Monday, March 18, 2013

At Least Milwaukee's 1% Will Be Taken Care Of

Last week, Scott Walker, Chris Abele and Tom Barrett gathered together at the lakefront in Milwaukee County and made a "big announcement":
The state of Wisconsin will spend $16 million moving two ramps on the Lake Interchange in downtown Milwaukee to clear new land for development, and the city would spend $18 million on local road improvements under an agreement announced Monday.

The deal is months in the making, as city, county and state officials negotiated to redesign the Lake Interchange and local roads as part of the broader effort to revitalize the lakefront. It will affect developer Rick Barrett’s proposed Couture high-rise, Irgens’ planned 833 office building and Northwestern Mutual’s planned new downtown office, all of which would be built in the downtown lakefront area.

The agreement is that, when the Lake Interchange is rebuilt in 2016, two ramps that currently connect to North Lincoln Memorial Drive will shift to the south, depositing drivers near North Harbor Drive at the doorstep to the Summerfest grounds. The move opens land south of East Clybourn Street for new development that is envisioned to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Seriously? $34 million for this? Just to move a couple of ramps a few hundred feet?

I take it that Walker has the state budget squared away like he claims to have. Well, no. He wants to borrow one billion dollars to pour into the transportation fund to pay off the road builders who donated so much money to his campaigns.

And I take it that Abele has rescued the Milwaukee County Transit System from the verge of collapse due to it not having a dedicated funding source. Again, no. If anything, he's squandered his time, energy and political clout on a temper tantrum than addressing this critical situation of a vital service.

Do I dare even ask if Barrett has taken care of the city's roads? Of course not.  The city roads in Milwaukee are worse than they have ever been and the potholes have potholes.  And to think, just one year ago, Barrett himself was saying how the state needed to divert funds to allow him to do some of the much needed repairs.

And who benefits from this idea?

Well, the already wealthy road builders who will use some of their lucre to again support Walker.  Also, the already super wealthy that will use their share of the loot to support Walker, Abele and Barrett.

I also see that Michael Cudahy - one of Abele's friends on the Greater Milwaukee Committee - is real excited to see this happen.  He should be.  He has a lot of money invested in this area, including his restaurant, Harbor House, that would gain greatly by bringing Milwaukee's elite right to his doorstep.  That's why he's been pushing for this for years, ever since he took over control of the land the restaurant sits on.

I can think of hundreds of different ways that money could be better spent on more pressing needs that would benefit many more people.  But that wouldn't be what the special interests that support all three of these politicians want.

It's ironic that the supporters of this waste of taxpayer dollars are celebrating it as a result of bipartisan cooperation.

All I see are three corporatocrats paying back their benefactors.

But on the bright side, we can all rest assured that Milwaukee's 1% will be well taken care of.

26 comments:

  1. Whatever happened to Walker's promise, issued a month before his recall election, to invest $100 million on the inner city? Just an empty campaign promise?

    "Walker and other state officials announced 'Transform Milwaukee,' a program that will coordinate the resources of multiple state agencies with the city and other economic development entities.

    It includes efforts to reoccupy foreclosed and vacant properties, provide loans and venture funding for small businesses and industrial development, and improve freight and intermodal transportation to foster the revitalization of industry."

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  2. Umm the $18 million the city will be spending is for local roads and pedestrian improvements (TIF funds so no it couldn't go to schools or firefighters or most things). Also I take it creating new tax base (through the new development sites), improving access to the the lakefront, and creating a more walkable environment is somehow only for the 1%! Personally, I'm glad to see a City of Milwaukee driven project (yes this actually started at the city), which was designed to make our downtown better moving forward.

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    1. That money could go to repair the existing roads that us commoners travel upon. And how many years will that "new tax base" take to start and how many years after that will it take to pay off the TIF?

      And long term jobs created? None.

      Priorities are severely skewed with this project.

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    2. Ummm the $18 million in city TIF funds will be on existing roads, sidewalks, and public areas that "us commoners travel upon." The new tax base is based on when the new land actually gets developed, and I'll say this will take years but it is worth it. As was the removal of the Park East spur. As far as the TIF, it is the NML TIF I'm guessing 20+ years, but that TIF will likely have a big multiplier so it is well worth it.

      Finally, I take it that you think it is terrible that the City of Milwaukee is working to improve the quality of life for its residents, too bad.

