Bob Donovan and the Milwaukee Streetcar

Alderman Bob Donovan is becoming a specialist in anti-streetcar press conferences. This time he held the press conference at a bar in his district instead of City Hall, and this time (too bad for those of us who like street theater) Alderman Bob Bauman chose not to attend. Bauman’s absence didn’t stop Donovan from referencing his own blow-up last week. In case any of you thought Donovan looked outflanked last week, he now claims that when he slammed his fist on the podium during the prior press conference Bauman soiled his pants (video).

I stand by my past prediction that Donovan will continue to create press releases and press conferences on the streetcar. It’s pretty apparent why Donovan has chosen this time to make it a big issue: Mayor Barrett is running for Governor, and Donovan doesn’t mind undercutting the mayor’s campaign. Win or lose for Barrett, Donovan is likely to be a lot less interested in this issue come June 6th.

A New Basketball Arena?

Yes, they’ve tried before, but it looks there will be renewed effort to create a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks, and this attempt– which is beginning to feel like a full court press — isn’t likely to be abandoned.  The announcement of naming rights for what will be known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center is the linchpin to the latest strategy. The MMAC, under the leadership of Tim Sheehy, helped broker a six-year naming rights deal with the new bank in town as well as handful of other sponsorships with other local companies. The $18 million in sponsorships (or $3 million a year) are to serve as a bridge to a new arena. They also send a signal that some of Milwaukee’s businesses (whose support has not been all that clear in the past) do see it as beneficial to have an NBA team in town.

It’s encouraging that the Uihleins have reversed their stance on the naming rights for the facility after publicly opposing such a deal in 2008. The worst thing that could happen to the facility would be losing its primary tenant — and Wisconsin’s only NBA franchise — to another city. BMO Harris will get increased brand name recognition, the Bucks will get a new revenue stream, and many will still call the building the Bradley Center. It’s a win for everyone.

Of interest from the fact sheet the Bucks released with the announcement is that the Bradley Center “draws 30% of its attendees from outside the four-county metro area of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha County,” which of course raises the issue of which taxpayers (if any) might be enlisted to help pay for a new arena — a very dicey subject. Also of interest in the NBA arena space race, the Golden State Warriors are inching closer to moving across the bay to San Francisco.

Jimmy Goldstein Could Buy the Milwaukee Bucks

Multi-millionaire and NBA superfan Jimmy Goldstein seems like a candidate to buy the Milwaukee Bucks, albeit an outside one. The Los Angeles area resident holds courtside season tickets to both the Lakers and Clippers currently, but grew up in the Milwaukee area (his father owned Zahn’s department store in Racine for many years). He reveals in his GQ column that NBA Commissioner David Stern reached out to him previously about buying the Milwaukee Bucks, but the deal never came together because of Michael Jordan’s interest.

Current owner Herb Kohl is likely to sell the team in the not-too-distant future, and whether it comes before, after, or as part of a new arena being built is likely to be a crucial factor in retaining the Milwaukee franchise. A sale before a new arena would be the worst scenario: I think a Sonicsgate situation would leave a bitter taste in a lot of Milwaukeeans mouths.

Goldstein is well-known among the NBA blogosphere for crisscrossing the country during the playoffs to watch as many games as possible. He claims to have just come off a stretch where he attended 24 games in 23 days. He also owns a fairly well-known house that has appeared in a number of films. If you’re looking to get more acquainted with some interior shots of the iconic home, head to Lebowski Fest at Cathedral Square on June 22nd.

If he were to buy the team, Jimmy Goldstein would be the second Los Angeles-based owner of a Milwaukee sports team, following in the footsteps of Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. Including County Executive Chris Abele in a Goldstein ownership group would add a level of intrigue: which of the two long-time NBA courtside ticket holders, Goldstein or Abele, would get the best seats in the house?

Downtown Trolley is Back

The Milwaukee Trolley Loop returns May 30th.  It will operate Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. until 9 p.m. The service will provide rides for $1. Service runs through September 8th.

The route remains unchanged from last year, but if anyone could draw it from memory I would be surprised. The trolley is undoubtedly a positive for downtown Milwaukee, but there’s no doubt a fixed guideway system like a streetcar would be an upgrade.

East Library Land Sale and UWM Zoning Change Approved by Common Council

The East Library redevelopment project continues to move forward. We reported earlier this week that up-zoning for the site had been recommended for approval by the City Plan Commission, and now the full City of Milwaukee Common Council has approved the land sale necessary for the deal. The Standard at East Library is set to open in the spring of 2014. More details on the project can be found on our East Library category page.

In addition, as referenced in last week’s Eyes on Milwaukee, UW-Milwaukee’s request for a zoning change for the former St. Mary’s Hospital was approved. At this point the university is not publicly planning a large expansion of student housing to the property. I failed to clarify last week that the action was taken up by the Zoning, Neighborhoods, and Development Committee, not the full Common Council, but this the full council gave its approval Tuesday.  It’s now awaiting the signature of the Mayor.

Bob Bauman vs Bob Donovan

We reached out to Aldermen Bob Bauman and Bob Donovan to get their perspective on the Milwaukee Streetcar project following the press conference “debate”. We offered each alderman a 600 to 1000 word position piece on the streetcar project.

Alderman Bauman responded with his piece, which is included below. Alderman Donovan’s office never replied directly to our initial request, but Donovan’s aide Patty Doherty did leave a comment on the press conference article ending with “And that is the concise version of the 600-1000 words you requested.”

Alderman Robert Bauman on the Milwaukee Streetcar

Forward or Backward?

