A while back, I wrote about the Open Records request and how on one of them the City or Mayor McCue was stonewalling or just plain ignoring the request and Wisconsin’s Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen was sent a letter detailing such disregard to the law.

I was sent a copy of a letter dated September 9th explaining that the “Custodian of Records – City of Cudahy” Mayor Ryan McCue claimed to never have received the request dated June 26, 2008.

Here is the scanned document.

I should give Mayor McCue an apology for this claim of stonewalling since if he didn’t receive it and someone else in the City government failed in doing their job than the blame belongs somewhere else. 

I think we should all know who failed at doing their job.  That way we can place the proper blame where it belongs!

I wonder what the process is at City Hall once the request has been given.  Maybe the City needs to review that process and make corrective changes.  Understand that things fall through the cracks, but this is a matter for law.

Open records law section 19.31-19.39 –

The Law says:

A response is mandatory, while it is not required to be in writing, you can request a written response

The Attorney General has opined that 10 working days is generally a reasonable period of time to respond to a request.

That requests for public records should be given a high priority.

Arbitrary or capricious delays or denials without sufficient cause or reasons can cost the custodian punitive damages up to $1,000 dollars.

If your request is in writing, then it is incumbent upon the custodian to provide a denial or partial denial in writing.

A custodian must provide specific reasons for the denial.

The purpose of the written denial is to restrain custodians from simply denying access to records.  It also gives the requestor notice of reasons for denial and allows the requestor to re-draft another request or prepare a legal challenge.

Maybe disabled Cudahy Firefighter Dennis LeDoux needs to contact Wisconsin’s Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen since he has not been able to get his open records request fulfilled!

Open Honest McCue

I saw on CudahyNow (Plans in works for former Kohl's Food site) that the CDA met in closed session, then came into open session and voted unanimously to approve the financial structure in concept at the Kohl’s Site. 

While that old building is a dump, how much city money is going into the development, and what are the plans?

If Mayor McCue, who ran on an open meetings platform, can't come out and tell the public how potentially taxpayer dollars are going to be used, shouldn't he eat his words?

Why is the CDA always meeting in closed session, and then giving candy away to everyone who walks into the city, except Wal-Mart!

I don’t want to give the store away nor do I think Wal-Mart should get funds, but be fair to the developers and the businesses they bring!  The name on the building should not matter!

I would love to see a comment out of the Mayor, other than, “No Comment”!

A quick check of the new website http://www.cudahy4business.com has the following:

Source Page

Former Kohls Site – The CDA has begun discussions with a business looking at revitalizing the former Kohl's building on KK.  Because real estate negotiations are currently underway, and the CDA does not want to jeopardize these negotiations, the name of the business cannot be disclosed at this time.

From CudahyNow

Plans in works for former Kohl's Food site

The identity of the developer has not been disclosed at this time.

The site at Plankinton and Kinnickinnic avenues is outside the city's tax-incremental finance district, but the project may be eligible for TIF funding because the state now allows TIF funds to be spent within a half-mile of a TIF district.

Tax-incremental financing, or TIF, is a mechanism that allows municipalities to borrow money to fund infrastructure improvements for an area that otherwise would be difficult to develop or redevelop.  The increased property tax revenue from the improved land is then diverted from the tax roll to pay off the loan.

Eberhardy said the allocation of TIF funds are key to getting the proposed project accomplished.

Plans for the vacant site are consistent with the Cudahy 2020 Comprehensive Master Plan, she said.

"Those of us who know about the plans are very excited," she said.

Specifics on the proposal likely will be disclosed next month, she said.

Side Notes Source Page

Cobalt Site - On April 14, 2009 the City of Cudahy Community Development Authority (CDA) voted to stop negotiations with Cobalt Partners and recommended termination of the Memorandum of Understanding.  This matter is expected to appear on an upcoming Common Council agenda.

Downtown Décor – The new banners have been ordered replacing the old tattered ones.  The will be installed for this Summer from Cudahy to Holmes along Packard Avenue.  The flower baskets are expected to be installed at the end of May but no later than the first week of June. 

By an Energized Cudahy College Student

I will tell you this, it was basic stuff.  McCue being full of hot air and taking credit for everything plus from what I believe, putting the city more in debt.

McCue did however have interesting things to state about Cudahy.

He wants jobs, but at a prevailing wage, whatever Doyle signed the state mandate for a prevailing, McCue's words: “I BELIEVE IN UNIONS”!

The care for Cudahy program: Junk vehicles "drive me up the wall, if you want to see a city go down hill, junk vehicles in alleys will do that."

The police now take over the care for Cudahy program.

People need to take care of their properties because "a broken window will lead to another broken window & graffiti breeds graffiti"

Says we need to get the master plan for 2020 done by the end of this year.

He's accepting bids for the Kinnickinnic curve in mid summer states that it's a "dangerous curve"

Redo Whitnall Avenue says it’s "The worst street ever!"

"We can't go out for all the bids right now otherwise we won't be eligible for stimulus funding" From he said Cudahy is getting under $11,000,000.

Wants to extend Edgerton from Nicholson to Whitnall, the city has already applied for a grant.

Made the point that the construction on I-94 will be a big benefit for Cudahy, says it will take about seven years to fix up and people will come to Cudahy because it is easy and accessible to Milwaukee's Downtown.

He decided to put a hold on the streetscaping!

Wants to go out for a bid to clean up a parking lot on Packard/Layton using the TIF's

He was on the library board and put $100,000 left over from the library referendum and put in some endowment fund

He says, "The library attracts people to Cudahy"

He talked about the condo being foreclosed, says that the city doesn't allow the deprecate of condos (which seems odd) adds that the reason why the condo didn't sell was that they were built after the housing market tanked.  (That can't be true because that was build during Hohenfeldt's term, and the bubble popped around the summer of 2007!)

