The Notes: Week of May 3 - May 7, 2021

Welcome to May -- full of lovely summer temperatures and sunshine (for now!).

Since there is only one scheduled meeting this week -- full Common Council on Wednesday -- this week has a shorter agenda but a few more detailed items about which we will be talking. 

The agenda includes all items that were discussed in committee meetings this week.  Most importantly:

• The return of Resolution #6-R-21 condemning xenophobia, racism, and violence against the AAPI population in Appleton to the full council.  I mentioned this item in last week's blog post and last Wednesday's Safety & Licensing Committee meeting on it was very informative.  This resolution passed through committee back to full council without any amendments.  As I stated in my comments at the committee meeting, I intend to vote in favor of this resolution in council this week. A very thorough recap of the committee discussion including my remarks can be found here.  (I highly recommend that you follow All Things Appleton on Facebook for regular thorough recaps such as this of... you guessed it... all things Appleton.)       

• Resolution #4-R-21 regarding the city of Appleton becoming a "City for CEDAW."  As I  mentioned in my last blog post before the Community & Economic Development Committee meeting last week, I have concerns about the United States ratifying the United Nations treaty CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women).  

It is my belief that women in the City of Appleton can benefit greatly from the ideas put forth by CEDAW (the elimination of discrimination on the basis of sex) but that city government should not be pushing our Wisconsin US Senate delegation to "express our support of the United States' ratification of" CEDAW. I believe the encouraging of congressional delegations can and should be done by concerned and well-informed individual citizens and local citizen groups of like-minded individuals, not city governments. In this case in particular, based on my research of CEDAW, I don't believe that the entire population of the city would like to see our common council encouraging of our representatives in Congress to ratify this treaty. (Please see the entire context of the resolution and review the final clause with which I take issue.)

There are very questionable international enforcement issues with the ratification of this treaty that would go against many social mores closely held by much of our nation and which could potentially usurp the US Constitution. I took an oath to support the US Constitution only a couple weeks ago and I will not renege on that oath. As such, I will ask that the final clause in this resolution be stricken and, if not, I will not vote to support this resolution even though the bulk of it, I believe, could benefit our city. Appleton can still be considered a "City of CEDAW" and support the equal rights of women in the City of Appleton if this resolution is passed without the inclusion of that final clause. But I was told that the primary author of the resolution would consider withdrawing it without the inclusion of that final clause.

I'm happy to talk with anyone in this regard and share some of the enlightening research I've come across when reviewing this resolution. Please give me a call any time!

As you can see from the agenda, there are many other items on the council's agenda for this week.  Most of them were easily passed through committees (where the real work of the council is generally undertaken).

Last week was the start of the Bird electric scooter program in Appleton.  Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns in this regard.  As the weather -- and our downtown area -- heats up, I'm sure we'll see much more scooter usage.  So please don't be afraid to come to me with any personal experiences (positive or negative) with electric scooters in the city.

We were also informed last week that some grant funds to reimburse the city for the building and improvement of the Lawe Street Trestle Trail are being held up in the state's Joint Finance Committee. Appleton's Parks & Recreation Deputy Director, Tom Flick, is working closely with our state representatives to determine exactly the reason for the hold up and working to get these funds released as quickly as possible.  I've also made some calls to state representatives (as a citizen of Appleton, concerned that the city is not getting what was promised them two years ago!) but have not made a lot of headway.  Please know, though, that there are people in city and state government reaching out to make inroads on this issue.  They/we will do everything possible to get the funds released to the city so that our city debt is not increased by the funds that were promised but not delivered.  

Finally this week, an item from District 13 regarding speeding traffic on Cherryvale Avenue:  I was asked by a concerned neighbor about what can be done from a traffic control perspective to help slow some speedy drivers on Cherryvale Avenue from CTH JJ south into Village of Little Chute territory.  I spoke with the city's traffic engineer, Eric Lom, who shared with me that the "unfinished" portion of Cherryvale (from Ashbury Drive to the city limits just south of the trail) is on the schedule for new concrete in 2022. (This information can be found on the city's five-year plan).  At that time, the city will be utilizing known traffic-slowing features to alleviate much of the speedy traffic issue in that area.  These features include what's called a "raised crossing" at the trail crossing of Cherryvale.  An example of a raised crossing can be found at the trail crossing on Providence Avenue near the USA Soccer fields just north of our district's polling place, Celebration Lutheran.  The trail crossing portion of the street is raised (like a speed hump) and the sidewalks and curbing protrude into the roadway, naturally forcing drivers to slow down at those points and giving trail users and drivers on the street a better view of each other.  Cherryvale is also a curved avenue specifically to help curb higher vehicle speeds but the raised crossing just south of the bridge will help to really slow things down for drivers and increase pedestrian safety.  I have confidence in this plan as raised crossings have been studied thoroughly by traffic engineers for years.  This type of streetscaping is also included in the Downtown Streetscape Guide (which will apply city-wide, not just in the downtown area) which is on the agenda for apporval by the full council this week.  (If you haven't seen it yet, take a look.)  While we wait for that new concrete, please let's all take our time driving through that area as a courtesy to our rightfully concerned neighbors.

I'm currently working on scheduling a District 13 Meet and Greet session with you, my neighbors, in the near future.  If you have any ideas for a venue (your favorite District 13 park perhaps?) or if you know of any food truck services which might be willing and able to show up for refreshments for this kind of gathering, please do let me know.  I am really looking forward to being able to meet many more of you in person and listen to your thoughts about the goings on in Appleton city government!