Vote Early. This week!

Hey everyone,

Following last week’s City Council budget session, I put together a deep-dive report for Racine Record breaking down the three main amendments that dominated the evening before the final 8–1 budget approval.

A quick recap of the three biggest floor battles:

• Sump Pump Retrofit Mandates: Under severe pushback over point-of-sale inspections and strict 30-day compliance timelines for home sales, council approved an ad hoc committee (including city staff, realtors, plumbers, an alder, and a citizen representative) to pause the rollout and spend 6 months designing alternative options that don't hit property owners with massive out-of-pocket costs.
• King Center Access & Regional Fees: Alder Davis proposed eliminating non-resident youth fees for the new King Center, sparking a passionate 90-minute regional funding debate. Alder Jorgensen introduced a sub-amendment to keep the fee structure in place while requesting surrounding villages (Mount Pleasant, Sturtevant, Caledonia) contribute funds to cover their residents. The sub-amendment passed 7–6 (which also featured a heated exchange between Alders Maack and Jorgensen leading to a 10-minute recess).
• Public Safety vs. Zoo Funding: An amendment by Alder Maack to redirect $40k from the Department of Community Safety’s neighborhood watch budget to cover Racine Zoo operational deficits failed 2–11 after strong pushback regarding local gun violence and crime prevention resources.

The full article breaks down all the specific vote tallies, quotes from Alders, and how these disputes set the stage for the upcoming Spring 2027 local elections:

https://racinerecord.substack.com/p/sump-pumps-walkouts-and-the-king

Curious to hear everyone's thoughts: Do you think surrounding villages should contribute to King Center access, or should city facilities be open to all area youth regardless of municipal lines? How do you feel about the sump pump pause?

Would love to get out and meet some local people .

I’m sharing my personal experience with ZP Construction LLC in Racine, Wisconsin, because I believe homeowners deserve to make informed decisions before committing to a major renovation.

My experience has left me with serious concerns about unfinished work, workmanship, project expenses, and the accounting of the funds I paid.

Between January and May 2025, I paid more than $230,000 toward my project. After reviewing the contracts, invoices, payment records, photographs, and other documentation, I disputed substantial portions of the work and charges. Questions concerning the scope of work, project expenses, and responsibility for certain items remain unresolved.

I have submitted complaints to Wisconsin regulatory agencies and am currently involved in civil litigation concerning these matters.

I have documentation relating to my experience, including contracts, invoices, payment records, photographs, correspondence, and court filings. I continue to pursue appropriate avenues for resolution and accountability.

I want to be clear: This is my firsthand experience and my account of an ongoing dispute. I am not suggesting that every customer has had the same experience, and I am not representing that a court has decided these disputed issues.

I’m sharing this because choosing a contractor is a significant decision. Online reviews, ratings, and local awards can be reassuring, but they are only one part of the picture.

If you are considering a substantial renovation, please take the time to:

• Get a detailed written scope of work.

• Require signed change orders for additional work.

• Verify permits and inspections independently.

• Request itemized invoices and clear explanations of project expenses.

• Keep copies of contracts, payments, correspondence, and photographs.

• Check references from homeowners with projects similar to yours.

• Research public records and ask questions before making substantial payments.

If you're considering ZP Construction LLC in Racine, I encourage you to do your own due diligence and ask detailed questions before signing a contract or making substantial payments.

If you have had a similar experience with a contractor in Wisconsin, I would welcome hearing how you documented your concerns and pursued resolution.

My intention in sharing this is simple: homeowners should have the information they need to make informed decisions and protect their investments.

I hope my experience helps someone else ask the right questions before they begin their own renovation.

Okay, this is really specific. I'm in town for a memorial and wanting to visit a bar that has a jukebox that plays Frank Sinatra because the person whose life I'm celebrating was a Frank Sinatra fan. Does such a place exist? TIA

You've watched it in the Olympics. You got mesmerized by the stones gliding down the ice. What the hell is going on with the sweeping and why is the guy at the other end yelling like a madman?

Want to find out?

The Racine Curling Club is holding learn-to-curl sessions this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They'll teach you the basics of curling including delivering the stone, sweeping, scoring and the ethics of curling. We'll play an end (think "inning") as a mini-game to finish the session. If you don't feel you can crouch down into the hack to throw the stone like you've seen due to a bad back or knees, we have alternative delivery methods you can use.

The cost is reasonable, it's a good date idea, and a heckuva lotta fun. Curlers are some of the friendliest people around - after every match, we "broomstack" - sit around the table and have a beer and solve all the world's problems.

You can sign up for it here.

I posted recently about Racine Literacy Council needing volunteer tutors to teach English and help adults learn to read, etc. it's really important to me because I can see the direct impact it has on people's lives if they can finally read enough to get a better job, or get their GED, or go to their kids school and speak English to the teacher. I posted here about tutoring and I spammed Facebook and Insta and passed flyers out to my mother's Bible study ladies. Last night RLC hosted tutor training And two people came -- both from this subreddit. And it made me proud of our little community for showing up to help. I feel like things in the US are pretty shit right now but people still want to help others, and that gives me some hope that we can still make things better.

Hello all. I have 8 hours of PTO at my work that can only be used for volunteer work. With that, does anyone know of something that would either be 8 hours once, or spread out to a few days totaling 8 hours. Would need to be before 5PM during the week.

I'm working on getting set up with a job in Caledonia, and most of the available housing nearby is in Racine. Has anyone had any experience with Good Karma Realty? Are they sketchy? Do they maintain their properties decently enough?

The City of Racine’s proposed 2027 budget is officially on the table, and with a mayoral election coming up this spring, it offers a close look at the city's fiscal priorities. Mayor Cory Mason’s proposal outlines a $287 million total spending plan, a property tax rate dropping to $11.04 per thousand (a 15-year low), and no new city service fees.

However, the budget also highlights ongoing structural challenges, including frozen state revenue sharing, a structural deficit bridged by reserves, and massive legacy healthcare obligations.

Read the full breakdown of the numbers, efficiencies, neighborhood developments, and capital projects here: https://racinerecord.substack.com/p/inside-racines-287m-budget-reoganization?r=58m1j&utm_medium=uu

This is super-niche and massive longshot, but I'm working on a project about SOV (shot-on-video) productions in Wisconsin and wondered if anyone in this subreddit might know anyone involved in the production of America's Deadliest Home Video (1993), which was shot in Racine.

The main figures that seem to have been behind it are Jack Perez, Steven Diller and Michael L. Wynhoff.

If anyone in this subreddit happens to know anything about this productions, or knows anyone involved, I would really appreciate any help!

I've found a kitty near St. Rita's church in Caledonia. He's super sweet, not chipped, and not neutered. Bringing him to the Racine Humane Society today when they open.

How much does everyone think their we energies bill is going to go up once this data center opens? I am guessing at least 5-7% annually for several years to come. Wholesale has jumped 2-6%, with residential jumping 7.1… I just moved here a little over a year ago…

When was this voted on? Or did citizens not get a say in the matter which seems to be commom

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