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    3. I should say existing and new...

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    4. So, let me get this straight, it is better to put all this money into projects that cover a relatively small part of the city and may or may not pay off in 20 or 30 years rather than creating jobs and fixing the broken roads that cover a much larger area and would help a lot more people.

      Gotcha.

      No wonder we're becoming a cesspool.

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    5. The city can't put the TIF dollars into other parts of the city, it is from the NML development it has to be used in that area (a certain distance). And there is absolutely no fear of that TIF not paying back. I suppose the Riverwalk was terrible for the city too huh?

      PS The NML TIF is tied to job creation.

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    6. So we'll just tell the unemployed and the drivers int the city to hold on for a few decades. Gotcha.

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    7. I'm still talking about the moving of the ramps at the lakefront.

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    8. It's one big project. But that particular section of the freeway was scheduled for repairs so this was the time to make the change. Now just moving the ramps without the goal of creating new tax base and improving the quality of life probably doesn't make sense. But these goals make it a great project, even if Scott Walker, Chris Abele, and Michael Cudahy (oh yeah and Sue Black, Gerry Broderik and yes Marina Dimitrijevic... are they corporatocrats?) played a role in it.

      PS I'm also pretty sure both the Common Council and the Board of Supervisors voted in support of this.

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    9. Oh, I have no doubt it will happen. Just as I have no doubt that it won't mean a hill of beans for 99% of the city except that the things that need to be addressed won't because all the money will be tied up for this one project.

      People will still be unemployed and underemployed, probably in greater numbers and the roads will continue to deteriorate.

      But we'll have this nice fancy part of town for the politicians and other money grubbers to stand in front of.

      THAT is what makes it all worthwhile for the people living under bridges and in doorways.

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    10. So I get it. No money is allowed to be spent to improve one part of the city (especially downtown because apparently only the 1% would ever go there), because therefore no other portion of the city will see public funds.

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    11. That's seems to be the way things operate around here. We keep getting told how great things will be when these projects are done, but the great things never happen. Meanwhile, the people that need help and the projects that need to get done get told to wait because there is no money.

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    12. Huh I guess the Menomonee Valley's redevelopment didn't happen.. or the work that is going on in the 30th St. Industrial Corridor (Century City) doesn't matter... or the Reed St yards... or the fund the city is creating for Midtown... anyhow it's terrible we are improving our downtown.

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    13. 30th St Corridor? Is that Walker's supersecret project that had been going on for over a year before anyone knew about it and still haven't seen anything for it?

      I will say that they have a nice start on the Westlawn project. That is something that is useful and is actually has results.

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    14. The 30th St. Industrial Corridor redevelopment project, now known as Century City, is a City of Milwaukee project to redevelop the former Tower site. It is a massive redevelopment effort that gets funds from the city, state, and feds through a variety of sources. Just like the Valley it will be a long term project but efforts are underway.

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    15. Well, there you have it.

      Meanwhile, people need help now. Roads need to be repaired now. Things are literally falling down around us and we're putting all our money into something that will only pay off way down the road, much after it's too late to do anyone any good. And that's if it happens at all.

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    16. Wow! Using your logic we shouldn't have put the time and money into the Menomonee Valley's redevelopment, which has been a success for jobs, the environment, and the quality of life for residents of the City of Milwaukee.

      Hey you never answered me. Are Sue Black, Gerry Broderik and Marina Dimitrijevic corporatocrats too?

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    17. Did I ever say that I was thrilled with them too? Especially Black. The stuff she pulled would only happen in a crony-friendly environment.

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    18. BTW, will you be telling the homeless that they can sleep under a bridge near the valley so they can enjoy the success you're touting?

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    19. No. But I did notice that Marina and Gerry aren't listed here as part of the conspiracy and well I'm pretty sure they were on the commission that worked on this plan.

      Hard to take you serious if you don't understand how successful the Valley has been for the City of Milwaukee.

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    20. You find it hard to take me seriously because our value systems are different.

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  3. No surprise you found a reason to complain about this.

    Jesus man, take a break and actually find some enjoyment in life for a minute.

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    1. oh don't forget...its "plutocracy#%$#@!"
      idiots like this don't see how projects like this one will benefit the city.

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  4. Yet idiots like you were going crazy when they were going to build high speed rail.

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