Add in that the condos will become rentals and "we have to deal with this problem"

Before he ended his speech, it was about 1 hour and 4 minutes.  He states that he's "an honest person", "works hard on your behalf,” "appreciates a good debate," and "you can sway my opinion!"

Lets just say during the Q&A period, he got chewed out, but didn't back down.

He made a comment that since he came in off the tax levy decreased 2.5% when people were asking about their properties.

Made another comment saying we are the most powerful TIF district in the state of Wisconsin and that we have a few more years left on the TIF district, lets use for economic development. 

When people starting voicing to put the Wal-Mart in, he had the blank look on his face.  Said he didn't know about any new info on Wal-Mart. McCue actually want it on Pennsylvania & Layton and says the area where the Iceport is, is the worst place for a Wal-Mart. Otherwise, he said he knows nothing else about Continental, Wal-Mart or anything about the TIF money being dropped, when we asked are you going to vote for it, he dodge the question and didn't answer it.  Even said he hasn't seen any new Wal-Mart details.

About city hall: the county owns city hall because of "deed restrictions"

When people were asking about their assessments going through the roof.  His response, state law dictates when you do reassessments.

People are asking where the money is going and why all these cuts.  His response, it cost the same to run the Police and Fire Department and DPW and other municipalities, where much cheaper compared to other cities.  The house average cost for Cudahy is $160,000 other places, houses cost more.  The tax rate is lower, but the cost is the same.

Admitted that he voted YES for the school 3.3 million dollar referendum.

When it comes to money, "the State of Wisconsin is the most screwed up state in America and the state should mind their own business" And that "the city of Cudahy runs a good government."

Someone made a comment about that without the Wal-Mart there is no downtown Cudahy.  McCue's response "with pessimistic attitude like that, I agree!"

Lara Fritts is getting a $349,000 budget, which includes the hiring of two interns and her salary.

There was an elderly lady who owns an apartment around Cudahy, she was on the verge of tears saying with her SS and her husband retirement, they can't afford the new rental increase that McCue has slated.  She even said, that's wrong and you have no right to do that to us.  McCue didn’t even flinch.  He basically said when asked, yes, I'm for high rent.  He even told her and the crowd that the extra $3 a month "isn't worth breaking anybody’s back over"

Said that the apartment or house on Cudahy & Swift the 3800 block was a big thorn on Cudahy's side and is now no longer an eyesore.  Count that as one (1) thing McCue has done in two years!

With the low funding for police and firefighters, McCue blames Wisconsin because we are constantly being cut by the state.

But did say Cudahy is heading in the right direction (more like left.)

So, that is basically what I wrote down and tried to remember, ask, Miklojczak, Otto, and Pavlic who were at the meeting as well, they might fill in more.

41 people were in attendance and 10 of them were city employees.

Well the new Cudahy 2009 Spring/Summer newsletter has arrived.  I have to say it reads as a 2010 Mayor McCue “free” campaign literature.  Many of the points are to deflect the criticism I personally brought up in the My Report Card of Mayor McCue series.

I am not the only one that caught on to the Mayor McCue “free” campaign literature aspect of the newsletter. 

A couple of city employees wonder why Mayor McCue did not take credit for creating heaven and earth, since he has taken credit for everything else in the most recent newsletter.  They are wondering why he was able to use the city newsletter as a piece of campaign literature. 

He can use it because what oversight does he have?  Mayor McCue cannot even understand that he works for us, “The People.”  He is NOT a king of Cudahy, but a Mayor AKA a public servant.  Mayor McCue is in his own soap opera with his supporters of their own volition.  We are just the spectators, he is the narrator.

Listed below, I copied two paragraphs from the newsletter with a point that a taxpayer made to me.  If Mayor McCue was so good, and he is saving the taxpayers all this money, why did our property taxes not go down, rather they went up by 2.5%. 

The ultimate question to ask the city treasurer is how many dollars equate to one percent levy increase? 

Excerpt from the newsletter:

“The 2009 City of Cudahy budget held the line on taxes while providing the vital services residents expect.  The city’s portion of the tax levy increased less than 2.5 percent, which was well below the rate of inflation, despite that the State of Wisconsin cut our shared revenue by over $66,000.

I proposed combining our Public Works Manager/ Water Utility Manager with our City Engineer to create the position of Director of Public Works which saved taxpayers $139,000.  In addition, I proposed privatizing our assessor’s office and laying off a part-time assessor which saved taxpayers $136,000.”

******************

Thoughts below from one reader...

If one percent of the tax levy equals $60,000, and we are truly saving $275,000, why did taxes go up by 2.5%, rather shouldn't they have gone down with the Mayor's proposed savings?

Last year if you remember we had this - It is my understand that deputy clerk / confidential secretary (Judy Masarak), just quit and the city is bringing back Carolyn Thoms-Neary, even though the job description was not even hammered out as director of office services.  If the personnel committee NEVER met about this idea how can it be passed?  (I was told that Judy saw an ad for her job and decided to leave after seeing it)

Now Carolyn is Mayor McCue’s assistant for 15 hours of the week I am told and works with Robert Goss Clerk/Treasurer the rest of the time.  It is my understanding that she has not been deputized.  Some, at the time, thought that applicants for the job should have come from the Civil Service Commission, but that was not the route taken.  I pray it was not to fast track a hire.

