We often hear about the lack of “transparency” or that “the process wasn’t followed,” and it is actually my belief that often enough this isn’t true.  Most of the time public meetings go fine, input is taken, and decisions are made respectfully and properly.  That said what I have recently experienced were a couple of poorly run, if not rude, unprofessional public hearings on high profile issues.  Hearings like these give the public pause, divide communities, and do a disservice to the process.

The first troubled meeting was a special meeting of the Community & Economic Development Committee which was held to take action on the M.O.R.E ordinance.  Because this meeting was held to cover such a controversial and significant ordinance it deserved a special meeting to be held, so that all sides of the issue could be given time to be heard, but Alderman Davis ran the meeting with a strict adherence to time limits, cutting off people regardless if they were making a point or in the middle of wrapping up.  Of course there is only so much time in the day, but on topics that have wide ranging, long running impacts, it would be good to give people a little leeway in speaking their mind and if needed have multiple meetings prior to voting on an issues.  Understand, the value of letting the public be heard, is to encourage the broader conversation, to hear the possible costs and benefits of a proposed change, and simply to insure a fair process was conducted.  The input was limited to the point that there was little discussion on the topic, and almost no questions were asked of those in opposition, which gave the appearance that their concerns were irrelevant to the discussion.  Finally, this special meeting was held the day prior to the Common Council meeting which was to take action on this ordinance.  This meant that there was little time for the press and the public to weigh in on the issue.  This combination of limiting speech and enforcing short time frames eliminated much of the public debate on the topic, which at the time left many questions unanswered.

The second troublesome meeting was held by Milwaukee County with the intention to take public input regarding the proposed land sale of a portion of the Milwaukee County Grounds to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  A large crowd showed up to speak out against the land sale, some members were concerned with saving the Monarch Trail, some felt greenfield development wasn’t desirable, and there were some of us who were there to argue expansion in Wauwatosa isn’t the right choice for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee or our region.  The issues with this meeting started with arbitrarily short time limit for individuals to speak, and ended with an even more arbitrary meeting end time.  Around 7:45 pm Supervisor Clark announced the meeting would end at 8 pm and although numerous, if not thirty people, hadn’t had a chance to speak she explained that some of us have to get home to take care of our children.  Further, she explained that concerned citizens could submit their comments in writing.  Although submitting input in writing is important and should definitely be done to insure it is part of the record, this statement attempts to invalidate the purpose of public hearings.  To insure the public is heard.

I understand that nine times out of ten a committee, board, or commission has generally made up their mind regarding an issue prior to the meeting, and taking public input might not be the most pleasant or enjoyable activity of a politicians life, but there is value to giving people the opportunity to speak.  When you truncate, cut off, or limit a person’s speech people feel the process is tainted, or that it is a “done deal.”  I do hope that in the future our public officials keep this in mind and allow the public to be heard.

The Milwaukee Opportunities for Restoring Employment ordinance was the primary reason behind this special meeting of the Community & Economic Development Committee.  The ordinance intends to increase the required percentage of City of Milwaukee residents hired to work on city projects and development projects receiving more than $1 million in TIF assistance.  Additionally it mandated a prevailing wage to be paid for these projects and set a higher Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE ) utilization level as well.  The proposed ordinance brought out a large group of both supporters and opponents.  Alderman Hamilton attempted to frame the discussion early on saying that “there are many people who may come to the table and say this is the wrong time to do something like this” and indicated that he felt the time was right to move on this ordinance.  He added that “I submit to you that the price has already been too great”.  Alderman Kovac explained that “in the end this is not a philosophical question, it is a practical question” and lent his support saying that “I think we have a document that comes close to being a win win win”.  An extensive list of developers and real estate professional spoke in opposition to the ordinance though primarily the development community opposed the ordinance because of the prevailing wage mandate.

Richard Wanta, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Underground Contractors Association, spoke in opposition of the project saying that “the same city has chased us out of town for decades”.  He went on to point out that there is currently only one major water and sewer contractor in the city, so once this passes that contractor is especially likely to get all of the available work in the area because of the new regulations.

