How often can once resident enjoy this place? Once? And what if you dont have kids? All this does it bring tourists and then wont even make enough money to pay for itself. Money management 101... dont build something that DOESNT benefit the city residence and yet wont even pay for itself.. you need us to cover it??
Joke all the way!!

Maybe the council members should pretend that it is THEIR money that they are spending and NOT the taxpayers. It's a lot easier to spend other peoples money than it is your own.

I agree. This will not help anything. Might be a nice place to visit, but heavily outweighed in the other aspects. There is soooo much more that needs to be improved in this town. If this costs the tax payers and is not approved by the majority population of he city, then the council will need to go. Lets get a mayoral race started!

Here's a copy & pasted blog entry by Councilman Rashkin:
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"For those who are interested, I have set up a poll to gage the support and opposition to the Children's Museum on my blog, which you can find at www.YuriRashkin.com. I invite any and all to express your opinion by stating you preference there. Thank you."

Yuri Rashkin

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If you want to vote, just click his blog link. Last I checked the "no's" had it. Since we won't be given the opportunity to vote on a referendum, might as well vote here.

I love how janesville just likes to blow money. They need to concentrate on the issues at hand before taking on more BS projects. A childrens museum helps the community how? Draining our wallets more? I like how ideas and comments are screened on here to make it look as positive as possible.

bbwil: I will mention that they mentioned roughly 7 people will be employed by the museum, which isn't many considering the capital invested. I have to agree with those who think this novelty will taper off after a few years and the city will find itself funding much more of this than expected. In addition, I get annoyed at the notion that because other cities have something Janesville should also. The city needs to have the worst case scenarios worked into this project or tax payers will get fleeced. However, all this considered, I’ll gamble that the three million in private funds needed to start this project will be a long time coming. As a result, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about this project in the near future. Hopefully by the time private funds are acquired, Janesville’s economic outlook will be more favorable. On the other hand, if the economic outlook is still bleak at that time then tax payers need to stand up and put the council’s feet to the fire.

Janesville does NEED to take it a little easier on taxpayers on fixed incomes and those about to join the ranks of the unemployed...or are the rest of you willing to pick up the slack?

Well, I for one am excited about this and happy to pay a little extra in taxes for this cause. Maybe NEED, in the sense of "can't live without" is the wrong word, but Janesville DOES NEED more kid-friendly activities. The Palmer pool is nice but only lasts a few months a year...then what? McDonalds playland? No thanks.

And for those of you complaining about Janesville needing more jobs, who do you think is going to run this museum? I'm sure they will be an EOE and you are more than welcome to apply. ;)

Can we impeach our council members?! HAHAHA!

Next time you vote for council members, remember their spending habits!

Doesn't Janesville need a zoo?

"a "Need" would be more like food, safety, shelter or health care"
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Actually that's not true. Nobody needs anything, not even food. Does not eating food have disastrous consequences? Yes, but that doesn't mean you should deny that not eating food can be a replacement for eating food. It's all about choices. People are going to choose what's more important to them. Apparently a children's museum is more important to some people on the council than other things.
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If Amy Loasching runs again she won't be getting my vote. Then again, she didn't get my vote in the first place and she still won.

Please council president Amy, use your UAW mind here and realize that this is a waste at the wrong time. I know you first hand know how much less money there will be on the tax roles when GM pulls out. Museum, NO WAY! Saving taxpayers money WAY!!

At the risk of looking at the glass half empty...who in the world thinks a children's museum is a worthy cause?? OMG!! I would be willing to bet that there would be a lot of ONE TIME visitors, and not to many return visitors. So where does that leave the museum after all have seen it once? Empty, broke and another vacant premise in Rock County. There are museums in surrounding cities that people can visit if that is in their interests. HANHAH I totally agree with you, with the way the economy is, there are recreational establishments that are closing shop because people can't afford to visit them because they can barely afford to drive to work. ((((shaking my head)))))) ((((((sigh))))))))

No. It was reported in December of 2007 that the Janesville council does not get paid.

Do council members in Janesville receive any pay in return for serving? If so, I hope they pledge whatever the amount to this NEEDED museum.

Webster's definition of "Need" - "a lack of something requisite" and "a physiological or psychological requirement for the well-being of an organism"

Using that definition, a "Need" would be more like food, safety, shelter or health care.

A museum, although educational, is none of the above.

There are Janesville people destitute, malnourished and sleeping under bridges.

A nice pool, museum or bike trail does them little good.

how bassakwards (sp prob) is that????!!!!

villajanesville-She thinks the timing is bad for the wastewater treatment plant. She's all for the museum!

Well folks, it was unanimous. Time to vote the BUMS out. They readily admitted this wouldn't fly in a referendum so they went ahead and did it anyway. Hey council people, you are representatives of the people! Not corporate C.E.O.'s sucking a company dry in the name of your bank accounts! You all should be embarrassed by your actions and I hope to see you in the unemployment line after the election. The difference between you guys and everybody else there is that you council members truly do deserve to lose your jobs!

luvujvl-- hey the museum is suposed to bring jobs. i believe the exact number was SEVEN 7 people will run it whatever that makes no sense.do they mean OVER SEE?RUN it plus a staff of 10 ish?

sarahB- spikesmom and Yes NEED a musuem so maybe THEY will pay for it. i commented on another blog that maybe theyld like to pay 4650 in taxes a year too and then THEY can have their musuem. Right now the economy is so bad I cannot aford to drive to work. have to charge it and groceries. take you kid to madison to se ethe museum if it is so great. FIX WHAT WE HAVE!!!!ALREADY!!!

NEED???? What we NEED is JOBS brought in to this community. We also NEED law enforcement, fire protection, 911 services, snow removal, street maintenance, and the like. We do not NEED museums, or tunnels for that matter. Those would be called WANTS. Ridiculous !!

We "NEED" a children's museum?! Give me a break!

I am sure all the rug rat brats running around my neighbor hood are NOT going to benefit from musuem since the loser parents dont even care where they are running around at and am sure theyre not going to "take then to no musum"

Why in the world do we NEED a children's museum? Rockford's is awesome and going on a road trip to visit it is half the fun. This is kind of ridiculous. Is this really how we should be spending our money right now? Things that make you go Hmmmm....

For those council members that gave the green light.... do they know where the money tree is? If so, I'd like one too!

Mr. Steeber, and the rest of the council, you do a vast disservice to the community by approving unnecessary projects before we really know what the full impact of the GM closing will be.

Thank you Amy Loasching for trying to be fiscally conservative.

I need to know which council members said Janesvilles "needs" a children's museum. Is this some sort of joke?

"Council member Russ Steeber says very few communities go into negative growth."

How many communities lose a company the size of GM, along with it's suppliers?