Supervisor Taylor Disappointed that County Board Rejected the Sale of O’Donnell Parking Structure
"I am very disappointed that a deal could not be made."
Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee County Supervisor Steve F. Taylor today issued the following statement regarding the County Boards 9-8 vote against the sale of the county owned parking structure to Northwestern Mutual.
“I am very disappointed that a deal could not be made. We had the chance to move forward with the sale and now with Northwestern Mutual’s decision to look elsewhere we have missed our opportunity to sell this property.
“The O’Donnell Parking Structure is a financial anchor around our necks, and it’s a burden that is ultimately the responsibility of County taxpayers. Northwestern Mutual is an outstanding corporate partner that has a long history of working with this community. They have the resources to invest into this property, money the County just doesn’t have.”
“Instead of investing $5 million into our park system, we now have to ask the taxpayers of Milwaukee County to find $6.5 million to fund differed maintenance costs that could have been avoided.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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I understand the supervisor’s point on this, but I would add footnote to his statement.
The County Board did not negotiate this contract. It was presented to the Board for a Yes or No vote. There was considerable comment that the offer to purchase was too low, if not wrong-headed entirely. While many residents and their supervisors do not want to compromise the parks for any kind of money, there might have been another Board vote (one more was needed) swayed with larger considerations from the negotiators. The Board by (new) law is not part of the negotiations.
I hate to burst the Supervisor’s bubble but county government seldom is anything but a drain on the taxpayers pocketbook.