Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors

The Urbanist’s Ideal Milwaukee County Executive Platform

The race for Milwaukee County Executive promises to be an intriguing one, if only because in a little over a year Milwaukee County residents will vote for the position four times (two primaries, two general elections). The extra election is caused by Scott Walker heading off to Madison with a year still left on his term.

Jan 7th, 2011 by Jeramey Jannene

Milwaukee County Pension Scandal Number 2?

Milwaukee County is going ahead with executing a plan for its pension system that involves borrowing money, investing it in the market, and hoping to earn a 2% profit. The plan has garnered support from County Executive Walker, the County Board, and the county's actuary consultant.

Jul 23rd, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene

“Today I’m a little disappointed in my alma mater”

"Today I'm a little disappointed in my alma mater," said Supervisor Lipscomb at the Thursday, May 21st Milwaukee County Board Meeting.

May 22nd, 2009 by Dave Reid

Huh? Timeout. Explanation Needed.

As the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors barrel ahead towards Thursday's vote on the Milwaukee County Ground land sale to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

May 19th, 2009 by Dave Reid

UW-Tosa to Fill Budget Gap?

In what can only be characterized as a transparent attempt to prop up Milwaukee County's budget, the Board of Supervisors and County Executive Walker appear poised to push the Milwaukee County Grounds land sale to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee through.

May 17th, 2009 by Dave Reid

Milwaukee County Pension Trial Underway

The Milwaukee County pension troubles are a serious issue that affect everyone in the Milwaukee area. By eating a significant portion of the county's budget every year in the form of increased pension payments, the pension scandal has forced cuts in county services and tax increases. Milwaukee County has taken Mercer to court over the highly-flawed pension system, and a decision in Milwaukee County's favor could relieve a lot of stress at the county level.

May 14th, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene

How Not to Run a Public Hearing

We often hear about the lack of "transparency" or that "the process wasn't followed," and it is actually my belief that often enough this isn't true.

Apr 6th, 2009 by Dave Reid

MCTS Adds New Bus Route

MCTS, empowered by a veto override by the Milawukee County Board in November, has added (in reality restored) a bus route to their service offerings, offering service from the Downtown Transit Center through downtown and out to 60th Street via Vliet Avenue.

Apr 1st, 2009 by Jeramey Jannene

Kitty Corner, Across the Freeway

This is how County Executive Scott Walker described just how close UW-Milwaukee's new Engineering School could be from the Milwaukee County Research Park.

Mar 24th, 2009 by Dave Reid

County Board Votes for Task Force Recommendations

The proposed Regional Transit Authority recommendations were on the agenda after being delayed at a previous meeting of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. At the previous meeting a task force was created and charged with putting together a positive message from the county supporting regional transportation. Supervisor Pat Jursik explained that despite the task force’s work and positive output the Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee unfortunately rejected the findings. She expressed her displeasure with the committee’s actions saying “I’ve been very depressed the last few days”. She then made a strong plea to deny the committee’s rejection so they could then move to take positive action on the task force’s recommendations. She also referred to a public meeting held on January 13th saying “I was really quite surprised by the consensus of the speakers in terms of regional transit”. The concerns over governance and control popped up again when Supervisor Elizabeth Coggs stated “my concern is the governance issue wasn’t brought up” and that “I think it needs to be strongly said that we do need representation”. Supervisor Chris Larson attempted to quell these concerns saying that “we’re trying to issue our opinions on this” and added that “there’s a coalition building and I think Milwaukee County should be part of it”. He felt Milwaukee County needed to step up as even “the business community is willing to step up”. He was part of the task force that put forward the recommended response. Supervisor Johnny Thomas added his support to the task force recommendations saying “if we don’t get outside of this room we’ll be talking about this for at least another 30 years”. The board took an extended lunch to work out an amendment to the task force recommendations to gain majority support from the board. This amendment added specific governance recommendations, including additional appointees for Milwaukee County and diversity requirements, to the RTA’s configuration. In the end the board rejected the committee’s action and voted positively in support of the task force’s recommendation with the additional amendment in place.

Feb 6th, 2009 by Dave Reid