I would like to thank Roland Melnick of BadgerBlogger for taking this picture of my car driving to the event.  I had 3 other bloggers with me and it is nice to see other bloggers there at the Alliant Center.

Car Picture H/T Roland Melnick of BadgerBlogger

http://badgerblogger.com/?p=11929#more-11929

I looked for Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue who just last week said this: "The State of Wisconsin is the most screwed up state in America and the state should mind their own business"

With Mayor McCue’s disgust of the state, thus Jim Doyle, wouldn’t he have been there to show how really upset he is?  Makes you wonder if Mayor McCue just said those hollow words or does he mean it?

Isn’t it something so small like the First Amendment to the United States Constitution!

I saw on CudahyNow (Cudahy to repay Walgreens $211,000 in taxes) on Friday that the city is paying Walgreen’s $211,000 as a part of the tax settlement from the challenge of their assessment.

The question for city officials, mainly the mayor, the city accountant, and city financial advisors, is....

Why do the taxpayers of Cudahy have to pick up the tab on the lower tax assessment in 2009, when this property is in the TIF? 

- From the CudahyNow article Cudahy to repay Walgreens $211,000 in taxes)

Each household will have to pay about $10.88, which will appear on the 2009 tax bills, he said.”

If I challenge my assessment and win, will it appear on yours and your neighbor’s tax bill?  If so, please let us know. 

I am sure there are unscrupulous assessors (who for the right payoff under the table) that someone could find that will challenge the city, split the proceeds, and stick it to you, your neighbors, and all my neighbors!  All while helping out the person who hired the unscrupulous assessor at others expense.  The saying goes – If there is a will, there is a way!

To me, I am wondering if the city even thought about what they will do when people challenge the assessments and win or what about the unscrupulous assessors.

Mayor McCue is using TIF money for everything from promotion to flowerpots, why not this? 

I would love a response other than no comment from our city officials on this one!

Well, he decided to put a hold on the streetscaping so the flowerpots are out.

(That is the power of pressure people that all of you hold.  Without your emails and calls, $4,500 tax dollars would have been used in this bad economic time.  I will take some credit for getting some needed sunlight exposure on it, but it was the sheer numbers of people upset that made the difference!)

This is the first set.

Click Here for them.

I will be in attendance to show my displeasure of HIGH TAXES and the wrong direction the state and country are going.

Info - http://www.fightbackwisconsin.com/Feedback.php

What: Tea Party - Taxpayer Rally

Date: April 15th, 2009

Where: Wisconsin State Capitol - King Street

Madison, WI

When: 11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Speakers: The Rock Star of Radio - Vicki McKenna

The Honorable Paul Ryan - Member of Congress

Americans for Prosperity State Director - Mark Block

WTAQ Radio- Green Bay - Jerry Bader

WSAU Radio- Wausau- Pat Snyder

Milwaukee God Squad- Pastor David King

Chairman State GOP-  Reince Priebus

Hunters Alliance (HARC) - Tony Ungerer

Wisconsin Family Action - Julaine Appling

Madison Area High School - Melika Willoughby

Free Shuttle Services CLICK HERE

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?

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…

Before I get into each race, I would like to give some thoughts.

School Superintendents, School Board Directors (Members), and Judicial posts (Supreme Court and Circuit Court Judges) are all to be Non-partisan.

So what does Non-partisan mean? 

Non-partisan - free from party affiliation, bias, or designation

Based on, influenced by, affiliated with, or supporting the interests or policies of no single political party

The role of any non-partisan position should be non-partisan!  The key problem of all of this is you cannot exclude your ideology from the decisions you make everyday in life.  It is the core of your beliefs; the basis of your conscience.  It is what helps give us our morals and boundaries.  It tells us when something is black and white and shapes our gray areas.

Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about Democrat Vs. Republican here.  Again, it is ideology at question.  You can be a Democrat but not a Liberal!  Any decision I make has a fiscal conservative angle to it and I never hide it.

Liberals say they dislike labels yet they hide behind them and try to confuse people when they are the same thing “liberal” or “progressive.”

Side Note – A little misnomer on big business CEOs.  Most of the big bad CEOs for big businesses are liberal democrats.  That many times is forgotten when liberals attack CEOs and capitalism! 

Basically, the rule of thumb for a Conservative is whatever the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) and the Unions back and endorse we choose the opposite.  Why you might ask because isn’t that voting against someone instead of for?

Well if MJS was not slanted liberal and just reported news as it should and allow the reporters opinions be known as opinions with the Newspaper staying out of it (since when the paper endorses a candidate it does it for all that work at the paper).  Just like the Union telling people who they will vote for!  That is not democracy!

Cudahy Recommendations

Referendum – School District of Cudahy

Recommendation - NO

Referendum reads as follows:

Shall the following Initial Resolution be approved?

BE IT RESOLVED, by the School Board of the School District of Cudahy, Milwaukee

County, Wisconsin that there shall be issued, pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds and/or Qualified Zone Academy Bonds ("QZABs") in an amount not to exceed $3,775,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of (i) remodeling, renovating and improving school facility and grounds and (ii) acquiring equipment, furnishings and fixtures.

For more on why NO on the Referendum click on the my previous story here: $4.4 Million Cudahy Referendum

Recommendation - NO

School District

School Board Director

Recommendation - Bob Grams (Please see separate post just on him)

Bob Grams for Cudahy School Board

Recommendation – Any of the others would do just fine.

South Milwaukee Recommendations (reminder, I do not live in South Milwaukee)

School District

School Board Director

Recommendation - David Maass

Recommendation - Nick Szablewski

While reading what the candidates had to offer in the Q&A’s I really liked what David Maass had to say and he has the proven track record to back them up!

I have gotten to know Nick Szablewski from talking to him for hours on the phone and conversing with him in email.  I think he can bring a fresh set of eyes to the school board with a good sense of fiscal conservatism and responsibility.  I do not get the feeling it is all talk just for the election.  I feel it is legitimate and sincere. 

