Inside New Berlin

It’s his first Christmas and Santa Baby can't wait for the milk and cookies.

Of course, li'l Santa will get some toys, too. Shopping for them was a bit of a challenge, given all of the recalls due to lead paint or other hazards.

We wish you a joyful holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

My son Ryan is a UW-Whitewater grad. Our family was excited and happy that the Whitewater Warhawks football team beat the formidable Mount Union Purple Raiders last weekend ----and won the NCAA Division III National Championship!

Congratulations UW-Whitewater!!!

More information about the Warhawks can be found on:  warhawkfootball.com

Want to purchase some championship apparel? The University of Wisconsin Whitewater’s web site provides helpful information/links.

Of course,  this has been an exciting season for the Packers and Brett Favre, too.  Sunday is Game Day: Packers vs. Bears in Chicago. Green Bay's record is 12-2, and one of those 2 losses was to the Bears.  Hopefully, today's Packers-Bears re-match will result in a Packers win and 13-2 record. 

Go Pack!!!!

Interested in football trivia and facts? Check out this link.

The New Berlin School Board’s request to continue holding regular monthly and any related special meetings at City Hall was approved by aldermen (4-2 vote) at the October 9 Common Council Meeting.

So, the School Board gets to use City Hall.  And it does not pay a user fee.  

That's ironic, considering-----

• We New Berlin residents/taxpayers aren’t allowed to use City Hall for meetings. (although our taxes pay/paid building, maintenance, repair, and utility costs for the facility)  Community and citizen groups including Scout troops and charitable organizations, are not permitted to have their meetings at City Hall. We can not have voters forums there, either. Why? Because the Common Council adopted a policy last year restricting the use of our City Hall to City staff, local elected and appointed officials, and Federal legislatures.
• The School Board has imposed user fees on the City (and other groups) for school facility use. But the School Board wants or expects to use City facilities (City Hall) for free?!!!!  What a double standard. (Of course, our taxes pay/paid building, maintenance, repair and utility costs for school facilities, too). 
• Last August, the School Board unilaterally canceled a contract signed in 1968 that required the District and City to negotiate any changes to that agreement, including changes in charges (such as increases) for use of school facilities (mostly by Park & Rec. Dept.). The SB unilaterally opted to charge for school facility use and sent a new contract to the City. See NewBerlinNow article containing this quote: “This is not going to be a negotiated contract with the city, board president Keith Heun said. “It’s going to be ‘here’s our terms and conditions'.”   ( The SB was unwilling to negotiate a contract? It resorted to 'my way or the highway' -type stance and swagger?!)
• The Common Council voted on December 11 to table its meeting agenda item “Agreement for Use of School Facilities-NB School District” after the City Attorney indicated there's an issue regarding any additional charges that may come up and how they are handled that needs to be resolved. There was some discussion on this topic at the Dec. 10 School Board Meeting, too.  
• At the December 10 School Board Meeting, District Superintendent Paul Kreutzer assured the School Board that the Use of School Facilities Agreement does not give preferential treatment to the City. The District could choose to approve requests by groups for school facility use on a first come, first serve basis, give city groups higher priority than county groups, or whatever. It was also mentioned that some groups made it known they’d like to reserve a school facility for the maximum time the District would allow. 

Community residents have easier access to information because some data is published online-

NewBerlinNow teamed with Family Watchdog, a national organization, to provide a map  showing where registered sex offenders are living and working in New Berlin, as well as information about those individuals.

The New Berlin Police Department recently became the first in the state to offer an online service (run through CrimeReports.com), which allows citizens to view crime reports. Residents can also request daily, weekly or monthly email alerts with reports of crimes within a specified distance of their address. See NewBerlinNow article for more information.

The state Web site Wisconsin Circuit Court Access provides brief summaries of court actions from speeding tickets and civil actions to felonies. But this service has been targeted by some state lawmakers, who sponsored a bill to limit access to those online public records.

The bill would require people wanting to see court records to go to county courthouses, fill out a request form stating their name, address, and relationship to the person whose records they want to view, and wait while county officials decide whether the request is reasonable or not. But some folks would get special privileges--the bill allows judges, attorneys, and state newspaper reporters to continue to view the records online.

