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…

1. Truly, What’s The Beef With Wal-Mart? – This was a question and answer from the Wal-Mart public forum.

2. Recall Donations and Help Needed – Talked about the open record request and the recall and how to donate.  They still need money donations to keep doing the open record requests.

3. Setting the record straight by Lisa B. Nelson  – Guest blog from a Wal-Mart rep to debunk the Joe Henika post in the public forum on Wal-Mart asking for a tax subsidy.

4. Moving Forward  –About the Wal-Mart moving forward and what I thought of the future.

5. Putting People’s Mind To Ease – Some one in the Wal-Mart public forum made an accusation that K-Mart, Walgreen’s, and Pick N’ Save would close if Wal-Mart came to town.  I called and talked to management of each of the stores and they didn’t seem concerned and welcome them.

6. Business Conditions  – I talk about what I would include in the business conditions with the developer and Wal-Mart.

7. Water-boarding  – I let people know what exactly water-boarding is and how I feel about it.

8. Important Emergency Phone Numbers – A collection of Important Emergency Phone Numbers that I have collected.

9. Lawn Care Part II – Weeds – Creeping Charlie  – This one is about those pesky weeds that are everywhere in Cudahy and southeastern Wisconsin.  They are very hard to get rid of.  Normal weed and feed will not kill it.

10. Audio File – Cudahy State Of the City Address – You can download it or just click on and listen to the speech that the Mayor gave if you missed it.

1. April Top 10 – With over 170,000 views for just the top ten of the month of April that is fantastic.  Thank you to all that read my blog!

2. Reminder of Recall Meeting Today –I talked about when and where the meeting was to be held and a few of the reasons I was told for it possibility.

3. The Recall Of Mayor Ryan McCue  – Had a few emails about the recall and voting in the plan commission.

4. Wal-Mart & Wave Pushed Away  – Talked about the plan commission vote, thus ending the Wal-Mart and Wave site plan.

5. I Was Wrong Mayor!  – Satire of an apology to the Mayor.  I go over the Mayor’s platform and highlight important sections.

6. Tar and Feathers For McCue?   – Title came from an email to me from a McCue supporter asking me to stop the recall.  I listed a few of the reasons people emailed me why they support the recall.

7. Questions and Statements  – I took peoples’ questions and statements out of the public forum and answered them.  I had the drawings of the Wave and Wal-Mart buildings.

8. Thank You for Voting Against Wal-Mart Mayor McCue!  – Another satire this time from a person that wrote in the public forum thanking McCue for voting NO.

9. The Forbidden Store – Talked about Cobalt’s email to me and not trying to interfere with the proposal on the table.  This is before the vote.

10. Internet Child Predator Sterotype Changing Study Shows – Talks about how new studies show a change in the habits of the Internet Child Predator.

 Day 23 – Still No real response from the Mayor – A real leader will admit to mistakes

Reminder of Recall Meeting Today

Thursday May 29, 2008 at 7:30 PM located at 6020 Buckhorn Ave. It is behind K-Mart in the community room of a condo complex.

The “NO” vote on Wal-Mart was not and is not the single reason for the recall I am told.  It is about many failures of Mayor Ryan McCue in his campaign promises or pledges in his platform.  Even his failure to give reasons for the vote don’t hold water.  He was told not to talk about it in great detail, not no detail.  This just shows the communication failure to the citizens.

Reasons

1. Did not end the ice port - Ice Port: It is time to end the Ice Port debacle – He had the chance to do it and didn’t!

2. Has not concentrated on keeping businesses in Cudahy.  How many businesses has Cudahy lost in compared to gained?

3. Has not made it easy and attractive for new businesses to locate in Cudahy – Ask the new businesses if he is pro-business?

4. Did not vote correctly to the land use issue, made it about Wal-Mart, at that point the name on the side of the building was not the issue at hand

5. Stated in State of the City address he is working 50-55 hours are all the time he claims verifiable?

6. Made statements of I was frustrated that the mayor scheduled numerous closed session meetings, excluding the public.  – and yet had closed meetings.