I think Kathee Molus would do very well, but I don’t have any first hand knowledge and some people that live in South Milwaukee feel she might have too much on her plate already.

As far as Zachary Wisniewski.  My parents raised me that if you don’t have anything good to say about a person, don’t say anything.  So I won’t!

The small exception to the rule my parents said is, if it affects you directly, say it!

Please Vote April 7th.

I am happy to spend money on things that are needed.  I am a big supporter of looking for state and federal grants.  Yes, I do understand that there is a fine line between grants and earmarks.

Now a major portion of the Cudahy referendum is for new roofs at Gen. Mitchell and J.E. Jones elementary schools.

I was talking to someone in city government who told me that someone should have looked into state and federal grants to place solar power panels on the roof.  To get the solar power panels up, they would have to replace the roof.

Not only could the school save on electric costs, but also the roofs would have been replaced.

I have included pictures of James Fennimore Cooper Elementary School on the south side of Milwaukee that does have solar power panels.  (click on picture for larger view)

On a similar thought, you can replace the boilers with Geothermal.  The return on investment (ROI) and savings are very quick.

I do think the referendum will pass and I don’t want to hear from people complain about Cudahy’s taxes!

http://www.cudahynow.com/news/cninews/39026137.html

Roof work tops Cudahy referendum spending list

School officials will ask voters for $4.4 million

“The roofs are really driving this,” said Jim Papala, director of financial services. “There’s a potential for increasing the damage to the buildings if we don’t take care of the roofs real soon.”

Papala said state-imposed revenue limits prevent the district from doing big projects such as roof replacements.  If the referendum meets voter approval, the roofs will be repaired this summer.

Other projects include window, lighting and floor repairs and renovations at Cudahy High School, according to a list from the district.

Nothing ‘extravagant’

Superintendent Jim Heiden said nothing on the list is “extravagant or over-the-top.”

“These are all things that need to be taken care of,” he said.

Kutka disputes ‘needs’

Only board member Linda Kutka voted against going to referendum at a meeting earlier this month.

Kutka said not everything on the list is needed, especially at Cudahy High School. She disputed the inclusion of $625,000 for office renovations, $281,000 to construct a circular drive in the school’s parking lot and $35,000 for an electronic welcome sign outside the school.

A parking lot also would be constructed in front of Kosciuszko Elementary School for about $112,000, she said.

“Those projects, I believe, are not needed,” she said.  “We are in difficult times, and we need to ask citizens for exactly what we need.”

She said the unnecessary projects will not boost students’ test scores or allow the district to hire more staff.

30 state school districts seek more taxpayer funds

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sunday Mar. 29, 2009

Amid one of the worst economic periods the country has seen in years, 30 Wisconsin school districts are poised to ask taxpayers to open their wallets wider.

The majority of the 43 referendum proposals on April 7 local ballots seek to allow the districts to exceed state-imposed revenue limits to finance current programs.  Others, such as the $68.85 million building program proposed for the West Bend School District, request the ability to issue debt to pay for maintenance or new facilities.

But with the state of the economy, and the failures of all nine school referendum proposals on the Feb. 17 ballot, districts likely face a hard sell this year, observers say.

"They do need more revenue, and they're going to the taxpayers to ask for it, but this is also the wrong time to do that," said Michael Birkley, legislative director for Wisconsin Property Taxpayers.  "With people being laid off all over the place, now is not the time to ask and to invest more in education."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/42107312.html

Cudahy was not mentioned in the article!

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!

Institute For Wisconsin's Future - Here is a DEMOS event workshop which if you read, talks about non-partisanship, but if you look at the “Event Sponsors” they are far from “non-partisan”.  They are liberals!  Is that not slightly scary?

The workshop was about how to talk about taxes and government.

DEMOS Website

Click here to read the letter.

Congratulations Cudahy taxpayers, you are the Winner!

As a taxpayer of Cudahy, CONGRATULATIONS, you have just won the grand prize in the city of Cudahy’s foreclosure action against Sportsites.  And here is what you get!

Once the city takes possession of the land, you, as a Cudahy taxpayer, OWN 1/8000th (roughly 8,000 households in Cudahy) OF THE SPORTSITES LAND, AND ALL THE COSTS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP ASSOCIATED WITH IT!  Contaminated land: investigation, assessment and remediation!

Yes and the fun doesn’t just stop there.  Think of having to pay to teardown the structure.  Haul it away.  Test the soil.  Clean it up.  Cap it off!  Clean the wetlands behind it.  Fence it up!  Set money aside for lawsuits!  Pay the DNR fines!  Environmental Insurance and Contaminated Land Liability Insurance!  State and federal permits!  All paid for by you, the Cudahy Taxpayer.

While in the city’s hands, the land doesn’t pay taxes.  But who will repay the mortgage on the land or back taxes?  You, the taxpayer of course!

Even under the dunce, Mayor Raymond Glowacki, the city did not take possession of the contaminated land on the backside of the property, and it went through Cudahy Gateway Real Estate.  The city did not want to be in the chain of ownership, because then they would have been responsible for the clean up.  That was very smart of Mayor Raymond Glowacki!

Mayor Raymond Glowacki understood that the land has potential consequences when considering the redevelopment of contaminated brownfield sites.  Where the costs of remediation works are significant these costs might put off developers unless they can expect to get planning permission, which is likely to be sufficiently beneficial as to cover these costs.  The developer will want TIF Money!  Lots of it!

Don’t worry about risk versus reward.  Cudahy has the land back!

I will laugh when the RFPs come back with the best option and the only option is Wal-Mart!

Now, when Mayor Ryan McCue can triumph that the iceport is finally done, he can finish the sentence with the statement, "But you taxpayers are now on the hook!"  I am sure HE WILL NOT USE TIF MONEY TO CLEAN IT UP, since he is spending TIF money on everything else, including buying a polluted tannery site to put Edgerton Avenue through!  TIF = Taxes Is Free!!!

