tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45206497926597375272009-05-29T11:06:29.805-05:00Sounding board and Opinions of politics in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The views expressed in each post are solely the opinion of the author and should not be attributed to any other person or group.Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-33959398385446410702009-05-28T06:41:00.006-05:002009-05-28T20:17:49.702-05:00

On Tuesday night the Common Council made a selection from 15 applicants to fill the seat vacated by Mayor Esslinger on April 7th. Among the applicants was County Board Supervisor Jef Hall who, for the last 2 days, has been blogging on the "legality" of a conversation that took place during a 5 minute recess on Tuesday.The question that begs to be asked is: Was there anything that took place

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-38894633837376249292009-04-07T06:44:00.003-05:002009-04-07T07:00:32.642-05:00

I don't know what today will bring but here are my thoughts on how the races will shape up.Mayor-I think that this race is too close to call. Two years ago, this race came down to the final ward and had Frank edge Paul out at the end. I think that this year will be much of the same only with Paul victorious.Council-Palmeri, King, and Cummings. Unfortunately, there are three candidates outside the

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-11651856217517531032009-04-02T06:32:00.002-05:002009-04-02T06:51:59.997-05:00

I apologize for my absence. With working full time and taking a full load of college courses (12 credits) there is little time to read and post on blogs. I figured I wouldn't be missed much anyway.On April 7th, Oshkosh has a real opportunity to make a change in leadership with both the Council and School Board. There is no doubt that the common thoughts around town are on the referendum. With

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-75210362381302659132009-01-28T06:40:00.003-06:002009-01-28T06:51:34.287-06:00

Welcome to Wisconsin. Where there are two seasons... Winter and Road Construction. After reading the results of the council meeting last night, I am sure glad that I live in a good neighborhood. The reason that I say that is because I never would have thought that sidewalk snow removal was a problem. After all, we all chose to live here. It snows, we shovel. But after watching a week of debate

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-51706062413543809522009-01-14T06:40:00.003-06:002009-01-14T06:53:35.243-06:00

As you may have read in this mornings ONW, the Common Council has voted on the removal of the deer surrounding the Vulcan Quarry via sharpshooter. I for one think it is a good method and perhaps the most economical manner to do away with the animals.My reasoning for this is simple; if we attempt to relocate the deer, they may find their way back. It has been known in the wild that deer, if not

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-46231990376174641712008-12-10T17:55:00.004-06:002008-12-10T18:31:54.728-06:00

Election season that is. Now that winter is here, the partisan election has passed and now it is time to gear up for the local non-partisan election season.We will see many of the usual faces running for office this year. King and Palmeri have decided to run for re-election, Esslinger will challenge F. Tower for mayor, and Bryan Bain has declined to run citing personal reasons.For the OASD we

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-91940381263576429132008-11-11T07:03:00.002-06:002008-11-11T07:51:57.969-06:00

Today is Veterans Day. This is the day that we should all take a moment and thank our nations vets for their sacrifice to our country. For some that sacrifice was minimal. For others it was the ultimate.Today is a day that we need to set aside our differences and reflect on the freedom that we all enjoy and how we came upon that freedom. So, rather than wait until the 11th hour of the 11th day of

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-55397812339590389642008-10-17T06:54:00.002-05:002008-10-17T07:12:09.448-05:00

Sorry that I have been off the blogs for a while. I have been pretty occupied with work and school so there is little time to spend typing about stuff with little or no impact.A few weeks ago Akcess development backed out of the Riverfront project and attempted to hand the reigns to the Dumke group. I understand why they did that. Akcess was on the hook and would be held responsible for the

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-8444534643631710662008-09-19T14:55:00.005-05:002008-09-19T15:14:47.153-05:00

I would like to take a moment to extend our condolences and prayers to the Bender family.Ken Bender passed yesterday at Theda Clark. Ken was a pillar in this community for his entire life. He was extremely passionate about Oshkosh and was regularly seen addressing the Council on Tuesday night. Even over the last few years when his health was poor, he would be right there fighting for Oshkosh. I

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-88558438548455598662008-09-13T11:36:00.003-05:002008-09-13T12:01:23.797-05:00

This morning we wake up to see that Akcess has requested out of the Riverfront project. Blaming the crash of the housing market and poor economic times, they feel that the Dumke's are better suited to develop and manage the property.Let me preface my comments by saying that I supported Akcess despite their desire to build an office complex on the site. I attended the first meeting at City Hall

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-63036790549207944102008-08-20T21:11:00.002-05:002008-08-20T21:23:33.240-05:00

In todays ONW we see that Susan Kepplinger has inserted her extensive architectural background in a project to renovate a residence in the Near East Neighborhood. On a house with a porch that has serious structural problems she objected to the owner using modern treated lumber because it is square rather than round from the "period" that it was originally constructed.One question I have is...