7. Made statements of Taxes and our taxes have increased: The City of Cudahy followed by the Cudahy School District both had higher tax increase than the county. The best way to lower the property tax burden is to grow the tax base though positive economic developments.  Costs to run a city continue to rise, therefore it is vital that the mayor runs an efficient operation.  2007 Tax Bill Increases

Hohenfeldt             City                      3.8% plus a new $20 garbage fee

McCue                  County                  0.4%

Did the taxes not go up?

http://www.ryanmccue.com/Platform.html

http://www.ryanmccue.com/Taxes.html

http://www.ryanmccue.com/IcePort.html

I once heard or did I read it, a statement that fits very well in the citizen’s right to petition a recall with the intent to change the leaders of government.  It went like this:  A quote from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness

Read the whole Declaration of Independence Here

Cudahy rejected Wal-Mart for parcel

By DON WALKER

dwalker@journalsentinel.com

Posted: May 28, 2008

The developers of the defunct Iceport project have filed a multimillion-dollar claim against the City of Cudahy, saying the city committed fraud by rejecting a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the same parcel.

In its claim, Sportsites attorneys said they would seek at least $7.5 million in damages, and perhaps more than $20 million from the city.  Such a notice often is a precursor to a lawsuit.

The dispute centers on a parcel south of E. Layton Ave., between S. Nicholson Ave. and Sweet Applewood Lane.  It was on that site that Sportsites had proposed a development that included Iceport, a multi-rink ice center.

The Iceport project never materialized.  Last year, as part of an agreement to settle a legal dispute with the city, Sportsites agreed to sell the parcel to Continental Properties Co. to develop the site.  Under that arrangement, if Continental failed to develop the site, the city would take back the parcel.

Continental eventually proposed an $11.5 million development plan for the city, which included construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter.  At a May 5 meeting of the city's Plan Commission, Mayor Ryan McCue cast the tie-breaking vote to reject the project.

McCue didn't initially explain his vote, but he later said he was advised by city lawyers not to discuss his decision because of ongoing litigation with Sportsites.  He did say in a letter to the Journal Sentinel that the city could do better than a big-box retailer at the site.

The Plan Commission is expected to meet June 10 to reconsider a modified version of the Wal-Mart proposal.  The deadline for the land sale is July 1.

McCue referred questions about the claim to Cudahy City Attorney Paul Eberhardy.

Eberhardy said Tuesday that he disagreed with some of the assertions in the claim.

"It's odd and a little disconcerting that this notice is filed a mere week before the matter comes back before the Plan Commission," he said.  "Frankly, it smacks of intimidation."

In the notice of claim for damages, attorneys Brad Hoeschen and Marty Greenberg contended that the city's and McCue's interference "caused Sportsites to lose the entire value of the Continental contract as well as additional damages.

"Sportsites would not have entered into the contract with Continental nor would it have entered into the stipulation for foreclosure with Cudahy if it had known that McCue had no interest in approving a Wal-Mart for the site."

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=756150

Did I not tell you a lawsuit was coming?  Yes I did! 

The thought is that McCue’s personal dislike for Wal-Mart instead of looking at this with Mayor’s open eyes, that his interference "caused Sportsites to lose the entire value of the Continental contract as well as additional damages.

Day 5 – Still No response from the Mayor

Amazing, the leader (in name only) votes something down, is silent, and will probably gets away with it.  Hey, only in Cudahy!

It was requested that I do a monthly review of the most looked at topics I wrote.  I will run down the top 10 and give a small overview of each. 

Some of these have an unfair advantage because they are older and have had the chance to be looked at longer.  By far, the shorter time Wal-Mart articles have more people view them quicker.  Many people still want to hear about Wal-Mart from both sides of the issue.

People keep emailing me offline in private and that is good.  I would like people to start making comments.  The South Shore viewers don’t seem to want to publicly comment, by how many private emails I get vs. the comments feature used.

1. Turf War – What to Build? –Yes it is a Wal-Mart post and I talked about TIFs and how the Mayor doesn’t want the Wal-Mart and how this chance may not come again. I also included a letter from a reader that they sent to the Mayor and my responses to what the Mayor replied.

2. Real Voter Intimidation – I talked about how during the 2006 election my neighbor was intimidated and took down his sign in fear of retribution from his union steward.

3. ** Adults Only **  – The title maybe misleading to a few, but the subject matter was how adult content is on the web and we must watch what our children do on the web.

