Much to my relief, I appear to have made a mistake. I joined some of my neighbors in thinking Madison's wildly unpopular thrift store steering committee would jump at the earliest chance to take its $150,000 subsidy request off the Madison City Commission's table. Messrs. Johnson, Sinclair, Knuths, et al. would push Mayor Hexom for their handout Monday evening, July 2, then turn to the Lake County Commission right away Tuesday morning to ask for a matching handout before a full news cycle could cover either stick-up.
Agendae for both meetings are up, and neither includes discussion of the thrift store. The city commission is taking it easy before the Fourth of July, acknowledging a letter on power rates and addressing the Chamber's request to block off Main Street for the milling hordes coming for Crazy Days. They will also glance at the mayor's report, in which Mayor Hexom finally acknowledge's that he has heard "several" concerns/complaints about the thrift store.
The county commission is putting in a full morning's work. They'll hear a number of budget requests, including Julie Gross's first swing at begging for money for the Lake Area Improvement Corporation to waste. Perhaps she will give the county some hard data on the progress of Forward Madison II....
The absence of the thrift store from both meeting agendae means you have at least another week to get hold of your favorite city commissioners, county commissioners, or thrift store boosters, invite them to your place for hot dogs and fireworks, and have a good patriotic discussion about the effective use of your tax dollars.
On Friday I heard the first "It's a good idea" comment. She's a thrift store shopper.