Since the city now owns the known contaminated land, the potential civil liability for damage resulting from migrating pollution.  If a landowner (the city) should have foreseen the consequences of any migrating pollution, they will be liable for any damage caused without any further proof of fault or negligence being required; potential criminal liability for offences resulting from migrating pollution.

May be with your new tax bill, they could insert an ad that if you wanted to buy a rusted beam to remember this project by (hey...  the made a mint selling frozen tundra!!), we could raise more money for the city that the Mayor could continue to spend it foolishly.

Everyone, every Cudahy taxpayer is now on the hook for this contamination!  We could place one of these beams in everyone’s front yard!  Thus, when you drove down any street in Cudahy, the iceport would be with all of us!

P.S.  You would have been better off winning the Canadian National Lottery, than owning a piece of contaminated land in Cudahy.

Wal-Mart and the developer were and are willing to foot the bill, but a big Thank you for substituting your own personal agenda for that of the best interests of the city goes out to Mayor McCue.  This project and the cleanup could have been well on its way!  Now the Cudahy taxpayers will foot the bill.  It will cost an arm, leg, hand, and foot all because Mayor McCue couldn’t use his head!  Another blown opportunity!  Another example of how dumb Mayor McCue is!  He truly is the wrong person for the job of Cudahy’s Mayor!!

Feel free to use this one as a guest blog!!  I think everyone in Cudahy would enjoy a good laugh!!

Irked Cudahy Taxpayer

SoccerNut was correct.  The Director Economic Developer exact budget for 2009 is $348,734.

Please see the detailed two pages for a breakdown of the cost.  Please notice that on page two we are paying for retirement and life insurance on the TWO so called "needed" interns.  What are they going to do?

Also, remember that the Iceport TID is where the money for the Director Economic Lara Fritts salary is coming from.  So, if it doesn’t get developed this year, WE will foot the bill not the TID.

Here is Lara Fritts’s email address for those that may want it.

frittsl@CI.CUDAHY.WI.US

Just how much will the taxpayers, US, keep paying?  The city has US, the taxpayers, picking up the tab on taking down the Iceport structure, paying for the fence around the Iceport, cleanup of the contaminated land, and I am sure the creek that already was cleaned up, now has run off from the Iceport land, will have to be cleaned up by the taxpayers, of course. 

We have yet to get the bill for the redo of Mayor McCue’s glass room, sorry, City Hall remodeling!

I cut myself on Sunday and my blood was red not green! 

I find it odd that “NO” goals are being set for Lara Fritts. 

Whose responsibility would that have been?  Maybe instead of puppy shopping, the Mayor should spend more time actually working on the things he should be doing.  Mayor McCue, if you wish to spend most of your time at home, please quit your Mayor’s job!  We should all find it unacceptable to hand in an unfinished assignment!  Incompletes are just as bad as failures.

How will Lara Fritts, the city, and us know if she is meeting expectations or not with no goals?  She only has a one-year contract.  She reports directly to the Mayor.  So does that mean that the goals are known to the Mayor or will it be whatever he feels like it should be? 

I think that is unfair for both Lara Fritts and us!

I am including an excellent public forum letter to the editor that fits right in.

Economic development, high taxes don't mix

Posted: Feb. 17, 2009

Public Forum:

I must compliment the city of Cudahy for creating a brand new position, economic development director, at taxpayers' expense.  However, one must question whether throwing out more of the taxpayers' money is the best answer in light of the large price hikes that many business property owners experienced in 2008.

As a resident of a single-family dwelling, I was shocked at the huge increase in property taxes - approximately 20 percent - simply because the land my homes sits on is in a business district.

The property next to mine was once a business; today it remains unoccupied and for sale.

I certainly don't have the extensive education as the newly installed economic development director has, nor do I have a salary of $80,000 annually.  However, I do know that extensive economic development can never happen as long as the city of Cudahy extensively raises property taxes for land located in the business area.

Thomas V. Brunner

http://www.cudahynow.com/news/39749577.html

"Creeds must disagree: it is the whole fun of the thing.  If I think the universe is triangular, and you think it is square, there cannot be room for two universes.  We may argue politely, we may argue humanely, we may argue with great mutual benefit; but, obviously, we must argue.  Modern toleration is really a tyranny.  It is a tyranny because it is a silence.  To say that I must not deny my opponent's faith is to say I must not discuss it . . . It is absurd to have a discussion on Comparative Religions if you don't compare them."

G.K. Chesterton

An experience I had at a local Cudahy gas station interacting with an elderly couple about the city of Cudahy.

Click Here to go to my story

As a continuation and a preface to me grading Cudahy Mayor McCue’s campaign platform and the promises he has in it, this blog post is chalked full of insights and even a surprise acknowledgement by me.  It also has a commentary by my friend WISN talk show host Jay Weber on Mayor McCue that aired February 11^th.

Did you notice where Cudahy was in taxes for 2008?  If you didn’t please do.

Please click here to check out my post

I an going to start this off by saying this is a long post, which may make some other bloggers upset that they have to read.  Many of the younger crowd are so self centered and need things to be short because they lack big attention spans.  This is what society has created.  I am sure they will quickly run to their blogs and write about me and my comments or how long they feel my blogs are.  They may even pull out the statements that what I write is boring that they almost fall asleep reading it.  I don’t think these people could just curl up on the couch or sit in a chair and read an entire book in one sitting.  If there isn’t a big explosion or cliff notes, they cannot keep their attention to read.

Choose what you want to hear and you will miss the truth

I will not say I am sorry for the length of my post(s)!

Emphasis is mine!

When you read Patrick McIlheran’s take on the KRM, think about Cudahy’s Mayor McCue, who to me appears to be condo happy and I know he places a lot of hope that the KRM will turn things around in Cudahy.  While that is all fine and dandy, how realistic is it after looking what the costs are and how much use it actually will get?   What is the bang for the buck?

Remember there were people touting how much visitors would be coming from the KRM, and then we found out least than 1% of riders will do this.

