Author Archives: Erik Brooks

The Milwaukee County Transit System is proposing cutting two of the three routes serving South Milwaukee — the 48 and 52 — as part of an overall $5.9 million reduction in service in the system.

That is according to this article posted this morning on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website.

This is incredibly frustrating and disappointing news, especially this comment, where the transit director appears to bring race into the decision and in doing so pits the City of Milwaukee vs. suburbs.

MCTS approached the cuts by trying to affect the fewest riders possible and with concern for racial equity, MCTS leaders said.

“If you look at us being stewards of services for low-income, minority populations that have endured 400 years of racism, it’s hard for us to say we’re going to take two miles of a bus route off of this road in the county so that we can preserve park-ride service for — and I’m overgeneralizing — a suburbanite who can afford their own car,” said Dan Boehm, MCTS president and managing director.

Now is not the time to cut transit service. A strong multi-modal transportation network — one that offers more than cars as ways to get to work, shopping or just generally around town — is more critical than ever in attracting and retaining businesses and residents, and connecting people with jobs and employers with people.

Thankfully, this is not the final word. We will fight this, in partnership with others. For now, I welcome your thoughts …

How would this impact you and those you know? Post your comments.

Back from vacation, and here are some headlines from the past week …

• A Greenfield Pinup Model Just Opened a Retro Fashion Boutique in South Milwaukee (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Officials Call off Search for Missing 19-year-old Swimmer in Lake Michigan off Cudahy (Journal Sentinel)
• Man Prosecutors Say Stabbed Woman in Wheelchair 116 Times Committed for Life (Fox 6)
• Milwaukee-Area Families Finalize Adoptions With Special Visitor Ty Montgomery (CBS 58)
• William Shatner Offers 200+ Lots of Personally Worn Items to Benefit Charity (PR Newswire)

Also, a big congratulations to South Milwaukeean and friend James Davies, who has been named executive director of Bublr Bikes. It’s a well-deserved promotion, and I’m sure he will take the nonprofit bike sharing program to new heights. Now let’s work on getting some stations in the South Shore …

From Milwaukee County Supervisor Shea, via his Facebook page …

The Parks Department reached out to my office today to share the sad news that South Milwaukee’s Grobschmidt Pool suffered a large and destructive water main break overnight. Workers are focusing on assessing damage and repair in the near term. The pool will be closed for the foreseeable future. Please let your friends and neighbors know that we will need to use Sheridan instead for the time being. I’ll share updates as I receive them.

The county tells me it was its service that broke. Nonetheless, it’s a blow to this South Milwaukee institution. I’ll keep you posted.

A letter from Dr. Jeff Weiss, the new South Milwaukee School District Superintendent, shared with district families and staff last week …

Dear School District of South Milwaukee Families and Staff,

I hope everyone is enjoying this great summer weather! I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Jeff Weiss, and on July 1 st I became the superintendent for the School District of South Milwaukee.

My educational background includes six years as the superintendent for the Richmond School District in Sussex, WI. Prior to that, I worked as an administrator for nine years in the Racine Unified School District. I taught English and reading in Illinois for eight years and for one year in Racine. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in English and secondary education from UW-Parkside, my Master’s Degree in reading from Carthage College, and my administrative licenses and Doctorate from Cardinal Stritch University.

A lot of great work has been done to build trust with the community and provide quality literacy instruction for our students. The high level of community support for schools make South Milwaukee a very unique and special place. The referendum that was passed in November allows the District to address three key areas: physical and emotional safety of our students, expanding student learning opportunities, and maintaining existing programs and facilities. The support that the community of South Milwaukee provides its schools is very impressive. Also, the District’s commitment to quality literacy instruction is another area that makes South Milwaukee a great place for families and students.

In addition to the school year academic and extra-curricular events, I am excited for the opportunity to meet our community members and staff at the upcoming events:

• August 13: Community Meet & Greet at the Avenue Coffeehouse, 8:00 A.M. – 9:00 A.M
• August 14: Community Night Out at City Hall, 5:30 P.M

The School District of South Milwaukee is a great place for our students because we enjoy the support of our community and the dedication of our staff. This year, the focus of our work will be on culture and equity so that all of our students learn at their highest levels. Enjoy the rest of the summer; this is going to be a great school year!

Sincerely, Dr. Jeff Weiss

Momentum is growing in downtown South Milwaukee. So are tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, zucchini and some beautiful annuals.

You’ve probably noticed Growing South Milwaukee’s new community garden at 1308 Milwaukee Ave. It’s a welcome addition to our city center, a creative and attractive reuse of a vacant property that also brings the important mission of this organization to life …

“Growing South Milwaukee has a deep rooted mission to create and maintain community gardens that inspire all people to grow.”

The vision for this community garden was launched by Leah Minue at a public meeting in 2015. Within a few months, a team created a mission for the project, surveyed the community for interest, and filed for 501c3 non profit status.

In 2016, the planning phase began. They were given leads for several different public greenspaces for their garden’s home, but none of those spaces were a good fit. The team continued searching for vacant land, knowing the perfect situation would eventually come along. 

Throughout 2017, they promoted their donation incentive program, set and met aggressive fundraising goals, created rules for the future gardeners, and started searching for privately owned greenspaces.

The group’s perseverance paid off.

