Muskego's Finest Hour or Greatest Embarrassment?

If I could post a report card on the Tuesday night public input session and Common Council meeting, it may go like this:

Public Participation: A

Residents for and against the issue came to state their case and represented what is the very root of our political system, the right to speak your mind in an open forum without fear of retaliation. (In other words, no one is exiled or lives in prison or has had their business taken away from them.) That's a win for everyone.

Content: B-

Issues were presented in an overall clear and concise manner, without a single utterance of Parkland Mall at the podium. However, school spending keeps creeping back into these discussions, and they have nothing to do with the Common Council's jurisdiction. The Muskego-Norway Schools are a separate taxing body, and they meet Mondays twice a month. In a different building. With a separate board. Additional hyperbole was thrown out there from both sides. Muskego will not become a tax hell, nor will we be beating tourists off with sticks should this park become a reality.

Equally odd were mentions of Charles Damaske to argue in favor of the park (something about grudges), and the story of a sight-impaired boy who was told he couldn't get the walking trail by the council. (Actually, he first presented the request to council, who deferred the matter to Parks and Rec, which is where that budgeted item would fall. Parks and rec moved that project up for this year and will be a 1.8 mile completion of a trail along Woods Road. Plans have recently been completed for this and presented to the public just recently.)

Conduct: C

I'm being generous here. While I get the idea that it's the new state sport to yell out at public officials trying to conduct a meeting, I'm baffled at the behavior leveled against fellow residents who are simply exercising their right to speak. I disagree with people, but I've said I can learn a lot more from those I disagree with if I hear what they have to say that to try and yell over them. That doesn't mean I'm going to be swayed, but it does help me hear their concerns. Was it that difficult to exercise courtesy and decorum, or were you hoping for a spot on the evening news?

Council Meeting: C

In an earlier COW meeting it was felt that public input should apply to things on the open agenda, as questions asked by the public could later be answered in council discussion. While I did hear an explanation of the choice of venue and how this proposal differed from the earlier project called Bring Back the Lake, I didn't hear if the council would be willing to talk with the developer regarding a potential referendum, and what that might do to his offer. (We'll be doing that, instead.)

Discussion was also stunningly short. I was surprised that Kert Herenda did not take the microphone to any great degree, and he has been an outspoken opponent of the process leading up to Tuesday. Most of the time was spent in motions to amend the original resolution, and blaming the parks director for not having an estimate on a park he has no designs for.

Outcome: Incomplete

Although a 4-3 vote was cast in favor of the resolution, petitions being circulated may still halt the proceedings, and force a referendum. While this presents an air of indecisiveness, my hope is that neighbors don't end up ramping up their rhetoric and this gets really ugly.

I felt the lowest point of the evening came when a speaker said the goal should be to make Muskego a destination, to snide laughter, and a follow up speaker mocked the idea to applause. I'm not sure what the message in that was, but it would seem like people laughing at the city's potential, which does take hard work and vision, would prefer we remain apologetic for living here. It's like introducing your kids to someone and saying, "they're mine, but they're never going to amount to anything."

If that's the message and the goal there, then Muskego certainly won't amount to anything, and for me that's not acceptable.