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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

RacinePost Open Floor: What's your 10-year plan?

Mayor John Dickert introduced the idea of a "10-year plan" for the City of Racine when he successfully ran for election in 2009. It was a clever idea for a candidate who wanted to get voters thinking about a brighter future for our city.

We'd like to build on the mayor's idea by opening up the floor to RacinePost readers and asking: What's your 10-year plan for Racine? How do you see things turning around? What should the community be focused on?

We open this door knowing you'll take this with varying degrees of seriousness. That's OK ... this is both a chance to get serious and silly, a chance to throw out your best ideas, vent some frustrations or just shoot from the hip.

That said, we'd really like people to put their names to their plans. You don't have to, but if you do, we'll enter you into a drawing for a $10 gift certificate to Circa Celeste Cafe in Racine and all named entries will receive a RacinePost bumper sticker. But, again, we'll take anonymous submissions, too.

There are no guidelines for the 10-year plans. They can be a few sentences, paragraphs, pages or novels. We'll even take pictures, videos, poetry ... anything that speaks to your vision for a better Racine over the next 10 years.

Send your entries to: racinepost@gmail.com or post them in the comments below. Our favorites will be highlighted on the main page, and all sincere entries will be published on the site. If you're submitting an entry with your name, please include a phone number in your submission so we can verify you wrote it.

Thanks much, good luck and happy planning!

We have our first entry ...

Rees Roberts writes in with a call for a new look at how we use energy

Ron Thomas submits the 10-point plan he wrote in 2003 while running for mayor

Wayne Clingman wants to focus on urban agriculture

Karen Carnabucci suggests focusing on health and well-being

14 comments:

  1. Job #1....Get Education turned around.
    Job #2....Don't cater to polluters, tire recyclers, coal power plants, etc.
    Job #3.... Encourage technical growth
    Job #4.... Welcome magnate commercial development
    Job #5....Eliminate political games and let students offer development plans in a contest.
    Job #6.... Give the area new life with intercity sports competition.
    Job #7 ....Utilize Lake Michigan as a resource.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't have a ten year plan, I have a "Make it happen right now" Plan.

    #1. Focus on Schools and provide State of the art" facilities for ALL SCHOOLS and ALL students.

    #2. Encourage sustainability by making it easier for people to start Small Businesses. Work with SBA and Local lenders to create a resource of funds to stimulate this activity.

    #3 Continue down the path of creating a 'Green Racine" that will attract "Green Type businesses". Racine should be a leader in this area.

    #4. Focus on Lake Michigan and our shoreline. This is our greatest asset for attracting people to this community. But continue to allow our schools to decay and it will mean nothing.

    #5. Force RUSD's Frank Jarosz and Dave Hazen into retirement. They are RUSD's biggest problems and the reason the RUSD wastes so much of our tax payer money.

    #6. Become more small business friendly.

    #7 Do NOT re-elect officials that do not represent the best interests of our community. We need leaders, Thinkers, doers, creative people. We need people who understand what it takes to become successful in business.

    #8. Create a a local campaign that encourages local business to "THINK LOCAL FIRST" - Visit www.RACINEonline.com to understand this better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I sure hope this helps the Mayor create a actual plan.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. Get Obama out of office
    2. Get Pelosi out of office
    3. Get Reid out of office
    4. Kill Obama Care
    5. Secure the borders
    6. Revise rules of engagement
    7. Cut taxes
    8. Eliminate stimulus spending
    9. Kill Cap and Trade
    10. If you do all of these things - local jobs will be follow