Now enter 2009 and the hiring of two Interns for Lara L. Fritts, Cudahy Director Economic Developer.

Now a quick check of the City’s website once the Intern positions were made public turned up nothing listed for them.  http://www.ci.cudahy.wi.us/Employment.html

Is there not a process that has to take place in hiring personnel for city positions, which includes posting the jobs on the city website?  Would this not apply to new economic directors Interns?

They were good questions I was asked.  So let us look at how the hiring process is done in Cudahy for City jobs (non-elected).

Jobs for police and fire get the applications filled out, and are submitted to the Police and Fire Commission.  Check of the city website and currently a Police Officer spot is listed on the site.

DPW applications go to the Milwaukee County Civil Service Commission.  http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/JobClassifications18251.htm

Department Managers are done in concert with the Personnel Committee and the Mayor.

Other than hiring summer help in the DPW, the city has not used interns, to the best of my knowledge.  So this is something NEW.  Process people.  Process!  Remember that is the buzzword at City Hall.  We must follow the process.

This would give Lara, and Mayor Ryan McCue the opportunity to write their own slate, since the Personnel Committee I would guess, would probably not get involved in those positions.

So where were the jobs posted, if not on the City’s website?  I was told at a few of the local Universities.  I do hope this was an oversight not to make these jobs public on the City’s website and not some sort of favoritism at the Universities.  This might be our gray area for the city being “The City of Cudahy is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer.”  It is all about following the process, which contains rules and procedures.

Here are questions from readers:

Mayor Ryan McCue, you are an Irish Catholic and a church going person why did you pick this Thursday, during the largest religious week, the holy week to hold this important meeting.  As you are aware that you cannot even have a funeral after 5:00pm Friday until Monday after Easter!

What are the plans for the site formerly Thirsty Moose?

What current negotiations are happening with businesses to revive the City of Cudahy?  Please be specific.

Schools, PTAs, Police, Fire have all used the PhoneBlast system to notify important information, has the Mayor and local officials thought about using this to get out information?

How are the Cudahy Schools doing compared to local, state and national?  Please be specific in ranking of each section.  What plans and actions are being promoted to increase quality education in Cudahy?

Have local businesses been approached to help in mentoring and volunteering at local schools for programs such as LegoRobotics, Odyssey of the Mind, or other educational and artistic enrichment programs?

What are the duties and responsibilities of the City of Cudahy?  Are these different from other cities?  If so, why?

Did you run on an anti-Wal-Mart platform?

Why is the city proposing to pay $30 million dollars for the ice port site? 

Why did you move from the old mayor's office, which you said was too closed off and dark, yet was open and easily accessible to the public?  Then you chose to move from that old office to the glassed in office only to spend thousands to wall it off.  Would it not made more sense or better yet, any sense to just remodel the old Mayor’s office?

Why was a referendum not done for Wal-Mart in Cudahy?

Is it true that there was/is another Tannery company interested in moving in the Cudahy Tannery?

Is the city still looking into purchasing the Cudahy Tannery to put a road in on Edgerton?

Did you turn in for any reimbursement of costs or damages due to your house being vandalized to the city?

Since I will not be able to attend Mayor McCue’s State of The City Address, I have made up a list of questions that maybe someone in the crowd could ask and hopeful Mayor McCue will answer them.  There are an awful lot of questions Mayor McCue could just demystify for us!

Mayor McCue it might help you to divulge some of these in your speech instead of making your speech a pre-campaign diatribe. 

How would you grade yourself as Cudahy’s Mayor?

What are your job duties?

Do you feel the Cudahy Mayor’s job is part time?

Does the city staff work for the Mayor?

What are the goals for Lara Fritts?

Who keeps track of your sick, personal days, and vacation time?

Why is there no City car use policy and log put in place yet?

Once the city takes possession of the property, when do they propose beginning environmental remediation, and how much will it cost the taxpayers?

Why could we not get a scout or school group to adopt and plant flower baskets rather than paying thousands of dollars to a company which no longer has it's business located in the city of Cudahy?

With residential homes devaluing at a rate of 5 to 10 % per year, how do you to propose to balance the budget yearly with the cities overall value in a declining mode?

In your 2007 campaign platform you claimed, “The past two budgets, Mayor Hohenfeldt has presented deficit budgets” do you have an evidence to back up that claim?

Why doesn’t Cudahy have a defined downtown and since it doesn’t how can the Master Plan call for certain things to happen downtown if one is not defined?

Are you going to hold a referendum so the citizens can vote on the KRM since this is a very big deal that will affect the Cudahy residents vastly?

Was it your idea to put flowerpots on the light polls downtown?

Are you okay with 97 of 250 city jobs being held by non-Cudahy residents including our Police Chief, Superintendent of our schools and now our Fire Chief?

Complaints resonate amid higher tax bills, lower property values

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/36734324.html

Nice quiet small town type community on Lake Michigan. The main disadvantage is the high cost of property taxes. Wisconsin has some of the highest property taxes in the U.S.

If you have a question for Mayor Ryan McCue just post it in the comments section!

Mayor…

There were people that questioned that the numbers I used were valid.  So here it is!

You will notice that there are Banners listed which currently Cudahy does have and are pretty beat up and ripping.

One more thing.  Here is a sampling from the new Spring - Summer Cudahy Newsletter.  Please take note of a true double speak!  Take note of telling one group one thing and another one a different thing.

Question – How would and is the City of Cudahy limiting spending to essential items if Mayor McCue wants to put flowerpots on the light poles? 

****Special notice****

Notice Mayor McCue is telling us it will be!  Spending money on hanging flowers is an essential item then?  How wonderful the Mayor is when it has not been fully discussed and approved by the Common Council to tell us it will!

