By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
lynnbinnie@yahoo.com

The recent tension between the Whitewater Unified School District [WUSD] and the City of Whitewater seemed to have the potential to move to an even higher level as the May 20 Common Council meeting opened. The first item of business was to consider waiving the 72-hour public notice requirement of the Transparency Ordinance in order to add to the agenda a closed session “to confer with legal counsel…related to potential violations of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law and Wisconsin Public Records Law involving the School District’s handling of the School Resource Officer (SRO) contract process.” Councilmember Neil Hicks referenced the strained relationship between the two entities, and his desire to take steps to move forward in a positive manner as he made a motion to delete the subject from the agenda. His motion carried unanimously. Though ultimately the council declined to respond to the district’s Request for Proposals [RFP] for the SRO program, that decision also was framed in a desire to have constructive dialogue with school officials.

As was previously indicated on The Whitewater Banner, WUSD issued an RFP for its SRO program on May 19, with a deadline for response of May 30. City Manager John Weidl suggested that the council not submit a proposal, citing among other things the unusually short timeline and the irregular nature of the RFP. Council President Patrick Singer indicated that he believes that both the council/police department and school board do wish to continue their long-standing relationship with the SRO program. He moved that the city decline to submit a response to the RFP, reaffirm its April 15 offer of a 120-day extension to the current contract, resubmit the proposed revised agreement for consideration, and request to establish a working group of city and district representatives together with legal counsel of both entities and possibly also the District Attorney. The group would be charged with seeking mutually acceptable resolutions to the areas of concern with the program that the district has identified. The motion passed unanimously.

In other business:

• A motion to adopt the first reading of an ordinance adding stop signs on Walworth Avenue at Prince Street failed for lack of a second. Public Works Director Brad Marquardt had indicated that the intersection does not meet the criteria for a four-way stop in the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
• The first reading of an ordinance to change the start time of Common Council meetings from 6:30 to 6:00 p.m. passed.
• Renewal of the mobile home park license for Twin Oaks was approved. The city planner indicated that there has been marked improvement in the response to the correction of code violations.
• The council voted to consider an ordinance to add stop signs on Peck Street at the Whiton Street intersection.
• Several recommendations from the Landmarks Commission regarding the future of the Starin Park Water Tower were approved. The Whitewater Banner will provide details in a future article.

Homeschool families are invited to attend a program featuring Financial Education games on Thursday, May 22. Drop in between 1:00-3:00 p.m. to play fun games that teach kids about financial literacy topics, including needs vs. wants, currency recognition, money math, managing income and expenses, understanding profit vs. loss, what a budget is, and more! Best for ages 5 and up. 

Note that due to library construction, this event will take place at the Cravath Lakefront Community Center, located at 341 S. Fremont Street.

This is a free event and no registration is required. This program was funded in part with the Thinking Money for Kids Grant through the American Library Association and FINRA. Contact Sarah French with questions at sfrench@whitewater-wi.gov or 262-458-2782. Learn more about the games in advance by visiting this link: bit.ly/4j3HDq7

Get ready to be inspired, enchanted, and entertained at the Whitewater Arts Alliance Storytelling Festival!

Join us for a magical weekend celebrating the power of stories — from the heartfelt to the hilarious, the whimsical to the wise. Whether you love to listen, tell, or tap your toes to a tune, there’s something for everyone!

FRIDAY NIGHT | May 30 | 6–9 PM

Cultural Arts Center Gallery, 402 W. Main St, Whitewater, WI

Open Mic Night hosted by the fabulous Karen McCulloch of The Book Teller

6–8 PM: Step up and share your own story, poem, or performance!

8–9 PM: The Bog Bodies take the stage with hauntingly beautiful live music.

SATURDAY | May 31 | 10 AM–3 PM

Flat Iron Park, 402 W. Main Street [The Birge Fountain is located in the park.]

Children’s Tellers Morning (10 AM–12:15 PM)

Emceed by Sarah Beth Nelson

9–10 AM: Noelle + a petting zoo

10–10:30 AM: Caitlin’s puppetry

10:30–11:15 AM: Andreas & Maypole dancing with strolling musicians

11:15–12:15 PM: The unforgettable Mr. Pickles

All Ages Tellers Afternoon (12:15–3 PM)

Emceed by Sarah Beth Nelson

12:15–12:45 PM: Sarah Beth Nelson

12:45–1:30 PM: Bilingual storytelling with Maritza Guerra & Silvana del Val

1:30–2:15 PM: Blake Levinson

2:15–3 PM: Coral Conant-Gilles

Bring a lawn chair, bring your friends, and bring your love for storytelling. This is one weekend you won’t want to miss!

