ABOVE: A recent picture of the Fountains of Franklin site. Or an old one - - it doesn't really matter, as nothing has changed.
How does one begin to dissect the folly of the latest manifestation of Republican senate aide Kevin Fischer’s fixation with the baby-step progress of Fountains of Franklin?
True - nothing is going on over there. I've had a little fun at Fountains' expense as well; there's no great glory in tagging a slow-moving beast, however. But Mr. Fischer seems deeply, personally offended by the lack of earth-moving equipment on the site. He is asking the city of Franklin for no less than “an analysis of the monthly lost tax revenue to the city of Franklin caused by the continued dormant site at 56th and Rawson. How much tax revenue is it costing the city of Franklin each and every month that site fails to operate with open businesses?”
He equates this request, you see, with the conjecture that Alderman Sohns' disastrous grandstand play wherein he displayed property values and taxes for Franklin bloggers was prepared by a city employee. Therefor, thinks Mr. Fischer, this same employee can run some numbers for him as well.
This is not a matter of retrieving numbers from a database, however. Evidently Mr. Fischer imagines an Excel spreadsheet sort of thing that the city of Franklin can fire up on their Dell computers (because I just know they don’t have Macs at city hall) and spit out a neat and tidy number that somehow perfectly conjectures not only what kind of businesses would be operating in Fountains of Franklin, but exactly how much revenue they are taking in per month: “By gar - - that idle land is costing us $7,267.54 per day, and $7,976.21 on double-coupon days! Let’s get a Walgreens planted, stat!”
The answer, perhaps, is an evening's session on the computer game SimCity. Punch in some data, do some terraforming, get rid of pesky plan commission input and UDI nonsense, add permanent tax cuts - DONE. Here's what Fountains of Franklin should look like in, say, 2010:
Will you just LOOK at the tax revenue we're losing as Fountains stands idle! No wonder Mr. Fischer is typing with such righteous ferver and purpose! Compare to the "before" photo:
Thank goodness for Mr. Fischer's vigilance, born as it is out nothing more than a pure and overwhelming concern for his community.
(Pause as laughter subsides....)
Fortunately, since "just a concerned citizen" Mr. Fischer has begrudgingly emerged from stealth mode (we are now told in his blog bio - - though not in print - - that he is an employee of state senator Mary Lazich, but only after I admonished the concealment) readers can fairly easily supply context. His employer has received (and undoubtedly hopes to continue to receive) financial contributions from Mark Carstensen, the developer of the troubled, no-announced-tenants Target-Shoppes at Wyndham Village (that's the one I fixate on, but I wear my bias on my sleeve), which is a direct competitor of what is planned for Fountains of Franklin. Nothing wrong with that, but smart businessmen don't lay out dough without expecting results. For her part, Senator Lazich has delivered, writing in support of Carstensen’s development sight unseen. She's a little inaccurate, however, in her effusive 1/6/07 letter to Secretary Frank Bussalacchi of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation:
I am pleased to add my support for the project to the unanimous support off [sic] the City of Franklin Plan Commission and Common Council.
Not unanimous. Plan Commissioner Kevin Haley voted against the development's crummy site plan - - hence, I submit, his momentary (more on that later) ouster from the commission.
So, bad for Fountains of Franklin is good for Carstensen and Shoppes at Wyndham Village. You don't think he'd like the tenants that are talking to Fountains to reconsider and come over to the currently Shoppes-less Shoppes at Wyndham Village? (How's this for a sales pitch: "Hey, Azana Spa - wouldn't you love to be located in the Target parking lot? it's, uh, really warm in the Summer!")
So, here's an idea: Plant seeds of doubt in the competing development. The only question is: Do Mr. Fischer’s marching orders come via fax, email, or over the phone? Bluetooth receiver in his ear? Bike messenger?
On the other side of the "methinks he protests too much" continuum is Fountains of Franklin's de facto champion, Greg Kowalski. His reaction to Mr. Fischer's post is virtually a Fountains press release. Having met with Fountains developer Dave Hintzman and apparently made privy to some Top Secret Information, Mr. Kowalski appears to have embraced the project and takes criticism of it somewhat personally.
Who said municipal planning has to be dull?
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