July 5, 2025, | Vol. 1, Issue 18
(Approx. 1984 words – a 10–minute read)

🔮 What’s Ahead? Janesville’s July Reckoning—Time to Lead, Not Linger (Part One)

Over the course of the year, how many different plans can you name?

The Missing Piece: A Plan for Public Participation in Local Governance

At times, local government planning can appear to be driven by trends, what some might call “flavor of the month” planning. One month a municipality is touting its Comprehensive Master Plan; the next, it is the Capital Improvement Plan, the Strategic Plan, or a new Zoning District update or Metropolitan Sewer Plan. Each plan is vital within its domain yet taken together they often lack cohesion.

This leads to a fundamental question, one we may pose in a forthcoming quiz for local government enthusiasts: Which plans are actually guiding your community, and who decides which ones take precedence?

• Across most municipalities, a wide range of formal planning documents exist:

• Comprehensive Master Plans, designed to guide long-term growth and development.
• Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs), which prioritize infrastructure investments.
• Strategic Plans, typically outlining short- to medium-term goals.
• Zoning and Land Use Plans, which shape how neighborhoods evolve.
• Metropolitan Sewer and Stormwater Management Plans, which tackle essential utilities.

Commentary:

In theory, these plans should be integrated under one overarching framework, a “Plan of Plans,” if you will, synchronized with both the Municipal Budget and the Long-Term Financial Plan. Ideally, this primary integration would culminate in a single, actionable Community Action Plan aligned with elected officials’ visions and grounded in a realistic fiscal strategy.

However, the unfortunate reality is that no such unified document typically exists in the public domain. Instead, the primary strategy, if it exists at all, often lies only in the mind of the City Manager or Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). It appears sporadically, revealed as needed to fit specific moments or justify decisions already in motion.

Once introduced, many plans follow a predictable trajectory:

1. Announcement at a council meeting or community forum.
2. Dormancy, as staff work behind the scenes, with little community visibility.
3. Reemergence, only when a final draft is complete—ready to be “presented,” not shaped.
4. Adoption, with limited time for substantive public input.

This cycle, colloquially known in management circles as “planning for planning,” creates a bureaucratic vacuum. From the public’s perspective, it feels like a black hole, an opaque process where strategies are formed and decisions made out of view. The result? Valuable plans often filed away or quietly updated, with little relevance to or resonance with the very people they are meant to serve.

The Critical Missing Element: A Public Participation Plan

What is consistently absent from the lengthy list of municipal planning documents is the most crucial: a Public Participation Plan (PPP), a clear, actionable framework that guides how residents are meaningfully involved in the development and execution of all other plans.

A well-conceived PPP would serve multiple purposes:

• Democratize Planning by offering structured opportunities for input across all major planning processes.
• Increase Transparency, helping residents understand what is being planned and how it aligns with broader goals.
• Build Trust, by showing that community voices are valued and have tangible influence.
• Enhance Plan Quality, since local knowledge and stakeholder feedback often yield more effective, place-based solutions.
• Strengthen Accountability, ensuring public officials and staff stay responsive to citizen concerns throughout implementation.

Key Components of an Effective Public Participation Plan

To move from theory to action, a PPP should include:

1. Engagement Timelines integrated into the schedule of all major planning efforts.
2. Outreach Methods tailored to reach a diverse cross-section of the community, including underrepresented populations.
3. Public Access Tools, such as online plan portals, interactive comment maps, and transparent document repositories.
4. Feedback Loops, so participants understand how their input was used—or why it was not.
5. Annual Reporting, summarizing engagement outcomes, participation metrics, and areas for improvement.

Hypothetically Speaking:

Moving Forward, a truly visionary municipality would embed the Public Participation Plan as a foundational plan, equal in importance to its Comprehensive or Strategic Plan. This would signal that citizen engagement is not an afterthought—but a pillar of responsible governance.

As communities strive for smarter, more inclusive governance, leadership must recognize that the legitimacy of any plan depends on how it is created. A city can have the most robust infrastructure priorities or the most elegant land-use frameworks, but without a credible mechanism for public participation, these plans risk becoming shelfware, technically sound but socially disconnected.

