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

 

Alderman Robert Donovan

Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan loves creating non-profit groups, even if it gets him in hot water.

Back in 2005, Donovan was indicted on a federal charge of defrauding the government through his involvement with the Milwaukee Alliance, a non-profit he started after his election to the Common Council in 2000. The indictment charged that Donovan used his aldermanic funds to help pay the bills of the Milwaukee Alliance, whose employees included his wife Kathy Donovan and his stepdaughter Stephanie Repich. Donovan also voted to give the group a federal grant, without disclosing his connections to the group. The Milwaukee Alliance also did some constituent services for Donovan and provided him with free space for a district office.

In November, 2005, Donovan agreed to a non-criminal resolution to the indictment whereby he paid a $2,500 fine and agreed not be involved with any non-profit receiving federal funds for the next two years.

Not long after the two years was up, Donovan was back, with a new group called “Operation Impact,” created to fight crime in his South Side district. A 2011 news release by the group announced that “over the last three years, Operation Impact has raised several hundreds of thousands of dollars… from local businesses, foundations and individuals” to help pay for police overtime for beat cops, new lights for alleys and surveillance cameras for businesses on the South Side. The group’s website thanks a long list of donors, including four local foundations, six local businesses and the Milwaukee Police Association.

The group’s splashiest impact came when Donovan convinced Garda armored services to donate a used armored courier truck, nicknamed “the Rhino, ” to the Milwaukee Police Department.

Donovan, though, had much bigger plans, and was pushing to fund Operation Impact with another $700,000 in government funding from the city and state.

Precisely how much money was actually raised or spent by his group is difficult to say. I can’t find any records for it. Operation Impact is not registered with the State of Wisconsin and no records for it appear at Guidestar.org, which tracks all non-profits. (By contrast, the Milwaukee Alliance, which went of business in 2006, could be found both in state records and at Guidestar.) Mick Daley of the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing, says there is “no record of any kind” for Operation Impact.

At least some of Operation Impact’s fundraising was done through the Milwaukee Christian Center, a south side non-profit. That group’s most recent federal tax form, for 2010, does have one line listing a total of $59,816 raised for Operation Impact and expenses of $3,589. But there is no mention of the group in its 2009 and 2008 tax forms. And the 2010 federal form doesn’t offer any detailed accounting of where the donations for Operation Impact came from or how the money for expenses was spent.

All of the press releases for Operation Impact have actually been issued by Donovan’s office at City Hall, list him as the contact person and are studded with quotes from Donovan, including one of him quoting Winston Chuchill. A press release quoted Donovan saying donations for police overtime were being collected by the Common Council. As with the Milwaukee Alliance, it’s difficult to know the boundary lines between Operation Impact and Ald. Donovan’s office, where one ends and the other begins.

To further complicate things, Donovan also runs some group called “Common Sense,” with its slogan “Ideas for a Better Milwaukee.” The site promotes Operation Impact, and lists the phone number of Donovan’s aldermanic aide Patricia Doherty. It also runs articles by Donovan and what appear to be his supporters, seconding his stands on various city issues.

Jodi Hazen, finance director for the Milwaukee Christian Center, directed all questions about Operation Impact to the center’s executive director, Barbara J. Wyatt Sibley, who is out of the office until next week.

As for Donovan, when I reached him by phone he asked what I was calling about. I said Operation Impact. Donovan’s response: “Oh. Okay. Have a good evening.” Then he hung up the phone.

Sydney Hih

The historic Sydney Hih building, which city officials had intended to tear down, may have been saved for another day, due to a legalistic maneuver by alderman and attorney Bob Baumann at a Tuesday meeting of the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee.

As part of a joint city-county effort to bring Kohl’s corporate headquarters to downtown Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Economic Development Corp., an affiliate of the City of Milwaukee, had quietly purchased the Sidney Hih, in order to ensure site control for the project. But Kohl’s decided not to move Downtown, and no other viable project has arisen for the site, yet the City recently issued an order to raze the Sydney Hih, seemingly sealing its fate.

So things stood when the Zoning committee took up the issue of an “obsolete” file (091436) that normally would have been summarily dismissed. The file was a citizen’s request to save the Sidney Hih, filed back in February, 2009, and approved by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.

Jim Owczarski, City of Milwaukee Clerk, explained that the historic preservation ordinance required the council to act within two years of an application for preservation, and that the two years had already passed, making the file obsolete, and eliminating that impediment to razing the Sidney Hih. But Alderman Bauman objected, noting that the Zoning committee had acted to hold the file back in the Spring of 2010, which effectively “tolled” the process and stopped the clock from continuing to run on the historic preservation proposal.

