Here's what has to be understood:

The electorate approves of how the city is run because the city council, by virtue of being elected, has the approval of the electorate. When the council is elected it gets a good idea of what is good and bad for the city and it acts accordingly. That's why this is a well run city.

The problem with a survey is the psychology behind participating in surveys. Surveys are used as an opportunity for malcontents to channel all their personal frustrations into hatred for something they think is out of their own control and therefore responsible for all that plagues them. Now the people being surveyed are in the driver's seat. It's get-even time.

Surveys should only be distributed to people who vote.

Eagle1-I am not willing to participate in the race to the bottom, and I firmly believe education is one crucial key in solving this issue, combined with working together and putting aside political differences for the common good of the community...

Thanks, JozeMozes. I really appreciate your support, and I might have to take you up on that offer some time ;-).

truecitizen,
Do you think unions impede freedom? If everyone used your logic, we should not need laws, either. I am quite confident you do not wish to make that argument, though.

Your next solution is, unions are out of control, so why try to reign them back in? Why ever try to fix any problem, right? After all, since when have we ever had good results tackling out of control problems?

Unions are as one sided as any lobbyist? Or are unions as one sided as any greedy executive? I've made this statement before: in Germany unions are protected by the constitution. When contracts are bargained in Germany, there are three parties at the table: the union leadership, corporate executives, and legislators. You know something? It seems like unions in Germany work a lot better than they do in the United States. Perhaps we should try that approach. There is no shame in admitting our own method is inefficient, and there is also no shame in learning from the positive experiences of others. Unions do not need to go (but I believe they do need to be reformed).

partarican1, if you are unskilled I would say you are already in the race to the bottom.

looks like many posters are ready to run in the race to the bottom...personally I'd like to work in a place that protects the workers and pays equal wages to men and women...usaret, your 9:06 am point is a good one...we shouldn't be playing the blame game, but instead working together towards the common goal of helping this region succeed again, but IMO, not by over-taxing the working class, or at the destruction of our natural resources...

kai...This nation should not need unions if we are a free society. Furthermore, if it is out of control now, why would it go back to a more sensible and true level? Unions are as one sided as any lobbyist. This is not conducive for a truly positive employer or employee formula. Unions do need to go.
*
You know what else we need? I see too many people out and around this town/ county acting like thugs! Lots of good people, but so many who drive and act crazy and seem to do nothing all day. What happened to everyone? That doesn't help communities.

TheKai, I love you man. I have been reading your submissions on here for some years now and you're always the voice of sensibility. You take the time to thoughtfully caress those keys, me? Sometimes not so much. Oo
.
Hell, if you told me you were Mitt Romney or Joe Knilans, I would vote for you if I lived in district.
.
Regardless, I got a nice hot cup of joe for ya at MM's if you ever want to redeem.

usaret is correct. We will not succeed if all we do is fight each other.

Does corruption exist in our unions? I believe it does. Does that mean the idea and true main goal of unions is foolhardy? I don't believe so. Is the answer, then, to simply abolish unions? Will abolishing unions bring prosperity to average Americans? I don't think either of those two are correct.

Is there corruption in corporate America? I believe there is. Does that mean the idea and true goal of a free market is no good? I don't believe so. Is the answer, then, to regulate to the point of suffocation? Will taking away a company's input on where the company should go make everything better for the average Americans? I don't think either of those two are correct.

Did the Janesville GM plant close because of Unions? Did the Janesville GM plant close because of greedy executives? Did the Janesville GM plant close because it manufactured vehicles that are not sensible to much of our country, and certainly not sensible to the world? It was probably a combination of all of these.

Until the me not we mentality of many in Janesville, in Wisconsin, and even in the United States of America changes, we will continue to struggle to move forward.

Love your neighbors and embrace their ideas. Don't assume you have all of the right answers, and anyone who opposes you must be wrong.

Until the union thug mentality changes, Janesville will never come back.