On July 26 of last year, the Common Council voted 10 to 5 to approve a 3.6 mile downtown streetcar line and approved $9.7 Million in tax incremental financing to match the $54.9 Million in federal transit funds to finance construction of the initial $64.5 Million, 2 mile segment of that 3.6 mile line (file #110324). Leading up to this debate, council members heard from many constituents including 36 witnesses at a public hearing (34 testified in favor and two testified in opposition), 163 letters of support from individuals and businesses and hundreds of email and phone communications that ran approximately 2 to 1 in favor of the streetcar. The council approved the streetcar for three basic reasons: job creation, economic development and improved mobility and connectivity.

First, this $64.2 Million public works investment would create hundreds of direct and indirect construction jobs and would create dozens of permanent jobs for operations and maintenance. Second, this investment would promote downtown economic development and increase the downtown tax base which would support basic city services throughout Milwaukee. Third, this new transit service in downtown and nearby neighborhoods would offer an entirely new transportation option for downtown workers, residents, shoppers, students, visitors, tourists and patrons of downtown bars, restaurants and sports, entertainment and cultural venues.

The streetcar was designed to supplement, not replace, existing bus service to and through downtown and to connect the refurbished Intermodal/Amtrak Station with the many downtown business, entertainment and cultural destinations as well as downtown residential areas and nearby residential neighborhoods. The streetcar corridor would serve 100% of downtown hotel rooms, 91% of first floor commercial & retail space, 90% of occupied office space and 77% of downtown residential units. In sum, last year’s council action represented a significant step forward toward the goal of establishing a modern, 21^st Century transit system throughout Milwaukee on par with all large and most mid-sized cities in the United States which have built or are building urban rail systems.

Nevertheless, there are some who want to stop progress and move us backwards. One argument is that the $54.9 Million in federal transit funds should be used for some other purpose. Various suggestions are offered such as subsidizing the existing bus system, filling pot holes, repaving local streets, rebuilding highways, or buying new buses. While each one of these uses represent a significant public need, the council determined back in July, 2011 that the $54.9 Million of federal transit funds could not be used for any purpose other than the construction of a downtown streetcar line based on a communication from the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration and advice from Milwaukee’s congressional delegation. In fact we were told that some of these suggested uses such as filing pot holes and repaving local streets were not and never have been eligible for any type of federal funding much less specifically appropriated transit funds.

The council determined that the choice was to move forward with a downtown streetcar line or send the money back to the federal government for reprogramming as a grant to another city building or planning new rail transit lines. In essence, the choice was between job creation, economic development and improved mobility and connectivity in Milwaukee or job creation, economic development and improved mobility in St. Louis, Salt Lake City or some other city. Based on this choice and the potential benefits of this investment in Milwaukee, a solid majority of council members voted to move forward instead of backward.

Another argument to stop progress and move us backward is that the streetcar will not “pay for itself”. Again, the council considered this argument at length and concluded first, that no public transit or rail system in the world “pays for itself”; second, that public transit is a public service just like police or fire protection which also do not “pay for themselves”; and third, in the case of the streetcar, it would pay for itself based on a clause in the legislation approving the project that stated that incremental property tax revenue generated by new development in the streetcar corridor had to exceed any public funds used for streetcar operations. Based on this analysis a solid majority voted to approve the streetcar.

Finally the advocates of moving us backward continually call for a referendum. Once again the council considered this question back on July 26, 2011. A resolution was offered to hold a referendum. It was defeated on a vote of 12 to 3.

However, since then we had a referendum. It is called an election. On April 3, 2012 nine of the 10 council members who voted for the streetcar project and the mayor were returned to office by overwhelming margins.

During last year’s streetcar debate, council members were well aware that a negative vote was the politically safe decision. Nevertheless, after considering the arguments for and against, a solid majority voted for the project because in the end they wanted to move this city forward.

Robert J. Bauman
Alderman, 4th District

Alderman Robert Donovan’s office on the Milwaukee Streetcar

Ald. Donovan did pose this [ed: a referendum] to the Common Council. It was voted down ONLY when an alternative proposal was introduced. The alternative proposal stated that not one cent will be spent on the Milwaukee Streetcar until a complete cost report is prepared by the Comptroller’s office and presented to the Council.

If the report comes back stating that the project will exceed $64 million, it is very likely that this item will go back to the Council floor to be rehashed. For Ald. Bauman to state that this has already been voted on and that’s the end is very misleading.

The Comptroller’s office is waiting for a decision from the State regarding who is responsible for the cost of moving the utilities. If it is decided that the City of Milwaukee has to pay for this, the project will be presented to the Council as “fiscally unfeasible”. At that point, changes can be made to the plan in order to bring the cost back down to $64 million. Once the cost of moving the utilities is factored in, this will be an impossible task.

If the decision from the State comes back in favoring the City over the utilities regarding the cost of moving the lines, the utilities will then publicly announce the total cost and state that they will recoup those costs from their customers – and not just the ones in the City of Milwaukee. 5 Council Members strongly support this project and 5 are opposed. Let’s see how the 5 in the middle vote once the Comptroller’s cost report comes back.

As for reallocating the funds, Governor Thompson had no problem getting this done after the original project for this grant fizzled out. After working out an agreement with the Mayor and County Executive from our area at that time, he petitioned the change at the Federal level and got it. For those of you who don’t know, the streetcar proposal was NOT what this money was originally allocated for.

And that is the concise version of the 600-1000 words you requested.

Patty Doherty

 

Eyes on Milwaukee

Welcome to the ninth installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week I examine the coming changes to the Milwaukee Delegation, how another big city gets quite the luxury perk, the difference between the charter meetings of the City and County, Milwaukee’s new City Clerk, and more. Of course, I also include one last plug to check out our new store’s grand opening this weekend as part of Gallery Night and Day.

Urban Milwaukee Store Grand Opening and Gallery Night

If you’re looking for something to do Friday, April 20th, look no further. We’re having a grand opening party at Urban Milwaukee: The Store in conjunction with Gallery Night. Come join us at the store anytime between 10 a.m. and midnight. Take the “art tunnel” through the back of our store to Sublime between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. for happy hour drinks and appetizers.