An article from Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, a non-profit group dedicated to open government (authored by Racine Journal Times editor Steve Lovejoy) sharply criticizes the bill. Arguing that court documents are public records in Wisconsin, it contends that making the records more difficult to view (or preventing them from being viewed) defies the state’s commitment to open government.  Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen also opposed the legislation, saying it would “exclude the general public from accessing information about court proceedings now available over the Internet absent special permission granted by government agents.” That, Van Hollen said, would “frustrate the state’s public policy in favor of public access to information.”

An October Journal Sentinel news story about a hearing that was held on the bill, reported that groups representing Wisconsin employers, landlords, and newspapers opposed the bill.

Hopefully, this backward bill, taken up by the Assembly Corrections and Courts Committee, won’t pass out of committee.

The Education Foundation of New Berlin is having its 6^th Annual Pancake Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007.

The Breakfast, which will be served in the Eisenhower High School Cafeteria located at 4333 S. Sunny Slope Road, New Berlin, is $7 per person, $5 for children 1-3, under 1 free. The 1^st Seating is at 8:30 am; 2^nd Seating is at 10 am.

In addition to Santa and pancakes/ sausage/ beverages breakfast, this event features:

• Bake sale, sponsored by Eisenhower Band parents
• Secret Santa Gift Shop, sponsored by Girl Scout Troop 42
• Raffles for nice prizes--purchase a $2 ticket for a chance to win items valued over $100.  There will also be a regular raffle (buy 6 tickets for $5) for a chance to win nifty “themed baskets” of items.
• Photos by you (bring your camera) and Walgreens.

Tickets for this event may be purchased at Citizens Bank of Mukwonago, which is located at 5450 S. Moorland Road, New Berlin.

Proceeds benefit students of New Berlin Public School District. The Education Foundation plans to purchase Smart Boards for both secondary schools (Eisenhower and West)

Questions? Call the Breakfast hotline: (262) 542-9273

NBCRG President Ralph Heun and his son Keith are fond of labeling people “conservative” or “liberal”. For example, Ralph Heun has referred to Tom Augustine as “conservative”.

Re:   Tom Augustine’s political activities/affiliations/history------

He has served as New Berlin Alderman (District 2) since 2002.

In 1998, Augustine was the Democratic Party’s candidate for State Assembly (District #98) against Republican incumbent Marc Duff (R-New Berlin). Duff won the election. He received more than twice as many votes as Augustine.

Tom Augustine has donated generously to Democratic candidates (according to data from non-partisan watchdog organizations/sites like Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, The Center for Responsive Politics, and opensecrets.org, which track money in politics and/or disclose campaign contribution information). Their data indicates Tom Augustine donated:

• $200 to Jim Doyle (Democrat) in 2006, $100 in 2005, $100 in 2004, $100 in 2002
• $100 to Kathleen Falk (Democrat) more than once
• $100 to Dawn Marie Sass (Democrat)
• $100 to Chad VanDierendonck (Democrat), who ran for State Assembly seat against the incumbent Scott Jensen (Republican).
• Over $400 to Roger Danielson (Democrat), a Waukesha School Board member who ran for state Assembly.

Data indicates Tom Augustine donated $500 in 2004 to Senator Russ Feingold. (Democrat) and publicly endorsed Feingold for re-election. In fact, a 2004 Feingold Senate Committee Press Release specifically mentions: “Alderperson Tom Augustine of the City of New Berlin” in its “City Officials for Russ” endorsement document. See http://www.russfeingold.org/article_text.php?id=135

Is this the record of a “conservative”?

Ralph Heun/ NBCRG’s blog calls Augustine “conservative”. Vern Bentley and New Berlin School Board President Keith Heun have also tried to paint Augustine as “conservative”.

Their notion of a “conservative” politician is someone like Tom Augustine, a politically active Democrat who ran for state office trying to unseat a New Berlin Republican incumbent? An individual who has been a staunch supporter of Democratic candidates, such as Jim Doyle, Russ Feingold, Roger Danielson and has contributed generously to numerous Democratic campaigns? And who has used his position as City alderman to lend support to a Democratic Senator’s campaign????

Well, regardless of whether Augustine is “conservative” or “liberal” (or however Heun/Heun/Bentley try to spin it),  he’s a public official and accountable for his actions/record.