#WhitewaterArtsAlliance#StorytellingFestival#LiveStorytelling#FamilyFun#WisconsinEvents#WhitewaterWI#OpenMicNight#BogBodies#StoryTimeMagi

Submissions are NOW OPEN!

Submission Period: January 17, 2025 – May 26 2025

The Classic Returns IN 2025 FOR THE 16th edition— in an expanded Form!!

Contacts

• Jeff McDonald, Exhibit Chair – waa.franachen@gmail.com
• Kim Adams, WAA Gallery Director – wwartsalliance@gmail.com

Key Dates

• Exhibition: Saturday, July 5, 2025 – Sunday, July 27, 2025
• Awards Reception: Sunday, July 6, 1pm-4pm
• Submissions Open: January 17, 2025
• Submissions Close/Entry Deadline: Monday, May 26, 2025
• Notification of Acceptance: Monday, June 9, 2025
• Drop-Off (Prints): Monday, June 30, 2025, 4pm–6pm; Tuesday, June 30, 2025, 4pm–6pm
• Pick-Up (Prints): Monday, July 28, 2025, 4pm–6pm

We’re excited to announce the 16th iteration of the Fran Achen Juried Photography Exhibition. The traditional, in-gallery, printed photograph format will remain unchanged except for now being named the “Printed Photograph Division.” The new territory (for us) — is an expansion into digital, projected images, which will be called the “Digital Image Division.”

Accepted works in the Printed Photograph Division (Single Theme: Open/General Subject) will be physically displayed in a traditional, in-gallery exhibit and shown in an online exhibition. This is the show we have grown to know and love.

Accepted works in the Digital Image Division (Three Themes: Open/General Subject, Human Interest, and Built Environment) will be projected in-gallery and shown in an online exhibition. This is an exciting, new area that we think will bring in even more superb photography to include in the exhibit. Integrating the projection of digital images into the traditional printed photography exhibit promises an innovative and exciting new gallery experience that you will not want to miss!

Best of Show and Outstanding Youth Awards, in addition to the awards in each of the four themed categories (Open Print, Open Digital, Human Interest Digital, and Built Environment Digital) will be presented.

Entry Process (All Divisions)

Digital photographs must be uploaded to complete a submission. These digital photographs will be used by the jurors to make their decisions. For the Printed Photograph Division, final award decisions will only be made once the prints have been delivered to the gallery.

Uploaded image files must be in JPEG format, with at least 1920 pixels on the longer side and a maximum file size of 5 MB. Uploaded images may not include signatures or watermarks. Submissions with incorrectly formatted images may be rejected.

Submissions will be made through ArtCall. Each division has its own Call for Art at ArtCall. Click one of the buttons below to begin the submission process. We hope you will enter both divisions but they require separate submissions. New users will be required to create an ArtCall profile with user login and password. Existing ArtCall users need only login and follow the process for a new submission.

The preferred method of payment is through a credit card on the ArtCall site (using Stripe). Checks will be accepted if you enter the Coupon/Promo Code “PayOffline” which will allow you to make your entry without entering payment. If you choose to pay offline, after you make the submission, mail your check to: Whitewater Arts Alliance, PO Box 311, Whitewater, WI 53190. You may also make payment in-person at the WAA Cultural Arts Center Gallery at 402 W. Main Street, Whitewater, WI during gallery open hours. If payment is not received within 7 days of entry, the submissions will not be included in the jurying process.

Acceptances will be issued by email by the date listed above.

Staff will do their best to notify those with incorrectly submitted entries, but it is the responsibility of the artist to submit correctly and on time. ArtCall allows entrants to make changes to their submissions, but no changes may be made after the submission deadline.

We look forward to seeing your incredible work and celebrating this exciting exhibition together.

Please see this page for further information.

About Fran Achen

The Whitewater Arts Alliance honors Fran Achen’s contribution to Whitewater by sponsoring the Annual Fran Achen Juried Photography Exhibition.