Dick Lincoln, Senior Vice President of the Mandel Group, started his remarks saying that “the camel is a horse that is designed by committee” indicating the ordinance wasn’t quite right but went on to say that “we’re almost there”.  He explained that generally he felt the ordinance was a positive but that the prevailing wage requirement was problematic.  He argued that it works against minority hiring, as smaller companies often compete on price, and that this would add substantially to the cost of the project.

Barry Mandel, President of the Mandel Group, pointed to the PERC requirements in the Park East and tied them to the fact that development has been non-existent in the county owned portion of the Park East.  He then pointed to The Brewery and The North End projects as two projects that have been moving forward because they utilizing non-prevailing wages.

Greg Uhen, President of Eppstein Uhen Architects, spoke out against the proposed ordinance saying that “my concern is that it will reduce the number of opportunities that come to the city” and that he felt “this is another roadblock, another reason for them not to come”.

The line of members in support of the ordinance were at least as lengthy as those who spoke in opposition of the ordinance.  They argued the ordinance would be a a means to improve the City of Milwaukee by putting more residents back to work, and that it would bring equity to hiring standards.

Shelia Cochran, Secretary-Treasurer of the Milwaukee County Labor Council, said some of the comments regarding the prevailing wage requirements were “appalling” and went on to say “why in this day and time has it become fashionable that a black man’s labor is worth less than a white man’s labor” which riled up the audience and prompted Alderman Davis to respond “you have one minute left to continue to chastise them”.

Former Mayor Marvin Pratt explained that he is working with a development group that will adhere to these rules in the Park East, implying that if his group can make the PERC requirements work then other developers can get by with the MORE requirements.  He also spoke of his efforts in the past related to improving minority hiring practices and requested the Common Council “do away with gradualism” and approve this ordinance right away.

Lyle Balistreri, President Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council, explained that within the trades there is currently 20 - 25% unemployment and expressed his support for the ordinance saying “it’s a great ordinance”.

Pam Fendt, of the Good Jobs Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, argued that there really is no conflict between paying prevailing wages and increasing the hiring of minority workers.

After the public hearing the ordinance was taken in to committee for debate and an eventual vote.

Alderman Wade spoke forcibly in support of the ordinance saying that “this is a highly emotional issue” but that “we’re here to fix something that’s not working”.  He appeared to speak directly to the development community saying that “it only applies to you if you take city money” and that “there are too many people getting rich off Milwaukee”.

Alderman Witkowski referenced a letter from the city comptroller indicating that the comptroller believed this ordinance would cause projects to be lost to other cities.  He then went on to say that “I have grave reservation as to [this ordinance] hurting the City of Milwaukee more than helping it”.

Alderman Witkowiak expressed his opposition to the ordinance stating “as this ordinance is written today I can not support it, mostly because of the prevailing wage”.  He explained that many Hispanic owned contracting companies from his district had contacted him and indicated that this ordinance would hurt their business.  It was clear from his statements that the primary concern was over the prevailing wage requirements but otherwise he felt “we’re real close and that it could be great for the City of Milwaukee”.

Alderman Davis, who had ran a very tight meeting, by cutting off all speakers after just a couple of minutes regardless of if they were praying, or attempting to make a point, said that this ordinance was “about equity”.  Further he went on to defend the prevailing wage requirements say that “you’re looking at a Chairman who actually benefited from a prevailing wage”.

This ordinance was approved on a 3 to 2 vote and will now go before the full Common Council.

In what appears to be a rush to significantly alter development efforts within the City of Milwaukee, Alderman Hamilton is proposing additional requirements for development projects that accept more than $1 million in Tax Incremental Financing.  The changes include requirements that developers pay construction workers prevailing wages, hire a significantly higher percentage of City of Milwaukee residents, and hire a higher percentage of emerging businesses as subcontractors.  Although it sounds great to have developers pay higher rates to construction workers, and have them hire more City of Milwaukee residents, as with most things it brings with it unintended consequences.

