Common Sense Alert: In an e-mail to the Department of Public Works, Ald. Bob Bauman asked the following questions: "Is the declaration of a snow emergency communicated via the e-notify system? Can such a declaration be communicated to all citizen e-mail addresses in our e-notify database, even if the recipient has not signed-up for a specific category of notifications? Can we interface with large networks such as Marquette, MSOE and UWM -- a lot of the cars towed were students -- in order to broadly disseminate such notifications?"

A Wednesday meeting may reveal some answers.

Timing is Everything: It never hurts a candidate to lead in fundraising after the first deadline for reporting campaign finances.

It gives the candidate some traction and an air of legitimacy. Hence the strong report filed by East Side aldermanic hopeful Pat Flaherty. As of the Dec. 31 report, he raised $18,179, including a $1,000 donation to his own campaign. Nik Kovac reported the second-largest war chest, with $12,521. Two other camps declared around $5,000. Flaherty had a good turnout at his birthday fundraiser.

Although Sam McGovern-Rowen, current aide to the retiring Ald. Mike D'Amato, reported a mere $3,636, keep in mind it's also been a tradition of veteran pols to hold off on reporting all their contributors early since the money -- and who gave it -- ultimately doesn't have to show up on the next report, a week before the general election.

That could be the strategy at the McGovern-Rowen headquarters.

It could be scheduling, but nonetheless it's a noted coincidence that a major fundraiser for McGovern-Rowen, featuring former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, was set for Feb. 12 -- one day after the deadline for the second campaign finance report is due.

Given McGovern-Rowen's list of high-profile backers, it shouldn't be hard for him to raise some cash. The list includes developers like Mike Mervis, head of the city's major domo development company of Towne Realty; ex-city and state officials such as former Housing Agency chief Ricardo Diaz and current Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman; prominent lobbyists like Moira Fitzgerald; and a number of attorneys and business owners.

The next campaign finance report is set for March 24, one week before the general election April 1. And the last week of March can also be a busy time for fundraising, since those receipts don't have to be reported until July 21. In 2004, spending upwards of $50,000 wasn't unheard in an aldermanic race. And given the prize in this one, it shouldn't be out of the question this time, either.

Efficient Use of Time: State Rep. Pedro Colon (D-Milwaukee) spends relatively few days in Madison each year, but says it's not because he is concentrating on a run for city attorney. Colon says his time in Madison is about average for someone with his tenure in the legislature. Last week, we reported that Colon ranked near the bottom of the list of area lawmakers declaring their days of work physically in Madison.

When they show up in Madison, lawmakers get to collect $88 a day. Colon spent 54 days in Madison, while Sheldon Wasserman, currently running for state Senate, was in Madison on 42 days, lowest on the list among local legislators. In contrast, state Rep. Leon Young (D-Milwaukee) topped the list of lawmakers, declaring he was in Madison enough to put $13,464 extra his bank account during 2007.

"I know more if I stay close to home," Colon says of his strategy of representing the South Side. Besides, he says, he gets enough of Madison while serving on the Joint Finance Committee during budget season.