Fran Achen was a longtime Whitewater resident, teacher, and local photographer. He is most remembered for his photographic collection which chronicles the history of Whitewater.

Born in Kenosha in 1916, his interest in photography began after high school. He spent almost two years delivering cars for the Nash automobile factory. “It seemed like such fun to explore America, so that started my interest in photography and geography, which became my major in college,” he said.

In 1938, when Fran enrolled at Whitewater State Teachers College, it was the first year enrollment went over one thousand. Fran remembered being the last one to register, making the enrollment that year 1,008 students. While an undergraduate student at the college, he served as a photographer for both the Royal Purple and the former Minneiska yearbook, as well as working as a freelance photographer for the Janesville Gazette, making “a buck a picture” which helped to pay his way through school.

While attending college, Fran met his wife, Lydia. They were married for 55 years and had three children—Chap, Randi, and Jim.

After graduating from college, Achen taught social studies for a year before being called up for military service in World War II. Achen served almost four years as the commanding officer of an entirely African American medical unit whose primary duty was to recover wounded soldiers from the front lines. Achen recalled years later that the Rhineland and Central Europe campaign was very successful and remembered crossing the Rhine River just two days after its capture.

When the war was over, he pursued his interest in photography by working in a studio in Madison, and later by purchasing a photography studio in downtown Whitewater, where he worked for 11 years.

In 1956, after selling the studio, Achen continued to serve the community as a teacher at Whitewater High School where he taught his favorite subject, geography. He later became assistant audio-visual director for the Janesville school system.

Achen retired in 1979. However, he never retired his camera. He continued to photograph the life and events in and around the Whitewater area.

In the 1980s, Achen donated nearly 400 custom printed and mounted photographs to the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater also has an extensive collection of Fran’s photos.

Although his photo taking slowed down in his later years, Achen said he was never afraid to flip the shutter on what he believed could be a lasting memory or a special photograph.

Whitewater Arts Alliance, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable organization based in Whitewater, Wisconsin. For more information, please visit our membership page.

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

The Whitewater Unified School District (WUSD) on May 19 issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the School Resource Officer (SRO) program. As was previously stated in The Whitewater Banner, ongoing discussions and disagreements between the district and the City of Whitewater and its Police Department (WPD) regarding the long-standing WPD-provided program resulted in a school board decision on April 28 to request proposals from other agencies. The city had indicated that it did not intend to submit a proposal, but that decision will be revisited at the Common Council meeting on May 20.

Included in the agenda for the Common Council meeting is a memo from City Manager John Weidl. In the memo he indicates that in a May 16 meeting with city representatives, WUSD representatives stated that the council-approved proposal for a 120 day extension to the SRO contact with WUSD was never considered by the school board, and they never saw a formal letter that was sent by the police chief together with a redlined draft contract for immediate review. Weidl also indicates that the announced purpose of the school board’s closed session on April 28 was discussion of the SRO agreement and negotiations, but per the WUSD representatives the agreement itself was not discussed but rather a document of grievances about an employee not employed by the district was presented. It was also reported at the meeting on May 16 that allegedly an outside entity had already received the RFP and planned to respond, despite no apparent public distribution nor receipt of the RFP by the city.

Weidl’s memo includes the following:

What the Public Should Know
As this issue moves into public discussion, and likely into media coverage or third-party
commentary, the following must be made clear:

• The City of Whitewater adhered to every legal, ethical, and professional
  expectation: we proposed a path forward, thoroughly documented it, and
  remained responsive.
• The School District Administrator [Superintendent] failed to fulfill their duty to ensure proper
  review of our proposal, resulting in decisions being made without transparency
  or adequate deliberation.
• The grievance list created by one of its members was used in closed session
  without legal grounds or public disclosure.
• The RFP was launched without notifying the City, while at least one outside
  entity was already preparing a response.
• Despite all of this, we are now being asked to submit a proposal into a process
  built on procedural shortcuts, undisclosed documents, and legal ambiguities.
  The public deserves to understand that this is not a policy disagreement. It is a
  breakdown of basic governance, transparency, and accountability. We owe it to our
  residents, students, and officers not to lend credibility to a process that has been deeply
  flawed from the outset.

