Village moves faster than turtles (Laurel Walker)

JOURNAL-SENTINEL (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 11 July 06 Village moves faster than turtles (Laurel Walker)
Nikolas Janik, protector of turtles, has learned a valuable lesson in his first venture into politics.
Sometimes, persistence (and a little publicity) pays off. The wheels of government don't always grind so slowly after all.
Nikolas is the Pewaukee lad I wrote about a month ago. He was worried about the turtles that cross Park Hill Drive between two ponds near his home, and with good reason. They were getting flattened by drivers - an occupational hazard especially during the spring hunt for a nesting site.
He had taken matters into his own hands, posting two laminated "turtle crossing" signs on nearby streetlight posts. He also turned to Village Hall for some help, wading through a lengthy Village Board meeting after raising his concerns during a citizen comment period.
The matter was referred to committee - of course. But it took only a matter of about 10 minutes Wednesday for the Public Works and Safety Committee to agree to install two turtle-crossing signs on posts at the ponds.
It won't cost taxpayers a dime.
Village Trustees Peter Rohde and John Laimon - the latter apparently didn't faze Nikolas with his stated fondness for snapping turtle soup if he traps one in season - volunteered to find donor funds to pay for the signs and to personally install them. The signs will stay up between April and October.
The diamond-shaped, yellow signs will look official, without pictures, but Nikolas and a family friend are creating wooden signs showing a turtle that will also be mounted on the posts.
"I was pretty happy," Nikolas said afterward. Just for fun, since no further approval was needed, he stuck around Village Hall after the committee meeting and sat through another few hours of the Village Board meeting.
"It takes a little bit to find one thing out in the village," critiqued Nikolas, 13. The meeting, which included discussion of controversial new Village Hall plans, got a little "rough," he said, especially when people in the audience "started doing dumb stuff" like holding up signs or speaking out of turn in protest.
Nikolas impressed Public Works and Safety Committee Chairman Donna Baldwin-Haut with his information and his presentation and his stick-to-it-ness.
"Maybe he'll be a politician some day," she said.
Nikolas has yet to declare his candidacy.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=460123