A follow-up to my post, "Putting the lie to right wing dogma: "The property tax boogieman will cause people to move out of Franklin": Local Republican staffer and right wing talk radio fill-in host Kevin Fischer winds himself into idealogical knots as he seeks to explain why Franklin's population is booming and new subdivisions are springing up like weeds in this "veritable tax hell."
Read it and get dizzy. If you've recently moved to Franklin, you may also be offended: "He's saying I'm an idiot to have bought a house here in this tax hell!"
But please be somewhat empathetic; his is the ongoing struggle shared by those whose ideology must conform to their primary sources of income (not a phenomena exclusive to the right or left wing, by the way). Mr. Fischer is an employee of Republican Wisconsin state senator Mary Lazich (as his Franklinnow.com bio emphatically avoids mentioning) and a right wing radio fill-in host. He's on a short leash; he will not be long for either gig if he suddenly goes off-message. (Carrying the water occasionally gets tough; I remember Rush Limbaugh sighing with relief on the air after the Republican defeat in last year's elections: “The way I feel is this: I feel liberated, and I'm going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried..." ).
With that said: No one with an ounce of sense is claiming that property taxes should skyrocket. However, the reality faced by a community like Franklin is stark and unmistakable: it is a sprawled suburb that supports far-flung, profit motive-driven subdivisions with very little interconnectivity and (as of yet) no city commercial center. That's a recipe for high initial tax burden on home owners - - the price we pay for "a desirable suburb, safe and clean," not to mention (and Mr. Fischer surely wouldn't) one that provides and supports good schools for our children.
(Side note: Where's the developer who will step in and create the Neo-traditional commercial/residential neighborhood that will begin to turn the tide? What can local government do to encourage such a thing?)
Understand this: People with children in the Franklin School District (count me in that group) hear from fellow parents, and some of them are putting "For Sale" signs in their front yards because they feel they need to move to a community with a stronger commitment to their schools. (Conversely, what's the leading factor keeping a family in any certain city when "trading up" their house? I would suggest that it's the school system.)
And there are rumblings from those who look at the Target-anchored Shoppes at Wyndham Village project - - of particular significance for its location in the nominal "city center" - - as a bellwether indicating that Franklin is just not for them in the long term. One woman put it to me bluntly: "I'm seeing that Franklin is either not interested or just unable to control how it's treated by developers."
Don't shoot the messenger - just reporting what I was told.
And there's the fact that people simply do not put down long term roots anymore. We are a mobile society that relocates with rather incredible frequency. Civic pride and sense of place are dwindling to nothing. Attend Franklin's wonderful 4th of July civic celebration this week and marvel at how anomalous such a gathering is!
(Another side note: I'll never forget the conversation I had with a Franklin municipal official when I suggested that additional commercial and civic amenities close to and adjacent to the library and Legend Park would create a nice multi-use public space where members of the community could have regular, informal, year-round social contact with one another. "Where would we have our 4th of July festival?" he exclaimed.)
Do property taxes cause certain people to relocate out of Franklin? Let's hope so! Frankly, an appreciable out-migration is probably just what this community needs in order to re-think the sprawl mentality that has led us to "tax hell." Unfortunately, I fear the numbers presented in stories like "Franklin sees population boom, census data show" will lull local leadership into an ongoing "business as usual" attitude, punctuated by occasional fits of look-at-us-grow back patting.
Kinda scary that we both share the same opinions! I had a blog entry this morning that talked about this whole viewpoint. It's unfortunate that the negatives always have to top the positives.
Posted by: Greg Kowalski | July 03, 2007 at 02:03 PM
I have a bigger problem with the SOURCE of the opinion than the opinion itself. To continue to allow a paid staffer for a Republican state senator to post his dogma as though he were simply John Q. Public does not reflect well on Community Newspapers. It actually makes them look like they're being "played."
If Kevin Fischer were properly identified at the top of his blog, readers could accept all material not related to Elvis and brat condiments with the necessary grain of salt.
When it comes to Elvis, by the way, Kevin Fischer and I are in agreement.
Posted by: John Michlig | July 05, 2007 at 02:37 PM