Page 1

A message from Mayor Ryan McCue - I hope you are doing well.  Most of us have been limiting our spending to essential items due to the current recession.  The City of Cudahy is doing the same.  We will continue to evaluate the services we provide to make sure we are doing them as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Page 2

Greetings from Mayor Ryan McCue

This summer we will add hanging flowers to the light poles downtown, while continuing to improve the streetscape.

http://www.ci.cudahy.wi.us/pdfs/Newsletter2009Spring-Summer.pdf

More on the newsletter later today!!!

Click on picture for details on Annual Decoration Costs

Let us look at this article:

Friday, May 16, 2008

The Business Journal of Milwaukee

Cudahy is ready for hotel, convention center

Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue is making the case that the General Mitchell International Airport area needs a new hotel and convention center, and that his city is the perfect location for one.

McCue made his comments at a Public Policy Forum "Viewpoint" luncheon at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center on May 8.

McCue joined airport director Barry Bateman, and Scott Dickson, Midwest Air Group Inc.'s senior vice president and chief marketing officer, as guest speakers at the luncheon to discuss the airport's future.

If a hotel and convention center isn't built in Cudahy, McCue said the city still should attract more airport-related businesses.

"Whatever the market bears, we'll look at it," McCue said.

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/05/19/tidbits1.html

I know I said this before, was not all of that what Continental Properties proposed for Cudahy Station that Mayor McCue voted down?  Does that not show Mayor McCue has no idea what he is doing as Mayor?  He turned down exactly what he wants!!!!!

I had better add the definition to head scratcher before JennyCraig or another tries to play off it like: You have cooties, lice or dandruff.  Children!!!

Head Scratcher

Noun.  Any particularly puzzling event or object, which prompts a puzzled scratch of the head.

Please Email me any questions or comments you want me to post for Mayor McCue to answer for his Cudahy State of the City Address.

The talk around Cudahy is that Thursday was selected so low turn out and the room would be stacked in his favor.  Maybe Mayor McCue will have a meeting with Tom like last year and then have Tom standup and give a speech supporting Mayor McCue. 

After looking at Mayor McCue’s calendar, it was pointed out that Tom had a meeting with the Mayor and as it turns out gave the support speech last year.  Could it have been staged and worked out?

rhollenbeck@gmail.com

The City’s website http://www.ci.cudahy.wi.us/.  I like to think of it as “The People’s Website.”  If you look at it, it meets the basic needs of a city website created in the late 1990’s.

Mayor Ryan McCue you promised us that we would get a new updated City Website.  Where is it?

Where is the transparency in your administration?

Why are not public documents like the Economic Director Budget scanned and placed on the site?

In this day and age online documents are now the norm!

Why do you not want your citizens to be informed?

The Cudahy Economic Director is getting a new one http://www.cudahy4business.com/

Just charge the city’s new one to the TIF like all of the other things.

The TIF Credit Card.  Just swipe the magic card! 

Too bad, we cannot make the Mayor swipe in and out when going to City Hall.  Then we could audit his time.  Right now, you cannot because they only swipe in.  NO swiping out!  Odd don’t you think?

As I said before, it would be nice if the City would start to collect the citizen's email addresses by having people signup on the City Website and email out items like when meetings are, the minutes, newsletters, and such.

All of this talk from Mayor McCue to move Cudahy forward and our newsletter and city website are so in the past.

Mayor McCue is selling “We The People” make believe! 

From the Cudahy Birdman:

Mayor McCue’s proposal for rental unit inspections are way out of line.

His claims of the cost to landlords of three cheeseburgers do not begin to reveal the true costs.

I’m sure that a nit picking inspector can find building code violations in nearly all of our residences.  Peeling paint, a cracked window, a loose tile, right down to weeds in the yard.  We all have something that can be considered in violation.

The threat of fines and increase maintenance costs will cause the landlord to increase the rent to keep the property in tip-top shape and will probably put the tenant in better living conditions than the landlord lives in himself.

When the landlord finds this is too much of a nuisance, the property will go up for sale.  Since prospective landlords/buyers will be hesitant to buy this investment, the property value will go down dragging owner occupied houses down with it.

It is nothing more than a tax, a way to generate money for the city and another way to bring government into our homes to regulate things that do not need to be regulated.

The market takes care of that.  It is not in a landlord’s best interest to allow the property to become “dilapidated”.  It is harder to rent and get a fair rent value.

This proposal has some serious unintended consequences and it seems that the “do gooders” have not though through all of the problems it will cause.

If a tenant feels a property is not properly taken care of, the tenant can already call the city inspection department.

If Mayor McCue’s quoted statistics are correct in regards to property ownership vs. rentals, what has he or any other common council member proposed to increase owner occupied residences?  Owner occupied residences have long been the bell weather of a community’s health.  So far, the city’s commitment seems to be to build more condos, thereby making the population more dense.

Denser population equates to more public services – police, fire, schools, etc. without a comparable contribution to the tax base.

Mayor McCue’s contention that a landlord is “running a business” is correct in theory.  Yet, the tenant/landlord relationship has not been recognized (as far as I know) as a “business” anywhere else.  If it has, it should not have been.  This is a very slippery slope.  The owner pays the property tax, but in addition, would pay the city tax for assets owned as a business – one tax that most people aren’t aware of.

I do understand the intentions of our elected officials.  They want to make this a better community to live in and have a personal stake in that.  I applaud their efforts to keep the older sections of the city from being “blighted.”  However, this blue-collar community will not become a north shore type community overnight and heavy handedness from inspectors and unwanted fees/taxes will only deter potential investors and homeowners.

