Candidate Forum

Attend!

Eagle Forum of Wisconsin-Washington County will host a forum for candidates for Washington County Supervisors and District II Court of Appeals Judge, March 31, at 6:30 p.m.

The event will be held at the City Council Chambers, 1115 S. Main Street, West Bend.

The format will include an introductory statement by each candidate. Candidates will take turns answering questions and will be allowed conclusion time.

The moderator will be Randy Melchert, former state assembly candidate and political analyst.

Mounting Debt

Gross fiscal mismanagement. 

President Barack Obama’s budget proposal would generate bigger deficits than advertised every year of the next decade, with the shortfalls totaling $1.2 trillion more than the administration estimated, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The nonpartisan agency said today the deficit will remain above 4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product for the foreseeable future while the publicly held debt will zoom to $20.3 trillion, amounting to 90 percent of GDP by 2020. By then, interest payments on the debt will have quadrupled to more than $900 billion annually, the report said.

Deficits between 2011 and 2020 would total $9.76 trillion, the CBO said.

Economists generally consider deficits topping 3 percent of GDP to be unsustainable because that means government debt is growing faster than the ability to pay back the money.

This administration makes the folks at Enron and AIG look like pikers.

Restroom Access Act

Seriously?

People in need of speedy relief would get it under the Restroom Access Act, passed this week by the Assembly.

Those with severe bowel disorders could get state-approved cards that would let them use any retailer’s bathroom, even if it’s just for employees, under the legislation. The bill, approved Thursday on a voice vote, now goes to the Senate.

Common sense would dictate that if I’m a retailer and there’s a customer about to crap his pants in my store, I’d let him use the employee bathroom.  This strikes me as a solution in search of a problem.

Budget Discussions Continue

The West Bend School Board is still working toward a budget.  It’s worth paying attention now. 

Superintendent Pat Herdrich presented the administration’s proposed budget last month, along with a list of recommended reductions.

   The meeting Monday is the second of three meetings dedicated to the budget discussion.

   At the last meeting, Herdrich recommended making $2 million in reductions to bring the budget under the revenue caps and adjust to reduced state funding for schools.

   Herdrich said the recommendations, which include the elimination of the equivalent of 26.1 staff positions, have not changed since last month.

   The budget makes assumptions about student enrollment, state aid calculations and teacher wage increases, which are all presently unknown, Herdrich said, and the figures used in those areas are essentially placeholders until the actual numbers become available.

   The proposed budget also assumes the district will levy to the maximum allowable amount, Herdrich said. Additional reductions would need to be made if the district does not levy to the revenue capacity, she said.

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She added that a March 22 meeting will give community members an opportunity to provide “a deeper level of feedback.”

Please take the time to let the board know your thoughts.