A Broken City

Last night and early this morning, the 2nd District that I represent experienced two homicides. One, a stabbing in the 6300 block of West Fond du Lac Avenue and a shooting in the 8900 block of West Mill Road. These types of violent crime incidents are unacceptable for a city that is trying to capture investment for economic development and business growth which will create the necessary jobs to address our dismal poverty and unemployment rate.

My frustration comes from a systemic problem of silence from the Mayor until he is forced to comment on HIS city that is broken (we shouldn’t be receiving comments from his Chief of Staff). He’ll blame the thugs, he’ll blame the neighborhoods, he’ll blame the parents, he’ll blame the Governor for returning $800 million, he’ll blame the State Legislature, he’ll blame the dog catcher, and he may even blame me. But he doesn’t blame his failed policies that have not stimulated economic growth in areas of greatest needs.

At all intersections of turmoil, one must intercede with a strategy for winning the battle. He will tout transitional jobs here in Milwaukee and may even bring up his Streetcar project that he says will create the jobs he needs to create his smoke screen. But one thing is for sure, he will not mention the 30 homicides Milwaukee has on the books for the first quarter of 2015. He will not mention that the victims and suspects are predominantly African American males. And he surely won’t mention how this directly relates to his job performance.

I’ve heard the tagline “Black Lives Matter” used by many, but for most, that saying is just a cliché. When they had an opportunity to express their true commitment to that saying (like returning a significant portion of the CDBG funding back to the community instead of funding city positions and departments), they failed and instead are hoping the community doesn’t recognize their true intentions of keeping conditions the same in distressed neighborhoods that are on the tipping point, while attracting the “new millennials” (the Streetcar cliché) and increasing the downtown playground while the mass incarceration of African American males continues with the exodus to the State of Wisconsin’s Prison System. Well eventually, a new generation of community activists will pull the veil away and expose their hidden agenda.

In these troubled times, I would personally ask the men and women of the Milwaukee Police Department to be patient, continue to do all that you can while displaying your professionalism because Milwaukee needs your help at this critical juncture. This must happen as we, together, create the safe neighborhoods that Milwaukee needs going forward.

Because right now, Milwaukee is broken.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.