{image1} Nobody is ready to go to battle over the USS Des Moines, but the battleship is serving as an example of the need for long-term discussions over what the Milwaukee lakefront should look like.

A group of Navy veterans would like the Des Moines to be permanently docked at Veterans Park. They believe the 716-foot ship could serve as a memorial for veterans, a tourist attraction, conference center and maybe even have overnight accommodations for as many as 500.

The group has a Web site at ussdesmoines.org where it explains its rational for docking the ship in Milwaukee and its goals.

But members of the Preserve Our Parks organization oppose the docking for several reasons. That group distributed fliers at a recent county executive candidates debate.

POP believes the ship would dwarf other elements in the park. It would extend 70 feet above the level of the seawall, and its overall infrastructure would rise about six stories above the level of the park.

The park would be utterly transformed by the ship and its related parking, fencing, lighting and other support facilities, the POP flier reads. An alternate site for the ship would preserve Milwaukee's unique scenic lakefront park, the flier says

POP also believes the ship would distract from existing memorials. The group questions the historical significance of the ship, since it served for only 13 years (1948-61) and never saw battle.

The POP flier also points out that Duluth, in a public referendum, rejected the Des Moines in 1998. The ship has been moored in Philadelphia.

Only Joe Klein made a passing reference to the battleship debate in the county exec debate. Incumbent Scott Walker and challenger David Riemer never brought it up, but all three candidates did say that the future of the lakefront is essential to the image and quality of life in the city.

Walker emphasized a special Task Force that has been set up to study the lakefront and urged some state and regional agencies that have not yet joined to do so.

On the Web site, ship supporters say they met with Walker on Jan. 12 and offered to help move the ship to Milwaukee. CNI Newspapers also endorsed the move on Jan. 15, according to the Web site.

The USS Des Moines has not caused nearly as much stir as the Pier Wisconsin project did. After much debate, the architectural plans for that project were toned down considerably.

Other projects will undoubtedly be proposed for the lakefront. Some will likely be quite attractive economically and in other ways. But. you can't put a price on access to a relatively open, natural lakefront. This access is good for those in who live in metro Milwaukee and for the tourist trade.

In this election year, candidates for mayor, county exec and other local offices should commit themselves to developing a long- range vision for what is perhaps this community's most valuable asset.

New Study Should Spur Change

Any objective observer of Milwaukee should not be surprised by a Wisconsin Policy Research Institute study that showed the city has slipped economically in the previous three decades.

The study by former state budget experts George Lightbourn and Stephen Agostini showed that the city has slipped from being a solid economic city in 1970 to near the bottom of a list of 50 by 2000.

The researchers call on the incoming mayor to provide a sense of urgency for a turnaround -- a call that could highlight the economy as a key issue in the Feb. 17 mayoral and county executive primaries and the April general election.

Somewhat lost in the sobering report was the fact that the opportunity to reverse the trend might be better right now than it has been in years. Leadership in both public and private sectors has been undergoing almost revolutionary change in the community and is about to change even more in the upcoming elections.

Educators in Milwaukee Public Schools openly admit their problems and seem to have concrete plans on how to address them. Developments in the Menomonee Valley, Park Freeway corridor, the old Pabst buildings and elsewhere have the potential to stimulate economic development.

This is not meant to paint too rosy of a picture. The community still has to truly come to grips with a racial divide that some choose to ignore. City and suburban officials have to commit to true cooperation in regional efforts. The investment institutions have to come up with more venture capital.

We've known these things for quite some time, but some leaders in both public and private sectors have been more prone in recent years to provide spin than substantive changes. We heard about new urbanism, how racial gaps where people lived were no longer as severe, how new housing projects would attract the creative class and about how Milwaukee was one of the few cities in America to see a gain in younger college graduates (albeit a very modest gain). Often, these things were hyped beyond their actual impact.

In fairness, it should be noted that Lightbourn and Agostini served in positions where they might have had influence on reversing the trend of decline they note in their report. Lightbourn served as secretary of the Department of Administration under Republican governors, administrations that some observers criticized as never really understanding the importance of Milwaukee in the overall scheme of things. Lightbourn now is a senior fellow at WPRI.

Agostini served in the Norquist administration, worked in DOA and now is with County Executive Scott Walker.

But knocking the messengers isn't the right way to deal with this report.

Instead, current and new leaders in the community, as well as everybody who calls the Milwaukee metropolitan area home, would be better off committing to substantive change. If you change substance first, a change in image will naturally follow.

Aldermanic Races

Two city aldermanic races are drawing heavy traffic.

Seven candidates are on the ballot in the 4th District, formerly served by Paul Henningsen, who was convicted of wrongdoing in office last summer.

The candidates are Robert Bauman, Robert Greene, Claude Krawczyk, Sally Maddick, Brandon Rosner, Edwin Thanes and James Wenzler.

Four candidates are running in the new 15th District, formerly the 17th District. Incumbent Willie Hines is being challenged by Robert Doney, Keith Martin and John Wallace.

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