Urban Milwaukee: The Store is located in the Colby-Abbot Building at 755 N. Milwaukee St and sells paintings, photography, t-shirts, postcards, books, and more, all of which showcase Milwaukee, and are made by Milwaukeeans. If you needed more convincing, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel art and architecture critic Mary Louse Schumacher also recommends you stop by the store.

Learn more about the store or RSVP on the Facebook event.

The Impending New Milwaukee Delegation

If you’ve been upset with the failure of the Milwaukee delegation to deliver dedicated funding for transit or reform for Milwaukee Public Schools, you will have a largely new slate to blame in the near future. Of the 23 member delegation, it’s entirely possible 7 or more seats will have new representatives. While many of those changed seats are going to be occupied by current delegation members, there will still be a substantial amount of new blood.A number of familiar faces are leaving their current office for one reason or another.

• Senator Spencer Coggs has moved his office to Milwaukee City Hall
• Representative David Cullen has relocated to the Milwaukee County Courthouse
• Representative Elizabeth Coggs will leave her seat to run for the Senate seat vacated by her cousin, Spencer Coggs. Coggs has only had her Assembly seat since 2010.
• Representative Tamara Grigbsy will not seek re-election as she recovers from an undisclosed form of cancer.
• Representative Tony Staskunas will not seek re-election as “… now is a good time for me to seek new challenges.”
• Representative Sandy Pasch will seek the Assembly seat of Elizabeth Coggs.

Also of note, Representative Jason Fields faces a re-election challenge from Mandela Barnes.

If you expected much of anything to change, however, don’t bet on it. There still is no sign that the delegation has any clear legislative priorities.

Free Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks Tickets for Common Council Members?

Imagine if the Milwaukee Common Council (or the Milwaukee State Legislature delegation) were given free tickets to every Brewers and Bucks home game. It seems inevitable that stories would emerge of politicians appearing drunk on the scoreboard, or south side politicians caught cheering for the Cubs. Who knows, we might even get better candidates for office if they knew free season tickets were part of the deal. In Washington DC though this is almost exactly what happens, although it’s much worse, and far more embarrassing (although DC local politics have a history of embarrassing moments).

In a move that only a corrupt politician could love, the Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia are given free tickets, including a luxury box, to every Washington Nationals home game and Verizon Center event (home of the NBA’s Washington Wizards). The notion that politicians get such a luxury benefit is a bit disgusting from a good government standpoint in the first place (we all know a politician could likely score a free ticket to a game without it being law), but the DC politicians have found a way to make it worse year after year it seems. In exchange for public financing for the construction of Nationals Ballpark and renovations to the Verizon Center, DC’s elected officials have found themselves in possession of one of the most stereotypical luxury goods, the stadium luxury box. The icing on the cake? Rather than quietly enjoy this arguable bribe (I’m sure they would argue they give many tickets to their constituents), they manage to squabble about it year after year.

Mark Belling would have an absolute field day if the Milwaukee Common Council cut library hours and finished the night taking in a Zack Greinke outing at Miller Park, at least until they invited him.

24 to 1 – County vs City Leadership Votes

The glaring disparities between how business is conducted by the City of Milwaukee Common Council versus the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors was on display this week as both bodies had their charter meetings following the spring elections. The cohesiveness of the members of the Milwaukee Common Council was shown Tuesday as they unanimously re-elected Alderman Willie Hines, Jr. to the role of Common Council President. On Monday, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors couldn’t even narrow the field to two, and ultimately required 24 rounds of voting to elect Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic as the  new Board Chairwoman.

When I tuned in to listen to the fun the County Board was having around round 15, Dimitrijevic, Jursik, and Lipscomb all had 5 votes, Johnson had 2, and Weishan had himself. It took nine ballots and two recesses to sort things out from there. When Johnson pulled out, he and Mayo both switched their votes to Dimitrijevic following a recess. Then, after a few more gridlocked votes with little progress, Lipscomb called for a recess. While I don’t know what happened during the recess, clearly it didn’t turn out the way Lipscomb planned. Upon returning from the recess all but one of Jursik’s votes flipped to Marina, and the Board had elected a new chair.

One is likely to point out that Hines is an incumbent, but requiring 20 plus votes to decide the matter is quickly becoming a pattern for the County Board. It took a whopping 45 votes to re-elect now retired Lee Holloway to the post of Board Chair in 2008. How this issue doesn’t get sorted out behind closed doors is a bit of a mystery.

Also of note is to the degree to which the City versus County make themselves accessible to those not able to attend in person. Whereas many City meetings are video broadcast on the web and on cable channel 25 (99 on AT&T Uverse), with minutes posted to Legistar shortly thereafter, County meetings rarely include video, and often include an extremely poor audio feed where many Supervisors fail to speak into their microphones and are literally inaudible. Making matters worse for County government access, my unscientific polling shows the County is much slower at posting meeting minutes. This includes the still unposted minutes from the charter meeting of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors held on Monday. While the County is overall moving in the right direction, they are still pathetically behind the City in this area. Hopefully the new Board Chair can turn things around with help from Supervisor Jason Haas (who does an excellent job live tweeting the meetings he is at).

See for yourself – Milwaukee County Legistar and City of Milwaukee Legistar.

New City Clerk

Milwaukee has a new City Clerk – Jim Owczarski. Owczarski was formerly the Deputy City Clerk. The City Clerk is appointed by the Common Council for a four year term. Previous City Clerk Ron Leonhardt retired following the completion of his last term.

Up in the air at this point is if Owczarski will be able to continue his live tweeting of meetings with his new role. He previously had done a superb job of keeping the public informed during meetings with a unique vantage point from the Clerk’s desk that overlooks the Common Council members.