Given the differing viewpoints on the status of the file being offered by the City Clerk and Bauman, Ald. Michael Murphy made a motion to hold the file, keeping the issue open. The committee approved the motion.

Frankly, by the time the Committee concluded its business the status of the file, and the Sydney Hih wasn’t entirely clear.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele

Will Chris Abele run for mayor? Sources have told me the Milwaukee County Executive is considering running for mayor of Milwaukee should Tom Barrett get elected governor — and has even talked about trying to hold both positions at once. I reached Abele, who conceded discussing this with friends: “I tend to think out loud.” Abele said he spends a lot of time thinking about efficiencies and how to consolidate government functions, and that any merger of city and county functions is inevitably stymied by turf battles. Whereas if he held both executive positions, he jokes, “I’m unlikely to get into turf battles with myself.”

That’s funny, but perhaps not the best campaign slogan. I think the idea of Abele holding both positions would get quickly hooted down as an unseemly power grab, with radio squawkers Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling leading the chorus of critics. Abele, however, adds that “it’s nothing I’m actively pursuing.”

Nor could he. As Sykes has noted, correcting an early version of my column, if Barrett is elected governor, Common Council President Willie Hines would take over as acting mayor.

Double Dipping

Last week I wrote about State Sen. Van Wanggaard’s double dipping. It’s worth noting two other double dippers, in this case Democrats: New City Treasurer Spencer Coggs intends to continue collecting his state senator salary of about $50,000 through 2012 even as he earns $114,000 from the city. And new county supervisor Dave Cullen intends to continue collecting his state assembly salary through 2012. Both have suggested they might give the money back to charity, but as talk radio’s Jeff Wagner notes, these kind of promises are easily broken. Indeed, former county supervisors Joe Rice and Paul Cesarz both made pledges to give back much of their salaries, but the press soon forgot about it and neither ever disclosed how much they ever gave back.

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in New York

My, how times have changed. In the old days, a trip by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra would have generated a bunch of reviews from the New York press, bringing the MSO national attention. Nowadays, the concert doesn’t even get a review by the home town newspaper. That’s right, last Friday’s Carnegie Hall concert got no review from the New York Times or any other NYC publication, nor even from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The only reviews were by Milwaukee’s ThirdCoast Digest (thanks to Tom Strini), and the daily paper in Birmingham, Alabama. Imagine the next time the orchestra tries to sell donors to sponsor such a trip: hey, this could get us a review from an Alabama critic.

In the Eyes

The eyes have it: gubernatorial rivals Scott Walker and Tom Barrett are in many ways polar opposites, particularly when you look at their eyes. Walker’s typically look sleepy, even when he’s delivering a fiery speech. Barrett looks wild-eyed; there’s a strange intensity to the cast of his eyes. It’s ironic: firebrand revolutionary Walker looks like he’s about to snooze while the typically bland Barrett’s eyes signal a crazed ferocity.

They Love Ron Johnson and Paul Ryan

In a Sunday New York Times story on the Tea Party challenge to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Wisconsin’s Senator Ron Johnson was cited as a key ally: McConnell “enlisted” Johnson, “a freshman elected with Tea Party backing, to lead efforts to coordinate the Republican messages and agenda in the Senate and the House with the party’s presidential nominee.” That seeming elevation of Johnson’s stature is ironic, since Johnson subtly distanced himself from the Tea Party during his successful campaign against Russ Feingold.

The same story noted that “Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the House Budget Committee chairman, has become perhaps his party’s most important policy maker.” That’s good news for Ryan, but makes you wonder just how deep the GOP party’s bench goes when it comes to policy making.

Hooters and Flag Burning

The Journal Sentinel has been too high-minded to report the fact that Walker spokeswoman Ciara Mathews was once a Hooters girl, but the liberal Capital Times was happy to spread the story and link to a spicy image, earning the scorn of Fox Nation and Jeff Wagner.

Not to be outdone, conservatives have gone after state Democratic Party Communications Director Graeme Zielinski for burning a flag while in college. I’m sure members of both parties are relieved that no photos of a scantily dressed Zielinski were unearthed.

Where was Peter Bock?

Did anyone notice Peter Bock’s invisibility in the Democratic gubernatorial primary? Bock is a former state legislator who was highly regarded (a 1997 Milwaukee Magazine story by yours truly rated him as one of the ten best lawmakers)  and is married to Kathleen Falk,  but you never heard about him campaigning for her in the gubernatorial primary. Of course, Bock is also an old friend of Falk’s opponent Tom Barrett; Barrett and Bock often traveled to Madison together when both were legislators.