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1) Fire at least 5% of the teachers (lowest performing based upon testing/school/parent feedback) per year and replace them with the best candidates from the scores of unemployed teachers available.
    2) Replace two elementary schools, one middle school and one senior high school within 10 years.
    3) Annex all of the key suburbs and eliminate duplicate services.
    4) Blow up Festival Hall and put in an Indian casino with a 4 star hotel.
    5) Convert Porter's into a low cost housing development.
    6) Start an annual Kringle Fest sometime around Labor Day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 1. Education a priority. Put all students on checksheets. They master each item before moving on. This ensures learning.
    2. Encourage healthy lifestyles with benefits for eating better and exercising. Have city wide events. Give incentives to convenience stores for putting more fresh fruits and veggies and less chips and candy.
    3. Invest in a few different proven approaches to help those addicted to drugs. Our prisons are full of people who have committed drug related crimes because of addiction.
    4. Get incredibly tough on gangs. Find the toughest anti-gang laws and implement them here.
    5. Require/Encourage with housing benefits residency for all city employees. They should live in the city if they are to draw a paycheck from it. This would benefit the city and the employee.
    6. Improve our infant mortality rate. Promote WIC program and prenatal care for woman.
    7. Encourage gardening and gardens. They are a crime reduction tool. We could have events to share plants and resources. Start a city compost site for residents.
    8. Encourage business with less regulations and support.
    9. Utilize citizens committees to work on issues effecting the city.
    10. Teach our students about the voting process in school and encourage them to vote. Have many voter registration and information booths at city events.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lots of good ideas, but none from Dickert!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Being we have lost most of our Industry we should focus on developing our Lake Front. Rather than looking at Rocks on the Shore line lets build some Hotels and Water Parks so our friends from the South of us will come and bring there money to our fair City. This may suprise some,but by doing this you will have created new jobs and added to our Tax base.

    We have a Gold mine down by the Lake lets use it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We all want Racine to be a livable city with lower crime, better education opportunities, and less poverty. I tend to think we can't transform our socioeconomic personality. Far too many of our residents do not possess the basic skills required to work in the work place today. I just don't know how you promote a culture of "personal responsibility" when we have so many long term dependents of government. Far too many people here want someone else to fix their circumstances. Today our society coddles the poor performers. This seems like an impossible task. Our local government often mirrors this behavior depending on Federal Government grants as a panacea. We continue to throw "Free" money at the problem but the decay continues. If you want a better community then you need to create an environment that attracts quality people of all colors. We cannot accept low performance by our residents, students and public servants. It all starts in our homes.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is not a master plan but some sustainable areas I believe we should focus on.

    PUBLIC SAFETY

    Hire and train public safety scouts (crime spotters)
    Scouts would give visual presence in troubled neighborhoods (same impact as Crime Stoppers) Part time non-union contract employees used to increase presence in neighborhoods during typical high crime times. Spot trouble and report to police
    Equip with radio or cell phone. Use existing city vehicles to patrol (parking enforcement vehicles, etc) must have flashing red or yellow light on vehicle to be extremely visible.

    JOBS

    Entrepreneurial Capital of the Midwest

    We must attract entrepreneurial talent into our area. This is a longer-term solution to our unemployment situation today. We must create the environment that attracts risk takers to Racine with incentives and support services. We should key in on three sustainable and niche technologies and actively recruit worldwide, entrepreneurs that have solid business plans, inventions that fit these categories. In exchange for services they would have to make a commitment to stay in Racine for an extended period of time. Incentives to relocate here could include; free housing, workspace, marketing support services and access to capital.


    EDUCATION

    College
    Attract a university or college extension into Downtown Racine. Must tie into 3 core industries we want to attract. University of Chicago Entrepreneurial School, MSOE, or other emerging technology/engineering focus schools.

    Middle and High School

    Establish an entrepreneurialism-based curriculum.
    Each school would have a business model that creates an enterprise for the students to get real hands on learning experience on what it takes to start, run and market a business. Tie basic skills into the business model such as Math (P&L, marketing, product development), Grammar/English (marketing) Engineering/Science (product invention/creation, Grammar/English/Graphic Design (sales and promotion), etc. Profit from the enterprise would be shard with shareholders (students and faculty).

    TOURISM

    Brand our beaches as “The Cleanest Family Beach in America” and do everything to support it. New bath houses, onsite ambassadors, strong promotional effort in major Midwest markets. No one has the lakefront and beaches that Racine does and yet we don’t do a very good job of telling anyone about our unique asset.