Development News

A key Historic Third Ward lot changed hands this week. Developer Peter Renner (the BreakWater, Hansen’s Landing, etc, etc) sold a half-acre parking lot on Broadway and Chicago Street to Jackson Street Management, LLC for $1 million. Jackson Street Management is the team behind the under construction Marriott Hotel on Milwaukee Street. Odds are that when Jackson Street Management releases plans to build something on that parking lot it will be a whole lot less controversial than their Marriott project.

Joe Klein’s office building plans for 27th and Wisconsin are moving right along. Of interest is that Alderman Bauman dropped his opposition to the project following a few design changes that were made. Changes that the design team and Department of City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux said weren’t possible.

The BizTimes has more on the potential development of the Italian Community Center’s massive slice of Third Ward land.

The proposal to convert a six-story warehouse into an apartment building on Pierce Street has run into a financing snag.

Sean Ryan does a “Take 5″ with Cliff Crump. Crump manages the city’s growing portfolio of tax-foreclosed homes.

The Board of Zoning Appeals will hear Sciortino’s appeal to tear down an adjacent home to expand their bakery on Monday.

Brady Street’s most suburban shopping center won’t be getting any less urban. Alderman Nik Kovac has indicated that he has reached a settlement to prevent the proposed demolition of a house (1724 N Warren Ave.) behind the shopping center that was intended to be converted to a surface parking lot. Michael Horne has more.

Zilber Property Group bought a 712 stall parking garage from Wispark LLC, the real estate arm of WE Energies. The garage is on the north side of Michigan Ave between 4th and 5th Streets.

Openings and Closings

Arin Bert, a new Armenian restaurant located at 222 W Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee, is featured on OMC. Arin Bert was mentioned in a previous Eyes on Milwaukee column.

Ichiban, 2336 N Farwell Ave, has closed its doors. The owners of the shopping center where the business was located have purchased the assets and are trying to find a suitor to reopen the Japanese restaurant.

Impala Lounge opened at 701 E. Center Street. The tavern is owned by Wendy and George Mireles, who also own Cafe Corazon. The space was formerly home to River Horse.

Odd Duck is now open in Bay View. We had mentioned this cafe and bar’s impending opening in a previous article.

Tazinos Pizza & Salad Bistro will open at CityCenter at 735 in a space along the Milwaukee RiverWalk. The downtown location will be their first in the neighborhood and fourth location overall.

Two Bucks hopes to open in early May in the former Dog Bullocks space at 2321 N. Murray Ave.

VETransfer will relocate from the former Old Navy space in the Plankinton Arcade to the Blatz Wash House.

Photo of the Week

Veterans Memorial by John December

Wisconsin Ave. & 27th St. Rendering

WIS27 LLC’s proposal to develop a 64,000 SF office building at the corner of 27th Street and Wisconsin Avenue was approved by the Milwaukee Common Council today.  WIS27 will purchase the vacant lot from the city for $1, and intends to lease the new building to the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

The $10 million project has been heavily debated within City Hall, as the design deterred the ability for tenants of the building to interact with the street.  Previously, there were no operable doors along the building, and all access to the building was to be through the secure parking lot, creating the potential for a dead zone along Wisconsin Ave. and 27th St.  As Alderman Bauman emphatically stated numerous times during a committee discussion on the project, “[it] basically violates every urban design principal that this city has been advocating for the last 20 years”.  Despite these concerns the city, led by Department of City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux, pushed to accept the proposal.

At that meeting Alderman Bauman was successful in holding the project to allow for more time for the city to work with WIS27 to incorporate changes that would better facilitate the building’s interaction with the street.  At meeting held just before today’s Common Council meeting, new designs by Korb Tredo Architects were approved despite earlier insistence by the development team and Marcoux that no new changes were possible.  Although, the building still lacks access on 27th Street, the Wisconsin Avenue entrance was enhanced for future use, and a 26th Street door was made operable.  With these improvements in place the proposal was approved.

Milwaukee's Next Potential Mayor Willie Hines, Jr. stands in front of Former Mayor John Norquist

Welcome to the seventh installment of Eyes on Milwaukee. This week the focus is all on City of Milwaukee elected officials following yesterday’s election. I explore the likelihood that Willie Hines runs for Mayor, how the new Common Council will resemble the old Common Council, the wide disparity in vote totals between districts, Bob Donovan winning the war, the shocking number of votes Johnny Thomas got, and Spencer Coggs’ new job.

Willie Hines for Mayor

There’s no question that Common Council President Willie Hines, Jr. was considering a run for Mayor in 2010, predicated on the idea that Mayor Barrett would become Governor Barrett and Hines could win a special election. When Barrett lost in the general election, the talk of Hines throwing his hat in the ring for Mayor started to dry up, but not before Hines held a large, out-of-district fundraiser at Whiskey Bar on Jackson and Wells.

Now that Mayor Barrett has officially thrown his hat back into the ring (for the third time) to become Governor, it seems likely that we will hear rumors about “Hines for Mayor” again.

All of this is of course made all the more likely by the fact that Hines defeated challenger (and County Supervisor for less than one year) Eyon Biddle to retain his seat on the Milwaukee Common Council, and most likely his position as Council President.

A lot stands in the way of Hines becoming Mayor at this point, but it’s something worth following. First up? Barrett needs to lock up the Democrat’s nomination for Governor in the recall election.

Senator Spencer Coggs Wins Large Pay Increase, Shorter Commute, Likely Position for Life

Congratulations are in order for State Senator Spencer Coggs, the City of Milwaukee’s Treasurer Elect. Not only did the Democratic State Senator win a job that will net him a much shorter commute, he also now holds a job that pays $114,040, an amount he claims he was “shocked out of my socks” about. It is worth mentioning that the position of Treasurer was up for being converted from an elected position to an appointed one, less than a year ago, and to which the former top heads claimed would run fine without their presence.