One result of this new regulation could be that developers ask for larger TIFs to offset the cost of paying higher hourly rates.  In the short run this may not be much of an issue, but over time these inflated TIFs will begin to create problems of their own.  There will be less available funding so fewer projects will be able to receive funding.  The inflated cost of these TIFs will necessitate a longer payback period, so it will be longer before Milwaukee Public Schools, the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Technical School System and Milwaukee County begin receiving property taxes from these projects.  Finally, by inflating TIFs this could have a negative impact on the City of Milwaukee’s bond rating, which again would make future projects less likely to receive funding.

It is also possible that projects that in the past would have requested slightly more than $1 million in TIF financing may scale the entire project back so as to avoid these requirements.  Although this may seem drastic, developers surely will look for ways to avoid the additional cost.  Developers might not cut additional units or floors, but they might drop or scale back public areas of the project such as pocket parks, riverwalks , and other amenities.  This clearly could have an impact on both the quality of the development and the number of people employed during construction.

Finally, it is also likely that fewer projects will come forward, due simply to the new regulations and additional hurdles.  It’s not clear if the PERC requirements in the Park East have been a deterrent to development there or if the problem lies in lot sizes and multiple levels of government, but it is clear that nothing has been developed in the county-owned portions of the Park East.

If implemented these new regulations could lead to less development, less employment and less tax base creation.  So it seems that these unintended consequences may do more harm than good.

File number 081431 would allow the library to apply for a Public Library Innovation Grant which would be used to extend the summer reading program in to a year round program.  Alderman Davis pointed out that he brought the grant to the library staff’s attention and said “they have a great success rate, that if we leading them to water, they know how to drink”.  This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

What evidently has been a long an ongoing process to comply with a 2003 Department of Justice ruling in response to an American with Disabilities Act complaint will be going through another iteration.  The 14th Amendment to the Riverwalk Development Agreement for Business Improvement District 15 would increase the budget for accessibility to $4.8 million.  The original judgment included ten lifts, whereas the current plan will include six ramps and four lifts which should last better in Milwaukee’s climate.  Progress has been made toward complying with the ruling in that the first of the new ramps has been completed and the Mason St. ramp will be completed shortly.  This file was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Soloman Chris Johnson, Welford Sanders, LaMar Franklin, Jo Spear Jr., Carla Cross, President and CEO of Cross Management Services, Inc., and Luc Monsanto, were appointed to Historic King Drive Business Improvement District.  When asked about his interest in serving on the board, Jo Spear Jr. responded saying “instead of putting all my back into the district, I want to put all my mind in to it”.  Carla Cross pointed out that the BID’s most recent accomplishments included putting up Christmas decorations and displaying of district focused flags.  She went on to say that she “would like to work more closely with the Bronzeville team”.  Luc Monsanto expressed his excited about being appointed by saying that “people always say this but I’m truly excited to be part of this board”.

There were also a series of appointments and reappointments to the East North Avenue Business Improvement District that included the likes of Paul Miller, from Alterra, John Sidoff from Hooligan’s, Jeff Sherman, from OnMilwaukee.com, and Peggy Silvestrini from Beans & Barley,.  This group has long participated in the development of the East Side with their businesses and by serving the community.  When questioned regarding the new dorms on the East Side Paul Miller responded “the new dorm I think is going to be a great addition” and “I have seen no negative impact”.  Jeff Sherman expressed his belief in the East Side saying “the east side is about density, it’s about discovery, it’s about diversity”.

Resolution, 081079, proposed the authorization of a $200,000 forgivable loan from the 2008 Development Fund to support expanded production capacity for two Super Steel Products Corp locations in Milwaukee. Although Super Steel Products Corp is in the process of closing a factory in Glenville, N.Y, it is positioned to benefit by expanded rail service in Southeast Wisconsin if projects such as the KRM move forward as Super Steel Products Corp builds and refurbishes passenger rail cars. The loan itself would be forgiven if Super Steel Products Corp creates 150 new jobs in the next five years. This resolution was approved and will now go before the Common Council.

