities must follow.
Now, it's tough to argue that some change wasn't needed...it was. I don't think everything Governor Walker has done was bad, but the manner in which it was done it is not right. It might be legal, it might even be democratic, but it isn't right.
When you are the majority party, you have the ability to do whatever you want, something we have seen in Madison. That doesn't mean you should. Ignoring the minority party and playing partisan politics is a fast road to nowhere. We need compromise more than ever and I don't see it. At all. on EITHER side.
Does that make me a Democrat? Probably not. Those who have engaged me in political conversations know that I certainly am not a extremely liberal or conservative. As this blogs title may imply, I fall in the middle. I lean to the left on social issues and to the right on fiscal issues; most of the time.
Did I signt he recall petition? No.
Why?
Because as Mayor, I represent all residents, those who support the Governor and those who don't and even those who don't care. Personally, I think recalls are wrong. When elected the last thing you should be worried about is a recall. I said the same thing when Senator Lassa was being recalled, though that recall was hugely unsucessful. You are elected and you serve. If you do a good job, you get re-elected, if you don't, then someone else gets a chance.
Mr. Noble is free to post whatever he wants. He has the freedom to do that and I support that. I will do the same. However, when he posts things that are blatantly false or convey incorrect facts in an effort to steer opinions his way, I will respectful rebutt his claims, and I'll provide facts.
No comments:
Post a Comment