CEO Pay

Kudos to reporter Cary Spivak and the Journal Sentinel for their Sunday stories on corporate executive pay. As grossly high as company filings show CEO pay is today, Spivak has documented that the pay is even higher in some cases, as documented by the state net tax records. He found that in 2010, former Bucryrus International CEO Tim Sullivan and Rockwell Automation CEO Keith Nosbusch both earned a stratospheric $29.5 million while Harley Davidson CEO Keith Wandell brought home $20.4 million.

Spivak also took a look at shareholder votes on executive pay, showing that many companies are seeing a backlash from shareholders. And small wonder, when you have numerous CEOs getting huge raises while shareholders get the shaft: in 2011, Manitowoc Co. Inc. CEO Glen Tellock got a 77 percent raise while the value of the company’s stock declined 29 percent and MGIC Investment Corp. CEO Curt Culver saw his pay rise 28 percent while the company’s stock dropped 63 percent.

The newspaper typically includes the pay of its own CEO in these stories, but this story went further, spotlighting Journal Communications Inc. CEO Steven Smith, whose rose by 8.5 percent even as company earnings dropped by 35 percent and the stock price dropped 9 percent. That showed some guts by JS editor Marty Kaiser.

Car Culture

In this edition of Car Culture, just how green are electric cars? Plus, more on texting and driving, and the other side of “pleasure driving.”

Electric Charging Stations

The City of Milwaukee is beginning to install electric charging stations at multiple locations around town in an attempt to promote and support electric vehicles.  With the dual threats of climate change and peak oil bearing down on us, moving away from gasoline, and back, yes back, to electric vehicles is long overdue.  The use of electric cars may reduce our dependency on oil, and in the long run (over decades) could reduce or eliminate auto emissions, but electric car technology is at this point far from perfect.

Sure, the concept of a green and clean electric car sounds wonderful, but it doesn’t actually exist.  One day could these electric cars could run on 100% renewable energy, but unfortunately, in Milwaukee today they will be using electricity generated by the dirtiest coal fired electrical plant in Wisconsin.  We Energies has made noise about converting to cleaner, not clean, natural gas, which would help make our air cleaner and electric cars greener, but we are not there yet.

And even if these charging stations and our homes are one day putting out power that is 100% renewable an electric car still won’t be completely green, it won’t be any safer than any gas guzzling Impala, and doesn’t solve the land-use issues created by a car-oriented America.  The green credentials of an electric car come up a bit short as approximately 50% of the pollution generated by a car comes during  its manufacturing and disposal.  Safer?  No, people will simply get behind the wheel of an electric, instead of fossil fueled, car and proceed to crash into things and or people when drunk.  And finally, land will continue to be gobbled up for parking, expansive roadways will continue to divide neighborhoods and cover over farmland, and these cars will only further our auto-dependent lifestyle by encouraging us to sprawl further and further apart.

Texting and Driving Part Deux

In the first edition of Car Culture I mentioned that Wisconsin teenagers were gathering to learn about the dangers of texting and driving. I believe the video below should have been required viewing at that meeting.  The video comes from Belgium where a few new drivers got punked, and learned an invaluable lesson when they were informed they had to pass the “mobile phone test.” They all failed miserably when put to the “test,” showing just how dangerous it can be to text and drive.  One of the punked drivers wraps up the message saying, “It’s too dangerous.” I agree.

http://youtu.be/HbjSWDwJILs

Weekend Fun

A recent blog post on the First Weber website suggests taking a drive for some fun this weekend.  On the surface it seems innocuous, but it is yet another example of how the automobile, which primarily is a tool to get from A to B, has become something more.  I’ll admit it, when I was 16 “going for a drive” was a fun way to spend a weekend eventing.  I understand now that while driving around aimlessly can be fun, but it can also be wasteful, costly, and pointless.  Yes, we do have a car culture, as you can see from the following accidents of the week:

Dangerous Roads

• Three cars collide near 60th and Brown Deer
• Seven injured after school bus collides with car in Germantown
• Weather may be to blame for two-car crash on I-43
• Car smashes into tree, catches fire
• One dead in rollover crash near Wausau
• Woman run over and killed in West Allis may have been hit first by another car

Loosen Your Belt to Cure Obesity

You can’t reduce congestion by building more roads. But we’re still doing it.