Think hard and deeply about this as well - M&I forecloses on Cudahy condo project

Marshall & Ilsley Corp. has obtained a $3.6 million foreclosure judgment on a new condominium development in Cudahy, and the city's taxpayers are facing a possible loss from their role in helping finance the project.

http://www.cudahynow.com/watch/?watch=28&date=12/17/2008&id=48961

(Condo sales at a trickle due to stagnant market)

http://www.cudahynow.com/story/index.aspx?id=638608

Be informed is all I ask.  Please look at the study and listen to the pod casts and then read 8th District Supervisor Milwaukee County Patricia Jursik response to the study.

Milwaukee's Commuter Rail Plan's Supposed Economic Benefits

Aren't Credible; System Would Require Massive Subsidies

Report outlines several better transit options for region

Reason Foundation

Policy Study 372

Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Corridor Transit Service Options: An Investigation and Analysis

By Thomas A. Rubin

Project Director: Robert W. Poole, Jr.

KRM Commuter Rail Plan’s Supposed Economic Benefits Aren’t Credible;

System Would Require Massive Subsidies

Reason Foundation report outlines several better transit options for region

The claimed economic benefits of the proposed commuter rail line for the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee corridor are “not credible” and other transit options should be studied, according to a new study by Reason Foundation, a free market think tank.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee analysis of the local economic benefits of the construction of the rail line wrongly assumes all expenditures, and jobs created, would be local, even though there is no local capacity to produce many of the components, such as the $48 million rail cars.  And the $2.1 billion increase in property values the rail project alleges would mean that each of the 3,696 projected 2035 round-trip riders would be “worth” $568,000, a claim that “cannot be taken seriously” the Reason Foundation concludes.

Reason Foundation finds every new passenger boarding the commuter rail system would cost $28.  Yet passengers would pay just $2.92 for a ticket, meaning taxpayers would subsidize over $25 for every new one-way rail passenger.  By comparison, the total cost per passenger for the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) in 2007 was $3.

“Amidst a recession and tough economic times, it is more important than ever to make decisions based on cost-effectiveness and benefits to citizens,” said Tom Rubin, author of the Reason Foundation analysis and a transit consultant.

http://www.reason.org/ps372/

Full study report here http://www.reason.org/ps372.pdf

Vicki McKenna’s Pod casts on

“Tom Rubin discusses the realities of rail.”

Click Here

“Some people continue to believe rail would solve all economic and social problems.”

Click Here

Jay Weber’s take on this

Rail is expensive if it is or isn't used.

Click Here

Jay Weber's Podcast Click Here

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Patrick McIlheran’s take on this

(Please read all of the article, but here is a snippet.)

Magic costs more than mere rides

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/36263929.html

Backers of commuter trains down the south shore start off with a measured tone, but they soon get to the chorus of dreams.

To them, rail transit isn't just about commutes.  It's about transforming us, drawing smart young people to work downtown and cocoon in new industrial-chic lofts in Racine.  Without trains, we're not just immobile; we're Dullsville.  With them, we could be Manhattan.  Can you put a value on that?

Well, you can put a price.  It's fairly high, according to transit backers' data and Tom Rubin's merciless accountancy.

Rubin, who used to be the chief financial officer for a transit agency in Los Angeles, was almost hired by train backers here to study how great the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee, or KRM, line would be.  They demurred, so he ended up doing the study anyhow for the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank.  He uses numbers from the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority to calculate how much we'd be spending for each of the new transit passengers lured out of their cars by the train.

We'd spend $28 per ride, an estimated $25 of which would fall on the taxpayers.

I'm not saying KRM is dumber than dirt or that it'll fail," he told me.  What he is saying is that the region has other good options it hasn't looked at, ones that may cost a lot less.

One that he suggests examining is running express buses up I-94.  The freeway's problem is that it's nine miles west of downtown Racine.  But there's room to put in park-and-ride lots, and the buses in Racine and Kenosha easily could run routes out to the freeway. Depending on how you run the express coaches, they could serve as their own feeders and distributors, picking up riders in town and distributing them to destinations beyond downtown Milwaukee, meaning fewer transfers.  And buses would be much cheaper and could be started much sooner than trains.  All they would lack is rail's sex appeal.

On the other hand, moving a lot of people around - the basic idea of transit - at fairly low cost is pretty appealing itself.  In New Jersey, about a quarter of long-distance commuters into the real Manhattan go by buses.  Taxpayers subsidize rail riders there by $4.42 a ride and bus riders by 80 cents.  In Los Angeles, coaches from far suburbs carry commuters on jam-free high-occupancy toll lanes at reasonable fares that cover more than 90% of the cost, a figure unheard of in rail.

"For the vast majority of riders, the mode of transit isn't important," said Rubin.  Surveys repeatedly show regular users care more about how far they'll have to walk, how many times they'll transfer, how long they'll have to wait - all things where buses can beat trains.

He isn't saying a bus scheme up I-94 is a cinch, only that it deserves study.  Especially since they adapt.  You can add buses one at a time, and change them or drop them if routes flop.  With a train, we'd be on the hook for $249 million in construction before the first passenger rode.

"Commuter rail is, to a very high degree, an all-or-nothing option," he writes.  It's impossible to erase a mistake, so we'd just keep throwing money in.

That's a virtue, say rail's backers: Such permanence means riders won't worry that the route will change.  This will induce them to buy nice condos nearby and sell their cars.  Thus, say rail backers, it will reshape the lakeshore cities and downtown Milwaukee.

But think about what that permanence implies.  To lure people to live in downtowns rather than elsewhere, authorities would be saying they'd spend hundreds of millions of dollars to install a train and to run it even if no one rides on it.  They don't believe such profligacy would spook off tax-weary citizens.  They're betting that such a faith-based wager - which, again, costs taxpayers many times what a bus would - would transform us.

By this point, we're way past transit and into the realm of hope and magic.  Nothing wrong with hope and magic, but, for the money, there may be better ways of getting people to work.

