Get Your Vote On

Early voting is underway in Wisconsin for the non-partisan spring elections until this Friday, March 28th. The City of Milwaukee Election Commission has seen fewer than 200 voters in its 5th floor City Hall offices since voting began on March 17th.  The April 1st election is a yawner, no foolin’, with no high-profile Supreme Court seats up for grabs. In fact, there was no Spring Primary needed this year. There is only one contested election for most of the city and county of Milwaukee, that of an open judgeship sought by court commissioners Cedric Cornwall and Laura Gramling Perez, along with a referendum to cut the pay of county supervisors. Additionally residents of the 15th aldermanic district vote in the election in a primary to replace departed Ald. Willie Hines, Jr. Some suburbs like Whitefish Bay are voting for village president and other offices. The city of Milwaukee has printed new voting stickers this year that read “I Voted Early,” which is a nice way to spread the word. [I’ve got mine.] Voters do not need to present their identification. … The last comparable election, in 2010, drew about 23,000 total voters countywide.

Candidates looking forward to the fall partisan elections have been working the circuit as well. Sheriff hopeful Chris Moews, whose chances ride on defeating incumbent David Clarke in the August Democratic primary, has been especially visible, most recently at a fundraiser for Sen. Chris Larson at Paddy’s Pub on March 20th. Larson was joined by his former aide, Jonathan Brostoff, who is campaigning to replace Rep. Jon Richards in the assembly against challengers Sara Geenen, Marina Dimitrijevic and Dan Adams. Brostoff says he has knocked on 2,500 doors in his circuit of the district.

Moews sports one heck of a flat-top haircut, which certainly tops off his law-and-order cred. He gets his haircut at a shop around N. 77th and W. Burleigh streets. “You can land a plane on this sucker,” he says of his do…

Gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke was at a mid-March fundraiser at the Hamilton. The dozens of supporters who showed up included sponsor and 2012 Democratic National Convention delegates Craig Mastantuono, Ann S. Jacobs along with Atty. Mark Thomsen and state Rep. Mandela Barnes. Burke told them that, as much as some people may endorse the policies of the governor, “there is no great love for Scott Walker.” She has a point. Tommy Thompson could do all sorts of crazy things, but he was personally popular. Burke was asked if she plans a Harley-Davidson motorcycle ride as a campaign event. “That may be taken, but we will do a bicycle tour,” she promised. Burke also hammered on what she considers the economic stagnation of Wisconsin under the Walker administration. “We will lose our best and brightest,” she cautioned, if things do not improve. She said neighboring states like Minnesota have “regained jobs and more since the recession,” while Wisconsin has trailed behind.

Photos from Paddy’s Pub

Board Hears Tax Appeals

Count U.S. Bank as among the objectors of its tax assessment. The bank challenges the 2013 assessment of $176,188,000 for its headquarters at 777 E. Wisconsin Ave., the city’s most valuable building. It also challenged the $12,444,000 assessment for a building at 716 E. Clybourn St. at the Board of Review’s March 26th meeting. The board had earlier heard objections from Boris Gokhman and Raisa Gokhman about the $2,150,000 assessment on their 28th floor, 5,795 sq. ft. Kilbourn Tower condo. … Challenges to the assessments for multiple buildings of the P&V Atlas complex on W. Virginia St. were also heard by the board by appellant LCM Funds 20 LLC. This  is an entity controlled by David A. Winograd, of Mequon, who has purchased much property in Walkers Point lately. Winograd owns Xentel, a Milwaukee for-profit fundraising company that has been criticized for its excessive fees raising money for public safety and veterans groups among others. [See “Fundraising Firms Deliver Low Returns.”]

RiverWalk District Seeks Funds for Usinger Memorial

The Milwaukee Riverwalk District is appealing for funds to construct a memorial to the late Debra Usinger, the downtown businesswoman and activist who died of cancer in 2012 at 58. “The chosen piece is a bronze sculpture designed by Beth Sahagian depicting tree branches and buds intertwined on a trellis,” according to promotional material. Usinger was an admirer of Sahagian, whose other work on the riverwalk includes Aqua Grylii between W. Wells St. and W. Kilbourn Ave., a block south of the Usinger sausage factory.

Memorial Set for Schlieman

The Charles Allis Museum, 1801 N. Prospect Ave. will be the site Wednesday, April 9th, at 6:30 p.m. for a memorial gathering in honor of D0nna Schlieman, the historic preservation activist who died on December 20th, 2013. [See Urban Milwaukee story here.] Schlieman’s friends will discuss an appropriate memorial for her. There was some consideration to renaming or granting an honorary name to a street, perhaps at the former Pabst Brewery site, which she helped rescue. Another option that occurs to me would be giving her name to some portion of the pedestrian walkway that leads from her home on N. Prospect and E. Ogden avenues to the lakefront. …In other history news, a lecture previously scheduled for March 3rd in the Gestern Hall of the Milwaukee Turners has, due to illness of the participants, been rescheduled for March 31st at 7 p.m.  The Legacy of the 1848er’s and Progressive German Immigrants from the Civil War to the 1890’s, by historians Mari Jo Buhle and Paul Buhle will discuss the contributions of women and the German press to Progressivism, Socialism and Marxism in Wisconsin and the USA. Ms. Buhl is a MacArthur Foundation Genius grant recipient. This is history as an artform — a site-specific one, since the Milwaukee Turn Halle, built in 1885, was the location of many of the debates and political discussions of the era and movement to be explored.

More Interesting News

The swings are set to return to the Marsupial Bridge this spring, perhaps as early as April. The popular attraction will be reinstalled in part, and in accordance with federal regulations. Julia Taylor and others met with Ghassan Korban of the city to get the project happening, hopefully in time for the visit to the city by the Kresge Foundation, sponsors of “The Avenue” and “The Artery,” temporary public arts installations this spring and summer. [See Urban Milwaukee article here.] …

Sustainability Summit in Town

The 11th Annual Sustainability Summit and Exhibition is at the Wisconsin Center March 26th – 27th. Among speakers Wednesday were mayor Tom Barrett and Ed Begley, the latter sponsored by A. O. Smith. Urban Milwaukee editor Bruce Murphy will speak on Fossil Fuels: Truth and Consequences Thursday at 1:45 p.m. The summit has seen explosive growth since it was initiated, and is expected to draw over 3,000 to downtown. Students get free admission.