CRG Advocates Sues Milwaukee for Summerfest Records

CRG Advocates has filed a lawsuit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court related to the operations of the Summerfest Grounds by Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. which leases the property. State law makes the records of government contractors subject to public inspection to the same extent as if they were maintained by the government itself, ensuring that privatization does not negatively impact transparency.

CRG Advocates is a watchdog group that holds government officials across the state accountable when they refuse to listen to their constituents. It was formed two decades ago in the wake of the Milwaukee County pension scandal and led the effort to recall Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament and several County Supervisors. It uses record requests to uncover government corruption and mismanagement.

The Summerfest Grounds (or more precisely, Henry Maier Festival Park), sit primarily on reclaimed lakebed and thus are held in the public trust. The Grounds are owned by the City of Milwaukee and leased to Milwaukee World Festival, which maintains and improves the grounds and runs Summerfest and all the other events and festivals on the property.

As part of its operations, Milwaukee World Festival contracts with Frank Productions to promote events at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater, the Grounds’ largest stage, as well as the BMO Pavilion. Under the Open Records Law, Milwaukee has a responsibility to obtain and produce copies of that and similar contracts, but the city has refused to do so here.

“Obviously, if Milwaukee ran the Summerfest Grounds itself, its contracts with promoters and other vendors would be subject to the Open Records Law,” explained Tom Kamenick, President of Founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, which represents CRG Advocates. “The authors of the Records Law wanted to make sure that government entities couldn’t abandon those responsibilities by outsourcing their work. Milwaukee has a legal obligation to obtain and turn over these records.”

For a copy of the complaint, contact Attorney Kamenick.

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.