So far, I see a Mayor who has suggested taking rightfully owned property by eminent domain, but will not use power that for the weed infested eyesore (and tax money sewer) known as Iceport.  The taxpayers of this city have to bear the expense of “buying them out” – as if taxpayers haven’t paid those people enough already.

The 12 million that we’d give Walmart to occupy the site would be much cheaper.

So far, I have seen no viable ideas from out city leaders to realistically draw people to our area, spend their money, then leave

I have seen NO plan to attract people to live in our city.

All I see are ways to make our city government more oppressive to prospective businesses and homeowners.

I’ve seen major store chains leave.  I’ve see empty store fronts all up and down downtown Packard Ave.  I don’t see any viable business hammering to “get in the door” to occupy these areas.

Cudahy Station equates to “Iceport” and will be a boondoggle.

The present administration is killing, rather than persevering Cudahy.  Ordinances are passed and the common council has no clue as to what they are passing.  It just “sounds good.”

Planned businesses are rejected based on personal likes and dislikes, not on the opinion of constituency.

I voted, supported and voted for the present administration.  I was hoping to get rid of the “good old boy”  mentality that has this city has seem for too long, back to he days of Mayor Kelly.

Wow.  Was I ever wrong!

Attention – Two posts today!!!!!

One of my major issues with Cudahy’s local government with Mayor McCue at the forefront is lack of communication and transparency.

While at a meeting at City Hall, someone came up to me and said, “There is a plan to have TIF money used to remodel City Hall.

It would include utilities (phone, network, Internet, electric) to be charged back to the TIF and the office space to be rented from City Hall and charged to the TIF.

How can TIF money be used to fix up and remodel City Hall for the Director of Economic Development’s office at City Hall if the .5 mile outside the TIF allowed is exceeded at City Hall?”

So in a nutshell, I asked the basic question to the Cudahy elected officials:

“How can TIF money be used to fix up and remodel City Hall for the Director of Economic Development’s office at City Hall if the .5 mile outside the TIF allowed is exceeded at City Hall?”

I did so after another person said that yes, there was a plan out there from which they understood was the office could have been remodeled and the utilities and office space could have been rented to the TIF district.

I found out that plan was not agreed upon and never acted on.  That it was a plan that was just out there for discussion.

There was “NO” TIF money used on building the office for the Economic Development

Director (Lara Fritts).  Instead, the Mayor asked that the money be taken out of Mary Jo Lange's

(DPW) budget.

TIF Money was proposed but not approved for the City Hall office remodel.  Those expenditures will hit the 2009 General Fund Budget. 

One person did say they did hear about the renting but, they haven't seen anything to confirm that from Ehlers nor the city’s Auditors. 

If the question is: Can the city expense 2009 utilities for Ms. Fritts’s office to TIF?  Their answer would be, “Maybe.”

It wouldn't be rent but rather a journal entry.  If the city can and wanted to do this, they would need to make a journal entry by end of this year.

Mr. Williamson, the comptroller, has ultimate control which fund expenses go under.  But the Common Council has not given direction to use funds in this matter.  It also wasn't included in the Director Economic Developer's Budget (which I posted).

I was told that Ms. Fritts's salary is considered an administrative cost for TIF.  Expenses for her office possibly could be considered under the same administrative cost guidelines.  This something that was considered, but the Council didn't approve.

The state has strict guidelines for TIF funds.  The city is audited each year including TIF.

So bottom lining this:

The answer is "No"; the Common Council has not authorized the use of TIF for the office remodel.

The answer is "No"; the Common Council has not authorized the use of TIF for Ms. Fritts’s office utility expenses.

So until the Council takes some other action, the answer is "No".  I'm also not aware of any plans to take any action.

Any changes in the future would require Council Approval.

I, as others, was and am not a supporter of taking the money out of the DPW budget.  Taking away from the DPW that provides service, to fund an office remodel, takes away from the citizens, who utilize their services. 

I would have liked the office that in the past with Jack Vaccaro at the People’s Credit Union used.  A space that Paul Burkhardt and the Cudahy Chamber of Commerce in the past have allowed to be used for free.

It was my understanding that the Chamber didn't offer and the city didn't ask to use it.  Partly because the Mayor would be working hand and hand with Ms. Fritts and there were concerns of driving back and forth.  Insurance and weather conditions, I was told played a factor. 

Well with NO City use vehicle policy in place, I would be scared as well.

So where did this all come from in the first place?  Was it a rumor or did it have a bases of truth.  Well go back to December of 2008

The Cudahy Common Council, under the leadership of Mayor Ryan McCue, just spent $150,000 on renovations of city hall, and now I see this on the Dec 16th council agenda.

“Discussion and appropriate action regarding creation of office space for the new director of economic development, not to exceed $7,500, 80% paid by TIF, 20% from reserves.”

So, if the City of Cudahy would spend a little bit of the time and effort they are giving to the new Economic Development Director Lara Fritts’s website http://www.cudahy4business.com/ on the City website all of the TIF/TID information would be online for anyone to peruse and find the answers we so desperately need and deserve.

It comes to a head that Mayor McCue just doesn’t care if the City website is updated and the people are informed.  He must want us to be that way for a reason!  WHY????

BTW, Lara Fritts is using the same web person that the city used and wanted to keep using until we entered into a pact with the Milwaukee County tech people.  So why is she not using them and when is the City’s website going to be updated?

More on the City’s website this weekend!

Yes, it is for real!  This is NOT an April fool’s Day Joke.  Mayor McCue is finally going to have the State of the City address.

