How about, “I can’t wait until 2012?”  Lance Burri discovered this little gem by a Clinton supporter.

I also heard the story from multiple sources but didn’t start seriously looking into it until Thursday morning when I filed an open records request with the Waukesha Police Department. Turns out I was not the only one looking into it.

I do think it’s an issue, albeit a much lesser issue than Alioto’s opposition to communities saving money by contracting with the County Sheriffs Department for their police services. I also think the issues surrounding his service in Lisbon are also more relevant. Both issues were discussed in my column for the Waukesha Freeman.

As much as Belling wavered on the importance on the story, I won’t be surprised if this finishes Alioto’s campaign. What I cannot understand is how he thought this would not come up as an issue in the campaign.

There are just some horrors a child should be spared.

A no-reason recall
Alderwoman Peggy Bull facing unjustified recall election

(James Wigderson is a blogger publishing at http://www.wigderson.com and a Waukesha resident. His column runs Thursdays in The Freeman.)

In Waukesha’s 7th Aldermanic District, Alderwoman Peggy Bull is facing a possible recall for reasons nobody can quite explain.

The catalyst for the recall was the placing of a state transitional home in one of the neighborhoods of her district. Included in the transitional home are a couple of sex offenders.

The neighbors are concerned and, understandably, they looked for someone to blame. In this case, they misdirected their fire at Bull.

They gathered the signatures for a recall petition, recruited a novice candidate, and now the residents of Bull’s district will have the option on Sept. 14 of firing their alderwoman before her term is scheduled to expire.

Recall elections are drastic measures not to be entered into lightly. If there are cases of elected officials abusing their power, or using the office for personal gain, or acting disreputably to the discomfort of the entire community, those are the circumstances when a recall might be justified.

None of those circumstances apply in the recall of Alderwoman Bull. None of the people organizing the recall of Alderwoman Bull have even suggested anything approaching a justification for a recall.

I spoke with Bull’s opponent in the recall, John Kalblinger, on Monday night and asked him about Bull. Kalblinger told me he would not say anything negative about the alderwoman. He repeated to me at least three times, “I appreciate what she has done.”

I asked Kalblinger what he would do as alderman and he said he would increase the amount of communication in the district. He was going to keep a website presence (not yet fully launched) and he was going to think of something to keep up communication with those not on the Internet. That’s his agenda.

There is not even a policy disagreement between the two candidates because Kalblinger does not have an alternative plan for what to do about the transitional home that sparked the recall effort. Kalblinger’s only plan is to see what other communities have done to try to block these homes.

On the one issue that you would think might be driving the recall in the background, Waukesha’s water future, Kalblinger would not commit to any position, saying only that he had questions.

I think for someone who has lived in Wisconsin for only 18 months, Kalblinger is doing his best to catch up. Under normal circumstances, I think he would even be an interesting candidate. I hope he retains his enthusiasm for our city and his neighborhood and chooses to remain involved.

However, nobody can say Alderwoman Bull did not do anything about the issue of sex offenders living in our community. Nobody can say she has committed some sort of misconduct in office. Nobody can honestly say that she isn’t trying her best to represent her district.

Kalblinger also told me he was concerned about the tension that develops between council members over some contentious issues. If he is concerned about the tension now, wait until they wonder if they’re next to be recalled without justification.

Meanwhile, some of the recall petitions themselves were questionable. Bull raised the issue that the signatures of one of the circulators allegedly did not match. Bull even had a handwriting expert alleging the signatures didn’t match.

The signature of the circulator certifies that the circulator witnessed each person signing the petition. To the naked eye, the signatures of petition circulator Frank Greuel appear not to match from one petition to the other.

We’ll never know whether or not they really were the signatures of the same person because Waukesha District Attorney Brad Schimel bizarrely decided not to investigate. Schimel couldn’t imagine a possible motive for someone forging a signature saying they witnessed every signature on the petition. What is the point of having a Republican District Attorney who does not have the imagination to see possible election fraud?

I’m not a big fan of Alderwoman Bull. I haven’t been since she thought it was OK that some businessman could land a helicopter near my neighborhood instead of at the airport. I’m sure I could come up with a list of issues where we disagree.

But before her district decides to run her out of office before the end of her term, with no justification, they should ask themselves: “How long until her replacement is recalled because something isn’t absolutely perfect in the city ?”

JAMES WIGDERSON

That means only one more column before the primary. That was not how I planned it, unfortunately. Too many things happening with the city of Waukesha, our new mayor, and the water issue.

There are three primary elections for State Assembly in Waukesha County and one primary in a State Senate race. In addition there is the race for sheriff (covered), Lt. Governor (mentioned), and the race for the nomination for governor (covered).

I doubt I will be able to squeeze them all into one column even if the Waukesha Freeman gives me double the space. So next week I’ll offer my thoughts on most of those races here, as much as time allows.

Comments are not only allowed, they are encouraged. I allow the maximum freedom possible but, quoting National Review’s classified advertising policy, one man’s freedom is another man’s straightjacket.

I do not allow libel. I strongly encourage that if you see a libel that I have missed to please let me know so it can be removed. I confess to a more sensitive eye on some subjects and some people even though I try to be fair. Your help is greatly appreciated. By the way, this includes some use of nicknames.

I will edit profanity. I realize other sites allow it. I do not. I realize that some topics push the boundaries and the language sometimes unfortunately follows. This site is meant to be PG-13, and I am not Larry Flynt. Keep the off-color language to yourself.

A note on civility:

I realize that as we get closer to election day it will be tougher for some of you to keep a civil tone as you type. We’re all human, and I’ve been known to lose my temper, too.

However, if we all try to be civil then we can have some real, meaningful, adult conversations here. Then I don’t have to ban commenters or pull comments like I did today.

In the immortal words of Judge Smails, “I’ve sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber. Didn’t want to do it. But I.. owed it to them.”

Seriously, taking a cheap shot now and then won’t hurt too many people. Just being mean, vulgar and obnoxious has long since lost it’s shock value. If you have anger management issues, the Journal Sentinel’s comment sections are probably more suitable for you.

I’m just warning my readers now that the Left is going to get completely unhinged before this election season is over.

10) I was not master of my domain.

9) It was Owen Robinson’s fault.

8 ) Left brain and right brain tried working together. Results not so good.

7) I will gladly pay Go Daddy on Tuesday for a web domain today.

6) I’m out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.

5) It was performance art. (Somebody tell Mayor Scrima not to paint his computer screen)

4) Look. You would go tilt, too, after a blog post about a Glenn Beck sex video.

3) My KOSS Corporation executive credit card has a hold on it.

2) Thought my traffic would go up if everyone could see a picture of Danica Patrick.

And the number one reason why my site was down this morning…

I wanted to see what it was like to be a Democratic candidate for governor. Boy, does it suck.

Why? Is Congressman Gwen Moore in trouble?

RPW Chairman Reince Priebus suggested a way Obama could get a bigger crowd. “If he was speaking at ‘Unemployment Fest’ the crowd would be bigger. And not as happy.”