From sausages and mansion to the mayor’s pajama party

By Dan Corcoran

In a nutshell: Regardless of whether Mayor Barrett’s budget is the one Milwaukee ends up with, cuts are going to happen. And somebody’s going to get hurt. It seems that there’s just not enough money to do everything and the federal “aid” recently delivered to the city to help with its impending mortgage crisis fell far short of expectations. In the meantime, Barrett has been out and about, cavorting with sausages and holding town hall meetings on a budget he’s already submitted. The Sanitation and Forestry departments have nothing nice to say about each other, but it’s probably not personal. Then there’s that Goll Mansion thing. Oh yeah, and the mayor’s car almost got towed — but, luckily, he’s the mayor.

So read on, and feel free to drop me a line at dcorcoran@vitalsourcemag.com. I welcome your additions, corrections and general feedback.

Federal Foreclosure Dollars: The City of Milwaukee expected $15-$20 million, but we only got $9.1 million. According to the Fed’s Housing and Urban Development Office, Milwaukee was only the 55th hardest-hit city in the nation; Wisconsin, on the other hand, was the 17th hardest hit state. Rural and suburban areas have been hit harder by foreclosures than we have, apparently. California will get a full quarter of the HUD funds – around $500 million (That’s a headline all on its own: Wall Street whines over puny $700 billion bailout; Main Street grateful for $4 billion). But the formula that HUD used hurts Milwaukee, simply because so far we’ve lagged behind in the nationwide housing slump. Now, with our unemployment rate climbing and the global markets reeling, I, along with many others, predict that next year will see far more foreclosures in Milwaukee than 2008 or 2007.

Barrett spends quality time with Hot Dog and Polish Sausage: In early October, our Mayor crossed the street with the Klement’s Racing Brat to kick off StreetShare Pedestrian Safety Week, intended to raise awareness that Wisconsin State Law requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk whether it is marked with paint or unmarked. Just days earlier, he presided over the unveiling of a giant Brewers banner on City Hall as part of the celebration of Brewers Day, so declared by his Mayorship to commemorate the Brewers’ first playoff trip in 26 years.

Listening sessions: Aldermen have been having them on all sides of the city to hear how residents feel about the 2009 City budget. Now Barrett is having town hall meetings on the subject as well. Not too many folks at his Miramar Theater meeting — maybe 20 people. Maybe a good idea to get out in the neighborhoods, but he has already presented this budget to the Common Council, so there’s not much the mayor can do when he gets public comment on the decisions he already made. Oh well, better late than never.

Sour Sanitation: On a recent stroll with some Milwaukee Sanitation workers, they had nothing good to say about the Forestry Department. “Those guys haven’t been out to trim trees in years.” And, “There are ‘sucker trees’ growing out of the base of so many city trees, it’s ridiculous.” So naturally, I sought out some Forestry types to get the other side of the story. “Sanitation is a joke,” said one. “Those guys have it easy – and they have no idea what we do.” The back story to all of this is that the tight budget has inflamed a rivalry between Sanitation and Forestry, because both face significant cuts. And most likely neither wants to end up taking care of the backlog of municipal pruning.

Kovac vs. Boris II: Because of concerns from neighbors on Prospect Ave., New Land’s controversial condo project, which includes a “restoration” of the historic Goll Mansion, 11 Common Council votes were needed, and delivered. Nick Kovac, whose Third District is nearby, was the lone dissenter against the project, ostensibly for the same reasons as the neighbors who mourned the loss of their lake views and protested over-development in an historic neighborhood. But no one has really looked much at the Boris/Kovac history, in my opinion. (True, most on the East Side already know about the Kovac family/Boris Gokhman fued over Downer Ave., but it’s interesting … ) Despite Kovac’s opposition to the Prospect Ave. project, which is actually in Ald. Bauman’s district, this project has gone pretty smoothly for Boris so far. We’ll keep watching, as this tandem is sure to tangle again.

Wait, I’m the mayor!: Word from some friends in the Public Works Department is that the mayor had to run out into the street in his pajamas one recent night to keep city workers from towing his car. Apparently, Washington Blvd. had been changed from a no-parking zone to a tow-away zone. Usually, the city does not enforce such a change until a certain amount of time has passed. They jumped the gun this time and picked the wrong car. But what if it was you or me? My guess is we wouldn’t have been so lucky. VS