Could MORE Ordinance mean fewer jobs?
As of this writing, the City of Milwaukee Common Council has yet to hold its full Council meeting on March 25. This will be a hugely important session to many for two reasons – one legislative and one symbolic. Actually, both are symbolic in some ways. First, assuming it passes the Finance & Personnel Committee (which is likely), the Council will take up the emotionally contentious MORE ordinance. Actually, It was originally dubbed MORE – “Milwaukee Opportunities for Restoring Employment” – but now it has a different name: CPO, “Community Participation Ordinance.” Whatever the latest name happens to be, this legislation is the latest incarnation of “Community Benefits,” which was passed for Milwaukee County’s portion of the Park East (still a desert) but was denied for the City’s portion. (Joe Zilber’s “The Brewery,” Gorman affordable housing, etc.) In terms of grassroots activism, there aren’t many who can compete with the MORE/CPO backers. Good Jobs Livable Neighborhoods and MICAH are two big proponents. And alders Hamilton, Wade, Coggs and Kovac are spearheading the Council effort. The Mayor, perhaps trying to atone for his take on paid sick leave, has even vowed to sign it. But, as always, there is one sticking point: prevailing wage. Most of the central city and left-leaning aldermen (and alderwomen) are in support of large development projects receiving City financial assistance (at least $1 million) being required to pay a prevailing wage to all workers. Sounds good, right? But as with most of life, it’s a little more complicated than that. Alone on an island, Pres. Willie Hines – a former roofer and economic specialist for the Milwaukee Urban League – is opposing his central city colleagues, because he’s afraid a “100-percent prevailing wage mandate,” as he calls it, will actually hurt minority developers and push jobs out into the suburbs. He may have a point. Melissa Goins, Kalan Haywood, Carla Cross and other smaller, minority developers – as well as the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Milwaukee Urban League – have also been vocal in their opposition to the prevailing wage mandate. They say that they already pay a “family-sustaining wage,” and that the prevailing wage would give all business to the (mostly white) unions. Smaller and minority companies usually compete on price. They may pay slightly lower wages, but they have skilled workers just like the unions. Naturally, the business community – and large developers – are also against the 100-percent prevailing wage mandate. (Currently these projects pay mostly a prevailing wage anyway. And public works projects are 100 percent prevailing wage.) They say that it’s tough enough to for them to create jobs in this economy, and if the measure passes it will give them even more reason to build out in the suburbs. Idle threat or profound wisdom? No matter whose side you’re on, there will surely be plenty of fireworks at the Council meeting on March 25. It will be the place to be for activists, construction firms, unions, minority-owned developers and […]
Mar 19th, 2009
Boards, committees and Bohl – oh my!
In this edition: BOZA gets a new chair, Alderman Bohl blows up and the mainstream media once again misses the mark. Big news! New BOZA head: Outside of city government, not many people know or care about the Board of Zoning Appeals, affectionately known by insiders as BOZA. (Pronounced with a long “o” and a short “a,” so it rhymes with “Rosa.”) But if you live in the City of Milwaukee, run a business here or watch the city government station on TV (Channel 25), you know how vitally important BOZA is to maintaining a good quality of life in Milwaukee. Whenever a daycare wants to open in a residential neighborhood, or someone wants to put up an extra-large billboard, or a corner store is up for renewal, the Board, made up of private citizens, votes on whether or not exceptions (i.e. “variances”) to land use restrictions should be granted. Typically, an alderman or his/her aide will go before BOZA and tell why he/she is for/against the variance. There is often a lot of good neighborhood testimony, too, and the hearings can go well into the night. This is local government at its finest, and the chairman – for more than a decade – has been well-respected tax attorney Craig Zetley. In November, Zetley announced his resignation. This announcement sent shockwaves throughout City Hall and beyond, but it was barely mentioned by most Milwaukee media outlets. The replacement is long-time BOZA member Catey Doyle, who also happens to be sister to Governor Jim Doyle. Catey, the staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society, is passionate about Milwaukee and a great person for a job that would be demanding for anyone. Tune in to Channel 25 on any Thursday night when BOZA is in session and see how she runs her meetings. The general expectation seems to be that Ms. Doyle will be extremely fair with aldermen and citizens alike, but maybe not has hard line as Mr. Zetley when it comes to the interpretation of city code. Doyle is known for being empathetic and understanding of special circumstances. Like church, but for liquor licenses: Speaking of running city meetings, there was quite a bit of commotion at the Licenses Committee hearing in early December. Alderman Jim Bohl, known for his integrity, sincerity and long-winded analogies, is chair of the committee that grants a variety of alcohol and other licenses. He took over that role for Ald. James Witkowiak in April, but it’s Bohl’s second turn at being the chair of Licenses. (He’s one of the most veteran aldermen, having represented the west side of Milwaukee for more than a decade.) During this particular hearing, Bohl blasted citizens in attendance for not turning off their cell phones. “This should be like church,” he said at one point, exhorting people to be respectful of the proceedings. He even kicked out one person whose cell phone continued to ring. Many observers thought Bohl crossed the line. The castigation of Milwaukee residents – many […]
