The first visions of what the City of Milwaukee could put in place of the now-former base housing the 440th Air Wing at Mitchell International Airport have been committed to paper and the living color of Power Point presentations.
Aldermen got a look at what could be at the site along S. Howell Ave. It's the place where concrete barriers and razor wire have prevented casual observers from taking a peek at Milwaukee's last official Air Force base until it closed in September. (The Air National Guard has a small base on the other side of the airport.)
Consultants said the city could reuse the 100 acres or so for anything from education office, commercial, industrial, a little aviation and, surprisingly, the Hunger Task Force. One big problem, though, is that the airport itself wants to put a new runway down the middle of the land.
Nonetheless, consultants RKG project about 400,000 square feet of rentable space, giving whoever ends up running it a potential windfall of $2.4 million a year. They also report that about 500 jobs could be created at the site, replacing the 300 jobs lost when the Air Force bailed out moving the unit to North Carolina. They expect expenses to operate the buildings at about $1.5 million a year, down from the Air Force's $2 million per year. They left three years as their maximum predicted break-even point.
The time frame they offered to get things moving has clean-up beginning in May and ultimate development starting in late 2008 or 2009.
Do Walker's Vetoes Lead to Lack of Leadership? Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway brings up a fundamental issue regarding County Exec Scott Walker. In a statement released before the board voted to overturn nearly all of Walker's budget vetoes, Holloway asked: Has the no-tax levy increase chanted by the exec's office affected his ability to lead? It's an issue that will certainly be repeated by his two opponents time and again during his re-election effort.
The board overrode 19 of 22 Walker vetoes, adding back an extra $8.8 million to the budget. Walker likes to say that higher taxes will lead to businesses leaving the area, or not settling here at all -- a point disputed harshly by Holloway.
"The County Executive chose a home on Milwaukee's South Side as the backdrop for announcing his vetoes to the local media. Under the budget adopted by the County Board, which would preserve these important programs demanded by our citizens but vetoed by the County Executive, the tax levy would rise by 3.73%. That translates into a $4.74 increase next year on the County portion of the property tax bill for that particular home in Milwaukee.
"Does the County Executive really think an extra $4.74, or 40 cents a month, will force someone out of their home?" Holloway says. "Imagine the impact on property owners if the County Board didn't play the responsible role, leading to our courts system deteriorating, or residents not getting the necessary treatment for substance abuse or mental illness.
"We had to step up to the plate, because the county executive's no tax increase campaign pledge paralyzes him from doing the right thing. The county executive's no tax increase mantra would make Milwaukee County bop up and down like a ball in water, with no progressive vision to move the county forward."
"We believe the Bush-Cheney administration has abused their executive power and violated their Constitutional oaths. First and foremost we think that their deceitfulness has led us into military adventures destroying countless lives and costing hundreds of billions of dollars. And such abuse is likely to continue unless we hold them accountable," reads a statement from the Milwaukee Impeachment Committee and Peace Action.
The action will feature a showing of Bill Moyers' 40-minute look at the impeachment issue that has appeared on PBS. The event is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19 at the Bay View Library, 2566 S. Kinnickinnic.
A town hall impeachment meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27 in the Milwaukee City Hall Rotunda, 200 E. Wells St. Madison newspaper columnist John Nichols is the keynote speaker.
Little Guy Gets Noticed by Big Glenn: State Sen. Glenn Grothman isn't a regular on the "protecting the little guy" circuit. The conservative Republican from West Bend generally pushes the agenda of the ideological right. So we're a tad confused where Grothman was coming from when he took time to issue a statement attacking a plan to require sprinkler systems in new apartment buildings with three to 20 units.
Grothman argues that it will add $50 a month in rent, since sprinklers cost $7,000 a unit. That's in addition to higher property taxes and maintenance costs. Buildings with more than 20 units already are required to have sprinklers.
He says apartment fires usually take place in older units (which new ones eventually become) but that having renters pay additional rent is "unconscionable."
"The well-heeled sprinkler companies, lobbyists, and Madison bureaucrats have weighed in on this matter, but the little guy (the renters) are not represented in the room," he says.
Happy Days for High-rise Owners: Christmas will come early for the Colorado-based owners of the office tower at 411 E. Wisconsin Ave., the building featuring that swanky new neon sign touting the presence of the Quarles and Brady law firm.
The building was assessed at $97,877,000 in 2006 and the owners, an LLC based in Aurora, Colo., asked the city's Board of Review for a break. The Board decreased the assessment for an even $95 million. That means the city will refund the difference in taxes plus interest, which totals $64,490.54 extra for the owners' bank account. Besides the city's shelling out the new check, it also lost state and county tax credits amounting to $3,639.70.
Drug Tests Cancelled in the ‘burbs: Here's one for the common sense books: the Cedarburg School District, after months of research, has decided it wouldn't be a good idea to randomly make their students take drug tests.
It doesn't really send a message of trust when the school board treats its students like they are all druggies (board members' kids excluded, of course). Board members found that it's unclear if drug testing has a desirable outcome, according to press reports.
Bad News for Good Kids: Running Rebels, an agency that works with troubled youth, received a few negative headlines recently, including one where a mentor was found guilty of sexual assault and exposing children to pornography.
Running Rebels, which has been mentoring youth in Milwaukee for almost 30 years, employed Lee Jones as a mentor, but he ran afoul of the law.
It was the same week that the Rebels were told to repay Milwaukee County more than $250,000 due to overpayments since 2004. The Rebels, founded by Victor Barnett, have long been a community asset.
No one from the Milwaukee County Board is suggesting that there is fraud on the part of the group. The group received about $1.4 million from the county last year. But the Rebels have been overpaid in the past and have had to repay the county for services -- a process that can take some time since the group's budget is fairly low. The Rebels ended up double billing the county for some clients, but county officials say the extra money the group received was a mistake and not deliberate.
An avid outdoors person he regularly takes extended paddling trips in the wilderness, preferring the hinterlands of northern Canada and Alaska. After a bet with a bunch of sailors, he paddled across Lake Michigan in a canoe.
He lives in Bay View.