McCue will discuss city issues and conduct a question-and-answer session.

“Better late than never” goes the saying.  Let us hope and pray that Mayor McCue can answer many of the topics I have raised.  I know this sounds very cynical but isn't it an amazing coincidence that this has appeared just after I called Mayor McCue on not doing one?  (In fact, 2 years in a row)

I am just sorry I will not be able to attend.  I will be out of the state on business trying to wrap up work for the week before Good Friday.

I have made arrangements to have the address taped.  Not sure if the person is going to video record it, but that was the impression I received.

We might want to capture Mayor McCue in his glory as he spins the truth and bends the facts.  Maybe he will attempt to explain the "cute-sifying" of downtown as a necessity to bring economic and personal hope to an area neglected by the city during this almost depression-like economic downturn! 

Do people need everything explained in excruciating detail?  I crave ambiguity.  The most exciting possibilities are what we individually imagine lives in the gaps of our understanding.  NOT!

Make sure to have Mayor McCue explain everything in a real A-B-C fashion otherwise, we might just get that ambiguity. 

If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BS.  Don’t let that happen either!

I am sure he will have the supporters there give him the "ohhs" and "ahhs" hanging on his every syllable; his every word.  It might even feel like the Forth of July during the grand finale.

It was a good feeling I felt after receiving this email:

You are driving him nuts!

Randy:

Just wanted to let you know I ran into one someone from city hall today.  To quote them, "That guy is driving McCue nuts this week!"  Apparently, McCue, "Captain Tragedy,” reads your blog on a regular basis, and unfortunately for him, but fortunately for you, can't find a way to make you retract your statements, because you speak the truth!  Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”

Remember, just when you think you're having a bad week, or he or one of his cronies are on your back, you must be doing and writing the right thing! 

You are probably one of the most caring people within this community.  Keep up the good work!

Mayor McCue is being called on the carpet for his decision-making or lack there of!  Why some people want to shoot the messenger is beyond me.

But hey, the world is full of village idiots.  And you are not supposed to argue with the village idiot since they are OMNIPOTENT!

I look at like this: Just wipe, flush, forget and move on......

Mayor McCue has held this city for ransom and runs it in his interest, not ours'.  If nothing is done, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.  We don’t need to destroy Cudahy to save it... We just need to act responsibly and act now!

A fish does not know it is wet, since it has no frame of reference.  Without pointing out the failures, mistakes, and what a Mayor should not do, how can Mayor McCue do better?

I want McCue to succeed, to have Cudahy succeed!  Just remember, if you choose failure than failure will choose you!

Silence is complicity.  Only by standing up for what's right and never letting down can we say we are doing our part.

Speaking of STANDING UP, last week I was called “The Mark Belling of Cudahy”.  I take that as a compliment and so did my friend Jay Weber.

Jay told me “Hey!  You've arrived then.  You're a real pundit now....”

Pundit

1. a learned person, expert, or authority.

2. a person who makes comments or judgments, esp. in an authoritative manner; critic or commentator.

I don’t think that was the reaction the person calling me that wanted or expected!

And to head off Mr. JennyCraig or whatever fake name he will use, slim Joe, Sloppy Joe, list can go on, NO my blogs and I are not April fool’s Day Joke(s) either.

As I look at my numbers of views on the city, Mayor and Wal-Mart blogs – NO!  They are still very high in people looking.

Could some people look at this and say, “What can I do?”  Sure, I think the thought of you cannot fight city hall coupled with people accepting McCue’s non-answer of I have outside council some will and have just move on.  After all the CDA and Common Council has authorized the RAZING of the building.

In less than 60days the city will own the land back, maybe!

There is an auction and some talk about bidding 30 Million Dollars. 

McCue said the city can bid on the property for about $30 million, but Eberhardy said a decision has yet to be made by either the Community Development Authority or the Common Council on such a bid.

I thought the City was getting the land, free and clear?  So we have to buy it?  Taxpayers paying for this land?  Okay Mayor you spoke in public explain the 30 Million Dollars for the land!

There are people out there that say, the fat lady has already sung her swan song of goodbye.  Just accept it that the City will get the land back for $30,000,000 of taxpayer’s money!

That is exactly what McCue wants.  I can hear him agree right now while he reads this.  He wants people to put this behind him and just feel okay.

Wrong answer!  Stand up and fight.

That is the wrong action and message to send!  People, we do not have to accept this.  If you keep demanding, he will have to give a real response.  Why are we paying for this land to have to pay again and clean it up?

Yes, at some point, we can move on, most likely with a new Mayor who sees the picture, the big picture.  One who understands that the job of Mayor means that you must do what is best for the city, not just what you think, but also the direction the people want. 

It means more than putting in x amount of hours, but make those hours count!

It means that full time is full time, not the full time you learn in county government, the kind of full time you have as the Mayor of a city!

It means that when you make a mistake you own up to it and fix it!

Ask yourself this question – What has McCue done as Mayor?  Then minus out the many things that maybe McCue has taken credit for that the previous council started or has been working on.  What do you have left?

All of this time, energy and money invested in McCue as Mayor, is it worth it?

I hear there is interest for the Wal-Mart in nearby cities. 

I hear there is interest in the Wave from Greenfield and Brown Deer.

I hear there is interest for other Cudahy companies from many of our near by cities.  That way McCue can build his condos without problems from businesses.

Cudahy “Land of Condos”

How much of McCue can the city of Cudahy afford to handle?

If this were sports, he would have been traded by now.  Maybe it is three strikes and your out!