It is time, then, for local governments to treat public participation as a core competency, not just a compliance obligation. Producing a Public Participation Plan is a necessary next step toward achieving a truly integrated, community-driven approach to planning. Until then, we will continue to work in fragmented silos, with the masterplan of all plans visible only in glimpses, and usually far too late for meaningful input.

---

Janesville’s July Reckoning—Time to Lead, Not Linger (Part Two)

This Month’s Featured Plan: The Long-Range Transportation Plan Update

Coming soon from a City Hall near you, the Janesville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (JAMPO) has launched an update of its Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), a federally mandated effort that occurs on a recurring cycle. The LRTP serves as the official, long-term transportation blueprint for JAMPO, guiding transportation policies, priorities, and investments across the Metropolitan Planning Area (MPA) over a 30-year horizon.

This comprehensive, year-long planning process plays a critical role in deciding how federal and state transportation funds are distributed in the greater Janesville area. When complete, the updated LRTP will shape infrastructure investments, inform land-use decisions, and support economic and environmental goals throughout the region.

Upon completion, a year from now, the finalized plan will be presented for formal adoption and placed among the official archives, residing on a shelf in the City of Janesville’s Planning or Transportation offices, awaiting its next update cycle.

In fairness, planners stay among the most sought-after professionals in municipal government, precisely because there is always more planning to do. And while LRTP is unquestionably a crucial tool for long-range decision-making, its real value depends on how it is communicated, implemented, and most importantly, how the public is engaged in shaping its contents.

Hypothetically Speaking:

Let us hope this planning cycle produces not only a technically sound document, but also one that reflects meaningful community input and leads to visible improvements in the region’s transportation future.

---

Janesville’s July Reckoning—Time to Lead, Not Linger (Part Three)

Janesville Plan Commission:

🏗️ Development Updates from the Milton Avenue Corridor and Beyond

📍 Woodman’s Site Redevelopment Plan Moves Forward

Woodman’s Food Market, Inc. has submitted a certified survey map (CSM) request to divide the property at 2826 Milton Avenue into two lots and one out lot. The proposal calls for the development of a new gas station, convenience store, oil change facility, and carwash on Lot 1.

Lot 2 will remain developed as it is currently home to the existing Woodman’s grocery store, an office building, and existing gas station and carwash facilities along North Lexington Drive.

This marks a continued investment by Woodman’s in the corridor, further expanding commercial activity on the city’s northeast side.

---

💰 TID 37 Funds Proposed for Strategic Reallocation

A proposal is under consideration to transfer excess funds from Tax Increment Financing District 37, originally set up for the redevelopment of the former Menard’s site, to support two other TIDs currently underperforming:

• TID 36 – Downtown Revitalization, and
• TID 42 – General Motors Centennial Industrial Park Site.

TID 37 has successfully met its capital improvement targets, generating a surplus increment that may now be legally redirected. Downtown TID has lagged in terms of project generation and private investment, while the former GM plant site presents significant redevelopment potential but also complex challenges requiring added financial support. This reallocation of funds reflects a strategic effort to balance success across districts and maximize citywide economic development.

---

🏨 Hotel Expansion: New Brand to Join Holiday Inn Express Site

Plans are underway to expand the Holiday Inn Express property, near the Interstate, not the Milton Avenue corridor, with the addition of a second hotel brand: Candlewood Suites. The proposed project involves an addition to the existing hotel structure, allowing the two brands to co-locate on the same property.

While details stay limited about the future of the on-site convention space, the increase in hotel room inventory is a positive step in bolstering Janesville’s hospitality capacity, especially as the city positions itself to support future regional tourism and events.

---

🧊 Convention Center Area: Development Still in Waiting

With the $50 million investment in Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center now well underway, many in the community have been expecting a wave of commercial growth along the Milton Avenue Corridor. However, with few exceptions, such as the Woodman’s convenience store project and a speculative office building at 1247 Milton Avenue, new commercial announcements have been sparse.

There has been no official update on a revitalization plan for the Uptown Janesville Mall, though speculation continues about its long-term future and its role within the broader redevelopment vision that could exist for the Ice Arena and Convention Center district.

Outside of a few chicken-themed restaurant ventures, there has also been no unveiling of the long-anticipated Milton Avenue Corridor Redevelopment Plan. That plan, much like the proposed Housing Policy Summit and the Southside Centennial Office/Industrial Park planning effort, appears to remain in the planning queue, awaiting City Hall to acknowledge, let alone prioritize such efforts, and engage the community in a planning effort.