Finally, Weidl requests council direction on “1) Whether the city should submit a response to the RFP by May 27 [the due date has now been changed to May 30] or instead decline to participate due to legal and ethical concerns. 2) Whether to initiate a formal records request for the grievance document…. and 3) Whether to notify the District Attorney of a potential violation of Open Meetings Law….”

In suggesting to the school board that it approve soliciting bids for the SRO program, Superintendent Caroline Pate-Hefty stated that she believed the step was necessary due to the following concerns: 1) Failure of the police department to provide coverage when the SRO is absent, which by the end of April would be 27 days. 2) Failure of the department to follow the district’s policy requiring parents to be contacted prior to interviewing students. 3) Disagreement with the department’s new procedure requiring district staff to contact dispatch for all needs related to the SRO.

The Banner obtained a copy of the RFP on May 19, which was indicated to be the issue date. Bidders (“qualified individuals and/or organizations”) are required to review and sign off on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and to include a quote of the costs for providing services outlined in the sample MOU. No information is provided regarding anything else that bidders should include such as qualifications, relevant experience, personnel employed, etc. The due date for proposals is May 30, the bid opening date is June 2, and board acceptance for a two-year term that would begin on July 1, 2025 is June 23, 2024 [sic].

Of possible interest:

• The RFP makes no reference to the Whitewater Police Department; for example, the relationship between a possible outside entity and the department, such as communication of suspected crimes, is not addressed.
• The RFP addresses the concerns that the superintendent had identified. “The SRO or law enforcement officer conducting a student interview, will contact the student’s parent or guardian before conducting the interview unless the interview is initiated by a student, involves child abuse, or concerns an urgent matter of health and safety.” The agency would be required to provide an SRO for every school day regardless of the reason for absence of the assigned SRO(s). District personnel could report concerns and requests directly to the SRO.
• The SRO is required to be a “law enforcement officer,” which is defined by Wisconsin Statutes 164.01 as “… any person employed by the state or by a city, village, town or county for the purpose of detecting and preventing crime and enforcing laws or ordinances, who is authorized to make arrests for violations of the laws or ordinances which he or she is employed to enforce.” It is assumed that the SRO will have arrest powers in the district. The police chief previously told The Banner that he believes that any outside agency (other than the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department) would have to be deputized by the department.
• It is indicated that the “program cost includes budgeted wage, benefit, and payroll tax for SRO in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement between the _________ and the WPPA.” It would appear that this is a misstatement, unless WPD is the chosen agency, as WPPA presumably refers to the Whitewater Professional Police Association.
• The agreement carries over a section from the current one, wherein “program cost shall be shared by the ________ and School District.” The retention of this statement appears to possibly imply that there may be an ongoing expectation from the district that the city (or another entity) would share in the cost of the SRO even if provided by an outside entity. Currently the district pays 60% of the cost of salary and benefits of the SRO, and the city, 40%.
• The city had proposed the possibility of placing a second SRO in the district, but the RFP only refers to a single SRO.
• It is unknown how the RFP has been advertised. It does not appear to have been posted to the WUSD website, and it does not appear to be included on websites where government entities typically post their RFPs.

Editor’s note: Minor corrections and revisions were made on 5/20/25 at 6:15 a.m.

The Whitewater Historical Society will open their local history museum for the season with a special temporary exhibit celebrating the Coburn Company’s 100th Anniversary. An opening celebration will take place on Tuesday, May 20 at 4:00 p.m. at the museum on Whitewater Street.

The Coburn Company was founded by Ora Coburn in 1925. During its early years, the company, under the leadership of Ora’s sons, Deane and Ronald, was an innovator as the manufacturer and distributor of the world’s first practical electric fence. Prior to Coburn’s innovation in controlling the charge in electric fences to make them safe, electric fences were dangerous. After successfully promoting the One-Wire Fence, the Coburn Company branched out into the distribution of other agricultural products and in the 1950s, the company developed a catalog for dealers and retailers to purchase specialty items for resale, particularly items related to the dairy industry.

In the late 20th century, Deane’s son, James “Jim” Coburn became the leader of the company, growing the business to new heights as a leader in the distribution of agriculture-related products. Jim was joined in this effort by wife, Virginia, and after the 1990s, by their sons, Thayer and Joseph.

The Whitewater Historical Society’s exhibit illustrates the growth of the Coburn Company and features many artifacts on display. The museum is open every Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9-12.