Mt Pleasant drops O-U-N from its name

The Mt. Pleasant Village Board, formerly known as the Mount Pleasant Village Board, narrowly voted Tuesday night to drop the O-U-N from its first name.

Village President Carolyn Milkie cast the tie-breaking vote on the controversial issue that has divided this growing community. The decision brings the village in line with large green highway signs recently put up along Interstate 94.

"The sign says Mt. Pleasant, we should be Mt. Pleasant," Milkie said at a packed Village Board meeting.

Board Member Ken Flones led the opposition, arguing the community had a long, storied tradition of spelling things out. Shortening Mount to "Mt." is a "poke in the eye" of the village's ancestors, he said.

"Our forebearers didn't settle here, convince the city of Racine to extend utilities outside of its borders, use those utilities to facilitate urban sprawl and then finagle a sewer agreement that allowed us to incorporate as a village and landlock the city just so we can cut three letters out of our proud name," Flones said.

Board Member Ingrid Tiegel backed Flones, noting that changing the name could lead to confusion.

"There's no mountain in the village," she said. "People are going to be mighty disappointed if they turn off the interstate only to learn the highest elevation point is the treehouse at Georgie Porgies."

But board member John Hewitt said it's time for the village to act like a village, and that means making the tough decisions. He noted eliminating the three letters will save countless tenths of pennies in printer ink, and spare residents hand cramps from having to write out the village's full name.

"I for one don't want to have to look little Johnny in the eye and explain why he had to write three more letter than are needed to accurately portray our community's name," Hewitt said.

Tiegel shot back: "We could just eliminate all vowels, John. Would that work?" She then held up a sign that read, "Mnt Plsnt."

"How's this?" Tiegel shouted. "It's perfectly understandable. Perfectly."

Board Member Harry Manning tried to broker the peace by suggesting the village hold a referendum on the proposal. The board voted 6-1 against the amendment, but Manning said he intended to research an ordinance that would require a referendum on all spelling-related issues in the village, possibly including the use of whiteout, or even the delete key on village keyboards.

In the end, James Chaplin and Sonny Havn joined Milkie and Hewitt and the ordinance passed. Exhausted after the meeting, Milkie said the issue came down to what signs people wanted to align themselves with.

"We have a giant green sign paid for by the State of Wisconsin sitting right out there alongside the road and a bunch of old signs that scream bumpkin," she said. "We have to start cutting corners around here. We move at the speed of change."