Village hall opponents sweep top spots in Pewaukee primary
Six advance in village board race

From the February 22, 2006 Waukesha Freeman article

To read entire article go to:
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2006/Feb_06/02222006_06.asp

From the February 21, 2006 Lake Country Reporter
Waukesha - A judge has authorized a warrant for the arrest of former City of Pewaukee Alderman Anthony Balistreri for not attending a court appearance Friday.
For full story, http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16164121&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=6

Group pushed for panel without elected officials.

Bowing to citizen wishes, the Common Council on Monday night approved creation of a Board of Review that excludes elected officials.

Read the February 6, JS Online story here:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wauk/feb06/390382.asp

Contributed by Barb Whitcomb

During the Public meeting concerning weed harvesting, held on Monday January 23, 2006, Mayor Klein announced that the subject of the city's application for a harvesting permit will appear on the agenda for discussion and possible action on Monday, February 20, 2006.

Anyone wishing to comment on the merits of having the City continue harvesting or reinstating weed harvesting to the Lake Pewaukee Sanitary District (LPSD) is encouraged to attend this meeting and voice their opinion. Public comment is welcomed, it is the first and also the last item on the agenda. Mayor Klein also allows comments and questions during the discussion of an Agenda item, as long as those comments or questions are on topic, respectful, and pertinent to the discussion.

If you are unable to attend the February 20 meeting, Mayor Klein is actively soliciting opinions from city taxpayers. He strongly urges you to contact him or City Clerk Kelly DeMotto. If you call please ask that your comments be made part of the Public Record, so that the Common Council can be made aware of your opinion. Mayor Klein's voice mail at city hall can be reached through the main number, 691-0770, Kelly DeMotto can also be reached at that number. . You can e-mail Mayor Klein at mayor@pewaukee.wi.us, Ms. Demotto's e-mail is demotto@pewaukee.wi.us You can also contact your alderperson(s) directly. If you do not know who they are, you can obtain that information from City Hall at 691-0770.

If you are undecided about who should conduct the lake management/harvesting please take a few minutes to read the articles listed under our topic "Lake Management" which appears on the left side of our home page. There are a number of articles that should help you form an opinion.

This is our first opportunity to contibute our advise about a major policy change to our new Mayor. Let's take advantage of the fact that we now have the ability to voice our opinion, be listened to, and know that taxpayer's can make a difference if we participate!

Please, take two minutes out of your day and let City Hall know what you think should be done.

Thank You,

Barb Whitcomb

COMPARE THE CITY OF PEWAUKEE WITH OTHER LOCAL COMMUNITIES. NOTE: TOTAL TAX RATE VARIES, DEPENDING ON YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND IS BASED ON AN (ASSUMED) AVERAGE $190,000 HOME.

Read January 29, JS online article at:

http://www.jsonline.com/homes/buy/jan06/387877.asp

In an effort to hold down taxes, communities are turning to fees.

Read January 29 article from JS Online:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jan06/388418.asp

FREE EDUCATIONAL CLASSES OFFERED BY THE LAKE PEWAUKEE SANITARY DISTRICT

From the January 25 edition of the Lake Country Reporter:

What makes Pewaukee Lake unique? Why does the LPSD buy wetland property? How is shoreline restored?

Those questions and more will be answered in the LPSD's annual education programs that begin on February 8.

"A HISTORY OF PEWAUKEE LAKE" will be presented Feb. 8. That program will examine what makes Pewaukee Lake unique and how the history of the lake influences the district's present-day management.

"OUR WATERSHED" will be presented Feb. 15. The program will examine the watershed, how large it is, and how various activities in it affect the health of Pewaukee Lake.

"WETLAND DISTRICT" will be presented Feb. 22. The program will explore why wetlands are important, why the district purchased such lands, and where the wetlands are.

"NATIVE SHORELAND RESTORATION" Will be held March 16, with Audrey Green, Walworth Count lakes specialist, explaining why and how shoreland restoration is done, including before-and-after examples of the sites in the LPSD area.

All programs begin at 7:00 PM at the district administrative office, N25 W27534 Oak Street, City of Pewaukee. Oak Street is off Highway SS, next to Netteshiem Park.

Although the program is free and open to the public, seating is limited. To register, call (262) 691-4885 between the hours of 7 AM and 3:30 PM. After hours callers should leave their phone numbers, names and the names of the programs they want to attend.

The following letter was submitted to us by Jim Jaeschke, who lives in Rocky Point Subdivision. This letter was also published in the January 25 Lake Country Reporter, under Letters to the Editor. We will post Mr. Pazdernik's response when it becomes available.

Dear Mr. Pazdernik:

I am one of your constituents located in the Rocky Point Subdivision. I
favor an open government that allows the citizens of Pewaukee to understand
and express their opinions of issues within the city to our elected
officials. Mayor Klein's proposal to change the representation on the
Review Board from a mixture of citizens and elected officials to an all
citizen make up removes the possibility of politics influencing the tax
assessment process and is one step toward a more open government.

I have noted that at the January 15th common council meeting that you did
not, nor did any other alderman, second the motion of Mr. Kiser to approve
Mayor Klein's proposal. One aspect of open government is a clear statement
of the positions of the leadership of the city. By not seconding the
motion, there was no discussion of your position or the positions of the
other aldermen on this important issue. This certainly is not an open
government approach to policy decisions.

I am certainly not an expert on the issues of an all Citizen Review Board.
I would appreciate your comments about the value or lack of value of an all
citizen review board so that I can better understand this issue. I need
your help as the Mayor's proposal seems to me to be much better process than
what we know have. I also understand that a majority of other Wisconsin
municipalities have all citizen review boards. Why should Pewaukee not
adopt this policy?

I am looking forward to your comments

Sincerely, Jim Jaeschke

Whether the city coninues to use its own resources to cut weeds on Pewaukee Lake this summer or contracts for the work will be a question left to the Common Council to decide, perhaps as early as February6

To read the January 26, 2006 article from the Lake Country Reporter go to:

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16001997&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=6

The City of Pewaukee is purchasing park land this year. In 2003 the Common Council approved borrowing $1,000,000 to purchase park land for a Sports Complex. The property they ended up purchasing cost $2,670,000, so they approved borrowing the additional funds during the January 16 Common Council meeting.

To read the entire story from the Lake Country Reporter go to:

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15985347&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=6