• I-794 extension endorsed by Milwaukee County committee
• West Allis not happy with state’s plan to widen Highway 100
• Ground to be broken Friday for new Drexel Ave. interchange

Tweet of the Week

A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense. Stay alive, don’t drink and drive. twitter.com/TempePolice/st…

— Tempe Police (@TempePolice) May 6, 2012

Traffic engineers used to remove street trees, because they were dangerous to automobile drivers.  I’m glad to see the Tempe Police understand trees aren’t the issue.

Eyes on Milwaukee

Eyes on Milwaukee this week focuses on the committee appointments by Milwaukee Common Council President Willie Hines, Supervisor Haas’ efforts for a Milwaukee County attraction pass, the restaurant coming to The Moderne, and more.

Zielinski to Chair Licenses Committee

Common Council President Willie Hines committee appointments have been released. In a surprising twist, Alderman Zielinski has been appointed Chairman of the Licenses Committee. His appointment comes as a surprise given the number of controversial licensing issues Zielinski was involved in over the past four years (A.K. Food Mart being the most prominent). Zielinski could certainly get by all of that to become a good Licenses Committee chair (as his predecessor Alderman Jim Bohl was), but he’ll need to remain cool in the hot seat during the committee’s notoriously long meetings. Conduct similar to that exhibited by Zielinski during the Community & Economic Development Committee on September 13th, 2010 during the Zielinski – Davis “I’m the chair” debate (see the 108:30 mark in the video) won’t get the job done.

Bohl to Chair Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee

My predictions for the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee chairmanship to go to Alderman Willie Wade were incorrect. Wade will remain the Vice Chair of the committee, with Alderman Jim Bohl apparently executing a successful horse trade to end up as the new ZND chair. Bohl was previously chair of the Licenses Committee. Despite representing one of Milwaukee’s most suburban districts, Bohl will likely make a good chair of the powerful zoning committee. His experience as Licenses Committee chair, showed that he controls the meeting, and is fair and pragmatic.

Donovan Removed as Public Safety Chair, Witkowski Appointed

Alderman Bob Donovan will no longer serve as the chair of the Public Safety Committee. Donovan, who is well known by the local media for his frequent press releases, has historically been one of the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Fire Departments biggest allies on the Council. Replacing Donovan is long-time public servant Alderman Terry Witkowski, who was a City of Milwaukee employee for 31 years. According to his official biography Witkowski was the “longtime Safety Director for the Milwaukee Safety Commission and the Milwaukee Police Department.” Most recently, Witkowski has attempted to rework Milwaukee’s historic preservation laws and rename the Milwaukee Fire Department to Milwaukee Emergency Response Services to better reflect the work of the department.

Milwaukee County Attraction Pass

Supervisor Jason Haas, through public meetings and his blog, has begun leading the charge for the “SuperPass.” Originally a campaign idea, the pass would create a single form of admission for multiple venues around Milwaukee County. While the idea is already done in many cities, Milwaukee County has yet to see a coherent strategy to encourage people to attend many of the County-owned attractions. Here’s to hoping the Supervisor is able to find a way to improve the bottom lines of many of Milwaukee’s cultural amenities, while at the same time driving greater and more frequent attendance by visitors and residents alike.

The Moderne Lands Carson’s Prime Steaks and Famous BBQ as Tenant

Unlike many new mixed-use buildings constructed in Milwaukee, The Moderne won’t be subject to an empty first floor for the first couple of years. According to a story broke by BizTimes this morning, Carson’s Prime Steaks and Famous BBQ will open their third location on the first floor of The Moderne. The restaurant will seat between 125 to 150 people, with about two-thirds of the 8,000 square foot space being used for the kitchen. Rinka Chung Architecture, who designed The Moderne, will also design the restaurant space.

According to Carson’s owner Dean Carson ”Rick is a persistent person in every sense of the word.” This certainly accurately reflects Rick Barrett’s struggle to convert his model unit in orange shipping containers into an actual building.

Development News

An industrial building at the northern end of the Riverwest neighborhood has been sold to Johnson Bros. Beverages Inc.

Chris Abele announced at his inauguration that one of the primary focuses of his first full term will be on the development of the Park East and the underutilized Downtown Transit Center.

Sciortino’s expansion was recommended for approval by the City Plan Commission. The Brady Street bakery intends to tear down and expand into the house immediately south of the current facility on Humboldt Avenue.