Outgoing Treasurer Wayne Whittow had held the post since 1976 (and previously served in the Wisconsin State Assembly), and all signs point to Coggs now being able to hold the seat as long as he would like.

What Will Johnny Thomas’s Jury Look Like?

One surprise out of the election results last night was the number of votes Johnny Thomas pulled in for Milwaukee Comptroller. Despite being charged with a felony for accepting a bribe, suspending his campaign for Comptroller, and being stripped of his Milwaukee County Board committee appointments, first-term Supervisor Johnny Thomas still managed to bring in 34% of the votes (18,457)  in the Comptroller race yesterday.  Thomas, who accepted an envelope filled with $500 cash from another Milwaukee County employee at Dunkin’ Donuts new location on West Wisconsin Avenue in December. Had he won, Thomas could have assumed the office of City of Milwaukee Comptroller, and it appears that without this whole felony bribery thing lingering, he would have won in a landslide.

Thomas’s ability to draw more than 33% of the vote indicates one of the following possibilities is true, the influence of the media (of all mediums) is declining, there was a belief by a large number of voters that he’s innocent, or he has an usually high amount of name recognition for a first-time Supervisor.

Assuming the case goes to trial, it will be interesting if any of the potential jurors are excused for voting for Thomas in the Milwaukee Comptroller race.

Meet the new Common Council, largely the same as the old Common Council

If you’re grown comfortable over the past four years with the Milwaukee Common Council, you can likely rest easy about the next four. Voters re-elected 14 (out of 15) Common Council members, with the only change happening in Walker’s Point with incumbent James Witkowiak falling to Jose Perez.

Witkowiak, likely much to his own displeasure, has now established a pattern of winning two elections in a row, and then losing the third. Being first elected in 1992, re-elected in 1996, losing in 2000, being elected again in 2004, re-elected in 2008, and now falling short in the Common Council’s closest 2012 race.

Witkowiak chaired the powerful Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee during his past term (a post previously held by former Alderman Michael D’Amato, who represented the East Side and Riverwest), and his departure leaves open a fairly significant post in the Common Council hierarchy.

Being that it is rare for an Alderman to hold two chairmanships (last done by D’Amato likely as a result of Hines’ rise to President), who is the likely next Chair of ZND? All signs point to Alderman and Milwaukee Bucks season ticket holder Willie Wade. Wade is currently the Vice Chair of ZND, and also serves on the Community and Economic Development Committee.

Who are the other likely ZND chairs? The Common Council’s most senior Alderman Murphy (who trounced his opponent, Richard Geldon, by a 4-1 margin for the second time in a row) seems likely to stay put as Chair of the Finance and Personal Committee. The other likely candidate for the job, Alderman Bauman seems likely to maintain his Chairmanship of the Public Works Committee.

Jim Witkowiak’s departure leaves open one slot on the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee. Given that Council newcomers seem to often enough end up on Licenses Committee (and are therefore subject to its marathon hearings), it is likely that Perez will not end up on ZND at this point. My guess for the newest member of ZND goes to Alderman Nik Kovac, who is entering his second term on the Common Council and represents the East Side, Riverwest, and the north side of Downtown (an Aldermanic District that sees a significant number of proposals come before ZND).

As far as the Milwaukee Streetcar project goes, the project appears set to remain on track at the Common Council level. Jim Witkowiak was a supporter of the project and had voted in favor of the project in the past. It remains to be seen if Alderman-Elect Perez will continue that support, but he hadn’t campaigned against it.

Bob Donovan Wins the War

Alderman Robert Donovan held onto his seat on the Milwaukee Common Council by a wide margin following yesterday’s election. Donovan defeated challenger Ben Juarez by over 500 votes, registering 60.5% of the vote total (1,463). As discussed last week’s “War on Donovan” section, the Juarez campaign had increasingly focused on Donovan’s 20-year-old disorderly conduct ticket. Those in the district have spoken with their ballots, and it appears that issue alone isn’t enough for them to replace Bob Donovan.

District Disparity Evident in Common Council Races

Voter turnout in Milwaukee’s various Common Council districts is disturbingly varied. Looking only at the competitive Milwaukee Common Council races, the vote totals for each candidate were as follows.

• District 8 – Bob Donovan (1,463), Ben Juarez (955) – 2,418
• District 9 – Robert Puente (2,959), Ray Harmon (2,183) – 5,142
• District 11 – Joe Dudzik (4,614), Daniel Plumb (2,826) – 7,440
• District 13 – Terry Witkowski (3,905), Richard Pfeiffer (1,922) – 5,827
• District 12 – Jose Perez (1,290), James Witkowiak (1,204) – 2,494
• District 14 – Tony Zielinski (4,556), Jan Pierce (3,390) – 7,946
• District 15 – Willie Hines (2,587), Eyon Biddle (1,735) – 4,322

Preservation is an important component of Milwaukee’s built environment, but that doesn’t mean that adjustments to our preservation ordinance aren’t in order.  Unlike Alderman Witkowski’s proposed changes, my suggestions are about freeing the process from politics, reducing the ability of lobbying and money to impact Milwaukee’s history, and at the same time making the process a touch more developer friendly.

Two recent development projects, and the process they went through, have shed light on the what the real issues are with Milwaukee’s historic preservation legislation.

Hide House Lofts Construction

One story is about a workforce housing development, and the effort to stop it from being built.  General Capital Group planned to demolish a portion of the Hide House warehouse structures to develop an apartment building that was funded in part with WHEDA tax credit financing.  Shortly before demolition was to begin, in what was a transparent effort to stop the project, Alderman Zielinski nominated the building for historic designation.  Opposition to the project stemmed from the proposed development being built with WHEDA tax credits, not because it might be historic.  This abuse of our historic preservation ordinance did damage to the process, by making it about low-income residents and not historic preservation.  This isn’t the only time this distortion of motivation has entered the debate, and this case might have encouraged others to follow this example by ‘putting a wrench‘ into another project.  The wrench being our historic preservation laws being used for all the wrong reasons.

