Milwaukee County’s south suburbs seek full-time supervisor
Franklin, Hales Corners and Oak Creek residents have become increasingly disturbed by the lack of representation they have the Milwaukee County Board. In recent years, their elected supervisor, Paul Cesarz, has been missing in action – drawing his county salary and benefits but only attending the monthly full board meetings. He’s been a no show for his committee assignments, phone calls and emails go unanswered and he rarely appears at community events.
Cesarz blamed his lack of attendance and attention to the district on personal financial problems and the downturn in property investments, which led him to return to work as a full-time pharmacist. He realized his attempted balancing act wasn’t working and announced his decision to not seek re-election to the 9th district supervisory seat he has held since 2002 this past December.
His exit from the scene has opened up the field to three candidates: Steven Taylor, Don Schwartz and Kenneth Gehl, all of whom promise to be attentive to the district and its constituents, representing the issues and values important to the southern suburbs.
Milwaukee County 9th District candidate Steve Taylor
Steven Taylor has been a member of the Franklin Common Council for four years and is campaigning on bringing county dollars back to the district, restructuring county government and his experience as a public servant.
Taylor said district taxpayers sent approximately $35 million to the county last year, but are receiving little in return for their dollars.
“Our county roads are in horrendous shape. Our county Parks are deteriorating. The Sheriff’s Department has little to no presence in our communities, and county transit barely reaches our borders,” Taylor said. “The one county program that worked well was the EMS Paramedic funding and that dollar amount was cut in half. It is obvious that southern Milwaukee County is not a priority for the Board and I plan to work on your behalf to get our fair share.”
“We know Wisconsin is ‘Open for Business.’ The undeveloped land in southern Milwaukee County is the prime geographic location to attract business from Illinois and the entire country,” he said in a statement on his campaign site. “The proximity to downtown Milwaukee, the airport, the freeway and Chicago make this one of the most desirable locations in the region. We need strong leadership and innovative ideas to leverage this valuable resource to the advantage of our country.”
Taylor’s experience includes service on the Franklin Common Council, where he has been president since first being elected in 2008 and a member of the Community Development Authority, Finance, Licensing and Civic Celebrations commissions. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration from UW-La Crosse. Taylor served on the La Crosse City Council from 1997-2001 and was a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals while a resident of East Lanzing, Michigan from 2002-2006.
Milwaukee County 9th District candidate Don Schwartz
Don Schwartz, Hales Corners village trustee and professor of government and politics at a variety of area colleges and universities, is seeking the 9th district seat campaigning to address the county’s structural deficit, reduce the size of the county board, implementing evening meetings to allow constituents more opportunities to take part in the process, the restoration of EMS funding to the suburbs and increasing county park expenditures.
To address Milwaukee County’s structural deficit, Schwartz will look for new and creative ways to operate county government.
“I will start by identifying priorities in each community and looking at ways to implement them with fiscal responsibility and by building public and private partnerships,” Schwartz said in a press release. “In Hales Corners, we’ve made community improvements in tough economic times without raising taxes and going further into debt.”
“I will advocate for the reduction of the size of the Milwaukee County Board from 18 to 5 members,” Schwartz said on his campaign website. “Using a football analogy, we need to move the football from our own 5-yard line to the 50-yard line. This will take time but incremental legislation needs to be implemented now given the number of votes against this action. The municipal referendums in the spring election on down-sizing and making the County Board part-time is an excellent start to get us to the 50 yard line by gauging the views of all citizens in Milwaukee County. Citizens need to have their voices heard on this important issue.”
Schwartz also pledges to work with the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council of Milwaukee County to develop a medium to long-term plan for a public-private partnership to restore paramedic funding to its previous levels. In the current budget, EMS funding throughout the county was reallocated heavily towards the City of Milwaukee and the North Shore EMS, which engage in more cooperative efforts to provide emergency response.
Franklin alone lost $150,000 in funding, following County Executive Chris Abele’s proposal to cut all EMS funding and the board restored a portion in the last budget round.
Schwartz is proud of the county’s park system and sits on the Friend of the Hales Corners Pool board. However, he feels that budget cuts have resulted in deferred maintenance and deterioration.
“I will advocate for a park district and a separate funding authority to restore funding and to improve our parks,” Schwartz said, “which provide a great source of enjoyment and beauty to Milwaukee County residents and visitors.”
Milwaukee County 9th District candidate Ken Gehl
Kenneth A. Gehl is finishing up his second term on the Oak Creek Common Council and works as an analyst for Robert W. Baird. Gehl did not respond to a request for comments from ThirdCoast Digest.
In early January he gave a brief response concerning his candidacy to Oak Creek Patch. He said many areas within Oak Creek, such as 13th Street, College Avenue and Bender Park, are under county jurisdiction but the community hasn’t had adequate representation under Cesarz. Plus, with lakefront redevelopment plans moving forward, the city needs more cooperation with the county.
“There’s been no catalyst or good advocate at the county level to push for those kinds of things,” Gehl said.
Nice talk all around, but the County budget is pretty much eaten up by mandated services like courts, corrections and social services. As a percentage of the budget, parks, transit and other popular but “discretionary” functions have been getting a smaller and smaller share of table scraps since at least the mid-1980s. Nothing changes because County government increasingly controls very little of its own revenues.
I’m not quite sure how Schwartz plans to ‘improve representation’ by cutting the board from 17 to 5. That will save taxpayers whole peanuts while investing increasing power in the greasy hands of a very small cadre of politicians – who can be naturally expected to become ever-more deaf to the public’s interests and concerns.
He is right to talk about creating a separate parks district – that’s the only way to insulate parks from the ravenous demands of state and federal mandates. Anything beats trying to sell them off like County Executive John Doe did.
Steve Taylor Says: “Franklin’s southwestern expansion, the development of Hales Corners and the expansion of the 27th Street corridor, which he believes has the potential of creating a $2 billion tax base and becoming a medical hub for southeastern Wisconsin.”
1) The City of Franklin is facing a good possibility of not receiving a Clean Water grant from the DNR which will cost Franklin 38 to 41 Million dollars TAXPAYERS will have to come up with because Steve pushed for the Ryan Creek Interceptor as an Alderman.
2) Steve Taylor has been an opponent of the expansion of the 27th Street corridor because his developer buddies don’t have land investments their.
3) Steve Taylor pushed to cut both fire and police positions in Franklin thus screwing over the Firefighters Union that backed him in his election last April.
4) Steve is and has been looking for a full time political job so he can quit his day job as an insurance salesman. He fails to mention that before that he was a used car salesman.
Taylor made all these promises to his constituents last April and now is abandoning them for a full time Political position with the County.
Well as one of his constituents I say, I hope he wins so we can get an Honest Alderman who really works for the residents in Franklin.
Looked up the three candidates on CCAP (Court Records) and found that only Steven F. Taylor has a criminal record. Looks like our ANGRY Alderman from Franklin has a restraining order against him when he was back in La Crosse. La Crosse County Case Number 1999CM001006 shows he violated a restraining order against him.
Also found was La Crosse County Case Number 2000CM000410 which Taylor was found guilty of Resisting or Obstructing an Officer.
Sounds like our Alderman has a history of Anger issues.
We don’t want him in Franklin as Alderman any more and certainly don’t want him representing us for our County Government.