Taken from 2008- In the Milwaukee Business Journal from Friday, Cudahy is ready for hotel, convention center Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue is making the case that the General Mitchell International Airport area needs......

Correct me if I am wrong, didn’t the Cudahy Station have a hotel and convention center?  Did it not just get voted down?  So McCue thinks that is what Cudahy needs.  Well duha?

I think I have figured something out.  If we make McCue think he came up with Cudahy Station all on his own, he just might vote for it!  This Mayor is an egomaniac.

Looks like he needs to see his name behind the word Mayor, needs to be the one coming up with the ideas, and he might just be the type to take credit for others work or ideas.

WOW…

Take a look at this - Moving to Milwaukee from Chicago

A lot of the suburbs on the inner ring are older and more established, so new housing stock is more limited.

I would say FRANKLIN again would be a great bet as there is quite a bit of new housing construction still occurring there (very rapidly growing, nice suburb - big landmass).  Muskego has some new construction, as do the Lake Country suburbs (Pewaukee, Delafield, etc.).

No mention of Cudahy but look - FRANKLIN (Wal-Mart), Pewaukee (Wal-Mart), Delafield (Wal-Mart), and Muskego (Wal-Mart)

Another pointer to how Wal-Mart may not be the killer of cities people make it out to be!

A smart man listens to advice.  A wise man takes the advice.

On a final note, could Wal-Mart and others be playing me?  Have me do the dirty work of others while they stay clean?  Aren’t they all pleased to see citizens do their dirty work?

Sure!  But someone has to do it.  Has anyone thought that Cudahy could play Wal-Mart for many things?  Paying for Police Officers salaries, donation of money for new playgrounds, lights, sidewalks, stoplights, or donation of school supplies to the schools.  Wal-Mart has deep pockets and we should use them or tap that resource.

Here is what someone said about and to me:

“I encourage CudahyNOW blogger Randy Hollenbeck to look a little deeper into his actions, and hopefully see how he and his supporters were being used and played around with by Continental Properties and Wal-Mart on the Cudahy Station proposal.”

I have said that Wal-Mart could be playing both sides – That was with Continental Properties and Cobalt Partners.  Could I get burned by talking to Wal-Mart & Co?  Yes, and the same is true when I talk in public and private with the city personnel.  I just know I will not be the one lighting the match, so to speak.

If you knew me personally, you would know I will not be played like a cheap piano, I am a leader and don’t let people tell me what to do.  I fully understand how to be a TEAM player, but I am not being played.  They cannot be played if you choose to participate.

This is part 1 of the wrap-up of my report card of Mayor Ryan McCue. 

Click Here For More

Mayor McCue’s statement on the city gaining control of the Iceport land:

"There are no bad ideas when it comes to developing this land."  He forgot besides Wal-Mart, otherwise Wal-Mart is a good idea for the development according to Mayor McCue!  (Then why are we not doing it?)

Here is a prediction:  Mayor McCue will take the first RFP that is NOT a Wal-Mart no matter what it is!  He is desperate.  Anything will be on the table besides a Wal-Mart! 

NO BAD IDEAS!

Junkyard, yes he will take it!

Recycling center, yes he will take it

Zares retail (might want to come back), yes he will take it

Treasure Island, boom, yes he will take it

Mega-Bar, you bet, yes he will take it

Thirsty Moose relocation, I think he would go for it!

Mega-Pay loan, oh yeah

SuperMax, Cudahy here it comes

Outdoor music festival grounds, Alpine Valleyish, you bet!

Smashup derby, don’t have one close by, yes he will take it

Relocation of Super Video to a mega store, still not a Wal-Mart, so okay!

Dog walking park with poison ivy and contaminated soil, sounds good!

Besides, any of those would not nearly have the traffic drive as a Wal-Mart!

See he needs something in there quick because the April 2010 elections are coming fast!  He needs to show something was done on his watch as Mayor!  Something, anything!

Once he picks his favorite non-Wal-Mart choice, he will become a Mayor to be heard! “I am Mayor now, hear me roar” will be his motto! 

He will have no problem giving a comment to the radio, newspaper or TV.  He will not pull, “I’m Not At Liberty to Divulge that” or the city counsel (attorney) told me not to comment, so I will be silent!  NO, he will be a loud megaphone Mayor all of a sudden!  He will be doing the rounds to all the businesses burning up the pavement to sell his non-Wal-Mart choice! 

McCue could try and psych us out!  It is a virtual building complex.  To see it, you must login to this website.  See no additional traffic!  We can place up a solid wood fence with the website so people can look at it.  Hey man, this is the future!  Virtual building complexes!  Cudahy would be ahead of everyone!

I think IKEA would be open to a virtual store.  Paint one of the boards with an IKEA building and direct them to http://www.ikea.com/us/en/ to shop.  Just like shopping in a real store, but without the hassles.  Cudahy wins!  No taxes collected, but no TIF money given out either!

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you ....

HOW MUCH IN TIF MONEY ARE WE GOING TO PAY?  A LOT!!!  REMEMBER THIS MCCUE QUOTE “RESIDENTS MAY NOT EVEN SEE THE TAX BENEFITS FROM THE DEVELOPMENT FOR 20 YEARS” IF A LARGE TIF IS GIVEN!

“Be careful what you wish for,” goes the old chestnut “it might come true.”

Let me remind you of the Karma Story!  Forgot, here it is again!

Karma?

Town Chases Out Wal-Mart; Gets Insufferable Recycling Plant Instead

Pennsylvania: Residents in Plainfield County recently chalked up what they thought was a neighborhood-saving move by spending years chasing out Wal-Mart, which was planning on building a new store.  Instead, they got a noise-polluting recycling plant.