    TRANSPORTATION

    Sturtevant By-Pass
    Sturtevant Hwy 11 By Pass: Build a Sturtevant By-pass (Boulevard) along the former St.Paul/Milwaukee Road line all the way to Memorial Drive thus connecting the southside industrial parks to I-94 corridor. This would be a limited access with connections at Hwy H, Hwy 31, and Memorial Drive

    Extend State Hwy 794
    Extend State Hwy 794 (Lake Parkway) from MKE Airport to Skokie, IL
    This Boulevard (45 mile per hour limited access boulevard ) would connect the communities along the Union Pacific Rail road line. Access points at 6-mile, Hwy 38, K, C, Hwy 20, Hwy 11 (and Sturtevant By-Pass) with no new development allowed at the access points.

    WELCOME GATEWAYS

    Develop a master plan for creating landscaped, eco-friendly boulevards on all major access points into Eastern Racine county Including; Hwys 20, Hwy 11, Hwy 31, Hwy 32. Enlist the support of local organizations, schools, churches, etc to sponsor and help implement the plan. Businesses and residents along these routes should be encouraged to donate resources the project.

    Curt Foreman

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is not a master plan but some sustainable areas I believe we should focus on.

    PUBLIC SAFETY

    Hire and train public safety scouts (crime spotters)
    Scouts would give visual presence in troubled neighborhoods (same impact as Crime Stoppers) Part time non-union contract employees used to increase presence in neighborhoods during typical high crime times. Spot trouble and report to police
    Equip with radio or cell phone. Use existing city vehicles to patrol (parking enforcement vehicles, etc) must have flashing red or yellow light on vehicle to be extremely visible.

    JOBS

    Entrepreneurial Capital of the Midwest

    We must attract entrepreneurial talent into our area. This is a longer-term solution to our unemployment situation today. We must create the environment that attracts risk takers to Racine with incentives and support services. We should key in on three sustainable and niche technologies and actively recruit worldwide, entrepreneurs that have solid business plans, inventions that fit these categories. In exchange for services they would have to make a commitment to stay in Racine for an extended period of time. Incentives to relocate here could include; free housing, workspace, marketing support services and access to capital.


    EDUCATION

    College
    Attract a university or college extension into Downtown Racine. Must tie into 3 core industries we want to attract. University of Chicago Entrepreneurial School, MSOE, or other emerging technology/engineering focus schools.

    Middle and High School

    Establish an entrepreneurialism-based curriculum.
    Each school would have a business model that creates an enterprise for the students to get real hands on learning experience on what it takes to start, run and market a business. Tie basic skills into the business model such as Math (P&L, marketing, product development), Grammar/English (marketing) Engineering/Science (product invention/creation, Grammar/English/Graphic Design (sales and promotion), etc. Profit from the enterprise would be shard with shareholders (students and faculty).

    TOURISM

    Brand our beaches as “The Cleanest Family Beach in America” and do everything to support it. New bath houses, onsite ambassadors, strong promotional effort in major Midwest markets. No one has the lakefront and beaches that Racine does and yet we don’t do a very good job of telling anyone about our unique asset.


    TRANSPORTATION

    Sturtevant By-Pass
    Sturtevant Hwy 11 By Pass: Build a Sturtevant By-pass (Boulevard) along the former St.Paul/Milwaukee Road line all the way to Memorial Drive thus connecting the southside industrial parks to I-94 corridor. This would be a limited access with connections at Hwy H, Hwy 31, and Memorial Drive

    Extend State Hwy 794
    Extend State Hwy 794 (Lake Parkway) from MKE Airport to Skokie, IL
    This Boulevard (45 mile per hour limited access boulevard ) would connect the communities along the Union Pacific Rail road line. Access points at 6-mile, Hwy 38, K, C, Hwy 20, Hwy 11 (and Sturtevant By-Pass) with no new development allowed at the access points.

    WELCOME GATEWAYS

    Develop a master plan for creating landscaped, eco-friendly boulevards on all major access points into Eastern Racine county Including; Hwys 20, Hwy 11, Hwy 31, Hwy 32. Enlist the support of local organizations, schools, churches, etc to sponsor and help implement the plan. Businesses and residents along these routes should be encouraged to donate resources the project.

    Curt Foreman

    ReplyDelete
  13. 1) Get Dickert voted out of office and the rest of the plan will take shape.

    ReplyDelete