If it were raining right now, it’d be like a monsoon outside. Not only is the snow coming down hard, but it’s being blown around thanks to thirty to forty mile per hour winds. Add to that the fact that we live within 400 yards of Lake Michigan - and get all the lake effect snow as well - and you can imagine what it’s like outside right now.
However, in case you were still wondering, here’s a few pictures…
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I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a supporter of Pat Jursik for the 8th District’s County Supervisor seat, and I think I’ve made it abundantly clear I dislike Chris Kujawa’s brand of politics. Today was election day here in the 8th District, and I’m pleased that despite a barrage of user-submitted stories in favor of Kujawa on SouthMilwaukeeNOW.com, preliminary results of today’s election have Pat Jursik winning the County Board seat for the 8th District. The vote wasn’t nearly as close as I expected, with Jursik taking 3,104 votes to 2,622 for Kujawa.
Jursik can’t get too comfortable though, because her newly-won seat will be up for re-election in April of 2008. I anticipate we’ll see Chris Kujawa run again, since he doesn’t strike me as the type to take no for an answer, and I’ve already decided I’m going make the Jursik re-election campaign my first foray into the sordid world of campaign volunteering.
According to an article submitted by Patty Kujawa, County Supervisor candidate Chris Kujawa has rejected the County Board’s plan to push a referendum that would raise the area’s sales tax by a penny, if approved. Kujawa’s position on this issue is interesting, given the fact that according to his own campaign website, he believes, “Public service needs to be about serving the best interests of the public.” Apparently, Mr. Kujawa believes serving the best interests of the public involves him deciding what’s best for his constituents, instead of allowing those constituents to decide for themselves. Mr. Kujawa’s disdain for letting the taxpayers of Milwaukee decide the issue for themselves in a referendum is exactly the kind of attitude we don’t need on the County Board, because the citizens of the 8th District deserve a Supervisor who trusts citizens enough to give them the opportunity to decide these kinds of issues for themselves. If Chris Kujawa can’t be bothered to trust the good people of the 8th District to make decisions for themselves, then how can the citizens of the 8th District trust him to provide us with the quality representation we deserve?
Chris Kujawa has made it clear he wants to be a County Supervisor so he can serve as nothing more than a rubber stamp for County Executive Scott Walker, a fact that should come as no surprise given their close relationship. Kujawa’s company has done over two hundred thousand dollars worth of work for the County, a fact that apparently escaped Mr. Kujawa’s memory during a recent interview, saying that fact “slipped his mind.” The citizens of the 8th District deserve more from their Supervisor than someone who’s perfectly content to vote in lockstep with the wishes of the County Executive, never mind the wishes of the citizens he hopes to be elected to serve.
The citizens of Milwaukee County’s 8th District deserve more than a “rubber stamp” from their Supervisor; they deserve real leadership that isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and think outside the box when necessary, and quite frankly, Chris Kujawa just can’t offer that kind of leadership.
I’m glad to see the South Milwaukee School Board recognizes the need for a full-time position in the district’s early childhood program. The EC program at Blakewood School seeks to better prepare children with autism before they reach school age, in hopes that the children can be “mainstreamed” into regular classes. According to the article, since the 2003-04 school year, the school district has gone from seven students recognized with autism spectrum disorders to 22 projected for the coming year. It’s obvious there’s a need for a full-time position, and I’m so pleased to see the School Board taking appropriate action to address the issue. What really amazes me is the fact that the School Board obviously did their research on the issue, with board President Brett Briesemeister saying, “We try to find kids who need help, as early intervention will help smooth the transition. If we catch kids early, they’re better off for the 12 years they are with us.”
It’s no secret early intervention is the key to success for children with autism, and I’m glad the folks on the School Board of South Milwaukee recognize that fact.
Next week Tuesday, voters will get to choose the next County Supervisor for Milwaukee County’s 8th District. I’ve talked a little about the two candidates, and I’ve expressed my misgivings about Chris Kujawa, given the relative lack of substantive information available about his issue positions on his website, and now comes a report in South Milwaukee NOW that Kujawa has said he’s only running in order to uphold County Executive Scott Walker’s vetoes of the County Board. I haven’t been able to find a link to the comments by Kujawa, which were apparently made to WisPolitics.com, so I don’t know for sure if that’s really what he said, but it wouldn’t surprise me, given the fact that he’s been endorsed by County Exec. Walker and seems just nutty enough to be a supporter of his.