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-64822923913687978442008-08-12T19:32:00.003-05:002008-08-13T07:20:19.031-05:00

I have spent a little time reading what has been posted online about the OASD selection for Superintendent walking away from his offer made last week. I have to say, it is an absolute JOKE that people in this community could actually think that ONE PERSON could have the influence to prevent him from taking the job. I would like to point some things out that I feel NEED to be pointed out... I will

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-46221562793929081222008-07-10T22:17:00.003-05:002008-07-11T09:44:16.053-05:00

Tonight we see in the news that part of Oshkosh are again flooded. I truly feel for people like Lori Stang that just replaced all of her appliances just to watch them get ruined again within hours.When will the city learn?I have spoken out on the purpose and viability of retention ponds. I am not convinced that they will do what the public thinks that they will do. Sure, they will reduce the

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-10409150631623975172008-06-25T21:43:00.003-05:002008-06-25T22:07:17.461-05:00

That is a question that has been lingering for a while now. If you have read the news, you know that approximately 50% of Oshkosh had some type of water damage from the storm. Most of the central city had their sewer back up into the basement creating quite a mess. That mess was raw sewage, not storm water.Now back to the question... what good would storm water retention do? How would that solve

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-87918800434570849622008-06-18T11:47:00.004-05:002008-06-18T23:04:14.220-05:00

There appears to be great debate over making Westhaven Golf Course a water retention area. There were even comments made by Mr. Patek after the first round of storms on June 7th/8th that some flooding could have been avoided if there was water retention there.I don't believe for one minute that flooding could be avoided on as large of a scale as he would like us to believe. What purpose would a

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-69391659313928934562008-06-07T13:32:00.004-05:002008-06-09T14:07:45.108-05:00

That is one question that has long been going through my mind. The opinion of many that I know can tell you that there is a great deal of influence. There isn't much doubt that money drives politics. That will always be true. Just look at recent elections and you will see that the candidates that raise the most and spend the most get the votes on election day. I really don't think that the

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-88140246592813376592008-06-04T18:54:00.002-05:002008-06-04T19:07:38.393-05:00

I found out this evening that our Acting City Manager will have the sundial replaced in Oprah House Square tomorrow (6/5). Just one week after we heard him at the Council meeting telling Council Members not to worry. That it wouldn't be put back until a decision can be made to an alternate location.I guess the "powers that be" in the community have spoken and convinced the City Manager to put it

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-40024648341153244722008-05-27T22:29:00.003-05:002008-05-27T22:52:24.731-05:00

After watching painfully for more than 3 hours and through countless amendments to the Chamber resolution, I wonder if there has ever been a more controversial issue that the council has faced?Most of the public comment in favor of this development have something to gain with it. Those who don't, didn't want to hear it. There were a few that would just a soon see the land given to the Chamber to

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-27853391042323530602008-04-16T12:07:00.002-05:002008-04-16T12:22:11.491-05:00

This is something that Oshkosh has needed for a long time. Universal Studios has brought Hollywood to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is definitely a positive thing not only for Oshkosh but specifically downtown.I took some time last night to tour downtown and take some pictures. It is amazing how the movie company has transformed our downtown back to the 1930's era. Talk about an investment for a few

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-70865392092492128362008-03-27T18:50:00.003-05:002008-03-27T20:23:07.627-05:00

As most of you know, the city is currently considering the purchase of the Westhaven Golf Course to convert it into a wetland and allow for water retention on the west side/Sawyer Creek. On the surface, it seems like a good idea. The down side is what isn't widely known at this point. Most of the numbers I am seeing are not set in stone but are close enough to give the public an idea what is

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-19941640811752659832008-03-20T12:11:00.002-05:002008-03-20T12:26:15.209-05:00

I heard on WOSH this morning and read in the ONW that Mr Rikker reported to the RDA that they may not make the end of year deadline on value/construction due to lack of interest or commitment from potential tenants. He stated that he is "in this for the long run" and that they continue to pursue potential occupants so that this project can move forward.I, like many, thought that this project

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-51474525540386481452008-03-17T20:20:00.003-05:002008-03-17T21:22:09.009-05:00

In the last couple of weeks, we have been seeing some local organizations endorse candidates for local offices. How important is this show of support? What if the bulk of the group doesn't agree with the committee that made the decision?I read some posts created by Cheryl Hentz that got my attention. I didn't think too much of it until I read an anonymous comment on Michelle's site that led me in

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-90030800364480798752008-03-14T08:13:00.002-05:002008-03-14T08:44:29.382-05:00

I am beginning to really wonder if anything is possible on that riverfront. Although the plans to create development this time around looked really good, it appears that the development has reached a stalemate due to lack of interest with tenants.The developer is making the right choice not to break ground. It is much better to put off developing a site than spending millions of dollars just to

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-90651656625770076922008-02-13T22:37:00.003-06:002008-02-14T17:21:47.511-06:00

With every plan there comes consequences. A prime example was presented to the OASD Board by Tim Hess tonight. He stated that some of his students have developed a website that you can type in your address and see how much your property value would decrease if this 10 year plan includes all of the closures and K-3 4-8 restructuring.Feel free to visit the site and see how far your value will

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4520649792659737527.post-42393260616099807142008-01-29T19:38:00.000-06:002008-01-29T20:04:28.181-06:00

Just a short post to give some a chance to give some opinions on the current events happening in Oshkosh. I know, the title is tacky but I couldn't resist.1. Floating docks. Looks like we are getting them, like it or not. The DNR is also getting their way by making the section of the river between Main Street and the Railroad Bridge "no wake" and no anchor. Sorry boaters that wanted to anchor for

Kent Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118011041353746630noreply@blogger.com6