Hypothetically Speaking:

What a dream to come true if the leadership in City Hall saw a need for citizen involvement and participation and made it a priority across the board. There is a common theme throughout this narrative. It revolves around comprehensive planning and citizen participation. Maybe if it became a priority for the community as a whole, it might be seen as important by the authorities in City Hall. Get informed, get involved, and make a real difference in your community. It can happen here!

---

📝 Final Thoughts: The Puck Drops Now

Editorial Commentary:

As Janesville advances on a fast-paced path of strategic investments and major infrastructure development, coordination, transparency, and prompt communication are no longer optional, they are essential. Residents, stakeholders, and business leaders are looking for more than just high-level ideas, they are calling for a clear, cohesive game plan that connects each individual project to a broader, long-term vision for the city’s growth and success.

Now is the time to turn aspirations into action. Plans that gather dust in binders do little to serve the public interest; we need strategies that are inclusive, actionable, and publicly accountable. The road ahead demands not only bold leadership but also a team effort, because progress, like sports, is a contact game.

Later this week, the Janesville City Council will release the agenda for its first meeting of the month, which will address the timeline and progress related to the Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center project. As we previewed in an earlier edition, several key decisions must be made quickly and cleanly if we are going to keep the puck moving down the ice.

This is the final period before the buzzer. The action is intensifying, and every pass, check, and shot matters. Hockey is coming to Uptown Janesville, and with it, the eyes of the region. The stakes are high, and the goal is clear: finish strong without ending up in the penalty box.

📣 Call to Action:
Now more than ever, we urge residents to tune in, speak up, and stay informed. Read the agendas, watch the meetings, ask questions, and share your voice. Democracy works best when everyone is on the ice.

Stick with us as we will be here calling every play from the opening faceoff to the final goal. Because when the last puck slams into the net, it will not just be a win for City Hall, it will be a win for all of Janesville.

---

🎤 Newsmakers Preview

Spotlight on Community Voices

We are thrilled to share the momentum behind Newsmakers, a recently launched public affairs series featuring 15-minute one-on-one interviews with local individuals making a difference.

From civic leaders and arts advocates to nonprofit pioneers and globe-trotting athletes, each episode highlights compelling stories of perseverance, innovation, and deep-rooted community pride.

Looking ahead to this fall, we will launch a series of conversations with locally elected officials from across the area, exploring not only the roles they play but the motivations that drive their commitment to building a stronger, more engaged community.

📺 How to Watch & Listen:

• Fridays at 9:30 AM – JATV Community Access Channel 994 (Spectrum)
• Fridays at 9:15 AM – WCLO Radio: Your Talk Show with Tim Bremel
• Anytime, On-Demand – YouTube: Search “JATV Media” or “Rock County Civics Academy”

☕ Community Spotlight: Havana Coffee

Fueling Dialogue, One Cup at a Time      

Looking for a space to connect and reflect? Visit Havana Coffee at 1250 Milton Avenue true Janesville gem where civic energy meets excellent espresso. With hearty food, warm service, and a strong commitment to local journalism, Havana Coffee proudly supports the Rock County Civics Academy and all who believe in informed engagement.

---

💬 A Call to Leadership

Every advancement in our community begins with someone choosing to act. If you have asked yourself when the right time to get involved is—the answer might just be now.

Ways to contribute:
• Volunteer with a civic group
• Apply to serve on a local board or commission
• Run for public office and lead the change.

“If not me, who? If not now, when? — Hillel the Elder

💭 Hypothetically Speaking…

• What if transparency was standard in local government?
• What if civic engagement became Rock County’s defining strength?

That is the mission of Hypothetically Speaking. And with your voice in the mix, it is closer to reality than ever.

---

🌐 Stay Engaged with the Rock County Civics Academy

📍 [Visit Our Website] rockcountycivicsacademy.org
📘 [Follow us on Facebook]
📺 [Subscribe on YouTube]
📰 [Join Our Substack Newsletter] Substack.com/rockcountycivicsacademy

Until next time—stay curious, stay engaged, and stay connected.
©2025 Rock County Civics Academy – All Rights Reserved.