Update: Check out coverage from Fox 6, WISN 12 and CBS 58. There is also coverage in the Journal Sentinel and New Kid’s View blog.
Walmart got final South Milwaukee City Council approval Tuesday night.
Specifically, the council gave its final backing to rezoning the land at 222 N. Chicago Avenue, the drawing of a new certified survey map for the area and the vacation and discontinuance of 11th Avenue between Carroll and Davis Avenues.
The vote was 6-2 on all issues, with 1st District Aldermen Frank Van Dusen III and Craig Maass voting no. Here is why I voted yes …
First, I think the majority of residents in the 4th District support the project. It’s not a big majority, but I feel confident it’s a majority. I believed this to be the case in the weeks leading up to the vote through various and countless conversations around the district, emails and phone messages received, feedback on this blog and other sources. And I confirmed this with some leg work over the weekend, when I spent a number of hours taking an informal survey of all homeowners in the three-block radius bounded by 17th and 18th Avenues and Maple and Chestnut Streets.
I simply asked people at each home where they stood on Walmart – without giving them any inkling where I stood, unless asked. In other words, no “push polling.” The results? Support, by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Now, this poll was not even close to scientific, and I do think the gap between supporters and opponents in my district is closer than 2-to-1. But I do believe more than ever there are more supporters than opponents in my district.
Secondly, I personally think the project will be good for the city – specifically when it comes to the tax increment Walmart will provide. Simply put, I couldn’t get past the fact that this is a minimum $12 million development going on a contaminated piece of land that I suspect would otherwise stay vacant for a decade or more without this project moving ahead. For a city in need of revenue to maintain valuable services – and for a city and its taxpayers in need of a more diversified tax base – this is easily the most compelling argument on this issue.
That said, there were a number of valid concerns raised against the project, including many that I agreed with, including issues like traffic, impact on local businesses and a lack of formal public comment until recent weeks.
However, I also supported the project because none of these concerns, nor others I heard, was a dealbreaker on its face.
You can learn more about my position in my previous post on this.
I should also say that, in the end, I did not consider the “how Walmart does business” arguments in this case – concerns raised about how much Walmart pays its employees, or what type of benefits they provide, or from where they source their products. I don’t think these should be part of the debate for this project. Am I concerned about all of these issues? Absolutely. But these are debates that should be happening at the macroeconomic level – not among aldermen as they ponder whether or not to allow construction of a single new store.
On that point, this is a slippery slope argument for me. For if we must consider these factors with Walmart, must the City Council ask the same questions of every employer in town? And what if we don’t like how much Pick n’ Save or Walgreens or Milwaukee Avenue Mom and Pop Shop X pays its employees? What if we’re not happy with the benefits workers at Ace Hardware or Advance Auto Parts employees get?
You can see how troubling that gets … and why I put those concerns out of my mind.
Indeed, these are all points I tried to make at Tuesday’s council meeting, but was shouted down too often to make many of them. I was frankly disappointed, and saddened, with the tone of the meeting. Simply, it got ugly, much uglier than I thought it would.
I hoped for a reasonable, rational debate about the development and its impacts. Instead, we got an angry shouting match, and I left the meeting scared for my safety.
I hope readers of this blog come to realize how difficult a decision this was for me, and recognize how much time, energy, effort and thought went into this process over the last several months. I suspect I will never take a harder, more gut-wrenching vote.
In the end, however, my vote all came back to constituent support, economic development and taxes. Those were my tipping point considerations, and I acted accordingly. I am willing to live with the consequences.
Of course, you are welcome to post your comments below. Please keep them constructive.
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