Patricia Jursik’s Email to me

“Thank you for contacting my office.  I am familiar with the Rubin study.  It is interesting to note that a very conservative business group The Metropolitan Milw. Assoc. of Commerce, specifically Pete Beitzel, criticized Rubin and stated his opinion follows the money that is paying him.  I would also note that all of the chambers of commerce in our south shore communities favor the KRM piece, Cudahy has created an economic development plan that uses a transit station as a catalyst for development, as well as So. Milw.  While the county board's transportation committee voted against the RTA proposal, I have reservations about the total elimination of KRM because of the many business groups that see it as a positive move on behalf of their businesses.”

Patricia.Jursik@milwcnty.com

New study questions commuter rail line

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/36210564.html

If you have not gone to the MPS Spending database that CRG has put together you really need to because it will be an eye opener!  I don’t even know how people can explain or excuse some of these.  I consider fellow blogger on RVW, Orville Seymer of CRG, a friend and was impressed with what he and Chris Kliesmet did with the MATC database and the MPS one is much, much more.

The MPS slogan of “High Standards Start Here” must not apply to those working at and for MPS.

I hope they do one for MCTS (Milwaukee County Transit System) as transparency of government is essential.  CRG has done great work in helping to push the envelope with open requests and keeping government on the straight and narrow. 

Open records is something that is done all the time in many other cities and it maybe something new that the City of Cudahy personnel have not seen, but it is a part of the checks and balances of government.  I know the city of Franklin has many people request information using the open records request.  Including bloggers from Franklin.

Many times people don’t have an understanding of what CRG stands for and unfairly attack them.  They spend many hours doing the legwork to making an impossible task possible!

Please go to the MPS database and look for yourself - http://mps.spendingreports.com/search.aspx

Thanks to CRG for all your hard work.

Here is what Orv has to say about it,

“To all,

Below are links to the CRG Network database and the report from Today's TMJ 4.  This is a very extensive database that has more than 400,000 entries included in it, and more than $2.2 billion dollars in spending over a time-period of slightly less than 3 years.

Please keep in mind that for every entry on this database, there is a check that is written to a vendor that is doing business with MPS.

We need your help to sort through this massive document to find the most outrageous spending by MPS.

The sheer amount of spending by MPS is stunning in itself yet, when you look at the actual entries, it becomes staggering.  We call it the "GASP Project" because it will literally leave you breathless.

Make sure that you check out the entries under items such as Beverly Hills Limousine Service and check out the amount of catering being done by MPS schools.  I will tell you that they appear to be eating very well, on our taxpayer dime.  They also appear to be traveling to some very nice places and staying in some very nice hotels, again, on our taxpayer dime.

Please keep in mind that about 1/2 of your property tax dollars goes towards supporting public schools.  The MPS board has recently voted to increase your taxes by 14.6% and it was nearly the same amount last year.

While I'm sure that most of the spending is legitimate, it is the spending on what appears to be frivolous items that will raise your eyebrows and hopefully move you to take action.

If you want more information on a particular item, you will need to file an Open Records Request to obtain the receipt for that item.  We have included an Automatic Open Records Generator on our site for your convenience. 

If you are angry about this excessive spending (and you should be) please do more than just get angry, please take action.  Submit an Open Records Request, to get more information.  Call your Alderman or the Mayor and demand that they change the way that MPS operates.  Contact your State Senator or State Rep. and demand that they change the way that MPS does business.

Forward this information to your friends, neighbors and relatives and ask them to take action also.

If you do nothing, MPS will continue down the path that they are currently on, which is more spending and more failure.

Thank You,

Orville Seymer

We have an “Automatic Open Records Generator” in which you simply plug in the Vendor Name, date, dollar amount and invoice number where available and send it off to MPS and you should have the receipt in about 2 weeks.

This is a massive database and it is far too large for any single person to sort through.  I sincerely hope that some of you will actually pull some of the receipts that are questionable (There are thousands to choose from) and keep the pressure on MPS to change the way they do business.

Please keep in mind that about 1/2 of your property tax dollars go to MPS.  It is up to the people of Milwaukee to hold MPS accountable.  Mr. Andrew Tax All of Us actually suggested the accountability word today at a Milwaukee Press Club luncheon.  Let’s make sure that he feels the heat as the cold Wisconsin winter begins to creep in.

CRG Network is launching the next of their searchable databases:  Milwaukee Public Schools. 

Today's TMJ 4 has aired an exclusive I-Team report on the same subject on their Nov. 18th 10 p.m. news.

This is from the CRG Network website:  "Relying on Open Records laws, volunteer database and Internet professionals, and grant money from persons and organizations interested in promoting greater government transparency and accountability, CRG Network has embarked on an effort to publish all government spending in the State of Wisconsin in a series of online, searchable databases known as the Government Accountability in Spending Project (GASP).  It is our hope that by making it easier for average citizens to track government spending, they will take a greater interest in government, ask more questions, and demand greater accountability in spending.  After all, it really is your money.  Now you can quickly find out what it was spent on.

GASP is being funded by the Citizens for Responsible Government Foundation, CRG Network's 501c3 educational institution. Charitable donations to this project are tax deductible.  Those wishing to support the project can forward checks to CRG Foundation, Inc., PO Box 371086, Milwaukee, WI 53237 or contribute online by CLICKING HERE. .  Be certain to specify your donation is for the Government Accountability in Spending Project (GASP).  If you would like to work with CRG to add your unit of government to the list call our volunteer line at 414-801-0800.

My response to comments to County Supervisor Patricia Jursik’s response to my post was too long and too important to leave as a comment, so I have made it a new post.  And yes it is another long post, but I think it is very worthwhile. To catch people up I have included Patricia Jursik’s comment to my original post, “The People Have Spoken!”.  Since the comments came in after I posted a new article and people may not have gone back to read comments on older posts it could have been missed. 

Jay Weber’s Pod Cast on this

I am sorry for the mixing of persons and the shift between talking directly to her and the readers.

