Welcome to Milwaukee, Mr. Walker
Governor who warned voters about evils of this city will now live here.
Scott Walker speaking at the 833 East groundbreaking event in downtown Milwaukee in 2014. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Remember when Walker urged his recall campaign supporters in Waukesha County to help him make sure Wisconsin didn’t become “another Milwaukee?”
Oconomowoc Lake – Republican Gov. Scott Walker continued Monday to hammer away at his Democratic rival in the recall election, saying Wisconsin would be taking a major step backward if Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett wins on June 5…
People do not want to see Wisconsin “become another Milwaukee,” Walker said.
I guess he’s changed his mind, now that we’ve got a streetcar. And all the other cool stuff.
As the Channel 58 story headlined it: “Walker to live in downtown Milwaukee after leaving office.”
Maybe within walking distance of the Bradley Foundation?
And Fiserv Forum, where he’ll hang out and Tweet you to death despite the greeting some Bucks fans may give him, given that his grudging, backed-into-a-corner ‘support’ for the new arena and team was built around the lukewarm-at-best slogan “It’s cheaper to keep them.”
Plus, Mitchell Field offers more options than the Dane County airport, if getting to speaking gigs requires direct flights.
Not to mention he can grab Amtrak downtown to Chicago – – snark – – and it’s 25 minutes by car to Foxconn, or to meet GOP Assembly Speaker who-is-absolutely-positively-not-running for Governor Robin Vos for coffee in Racine.
I’ll admit there’s a part of me that thinks this is a practical joke, but if it is true, isn’t it wonderful that Walker can soon call Congresswoman Gwen Moore, who until Tony Evers was the only political figure to beat him, and is now whom Walker can call for federal constituent services?
Assuming Walker’s new boss Trump reopens the government and there are actual services to complain about.
But for the foreseeable future, Walker can get on the phone with Moore’s office and gripe about federal funding for Medicaid, Planned Parenthood, food stamps, and transit.
And he can call Barrett’s office about the property taxes.
James Rowen, a former journalist and mayoral staffer in Milwaukee and Madison, writes a regular blog, The Political Environment.
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And he can ride the Hop!!
Such fun, James Rowan, mind if others join in? Don’t forget, Walker can walk to meetings of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and check in with the gang at the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce. There’s always the old Courthouse crowd where he once reigned as County Executive while claiming he was from Elroy; or he can walk over to his investment advisors who put together an equity package to purchase the public interest in the airport Milwaukee County build, never did get that one off the ground. Walker won’t have to rely on Waukesha well-water now that 40% of the wells in WI are contaminated under his watch. His Condo may have a lake view, now that he’s helped legislate where the Public Trust Line runs smack down Lincoln Memorial Drive, never mind what God created. Perhaps there’s a Cabinet Post waiting, ala Tommy Thompson or a visit from his new Washington, D.C. pals like Charlie Sykes who no longer rummage around Cudahy or other old rust-belt suburbs stirring up crowds to “throw the bums out.”
A condo, huh? The condo association president better watch his/her back – the next election is going to be a doozy.
Wonder who is picking up the tab?
A WELCOME WAGON presented gifts to me when I relocated from MI to Shawano, WI. Those gifts included discounts at restaurants, grocery stores, other retail outlets …
A Milwaukee welcome wagon for Walker could include such items as hand buzzers, whoopie cushions, fake turds to alarm visitors who look at your floor …
It is difficult to seriously welcome a rural rube to a great city which he has routinely dismissed as beneath his standards – especially now that we know that his standards had no foundation other than self interest.