Hardtobelieve: I believe you need to research your statement which is entirely inaccurate. The 8 hour work day and 5 day work week was started by Henry Ford years prior to any unionization. Henry Ford made the 8 hour work day and 5 day work week in provide a better lifestyle for his workers. The union did not start this, I know it's hard to believe that the union would lie to you about this, but it did.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-histo...

I said this years ago,this city runs this town from GM pay,and maybe some day it will bight them,now it is!
Another thing i said was how can the normal person pay there bills,when they run the town on GM pay??
How's the ice arena working out,& other pet projects??

Hardtobeilve- and now we are paying for all the frivolous things the unions demanded. Yes, unions did good for workers rights eighty years ago but they abused their power and need to go away. If their is a need for them in the future they will come back to power.

I still believe in Janesville and know that it will survive and thrive. Union or non-Union, lets pull together instead of blaming each other for everything that is wrong.

I know, lets build a street car and get a high speed rail link to Watertown. Surely if we portray ourselves as sophisticated the jobs will come. Get real people. We are damaged goods. Take a cue from Kenosha another town nearly ruined by the United Auto Workers. Wake up, tax and spend doesn't work. Government needs to run like a business. If you don't believe that then stake a claim on some land and start a commune.

AND by the way I have worked for unions and then I went to college to get away from them.

Janesville has taken several major blows, and without a doubt the closing of General Motors was and remains a major one.
However, blaming Walker who has been in office for less than two years for a problem that has been coming for way over a decade is just poor judgement.
I think this survey reflects many things, but in the end the Janesville Manager and the Janesville council need to take the brunt of these results. Their lack of taking pro active steps to prevent this, as well as short sided foresight and just plain arrogance is now showing its results.
Janesville can recover, but it is going to take a long time, as well as some real leadership.

This city has always been resistant to change, nothing new here and it continues to fall behind and go backwards in time. The fact that the majority of people here think a good job is in unskilled manufacturing and those jobs should pay $30 an hour and full benefits footed by the employer, shows exactly why Janesville is doomed until the psychology of this town changes. I am not holding my breath. The Global economy has changed you can either embrace it and be a successful part of it or you can continue to hold on to the old ways of life, which will you choose?

AND by the way, I have NEVER belonged to a union in my life.

Truth: Janesville and Rock County voted 56% to 43% to oust Walker. Not all nuts who live here. You can thank the unions for your 40 hour work week and your 8 hour days. Janesville city management is still running this city like there are $25.00 an hour jobs out there. Us older folks know what the unions did for the average worker. Without unions, you are going to go backwards. Just wait and see.

mruglyhands,
Just curious, what does a one mile run time have to do with managing a city? It sounds like you might potentially throw out the best person for the job

"was the “No. 1 area that most impacted Janesville scores.”

The scores were not "impacted", they were affected.
http://imgi.uibk.ac.at/mmetgroup/MMet_im...

Wake up call for our window dressed fake city..lol.

Don't forget about the fanatics that had their side lose a couple of elections and try to destroy our political system. The majority has spoken twice and these special interest groups think they are more important than the state as a whole. Go find another state to live in fit's so bad here. Bunch of nuts is what we have here LOL.

Poor management of the city. Idiotic voting of the union indoctrinated populace. Janesville is still in the funnel going down down down. Cut services, cut taxes, embrace new ideas - and fire anybody in city management who can't run a mile in under 10 minutes.

Don't forget to add to th LIST a Govenor that wants to "DIVIDE AND CONQUER" when meeting with our local Rock County 5.0 people. Those with WALKER from the ECONOMIC GROUP were so very wrong with the comment on turning WI into a "COMPLETELY RED STATE" - A Transcript of the Walker & Hendricks Union conversation below.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepoliti...

Rock Co. 5.0

http://rocknetroots.blogspot.com/2012/05...

"Divide & Conquer" Video

http://americablog.com/2012/05/video-sco...