Marriott Hotel Site Demolition Work

The second story, involved the construction the new Marriott Hotel in downtown Milwaukee.  The proposal required the demolition of numerous buildings in the long established Historic East Side Commercial District.  This proposal immediately became political, as a public relations firm was hired, a scapegoat was found in Alderman Bauman, and an enemy was selected, historic preservation.  It quickly became about Milwaukee being open for business, instead respecting the process and our history.  Despite the perception of this process taking a long time, it took a total of 77 days to go from a partially filled file to Common Council approval, which was significantly quicker and faster than any project in recent historic.  Not only did the commission move quickly, but in the end the development was able to move forward, despite this being a clear case of demolition by neglect.  Unfortunately, for our history and our process, it became a political process that distorted our laws, disregarded procedure, and vilified preservation.

In both cases the developments ended up moving forward, but more importantly each case shows an example of how the process has been tainted by politics.  In the first it was to stop ‘low-income’ housing.  In the second the motivation behind opposition to a project was to protect a historic district (not just the individual buildings), but was twisted into a belief that the ordinance was anti-business.

Clearly, our historic preservation laws  should balance development and preservation.  But more importantly it should act to remove politics from preservation cases, not deepen its influence.

So lets critique Ald Witkowski’s proposed legislation (note his legislation was loosely defined, and the final language has not been presented), and then I’ll make some of my own suggestions.

1. Establishes a $25 fee to nominate a structure or district.  There have only been a eleven properties nominated in the past five years, and a $25 would not have stopped any of these properties from being nominated.
2. Restricts the nomination of a property or district to the property owner, a Common Council member, or by petition from at least 25 city residents.  During the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on this ordinance Randy Bryant, HPC Chair,  stated that this,  “is really not a problem for us”, because the vast majority of the commission’s actions have been upheld by the Common Council.  Although it is true that most of the commission’s actions have been upheld some refinement is still needed, because it isn’t simply that their actions are upheld it is also about protecting the process.  The recommend change makes designation slightly more difficult while still allowing influence to enter the debate.  Instead the ordinance should to allow the property owner, or 25 city residents to nominate a property, but remove the Common Council member’s ability to nominate a property.  This will limit the political nature of the process, and although it raises the bar for designation, Milwaukee has two active preservation organizations that should be able to find 25 citizens willing to participate if the nomination is worthwhile.
3. Demolition by Neglect.  Speaking at the commission meeting Alderman Bauman said it right, “to the extent that this can be toughened up, I’m all in favor of it”.   As the Marriott case pointed out, this is an area that needs improvement, as today it is common to wait for buildings to deteriorate to the point that demolition becomes the acceptable option.  Perhaps the city could enact new grant or loan programs to help restore historic properties, while at same time the city should work to ensure better and stiffer enforcement of code violations so that buildings don’t fall into disrepair.
4. Removes the provision requiring the HPC to wait 30 days for a further public hearing after a CoA application has been initially heard by the HPC.  The large turnout and extensive development team’s appearance at the first commission meeting regarding the Marriott proposal made it abundantly clear that almost no one on either side of the issue was aware of this 30 day waiting period.  Remove it or leave it as part of the process, but either way the key here is to clarify the language in the ordinance so that everyone, the commission members, the developer, and the public are keenly aware of the process so as to avoid any appearance of arcane tactics and political maneuvers being utilized.
5. Voice of the Owner 1 – Requires that the commission attempts to obtain a written statement of the owner’s preference in the designation of a historic property.  This would simply be the codifying of current policy, and therefore is a reasonable change.
6. Voice of the Owner 2 -  If the owner of a site or structure, or 35% or more of the owners included in a proposed district, file written objections, the designation would not become effective without super majorities (2/3) of both the Historic Preservation Commission and Common Council.   Alderman Bauman put the impact of this change well saying, “this waters down the entire thrust of historic preservation”.  The designation process does need improvement, (addressed in a bullet point below), but this would set a tremendously high bar for designation.  At a minimum the super majorities should be dropped to simple majorities, and the property ownership required to stop designation should be at least a majority.  Without these changes this ordinance might very well might become what Alderman Bauman called it, “the absentee landlord empowerment bill”.
7. New construction design review - Requires the HPC to consider the Department of City Development’s design review recommendations when considering applications for certificates of appropriates for new construction.  Having DCD involved in the discussion of new construction could lead to better projects, and in no way negatively impacts the saving of historic structures.
8. Timing of Demolition Permits – Reduces the deferral period from 12 to 8 months. This might be an “olive branch to the development committee” as Jim O stated, and it seems reasonable, besides once it’s gone, it’s gone what difference does it make if it takes a year or 8 months.
9. Proof of Financing for Issuance of Demolition Permit.  One of the primary concerns with the Marriott proposal was that the historic buildings would be demolished, and nothing would be built in their place, an all too common occurrence.  Avoiding this bait and switch, is a critical improvement that needs to be spelled out in detail in the ordiance.
10. Consideration of Economic Hardship – Directs the HPC to develop a procedure to permit CoA applicants to make a case for economic hardship.  Opening up the commission to consider economic hardship cuts away at the fundamental purpose of the commission, this should be handled through an appeal process through the Common Council.
11. Legislative Oversight.  Allows the Common Council, by resolution, to consider and act on any application for a CoA that has been on file for more than 90 days.  No.  This would move place historic preservation policy firmly into the political realm, and as Alderman Bauman explained could become “a new roadmap to applications, who don’t want to respect the system”.
12. De-Listing 1 – a 3/4 (12 votes) vote of the Common Council (and commission) is require to terminate a historic designation (owner, common council member, 35%).  Matt Jarosz, a commission member, summed up the fundamental  issue with this change saying, “a minority of a neighborhood being able to change the character of a neighborhood is just a terrifying thing”.  Clearly,the minimum requirements of 35% of a district being able to push de-listing of a historic neighborhood  should at least be changed to a majority of property owners.  Further, an individual Common Council member shouldn’t be able to bring a de-listing forward as that circumvents the other protections.
13. Historic Plaque Program.  Although, memorializing the failure to save our history seems sad its result is irrelevant to actual preservation, and therefore is an acceptable change to the ordinance.