“Patricia Jursik   

Randy: Thanks for following this story.  The quote you attribute to me is one that is taken out of context.  My full quote stated that there must be enabling legislation in order for this matter to come back to the county board.  I am committed to property tax relief and would only support any further referendum if it provides this relief.  I obtained the final numbers and your are incorrect; My number indicated that Cudahy voted Yes, 2940; No, 3240. I'd also like to point out that you failed to give some important data.  While about 300 more Cudahy voters voted "NO" than yes, over 3,000 Cudahy residents that voted did NOT answer the referendum question at all.  Finally, a Regional Transit Authority (one that includes Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee, RTA) may totally co-opt the county board on this issue as they voted to include a .5% sales tax for transit.  Hopefully they will also include the property tax relief by removing transit from our tax bills.  It looks like the Gov. will be including the RTA proposal in his next budget bill.  The Milwaukee referendum, if it ever sees the light of day, will likely change before I ever get the chance to tell my constituents whether I am supporting it or not.  Patricia Jursik”

County Supervisor Patricia Jursik, thank you for responding.  You are our elected official, one who must voice the concerns of your constituents!  I am sorry I didn’t respond to you at the same time as you replied, but I was looking for information on the subject.  I wanted to be as correct, consistent, accurate, honest and through as possible. 

The facts and figures that I used, are what was posted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the day after the election and I looked on MJS online for a retraction/correction and didn’t see one.  I also looked on the Milwaukee County Election Commission website and they do not list any numbers nor do I see any results on the City of Cudahy’s website. 

I also included you in an email asking the Cudahy Clerk as to where the numbers can be obtained.  When I was emailed the results, they were the same as the ones I posted.  Spot on! The numbers you obtained were not the final numbers as you stated they were.  They in fact are false!

Update – Cudahy results have been added on the city website at

http://www.ci.cudahy.wi.us/CityDepartments/Clerk/2008PresElecResults.pdf

I included Patricia Jursik in my CC’d email list while requesting the results from the Cudahy City Clerk.

While waiting for the results, I received an email from County Supervisor Patricia Jursik included here from my request for results:

“You might ask the city clerk;  I got my numbers from the county election commission; I had to go to the office and physically obtain some.  I look forward to your factual reporting.  Pat Jursik”

Odd that if Mrs. Jursik would have looked in the address to whom it was sent to, she would have seen that I did ask the Cudahy City Clerk.  Must have been an oversight on her part.

If we look at your (Yes, 2940; No, 3240) numbers they are wrong and I will be waiting for your apology.  It is scary that you do not have a grasp on the facts.  This oversight on your part puts into question other things.”

***I delayed posting this until Mrs. Jursik’s response to my last email arrived.  It did not come, so I posted this without a response from her on that the numbers she held in high regard which in fact were false!***

You can also notice that each breakdown (not sure if they are polling places since there is more than the five districts but that is my guess) voted “NO” as the majority and at each place.  Cudahy does NOT want the sales tax increase PERIOD! 

If the county election commission where Mrs. Jursik received her numbers from is wrong, “why” should be the question we all should be asking!  Are they trying to twist the truth when convenient, mislead on purpose to push an agenda?  Are they trying to water down the results or is it just incompetence on behalf of the county election commission?  Laziness or was the problem from Cudahy’s end?  Either way it doesn’t inspire confidence all around in country government now does it?

While the numbers differ that Mrs. Jursik provided, the result doesn’t.  I understand that you can wonder how those people that didn’t vote on the subject might have voted and one could say the same thing about those that did not vote in the first place and stayed home.  This is called speculation and is not factual.

In all, 74.9 percent, or 9,592, of Cudahy's 12,805 registered voters cast a ballot Nov. 4.  http://www.cudahynow.com/watch/?watch=28&date=11/4/2008&id=48263

I also would like to point out that while she may have felt that I failed to point out “how many didn’t vote on that subject” (which she most likely would have questioned the number on) didn’t vote on it, I also didn’t claim otherwise.  NO disclaimer was made either in the MJS article!  I do not possess ESP nor would like to assume something that is not a fact when it comes to the reason people skipped the question.

It is obvious that she is not happy with the results, but they are what they are!  If they fell her way, it would be easy to vote “yes.”  But they didn’t, the vote was “NO” from the Cudahy people.  She is in a hard place, does she vote against her districts people’s wishes of “NO” and go along with the county or does she vote “NO” as the people have stated? 

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

At some point, one must end speculations and deal with the facts we know.  One must surrender to the facts.  Fact (we will use her wrong, invalided, misguided, numbers) Yes, 2940; No, 3240 

Net result is “NO!”  That is what the people that voted said.  That is what the people she represents want her to say on their behalf.  This is why we were asked the question in the first place!

I also listed the source to which her quote came from and a link to it as well.  If I implied something that she felt I took out of context, I am sorry and that was not the intent, but I included all of what she said in the MJS article in that paragraph.  If the MJS misquoted she can ask for a retraction from that party.

While the people still have spoken and even if by one vote, the outcome was “NO” that is the wish and will of the people.  THAT also has not changed!  “NO” was the word Cudahy people spoke with their votes!  It could not be any clearer!

We cannot forget that South Milwaukee, St. Francis and Oak Creek all said “NO” and those are County Supervisor Patricia Jursik’s districts (In Oak Creek just two districts).  The voices of her area DO NOT WANT THE SALES TAX INCREASE!

History teaches us that the sales tax switch-a-roo/scam failed to produce the result the claim of property tax savings in the past.  Didn’t the .5% tax increase that County Executive Dave Schulz in 1991 gave us with the promise that it would bring property tax decrease not help?  Yes, and in the end it didn’t deliver on the property tax savings!  Not one dime!

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29291089.html 

“First, history shows that when the County Board enacted a 0.5 percent sales tax in 1991, the resolution stated that it was for “property tax relief,” but the property tax levy went up 55 percent from 1992 to 2002.”

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/10/27/editorial4.html

The more tax money you give the government the more they spend.