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s lease at 223 W. Pittsburgh Avenue for the School of Freshwater Sciences and College of Engineering and Applied Science has been approved by the state Building Commission. With that the Water Council’s efforts to develop a water cluster at the Reed Street Yards site are one step closer to reality.

Openings and Closings

Pop-up stores are set to come to the Shops of Grand Avenue.

The Triangle, 135 E. National Ave, will close on Friday according to Michael Horne.

Yo Factory has finally opened at 2203 N. Farwell Avenue. Stop on in for some frozen yogurt.

Photo of the Week

Windows on the Milwaukee River by John December

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.

One view of the city from the 40th floor of the US Bank Center

If you care about transit in Milwaukee, or if you simply want the best view of the city available, come to the 40th floor of the US Bank Center next Monday night, April 16th from 5:30 until 8:00 for a cocktail hour and discussion on the future of transit in Milwaukee and how we move through the city.

The cocktail hour comes complete with a cash bar and appetizers. The event will be held in the offices of Foley & Lardner on the 40th floor of the US Bank Center, the tallest building in Wisconsin.

If you’re able to pry your eyes away from the windows,  a panel discussion will follow the cocktail hour moderated by Alex Runner, with panelists Alderman Robert Bauman, Alderman Nik Kovac, and myself. The panel will begin with a focus on the Milwaukee Streetcar project, but there will be ample time for the  audience to ask questions.

The event is free, but you will need to be in before 6 p.m. to gain access. Please RSVP via our Facebook event, or on YPWeek.com.

We hope to see you there, and at other Young Professional Week events. Milwaukee’s first Young Professional Week is being led by NEWaukee.

If you’re looking for Wednesday’s regularly scheduled Eyes on Milwaukee column, it will arrive on Thursday. I’m conducting research on how easy and enjoyable it is to take the Amtrak Hiawatha to Wrigley Field to watch the Milwaukee Brewers stomp the Chicago Cubs.

Potawatomi Hotel Rendering

At the April 4th, 2012 meeting of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee, two requests for zoning changes were approved, which will allow Potawatomi’s luxury hotel proposal to move forward.  The 20-story, 377 room facility, which will be located at the corner of West Canal Street and West Potawatomi Circle, will have a mix of standard rooms and large suites, and include a full service restaurant, lobby bar, a retail store, meeting rooms, exercise facilities, a bowling alley, spa, indoor pool, club room and a nightclub located at the top of the hotel.  The design features a pedestal base, off white metal panels, an illuminated feature on the roof, and floor to ceiling windows that will be tinted green to match the existing casino’s color scheme.

If all goes as scheduled, construction should begin in July 2012, and will be finished by June 2014.  Construction of the hotel will generate 980 jobs, 20% of which will be reserved for minority contractors, and 25% of which will be reserved for workers from Milwaukee.

The proposal was approved, and will now go before the Common Council.

1601 N. Jackson St. Approved Design

Back for a second time, Dermond Property Investments’ request for a change in zoning for the properties 1601 N. Jackson and 522 E. Pleasant, the former Joey’s Restaurant location, from Local Business (LB2) to a Detailed Planned Development (DPD) was once again in front of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee.  In an attempt to address concerns raised by citizens and council members at previous meetings, the developer made numerous changes to the design, which included an increase in the number of rental units in the proposal, prompting the city process of approvals to started over.

1601 N. Jackson St. Original Design

The design changes addressed issues such as setbacks, massing, and parking.  To accomplish this each apartment unit became 10% smaller, and the building was set back 18 feet on the north side, and five feet on the east side.  Project Designer, Joel Agacki of Striegel-Agacki Studio, explained that they had “really made an effort to scale the building a bit better,” and soften the building with landscape around the entire perimeter, facade articulation, the use of poured cement panel, and setting the fifth floor back three feet to make the building appear as a 4-story building.  The  five-story building will have 36 apartments, up from 34-units, 38 parking spaces, 36 spaces for resident to rent at $110 per month, and two spaces for guest use.  Speaking about the neighborhood concerns over the potential of new traffic in the neighborhood, Todd Ferris, from Dermond Property Investments, explained that the new apartment building (according to the ITE manual) would generate substantially less traffic during the PM rush hour than the former restaurant did while it was in operation.

Alderman Kovac explained that his support for the project wasn’t, “because I was steam rolled”, referring to an earlier debate on the proposed 27th Street project, but that the developer had worked to make it an acceptable project.  Alderman Bauman followed up adding that, “I have to say, the developer and the architect were most accommodating… and frankly it was quite refreshing”.

The project was approved by the committee, and will now go before the full Common Council.