The site now creates wall-shaking explosions and noises that resemble a freight train on a daily basis.  A fire last week at the plant rose tensions even higher between residents.  Developer Nolan A. Perin says he is being unfairly blamed.

He says $200k was spent to quell the noise and that he doesn't understand all the criticism over the plant, which is in an industrial park.  Residents say they weren't notified, but since it is zoned for it, no additional approvals were necessary.

Source: www.mcall.com

It’s Friday and time for another installment of Mayor Ryan McCue’s Report Card.  We tally up the grades today.

This is the continuation of Mayor Ryan McCue’s Campaign Platform and promises and how, in my viewpoint, he has done so far in a report card format.  This is part five of the five part series.  We have just the wrap up left to look forward to.

If you would like to do one just email me rhollenbeck@gmail.com

Have not heard from Mayor McCue himself on pointing out how my grading is wrong!  Tick Tock!  Almost time to forever hold your peace.

Some people just think I should back off of McCue, but the truth IS what it is!

So without further ado, here we go!

Please Click here for Mayor McCue’s Report Card Part V

It is that dreaded day!  It’s Friday and time for another installment of Mayor Ryan McCue’s Report Card.  The last one until we all tally up the grades.

I know Mayor McCue reads them, but I don’t think he prints them out and puts them on the refrigerator.  With grades like that, I would not!

This is the continuation of Mayor Ryan McCue’s Campaign Platform and promises and how, in my viewpoint, he has done so far in a report card format.  This is part four of the five part series. 

If you would like to do one just email me rhollenbeck@gmail.com

Have not heard from Mayor McCue himself on pointing out how my grading is wrong!

I am a hard and tough grader, but the truth IS what it is!

I did hear from a few City people that "cute-sifying" was well liked!

So without further ado, here we go!

Please Click here for Mayor McCue’s Report Card Part IV

I wish to share some comments I received in emails about Mayor McCue’s failure as a leader and Mayor.  My thoughts are in blue.

I guess that you might want to include some of these other items in your report.  Such as the hours he is in the office (from 8am to 12 noon only) four days a week some Fridays, but not many.  Again, I ask why don’t we have a system to monitor the hours our Mayor works, you know the time he is billing us for his expertise as Mayor.  I wonder how many Fridays he has taken off to buy a puppy?

After the election, he has repeatedly stated that he felt the mayor's job in Cudahy is only a part time, yet he wants a full time salary.  He did pick up working part time but getting paid for full time, at Milwaukee County Government.  With the amount of hours he puts in, if you prorated the salary, we pay him over $100 per hour.  Wow that is just incredible the amount of money we are wasting!

What a great part-time job.  If he is able to leave early every day there simply can't be enough executive work to warrant the hiring of a personal assistant, yet when Judy Masarik left, he worked to rehire Carolyn (who does not live in Cudahy) to fill the position and even gave her a tremendous raise in salary over Judy's salary cap.

What happen to all of the resumes that Robert Goss had of people wanting to fill that job?  Where was the process than?  Didn’t McCue say no fast tracking?  I did ask the Alderpersons and Mayor this question - It is my understand that deputy clerk / confidential secretary (Judy Masarak), just quit and the city is bringing back Carolyn Thoms-Neary, even though the job description was not even hammered out as director of office services.  If the personnel committee NEVER met about this idea how can it be passed?

What about the thousands of tax dollars he used to "upgrade” the front desk area at city hall after someone "shot out" the front door to city hall last year.  The excuse at the time was there should be a safety glass to separate the public from the clerk's desks.  All of the changes took place at city hall where done without checking with the inspection department for building code compliance.  What about ADA compliance?

None of the changes created a "safe zone" for the clerk's, besides there was already a drop down metal gate to fend off threatening individuals.  On the contrary, the money was used for the changes that remodeled the mayor’s glassed in office so that there are now solid interior walls with small windows that only look out into the other office areas and you can't see if the mayor is in or not!  Is that done on purpose so people have no clue if Mayor McCue is working?  Why were the blinds not reused or sold?  What happen to the bidding process for the remodeling?

A question comes to bear.  Why did he move from the old mayor's office, which he said was too closed off and dark, yet was open and easily accessible to the public?  He chose to move from that old office to the glassed in office only to spend thousands to wall it off.

I still have respect for the office of the Mayor, just not the Mayor himself.

Joe Henika was appointed to the Board of Review at the 1st Council meeting in May 2008.  I saw that after they put the minutes on line.  Maybe that is why he is leading the move Wal-Mart to another location charge, however, his constant pounding about the taxpayers, as well as not giving Kasten a dime, are a bit conflicting.

Who said this - Committee Appointment Process: Once elected as your Mayor, I will make committee appointments based on the persons experience, subject knowledge and education.  Not based on their political connections.  I believe a strong committee structure will help make the city run smoothly.  In order to get fresh new ideas, I will work to get new people involved on committees.

Did McCue, who seems like a control freak, for appointments and has put people on that that supported him on a committee, welcome Joe with open arms?  This one is a little weird since Joe Henika was not in his corner.

He talked about is committee appointments being non-political, however, anyone he has added to a committee since taking over was a major McCue supporter.  Just the reason we don’t need an appointed Clerk Treasurer.

See I think the strategy has changed and the open record documents gathered so far will be given to those running against McCue for Mayor so they can exploit them and hopeful get McCue to answer the questions.

The Mayor ran on a platform to fix the problem of absentee landlords, bring business to Cudahy, and make it a new day!

Unfortunately, it is now a worse day for Cudahy, and the same old sh****!!