Our additional suggestions.

• Tighten criteria for designation.  To the public it appears that just about any old building can receive designation.  The current criteria should be further clarified, and potentially narrowed to eliminate this perception.
• A Common Council member should not sit on the Historic Preservation Commission.  The Common Council already has the ability to weigh in on a CoA, or a nomination through the appeals process, by having a Council member on the commission it opens this portion of the process to the appearance and potentially influence of politics.  Additionally, it amounts to one vote being predetermined at the council level.
• A Common Council member should not be allowed to vote on any nomination they submitted to the Commission.  If the ability for an Common Council member to nominate a property is not removed, as suggested above, then at a minimum the council member should not vote on the matter, as this also amounts to one vote being predetermined at the council level.

“Hopefully we can improve the ordinance”.  I couldn’t agree more Alderman Witkowski.

Eyes on Milwaukee

Welcome to the first weekly installment of Eyes on Milwaukee, a new column running down what’s happening in urban Milwaukee.

Taxi Cabs

I recently wrote an article on the taxi cab legislation making its way through the halls of the Wisconsin State Capital. While the public auction format wouldn’t erase the city’s cab shortage overnight, it also wouldn’t erase the value of the permits currently held. Some will take issue with the bill as it won’t significantly drive down the barrier to entry to becoming a self-employed taxi cab operator, but there doesn’t appear to be a fair option out there that will. The legislation seems like the only logical way to fix the shortage over the long-run, and has the added bonus of giving the city a market-driven revenue source.

Many other cities with a medallion system lack accompanying legislation that allows annually for more taxi cabs on the street (if the market dictates such). If they do issue new medallions, it appears to come at once, instead of annual increase. The net result? Skyrocketing transfer prices, like the two $1,000,000 transactions that took place in New York City in October.

It strikes me that in an ideal world, likely one that would take well over 10 years to achieve with this bill, the price of the medallions would trend towards zero as the supply is constantly increasing. The bill will ultimately let the market dictate the number of cabs on the road, which is good for riders and drivers.

Elections

Election night didn’t hold any tremendous surprises in Milwaukee.

In the Common Council races, incumbent Bob Donovan prevailed with 60% of the vote in his district. The drastic redistricting changes to his district appear to leave him unaffected. Alderman James Witkowiak finished second behind Jose Perez by nearly 14 percent (49 – 35.5), but if I had to guess Perez will be the one picking up almost all of Angel Sanchez’s 15.5% third place share. As Johnny Thomas goes to show though, things can change quickly between now and the next election.

The most intriguing County Supervisor race will be David Cullen versus Dan Cody in the 15th. I’ve yet to understand why Cullen is leaving his Assembly post to run for County Supervisor, but he’s got quite the war chest to spend against Cody. In retiring Lee Holloway’s Fifth District it’s anyone’s guess as to who will prevail in the general election, with Stamper and Coggs-Jones advancing, each without 30% of the votes.

A similar up for grabs situation seems to be presenting itself in the only county-wide race, Milwaukee County Judge – Branch 17th. Carolina Stark won the primary with 35.3% of the vote with incumbent Nelson Phillips III taking 34.0%, Chris Lipscomb Sr. came in a close third with 30.8% of the vote.

The Journal Sentinel has all of the results.

Development News

The Beerline B Apartments opened on February 17th, just a day after Mandel Group broke ground on Phase 2 of the North End across the river.

Greg Marcus, amongst others, is pining for Milwaukee to follow the Oklahoma City model of a sales tax to pay for a host of sports and cultural attractions.

Kohl’s didn’t pick Milwaukee for their new headquarters, but Dave Reid doesn’t think all signs say failure.

Openings and Closings

The good news

• Clutch – bar and restaurant coming to the former La Piazza space, at 1504 E. North Ave
• Sunseekers by Rosie – coming to the Kenilworth Building on Prospect Avenue.
• Two Bucks – coming to the former The Dog Bollocks space at 2321 N Murray Ave.
• Urban Milwaukee – The Store (awkward to mention, I know) opened at 755 N. Milwaukee Street. We sell Milwaukee-focused photography, paintings, t-shirts, books, and more.
• Yo Factory – a frozen yogurt shop, coming to 2203 N. Farwell Avenue in March

Books

I recently finished My Kind of Transit: Rethinking Public Transportation, which if you’re looking for a book to think about how public transit functions for tourists, check it out. I started reading Allies of the Earth: Railroads And the Soul of Preservation.

If you’re into reading, and if you’ve made it this far you must to be, check out the Urban Milwaukee Book Club coming up on March 6th.

Photo of the Week

Every week I’ll pick a favorite photo submitted to the Urban Milwaukee group on Flickr.

Lights Along the Menomonee by John December

The streetcar as it meets Broadway in the Third Ward.

The Milwaukee Common Council voted to approved the Milwaukee Streetcar today, moving it forward to Final Engineering. The Common Council will have to approve operating funding as construction draws to a close. The streetcar is expected to begin operating in late 2014.

The project passed on a 10 to 5 vote with Alderman Bohl, Donovan, Davis, Dudzik, and Murphy voting against.

Wisconsin Ave. Facade

Two controversial development projects received key approvals at the January 19th, 2011 meeting of the Common Council.

