The state Department of Transportation has dropped plans for a high-speed rail station in Oconomowoc, claiming city officials said they didn’t want one. City Administrator Diane Gard and Mayor James Daley said, they have no idea why state DOT officials believe Oconomowoc was not interested in a station.
Kudos to the Brew City Brawler, for this catch:
In June 2009, the council unanimously passed a resolution giving initial support for a rail station, but since that time, Mayor Jim Daley has ousted former Mayor Maury Sullivan and two new aldermen have been elected.
Sullivan had said he wanted Oconomowoc to have a stop on the rail if the federal program was going to be initiated. Part of Daley’s campaign platform was his opposition to a high-speed rail station in Oconomowoc, and he maintained his opposition in an Aug. 4 interview.
many people living in cities, villages, towns, etc… do not understand how their local governments quality or incompetence can effect their daily lives. This will be a great case study in future years if we see the places with the train stops thrive and the businesses in Oconomowoc slowly dwindle. At least they can say they remained true to their conservative roots….
Golly gee whiz as one of those small town yocals who doesn’t understand how government works, thanks to you city folk for enlightening us.
FYI – Many of us do support the station, and yes while the mayor does not – it is my understanding from talking to city staff that the intention requesting this information really was gathering information – perhaps in part to disuade some of the naysayers–DOT got this one wrong…it doesn’t look good even to us who support the project when the State is unwilling to share information with local governments
My point wasnt that only city folk know how to vote, it is that smaller towns residents dont understand how important it is to pay attention to their local government. I live in a village outside of madison and we only had about 20% participation in the last local election. We are paying for that.
I am not comfortable wholly blaming this on Oconomowoc…considering the stubborn lack of common sense and ignoring the people (i.e the Hoan Bridge for instance), this could just be another example of WisDOT’s arrogance.
Maybe so, but when you run a campaign on no station and continually make a point you dont want a station, then you cant be surprised when they pull the station…