I am a suburban voter who is seeing the bigger picture that raising taxes is not and never is the answer!  The taxpayers don’t bleed green, they bleed red.  We have reached the tipping point and the people pushed back with a loud “NO”!  I am taxpayer hear me roar “NO”!

Taxes are the seed of greed and have been unwisely used.  The taxpayers are not the answer everytime someone thinks we need more money.  How about being fiscaly responsible with what we have already given!

The Milwaukee County sales tax advisory referendum asking for a tripling of the county sales tax to 1.5%.  We cannot ignore the fact that sales taxes are no longer credited against federal income taxes.  The same holds true for all those creative fees, which have been inflicted on us like garbage and such!

“The advisory referendum is being pushed by well-intentioned county leaders concerned with funding for transit, parks and emergency services.

Unfortunately, those good intentions cannot eliminate the harsh reality that, while this referendum can promise a $130 million tax hike that makes Milwaukee County a high sales tax island, it cannot promise much else.

No County Board can bind the hands of a future board with regard to how tax revenues are used.  As such, there is nothing standing in the way of this new sales tax money simply becoming a county spending slush fund.” 

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/10/06/editorial5.html?ana=from_rss

Therefore, no matter what the promises are, without them spelled out, it will not happen.  While I am happy to hear Mrs. Jursik state, “I am committed to property tax relief and would only support any further referendum if it provides this relief” how can we the taxpayers be assured of that? 

Also, she said “any further referendum”, does that mean this one or a different one?  Are they going to try another one to get a more favorable result for them?

The language in the referendum was broad and vague at best.  That might have been done as part of the design (now I am speculating).  While I do not dispute that the sales tax money would start out for the parks, what guaranty do we have that it would not be raided at a local level like the Governor has done with state transportation funds?  The RTA already wants to raid it before it is even passed.  See how easy it would be of the money to be funneled elsewhere!

Why is the solution always spend, spend, spend?

We have all learned, if we'll admit it to ourselves, that lower tax rates increase revenue collections since they stimulate the economy.  Let us keep more of what we earn, and we'll find ways to earn even more than we were before, and tax collections increase.

There can be no new taxes and there must be spending reductions instead.

By the way, the idea of reducing expenditures when income lags is something that just about everyone of us has had to do at one time or another.

I feel that her response is typical political double-speak.  Classic politics of politicians.

Will she vocally oppose the Dem Governor and the RTA tax? 

Is it OKAY to raise a sales tax at DOUBLE, TRIPLE the amount of the promised property tax relief?  Again, the answer is “NO” much like what the voters in Cudahy said!

If it passes - We will be watching the next property tax levy and see if Mrs. Jursik makes the “damn you people are stupid” remark that “we reduced taxes” when the levy is still raised to just slightly below where is was BEFORE the sales tax was increased.  Slight of hand!  The devil is always in the details.

The (Tax) "Rate" means nothing, the (Tax) “Levy" means everything.

It is not the percent or rates that matters but the levy!  The levy is everything!  We will not fall for the common trick because people are becoming empowered and informed!

As far as the RTA and the Governor, my article was not that.  I could have speculated that the Governor will raise the state sales tax itself to make up for the budget shortfall, but again my article was not that.

On the changes that may be made to the use of the sales tax money, for if there are changes to it, those changes would no longer be valid or in line to which the referendum stated that the people voted on.

My article was on that there is nothing in the referendum that promises or guarantees that the sales tax increase will go to lowering property taxes and the results of the vote.

By her reply that “The Milwaukee referendum, if it ever sees the light of day, will likely change before I ever get the chance to tell my constituents whether I am supporting it or not” speaks volumes that she will not follow the will of the people.  If her intent was to follow the people's will, she would not be on the fence weather or not she is supporting it, because she would know that she is NOT!

In the end, it would be her duty to follow the will of the people as it stands.  To say “NO” to the sales tax increase!  To stand up to her fellow Milwaukee County pals and say “My constituents do not want this!”

On a side note, County Supervisor Patricia Jursik, when people want to clean, paint and volunteer to keep up with the Milwaukee County Parks in Cudahy they are told they cannot because those are county union jobs and only the county union workers can do them.  We have plenty of people wanting to make the parks better, but because of bureaucracy the people who can and want to help are pushed away.  Even members of the Patrick Cudahy Park Friends, who have the resources and donations, are told no.  But their sales tax money would be just fine!

I am not trying to be mean or harsh, but ‘WE” the people need to stand up and make sure the people that represent us in government follow the will of the people.  Some times that means ruffling feathers or heavy-handed talk to get them to listen!

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

If we don’t make phone calls or emails voicing our opinions, then, to them, this means everything is OKAY and going smoothly.  I have said this before “Character is doing the right thing when nobody is watching”!

I will end this with a few Ronald Reagan quotes that are true and apply.

Don't be afraid to see what you see.

Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.

Facts are stubborn things.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

Government is like a baby.  An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it.  If it keeps moving, regulate it.  And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession.  I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

Man is not free unless government is limited.

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size.  Government programs, once launched, never disappear.  Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.

Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.

The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.

There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers.  We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.

We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule.

When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.

Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.

Milwaukee County Sales Tax Advisory Referendum Passes Yes 51% No 49%

Milwaukee County Sales Tax Referendum By The Numbers

Source Milwaukee County Election Commission municipal clerks

Votes Cast

Municipality              Result                  YES                 NO

Bayside                    NO                     1123                1294

Brown Deer             NO                     2866                3395

Cudahy                    NO                     3881                4489

Fox Point                 NO                     1881                2031

Franklin                   NO                     6534                10560

Glendale                YES                    3884                3711

Greendale               NO                      3066                4975

Greenfield               NO                      7332                10342

Hales Corners         NO                      1599                2528

Milwaukee              YES                     107550            79692

Oak Creek              NO                      6313                9169

River Hills                NO                      431                  596

St. Francis               NO                      2082                2469

Shorewood             YES                     3949                3361

South Milwaukee     NO                      4596                5448

Wauwatosa              NO                     11991              14304

West Allis                 NO                    11924              15195

West Milwaukee   YES                    759                  721

Whitefish Bay           NO                     3801                4192

Total                                                   185562            178472                       

Yes 51% No 49%

So let us review what the ballot question said: The yes or no advisory referendum question read,

"Shall Wisconsin grant Milwaukee County the authority to provide property tax relief of at least $67 million by levying a 1% use and sales tax to be used to remove the following three items from the property tax levy: parks, recreation and culture; transit; and emergency medical services?"