4. One Must Look Back To See The Future  – Here I wrote about that sometimes one must look back to see the future and how Mayor McCue had some foreshadowing in his campaign pledge about Wal-Mart.  Cudahy, as is the nation, is in a recession and how in a downturn we should not pass up the opportunity of this Wal-Mart.

5. History Repeating Page Two  –I wrote about the info a reader emailed me about a Cudahy School closing and Wal-Mart spin.

6. Plan Commission   – I wrote about what happen at the last Plan Commission meeting about Cudahy Station.  How some members didn’t even understand what they were to be voting on that night.

7. Proposal On The Table  – I wrote about what is the Wal-Mart proposal, TIF, and the Plan Commission.

8. Teen’s Common Sense Sometimes Lacking  – I wrote about a report I came across on how Florida legislators are encouraging a review of their "abstinence only" sex education programs after a recent survey completed by Florida teens returned some curious results of not understanding things like drinking bleach prevents HIV.  By now way am I attacking "abstinence only", just bring to light what they found.

9. Flamethrower  –I wrote about what a person said to me about how I deal with the Mayor and if I hate him.  I may be ruffling feathers and again once you write it, and sign it, you can’t hide from it something I wish the city would do.

10. Keeping Us In The “Noir”  – Keeping Us In The "Noir" is about how we are in the dark (Noir) on may things in government and how with open records laws, the information should be public and easily obtainable.  I wrote about how many of these very things should be on the web at a mouse click away from you and I to read and know.

I hope everyone enjoys reading my posts.  You may not agree with me, but maybe what I have to say will shed some new light on matters and make you pause.  I am not a reporter, but a commentator.  I do not get paid, work for the city, or have a secret agenda.  I gain nothing personally from doing this blog other than the satisfaction of being able to put “The Way I See It” out for others to read.  I do it because I think it needs to be said.  I try to be fair and when I see something I don’t agree with, I let it be known.

Many people have said I am hard on the Mayor in his first year and I write blogs that don’t show his job performance in a good light.  When I see something that he does great, I will blog on it.

Hey, I am not the only one blogging on the Cudahy Now website, Greg Janisch was McCue’s campaign Treasurer and he can blog.  Just because I am critical of the Mayor’s job performance, does not make me a person who is attacking Ryan McCue personally nor am I character assassinating him!  This is about his job performance period!  We all have freedom of speech and a voice; I just choose to use mine.

Here is what a reader, Dave Taylor, said in a comment:

“Randy, there's a lot of people in Cudahy who back you up, even if they are too scared to admit it.  We should all be thankful that someone is willing to take a stand for what is right for our city; like you said, "...just want Cudahy to be better", too bad there are egos that get in the way of the good the city could do.  There isn't any reason to be shameful of an opinion, that's what makes us human (not robots) and why our country is a great one!

Sometimes you may feel your comments fall of deaf ears, but the truth is that people ARE reading and they ARE listening.  We rally behind you and hopefully, you are stronger in your plight for a better Cudahy because of it.  You are a voice that matters!  You are looking out for the betterment of Cudahy!  You are taking a stand, unafraid of whose feathers you ruffle!  Those of us who stand behind will continue to support you, even if the “powers that be” wish we weren’t listening!

Keep up the good work…your supporters need your voice!”

Someone has talked to my superiors at mycommunitynow.com to have my work censored or shutdown.  The claim was I lie, spread rumors, and have false and inaccurate information.  I try to source my work and some comes from people in government that do not like the direction we are headed or people close to a situation that feel some injudicious is being done.  I have always believed in correct information and not disinformation.  If something is truly wrong let me know and I will correct it, but don’t be all that upset and try and shut me down because you don’t LIKE what I am saying!  People if what I am hearing from those inside is true, some scary things are coming or happening.  Hypothetically, it might even be something like a change of salary ordinances for health insurances that is not fair and done evenly.  Should it not be changed for all and not leave out anyone?  Fair is fair.  That is a hypothetical, but watch it might just come true.

I will not stop until the misinformation, disinformation and no information are brought to light.  More and more people are emailing me with things.  These are very reliable people and trustworthy people.  Together we can all make a difference.  I will NEVER sell you out and I have been asked who is telling me things.  The wheel of information doesn’t need to stop spinning just because it might ruffle some feathers.