First, the development team for the $50 million Marriott Hotel project, which will be located near the corner of E. Wisconsin Ave. and N. Milwaukee St., won an appeal of the Historic Preservation Commission’s ruling that would have required a 15 foot setback for the upper floors of the building.  While the facades of some buildings along Wisconsin Ave. will be preserved or restored, this essentially approves the demolition of five buildings located in the East Side Commercial Historic District.  The 200-room hotel being developed by Jackson Street Management LLC. is expected to create 200 permanent jobs. It is being financed through the foreign investment via the federal EB-5 program, and if granted will utilized New Market Tax Credits.

Alderman Kovac discussed how the Historic Preservation Commission actually moved the process along quickly saying it moved “more quickly than your own front porch”.  He also reminded other council members that in 1983 the Common Council unanimously recommended these buildings for protection.

One significant change to the proposal was pushed by Alderman Wade.  He worked out an agreement with Jackson Street Management LLC. to a meet a level of EBE and RPP requirements on the project, following the pattern of the M.O.R.E. ordinance.

The appeal was approved on a vote of 13-2, with Alderman Bauman and Kovac voting against the appeal.

Corner Perspective

Also included in approvals at the January 19th 2011 Common Council meeting was an approval for the land sale and zoning for Greenwich Park Apartments. The $8.5 million apartment building, located near N. Farwell Ave. and Thomas St., will be 5-stories tall with 54-units, ranging from studios to 3-bedroom units, and include approximately 100 parking spots, of which 48 will be available for the general public.  This approval will allow Mercy Housing Lakefront, the project developer, to apply for WHEDA tax credits to assist in funding the project.

With these approvals in place, and likely support from Mayor Barrett, both projects appear to be poised to break ground this year.

Streetcar

At the May 4th, 2010 meeting of the Common Council, Alderman Bauman brought forward an item that would allow the City of Milwaukee to enter into a contract with an expert consultant, Jeffery Boothe, for the purpose of facilitating the next steps of the Milwaukee Streetcar project.  Jeffery Boothe is a principal at Washington, D.C.-based Holland & Knight LLP., a Vice Chair of Reconnecting American, chairs the New Starts Working Group, is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association’s Legislative Committee and Light Rail Task Force, is the Executive Director of the Community Streetcar Coalition, and has a long history of working on transit projects in municipalities across the U.S.

The plan of bringing Jeffery Boothe in, is to facilitate moving the recently announced City of Milwaukee’s Streetcar proposal through the Federal Transportation Administration bureaucracy.  This help is of value because the FTA is unsure of how to handle Milwaukee’s project as it isn’t a typical New Starts Proposal, and his experience working with the FTA could speed up the process.  During the Common Council meeting Alderman Bauman explained that this hire is “simply enabling the city to negotiate the best possible deal with the FTA,” and that this is simply “committing money already budgeted.”  He later went on to add that “this individual will be advocating on our behalf,” and made clear that this contract isn’t about obtaining additional funds it is simply to assist in moving the current proposal forward.  Alderman Kovac added that “it really will help to have someone who knows their way around the hallways of that bureaucracy.”

This proposal was approved on a narrow vote, will now go before Mayor Barrett for approval, and should help move the Milwaukee Streetcar project forward.

Prior to the last Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee meeting HUD had denied the request for the loan guarantee that the development team had been seeking, but the committee moved the project forward and approved the city loan guarantee with the intent to encourage HUD to approve the development team’s appeal.  Last week HUD held a followup meeting with the development team, and members of the Department of City Development to re-evaluate the project.  Speaking about this meeting Alderman Witkowiak said “the developer had an excellent meeting, as I understand, with HUD relative to the loan guarantee package.”  He went on to explain that the developer will be setting up meeting with Comptroller to go over the details of the term sheet.  He added that, “I think at sometime in the future it could exit committee with a 5-0 vote.”

Related Links:

• Video of Common Council action on this file
• Tom Daykin’s article, Council delays vote on Bookends North loan guarantee
• City of Milwaukee File Number 090805

A rendering of The Moderne

The Moderne development received approval for $9.3 millions in loans from the City of Milwaukee that led developer Rick Barrett had been seeking.  At last week’s Zoning, Neighborhood & Development Committee three significant concerns were expressed by committee members, all of which were worked out prior to today’s Common Council meeting.  Committee members felt the levels of Emerging Business Enterprises (EBE) participation and Residential Preferred Preference (RPP) participation were to low and needed increasing.  The levels were raised to 25% and 30% respectively to address the concerns of the council.  Additionally, the developer improved the level of securitization of the personal loan guarantees at the request of the committee.  Finally, the committee had raised concerns over the terms of the default provision in the agreement.  These concerns all appear to of been addressed as it was approved by the Common Council with only Alderman Hines and Alderman Davis voted in opposition.

The proposed $55.2 million 30-story high-rise building would include 203 apartments and 14 condominiums.  It will be located on the edge of the Park East at the corner of N. Old World Third St. and W. Juneau Ave. across the street from the failed Palomar project.

The project’s most vocal opposition was Alderman Davis who argued that “there is no job training, no business development dollars attached” and that without these funds residents of Milwaukee don’t receive enough of benefit.

Alderman Bauman explained that the credit industry essentially locked up for any real estate development, no matter how good a project.  He added that this project has “outstanding architecture and design,” and could be an “iconic building,” but that this development “is a stimulus effort, we have to look at it from that perspective.”  Alderman Kovac threw his support behind the project saying that “extraordinary times, call for extraordinary measures,” and added that “I think the risk has been mitigated as much as possible.”

The proposal now awaits Mayor Barrett’s sign-off, which if received could allow The Moderne to break ground shortly thereafter.

Related Articles:

Moderne loans win full council approval – Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee council approves loans for The Moderne – BizTimes.com
Milwaukee council approves Moderne loan – Daily Reporter