Related Articles - Page 11
Milwaukee’s Stimulus Request
Yesterday the U.S. Senate approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and although it still has conference committee changes to go through prior to arriving on President Obama's desk it's interesting to see what items the City of Milwaukee would like to see funded.
Feb 11th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Opportunities to Voice Your Support for Transit Service in Milwaukee
The City of Milwaukee is offering two new ways for residents to support transit initiatives in Milwaukee. First the City of Milwaukee has rolled out an online petition and are asking residents to sign it if you agree with the four points laid out below: The Connector plan should enhance and expand existing public transit service in Milwaukee. Transit routes that are fixed in place are more likely to spur significant development. Thus, the Connector plan should include fixed transit. The design of the Connector plan should maximize the amount of federal transit investment attracted to Milwaukee. The Connector plan should be viewed as a significant, substantial beginning to major transit improvements in Milwaukee — with the expectation that our community will build upon these improvements over time. Additionally the Milwaukee Connector study group will be holding a series of meetings to allow residents to voice their opinion. The open houses will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the following dates: February 3, 2009 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Wisconsin Room 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd. February 4, 2009 Fritsche Middle School Cafeteria 2969 S. Howell Avenue February 5, 2009 Black Historical Society 2620 W. Center Street February 10, 2009 Northwestern Mutual Franklin Campus 1 Northwestern Mutual Way (S.27th Drexel and Rawson) February 11, 2009 Milwaukee County Research Park Technology Innovation Center – Room 162 10437 Innovation Dr. February 12, 2009 O’Donnell Park Harbor Lights Room 910 E. Michigan Street Sign the petition
Jan 31st, 2009 by Dave Reid
What is the Problem in the Park East?
Changes proposed to lure developers to Park East lots.
Jan 19th, 2009 by Dave Reid
Our 2009 Top Ten Lists
It's time to look forward to what we can hope for and plan on in 2009.
Jan 5th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene
Potential Changes to the RFP Process
Milwaukee should explore how land sales are managed in order to achieve the highest and best use. If Milwaukee can become better at converting land from public and vacant to private and developed it will only be a benefit to the entire city by building a better urban fabric and raising the city tax base.
Nov 28th, 2008 by Jeramey Jannene
2009 City Budget Cuts Firefighters
Each year the City of Milwaukee goes through a public lashing as Mayor Barrett attempts to create next year's budget.
Oct 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Milwaukee’s Housing Trust Fund Needs Full Funding
According to the U.S. Census Bureau approximately a quarter of Milwaukeeans live in poverty.
Oct 15th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Poverty
Blog Action Day brings blogs from around the world to discuss an issue of global importance. Last year over 20,000 blogs participated by posting about the environment with the hope of sparking a larger discussion. This year Blog Action Day takes on the complex and troubling issue of poverty.
Oct 11th, 2008 by Dave Reid
What is the True Value of Water?
Or as Common Council President Hines put it "What is Water Worth?" This question has been on the minds of local officials and citizens as of late because of the City of Milwaukee approving an agreement to sell water to New Berlin.
Aug 15th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Public Works Committee Approves New Berlin Water Deal
This meeting’s highlights included the proposed water sale to New Berlin and the reappointment of Jeff Mantes to the Commissioner the Department of Public Works.The water sale involved two separate resolutions. Resolution 080012 would handle the actual water sale and resolution 080011 will enact an intergovernmental agreement contingent on the water sale. Water sales are regulated by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (“PSC“) which sets the wholesale price of water and oversees water contracts. Because of this any additional constraints beyond the sales agreement had to handled in an intergovernmental agreement. This intergovernmental agreement included a non-compete clause between the cities as well as a one time $1.5 million payment to the City of Milwaukee from New Berlin to offset some of the potential economic impact associated with this transaction. Further as this agreement proposes the sale of water outside of the Great Lakes Basin it follows the requirements set for within the Great Lakes Compact.New Berlin is seeking to obtain the additional water source to support the middle third of the city, to large extent because of high levels of the radium existing in their water and the depletion of their aquifer. During the discussion it was brought up, that if New Berlin isn’t able to purchase water from the City of Milwaukee that New Berlin may spend $4 million on an upgrade to their facilities or pursue purchasing water from Oak Creek. Both of these options were potentially more expensive for New Berlin than purchasing from the City of Milwaukee but Jack F. Chiovatero, the Mayor of New Berlin, indicated the pressing need by stating that “I wouldn’t be sitting in front off you if I didn’t have the radium issue”.Alderman Robert Bauman repeatedly made the point that New Berlin fails to meet the City of Milwaukee’s guidelines for water sales. These guidelines are based on access to mass transit and affordable housing within the community wishing to purchase water. Further he pointed out that this resolution does not reflect the original authorization to negotiate as passed by the Common Council in December 2007. In addition to Alderman Bauman’s vocal opposition various organizations such as the Good Jobs & Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, and the ACLU spoke out in opposition to the water sale. This opposition stems from the idea that sending water to sprawling communities without adequate housing or transit options makes access to the new jobs, that this transaction will support, near impossble for low-income residents of Milwaukee to access. In addition to those concerns Bill Holahan, the Chairman of the UWM Department of Economics stated that “over the next 20 years the expansion out there will swamp the $1.5 million” and that “economic value of the water is probably not reflected in the $1.5 million”. Despite these issues and concerns the resolution was approved and sent to a special meeting of the Finance & Personnel Committee held prior to July 30th’s Common Council Meeting.The other contentious item was the […]
Jul 30th, 2008 by Dave Reid
$20 Vehicle Registration Fee or $2500 Assessment?
Call it what you want, a new tax, a pothole fee, or a wheel tax but the intention is to rebuild our streets in a timely manner. Of course there are cries of "tax hell", that property taxes are too high, and that this will cause people and business to leave the City of Milwaukee.
Jul 17th, 2008 by Dave Reid
Public Works Committee Considers Vehicle Registration Feed
This special committee meeting was scheduled to discuss resolution 080034. It was brought forward by Alderman Robert Bauman, Alderman Bob Donovan, Alderman Wille Wade and, Alderman Willie Hines Jr. and proposed replacing large assessments on property owners to pay for road repaid projects with a $20 vehicular registration fee. Alderman Bauman laid out the three principal goals for this resolution which included improving the infrastructure of the City of Milwaukee, diversifying the City of Milwaukee’s revenue streams and to bring fairness in the assessment process. Specifically this resolution would move $3.5 million in special assessments costs and approximately $3.1 million in property taxes on to the vehicle registration fee. It was pointed out that many suburban commuters and absentee land lords utilize City of Milwaukee roads and although this resolution was held it clearly has merits in that it attempts to find a more equitable distribution of the expense of road construction.
Jun 3rd, 2008 by Dave Reid