First, notice it was an “Advisory Referendum,” not a binding referendum!

Next, notice it states, “Shall Wisconsin grant Milwaukee County the authority to provide property tax relief,” they already had the authority to give property tax relief at any time.  No additional authority was needed.

It started out with a promise of property tax relief and yet legally, there’s nothing in the referendum that promises or guarantees that the sales tax increase will go to lowering it. 

We let the public weigh in on whether the sales tax should be increased and as a county it did pass, but County Executive Scott Walker has vowed to veto it as it comes to his desk again.  This places the County Supervisors in a tight corner.  Do they vote against your districts people’s wishes of NO or go along with the county?  Do they work for the district people or county government!

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/33947279.html

Some 57% of city of Milwaukee voters voted yes on the sales tax measure and largely offset the suburban vote margin against the plan, a Journal Sentinel review of unofficial vote tallies found.

Remember from the list that only 3 suburban cites passed it.  Glendale, Shorewood and West Milwaukee were the only suburbs where a majority of voters favored the sales tax.

Now comes the part that bothers me and should you as well.

“Supervisor Patricia Jursik said the city-suburban split in voting should not discourage suburban supervisors from supporting the effort to gain state and further county approvals.  The sales tax plan would benefit the entire community, she said.”

So Supervisor Patricia Jursik doesn’t want to listen to what her constituents want and voted against.  The people’s vote doesn’t matter in the end or at all? 

To me, Supervisor Patricia Jursik is saying; do not be discouraged that the voters said NO, we need to vote YES!

Then why were we asked?  If her people don’t want it, she should be voting NO.  She would risk voting against the people’s wishes in her district.

If the city of Milwaukee and the three other cites wish to raise the sales tax, so be it since they voted for it.  However, Cudahy, South Milwaukee, and St. Francis should not have to pay the price because some County Supervisors think they know better or more than the citizens did!

Please Email Patricia Jursik and tell her that the people’s voice matters and has spoken and it was NO from her district.  After all, she works for us!

County Supervisor 8th District

Patricia Jursik   414.278.4231

patricia.jursik@milwcnty.com

Please email your district’s County Supervisor and tell them to honor the people’s wishes!

http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/MapofSupervisoryDist7780.htm

Scott Walker has stated it was okay to reprint his article.

Don't fall for another promise of tax relief
By Scott Walker

Posted: Oct. 30, 2008

Milwaukee County voters on Tuesday will weigh in on this non-binding referendum:

"Shall the State of Wisconsin grant Milwaukee County the authority to provide property tax relief of at least sixty-seven million dollars ($67 million) by levying a one percent county use and sales tax to be used to remove the following three items from the property tax levy: parks, recreation and culture; transit; and emergency medical services (EMS)?"

NoIn 1991, Milwaukee County began collecting a 0.5% sales tax with the promise of "property tax relief.”  From 1992 to 2007, the property tax levy went up 70.9% - more than $100 million.

Now, the Milwaukee County Board is asking voters to approve a referendum calling for a 1% sales tax increase with the promise of property tax relief and more than $60 million in new spending.  Does the board really think we will fall for that trick again?

Here are the facts:

• The referendum calls for a $130 million sales tax increase at a time when businesses and families are struggling to make ends meet.

• Government spending will increase dramatically if the referendum plan is enacted.  The referendum claims to provide $67 million in property tax relief by shifting funding for certain programs currently funded by the property tax to the sales tax, but the County Board gives no explanation of how it will spend the remaining $63 million.

• Ultimately, there is no guarantee of "property tax relief.”  The referendum is non-binding.  It does not prevent the current County Board or future County Boards from raising property taxes.

• Passage of the referendum will make Milwaukee County a tax island, driving shoppers, businesses and jobs out of Milwaukee County. Do we want to have the highest sales tax in the region and in the state?

• County spending has outstripped inflation. Since 1992, the property tax levy has gone up 70.9%.  During that same time, our ability to pay - as measured by inflation - rose by only 38.6%.  As we've learned from the past, increasing the sales tax will only perpetuate out-of-control spending by the County Board.

• There are better options than simply increasing taxes.  My 2009 budget proposal calls for no increase in the property tax levy and no increase in the sales tax.  At the same time, we maintain all transit routes and increase transit services for people with disabilities; we add 26,000 hours of labor in the parks, build a new aquatics center and replace failing bathrooms and playground equipment; and we maintain one of the best emergency medical services systems in the country.

The choice is not either to raise taxes or to cut services.  We need to demand greater innovation from our government to maintain necessary programs and quality-of-life assets.  Implementing a parks district, seeking public-private partnerships throughout county government and exploring a lease of Mitchell International Airport to fund improved transit options that enable our residents to get to work are creative, exciting opportunities for our county and region.

Nearly 20 years ago, the County Board promised "property tax relief" with a half-cent sales tax, and the property tax levy went up 70.9%.  Milwaukee County taxpayers cannot afford more tax relief like that.

I remain committed to submitting honest and balanced budgets that continue to support our parks, transit and other essential services such as public safety, human services and infrastructure improvements.  I also will continue to advance funding solutions that don't further burden county taxpayers.

If the members of the County Board want to provide property tax relief while protecting transit, improving our parks and preserving a quality EMS system, they should pass the 2009 budget that I presented.  It protects both services and the taxpayer.

Around election time, politicians make a lot of promises.  We now have some on the County Board again promising property tax relief.  The public should remember the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me."

Scott Walker is Milwaukee County executive.