Another item of interest was the authorization of travel spending to attend meetings of the National League of Cities’ Board of Directors and International Council.  Alderman Davis was recently elected to a two year term on National League of Cities Board of Directors which requires him to travel to represent the City of Milwaukee.  Both Alderman Witkowiak and Alderman Wade took a minute to thank Alderman Davis for his efforts and indicated they believed his efforts were of value to the city. This resolution was approved and will now go before the Common Council.

At the June 23rd, 2008 meeting of the Community & Economic Development Committee Alderman Bauman brought forward resolution 080293 which cut off funding to the West End Development Corporation.  This was done because of the groups inability to complete the redevelopment of WestPointe Commons despite nearly 7 years of efforts.  Following that resolution the West End Development Corporation board voted to dissolve the corporation ending their efforts.  Due to the dissolving of their efforts resolution 080447 was brought forward to reallocate the Community Block Grant Development (”CBGD”) funds that had been allocated to West End Development Corporation to other organizations.  This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.

Resolution 080408 approved the Funding Allocation Plan for 2009.  This plan allocates the Community Block Grant Development (”CBDG”) funds to various efforts which benefit low income citizens, by addressing urgent needs with the intent to prevent or eliminate blight.  Joe Davis made a series of amendments adjusting the allocation levels.  The amendment that stood out resulted in the creation of an entitlement allocation for Housing - Graffiti Abatement in the amount of $90,000.  Funding of graffiti abatement programs has in this past year run out prior to the summer months and this new allocation appears to be a response to that funding shortage.  This resolution and its amendments was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.

The final two appointees to Business Improvement District #41 (Downer Ave.) were approved by committee today. Andie Zacher and Brett Grass were added to the newly expanded board bring the total to seven members. Brett Grass from Lighthouse Development expressed that he has a “vested interest in the shopping district staying vibrant” and that his experience at Lighthouse Development should be of value to the board.. These appointments were approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

Also of note was the appointed of first term Alderman Kovac to the Arts Board. He expressed his desire to sit on the Arts Board by saying “I look forward to helping the arts and helping the city at the same time. He conveyed a strong belief that the arts are not only beneficial to the quality of life within the city but also to the economic development of the city. This appointment was approved and will now go before the full Common Council.

The last item on the agenda was resolution 080293 which saw a vigorous discussion over the problematic development effort at 27th and Wells St. known as WestPointe Commons. First funded in Novemeber 2001 the project has yet to be completed and has spent almost $1 million in public funds. The motion before the committee was to freeze access to public funds until an audit was completed which would determine what went wrong and if the project should go forward. Former Alderman Henningsen spoke on behalf of the project making a passioned appeal to allow the project to contiune. He argued that despite its past issues, it is now close to completion and in combination with other projects in the area it could have a catalyitic effect. In the end the committee voted to approve the resolution, essentially freezing public funds, which will now go before the full Common Council.

Dick Lincoln from the Mandel Group presented resolution 071618 which is the job training program portion of The North End development that receives funding from TIF No. 48. He explained that it would be “a little bit different than traditional workforce development” in that in focuses more on mentoring and coaching of emerging businesses to “take them to the next level.” Specifically the program will help emerging business develop business and management skills so these firms can enter into larger contracts and participate in The North End project. This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.

Resolution 080209 changed the operating plan and structure of Business Improvement Distict No. 41 which represents the Downer Avenue business district. The changes would enlarged the board from five to seven members and it would adjust various line items within the proposed operating plan to allow the BID greater flexibility in their future operations. Although this resolution seems inoucous enough it gives the appearance as though these changes are connected to New Lan Enterprises’ controvsional re-development efforts on Downer Avenue. It appears this way because while Alderman Kovac has worked to expand BID No. 41 both Boris Gokhman and Joel Lee have had their appointments to BID No. 41 held in committee. This resolution was approved by the committee and will go before the full Common Council.

The items that stood out the most on the agenda were resolution 071355 and 071358. These resolutions would appoint Joel Lee and Boris Gokhman respectively to the Business Improvement District Board #41. This BID represents Downer Avenue which has been at the center of a continuous development project by New Land Enterprises. These appointments were approved but at May 20th Common Council meeting because the BID intends to rework some details and BID boundaries.