Jan 1st, 2009
A freshman’s time to shine; ERC ghost haunts Barrett
Pat on the back: After weeks and weeks of hearing that this was Mayor Barrett’s most difficult budget ever – and that fees and taxes had to be raised by a certain amount or fire fighters, police and libraries would be cut – the Common Council found a third and better option. Thanks to frosh alderman Nik Kovac (who happens to have a math degree from Harvard), the Council came up with the idea of moving the bulk of the fee increases from the solid waste fee (homeowners only) to the wastewater/tree pruning fee (homeowners, non-profits and businesses). The City of Milwaukee will get more money by capturing businesses and non-profits (hey, they have trees too) with the fee increases, but homeowners will actually pay less than they would have under the Mayor’s proposed budget. Not only that, but aldermen managed to restore libraries, fire fighters and police – and expand the summer jobs program to boot. The word around City Hall is that the Mayor’s Budget office is frustrated that they didn’t see the solution that Ald. Kovac and other Council members put forth. But no matter who came up with the idea, it puts Milwaukee in a much better position. Sick Day Fiasco: Speaking of putting the city in a better position, a group called 9to5 collected thousands and thousands of signatures earlier this year to enable something called “direct legislation” for more paid sick days for workers in the city of Milwaukee. (Full time workers would be eligible for nine days per year, if it is ever implemented.) Insiders say business organizations (e.g. the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce) lobbied Mayor Barrett and Common Council President Hines pretty hard to come out against the ordinance, which went directly to a voter referendum without a chance for the Council to vote it down. Only Barrett took the bait, issuing a strong statement against more paid sick days for workers. What’s really interesting is that the Mayor now has no plan for enforcing the ordinance. He pushed for it to be defeated – hoping and praying, it seems, that he wouldn’t have to deal with it – and the voters ignored him. Now, Mayor Barrett appears to be pinning his hopes to an MMAC lawsuit against the ordinance. Why won’t he just deal with the fact that the ordinance passed and must be enforced? It all goes back to the Equal Rights Commission (ERC), or lack thereof. The ERC was established during the Norquist Administration to deal with discrimination complaints related to housing and employment. It was the City agency set up to hear those complaints and enforce legal action against discriminatory businesses, landlords, etc. But there was a big blow-up when Norquist took away the ERC’s legal powers, and members of the commission resigned or retired one by one. Pratt avoided the issue during his short tenure, but when Barrett was sworn in, everyone watched anxiously to see what he’d do with the ERC. Would he abolish it? […]
Dec 1st, 2008
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. […]
Nov 1st, 2008
Behind the Scaffolding
There’s a lot going on in City Hall right now – not that you’d know from Milwaukee’s broadcast news and daily paper. With increased coverage of suburban issues – Shoplifter at Large in Glendale! – the most important issues of the day for the region’s economic and cultural hub are largely left untouched. That’s why VITAL Source is making space for this column. To give you the inside scoop on what’s going in City of Milwaukee government. Hopefully it will be both enlightening and entertaining. Let’s start with the 2009 city budget. About two weeks after posturing as an anti-tax guy (read: afraid of talk radio) and vetoing a much-needed “wheel tax,” Mayor Barrett introduced a host of increased fees – from snow removal to “solid waste” removal – in his new budget. (That latter fee is your garbage collection, in case you were wondering what constitutes “solid waste.”) Here’s the key difference between the wheel tax, which passed with 11 cosponsors, and all the new fees that Mayor Barrett is trying to implement in the budget: the $20-per-year wheel tax is actually replacing the street assessments, which totaled thousands of dollars, saving money for property owners. Barrett’s new budget fees replace nothing – they’re just new fees. Advantage: aldermen. (And alderwoman – can’t forget Coggs.) Whether libraries are closed, fire fighters are cut or sanitation services are consolidated, times are tough for the City of Milwaukee. Watching the committee meetings, you get the sense that the department heads are scrambling to make ends meet. Milwaukee should have a long-term plan for progress, but it seems like everything is addressed at the 11th hour. I don’t think the heads of Manpower, Harley or even VITAL manage their funds this way, so I don’t know why it doesn’t bother the mayor. Captain Jim Harpole, who was in the running for MPD Chief and has been at the helm for the District Three Police Station – in the heart of the central city – is being promoted to Assistant Chief. The promotion got little attention from the Journal Sentinel and nothing from the TV stations, but it could have far-reaching ramifications. City Hall insiders – and those who pay attention to crime statistics – know that Harpole has worked wonders at D3, so his replacement will be key. Alds. Murphy, Bauman and Hines are sure to be especially nervous. Another Mayor-Common Council conflict of late is how to deal with Milwaukee’s foreclosure crisis. In August, President Willie Hines wrote a letter to Barrett, asking that he consider hiring a full-time Housing & Foreclosure Policy Advisor, as many other cities have done. The mayor has granted that request, but it seems like the new advisor will only be a low-level manager, not a cabinet-level adviser, as Hines requested. My next column will focus more on the nuts-and-bolts of the departments behind the scenes, as I interview the people who actually fill potholes (hopefully), board up houses and weigh babies (public health nurses) for […]
Oct 1st, 2008
