Citizens of Milwaukee
For the 14th consecutive budget, Mayor Barrett is going to cut your fire department.
Mayor Barrett introduced his 2018 Executive Budget yesterday morning. Within the budget, for the 14th consecutive budget, he is going to cut YOUR fire department. The cuts introduced by Mayor Barrett are the deepest and quite frankly, operationally destructive at any one point in time since he took office in 2004. These budget cuts not only call for the elimination of 75 fire fighters but also the removal from front line service, 5 apparatus. Along with these cuts, 6 fire stations will no longer house fire apparatus to provide the Emergency Medical Services, fire suppression and rescue our citizens have come to know and expect. Over the previous 13 budget cycles, Mayor Barrett has systematically dismembered YOUR fire department, piece by piece. Almost 300 front line fire fighters have been cut if this budget is approved. However, YOUR Milwaukee Fire Fighters continue to provide exceptional services day in and day out.
The Fire Chief provided information in a press conference yesterday and one point is glaring. Paraphrasing his commentary pertaining to response times; “If you live across the street from a fire house and you have COPD and the fire fighters get there in 38 seconds and that fire house closes, it will be 3 minutes and 38 seconds. But it is still below the national standard for response times.” Citizens of Milwaukee, your fire fighters pride themselves in being able to respond to any and all emergencies that the constituency may have. MEETING NATIONAL RESPONSE TIMES ARE NOT an excuse to cut YOUR services. WE are the MILWAUKEE FIRE DEPARTMENT and we provide the services the MILWAUKEE WAY, nothing short of excellent. Waiting any additional amount of time in an emergency seems like an eternity. We will work tirelessly to provide those services continuously and work toward stopping these cuts but we cannot do it alone. The Mayor is counting on the fact that the constituency of Milwaukee will not rise up and DEMAND better from his office. Your local alderperson has the authority and ability to STOP these cuts. We urge you to reach out to your representative to voice your concerns.
1st District – President Ashanti Hamilton
2nd District – Cavalier Johnson
3rd District – Nicholas Kovac
4th District – Robert Bauman
5th District – James Bohl
6th District – Milele Coggs
7th District – Khalif Rainey
8th District – Robert Donovan
9th District – Chantia Lewis
10th District – Michael Murphy
11th District – Mark Borkowski
12th District – Jose’ Perez
13th District – Terry Witkowski
14th District – T. Anthony Zielinski
15th District – Russell Stamper, II
They can all be reached by calling 414-286-2221
Mayor Barrett can be reached at:
414-286-2200
Citizens of Milwaukee need to voice their concerns.
Your life may depend on it
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
There aren’t fires in Milwaukee….that is so 20th century.
Get over yourselves and protest the Police Department or something…..
I do not want my fire department cut,nor the police department,or any other department for that matter. However, The city can only do so much with the revenue they have. We need to place the blame where it belongs at the state level and demand Milwaukee again receives its fair share of taxes collected. We need to be writing the Gov. Walker and the state legislature not our alder-people.
Blame those who are clearly responsible, Walker and his stooges in the State Legislature who continue their war on local control over services to citizens.
The City has been strapped and hampered by the State of Wisconsin removing tax funds from residents through income and sales taxes and fees, and not returning them in the form of revenue sharing. Since the 1980s, the Milwaukee Metropolitan area has lost a large portion of its industrial base, and over $2 Billion in annual family income or more than 25% of purchasing power that has shifted to Waukesha and adjacent counties.
The State has also removed millions in funding to schools and universities and cut public wages by 15%. This has also led to purchasing power reductions in the local population. In turn the State has used these funds for huge donor tax give-aways to their benefactors, and through the scam operation of WEDC disguised as a economic development generator that has not created but a handful of jobs.
The State plans to give away $3 Billion in taxpayer funds to the Foxconn scam.
This is where the scarce funds are going instead of paying for police and fire jobs.
Is nobody going to mention the pensions? 20 years and out is not a viable business model.