In 2018, they were introduced to the lot at 1308 Milwaukee Ave., and immediately began negotiating a lease for use of the land. When the garden design came together, they sold all 28 of their plots to eager gardeners. The beds were tilled and organic nutrients were added to get them ready for planting.

This year brings forth their first growing season, and as the community gardens, larger pieces of their final vision, like the forecourt, are starting to come together. All of these projects are done by volunteers and completely funded by donations and grants. Compost stations, a shaded workshop and rain water collection are next on their to-do list. 

So, how does the community garden work? Members are allowed to garden daily, from dawn until dusk during the growing season. Non-members may enjoy viewing the garden from the sidewalk and are allowed to stroll through via the grassy walkways. More details on their website.

It’s a non-traditional use for a downtown parcel, and I love it!

A special thanks to Growing South Milwaukee board — President Leah Minue, Treasurer James Davies, and Directors Brooke Gilley, Bacardi Arnold, Collin Bischoff, Emma Robinson and Matt Minue — for planting these seeds of change in our downtown, and city.

Chet Grobschmidt, 99 years young, gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance on Sunday, Aug. 11: The opportunity to throw out a first pitch at a Milwaukee Brewers game. Let’s come together to cheer on our former mayor!

I spoke to the Brewers this week, and there are a limited number of tickets available for the 1:10 game against the Texas Rangers, which also happens to be Josh Hader Bobblehead Day.

I’m pulling together a group order. Join us! Tickets are $25 each (Terrace Reserved seats), and all ticketed fans get the bobblehead.

Interested? Register here by 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

I’ll then buy tickets and get reimbursed at the game.

Let’s get a big group together to celebrate this South Milwaukee icon.

There is still plenty of summer left in South Milwaukee. And while Heritage Week may be done, that doesn’t mean the events stop. Far from it.

Let’s start with a reminder about all of the live music you can find in our fair city, especially at the South Milwaukee Downtown Market …

Then, on Aug. 14, it’s Community Night Out.

On Aug. 21, NEWaukee brings back 7 Bridges BBQ to Grant Park. This event brings so many new people to our city through our most iconic attraction — and is a perfect opportunity for longtime devotees of Grant Park to rediscover this South Milwaukee jewel.

And it’s already sold out (at least according to the event site)!

And the Restore the Lagoon Festival is back Aug. 24 …

Check out this story from WUWM on the Milwaukee County Parks earning status as a Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative Important Bird Area — and what that means for Grant Park. From it …

Milwaukee County Parks joins 92 other IBA sites in Wisconsin. There are 2,832 around the United States and 12,000 around the world.

His team of four, including Russart, manages 10,000 acres of natural park areas. Russart says without the help of volunteers their work would be impossible. Rita Flores Wiskowski, of South Milwaukee, is one of those volunteers. She’s kept track of a lot of birds in Grant Park.

“This spring I spent a lot of time at the tennis court pond, and it had the prothonotary warbler, the hooded warbler … so it ended up being this great little spot that nobody else was flocking to,” Wiskowski says. …

IBA isn’t simply for the birds. It’s about engaging the public in the conservation effort. Volunteer Rita Flores Wiskowski says she takes a people-centric approach.

“When I’ve come here this spring, there were more birders in this park than I’ve ever seen in the spring from all over Wisconsin. So, that’s a really cool thing to have in our county to bring people in to enjoy our parks. I think people are as important as nature,” Wiskowski says.

Of course, Rita has also led efforts to have South Milwaukee declared a Bird City the past couple of years. Thanks, Rita, for helping get our city recognized as a birder’s paradise. Let’s tell the world!

New this year, The Salvation Army nationwide is collaborating with Walmart to help ease the burden that back to school shopping causes. Donations will be collected at Walmarts across Milwaukee County, including South Milwaukee. Collections will be taking place at Walmart locations from 8 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 3.

More details here.

Have a plan: Bring the stakeholders together to determine your vision for the future, and what it will take to achieve that vision.

Work the plan: Bring to life to goals and objectives that make up your plan, delivering on the collective vision for a more promising future.

We are doing it with our 2035 Comprehensive and Downtown Plan, and we will do it with the Oak Creek Watershed restoration plan. Now, we are proud to say we’re employing this strategy in city government with out first strategic plan in decades.

We have emerged from this process with a shared vision for city government, and will use the plan as a foundation for our employees, upon which they will build their own goals and objectives, making it part of a performance culture at the city.

The South Milwaukee Common Council approved the plan at its July meeting, and I encourage you to check out the summary here.

Hold us accountable to it. We will do the same.

Another innovative approach to community outreach from the South Milwaukee Police Department … and a partnership with a local business. Love it!

Come join us this Wednesday, July 31st, at the South Milwaukee McDonald’s. “Cone with a Cop” is an opportunity for you and the children to enjoy some ice cream, compliments of McDonald’s, while talking to our officers about anything on your mind. We hope to see you there!!

I am glad this story had a happy ending, and that’s because of people and communities working together.

In this case, it’s the South Milwaukee and Cudahy Fire Departments partnering with the South Milwaukee Yacht Club to get medical care to someone in need, and maybe save a life.

From the South Milwaukee Fire Department …

At approximately 1:50am this morning, SMFD was called upon to assist the Cudahy Fire Department with extricating an adult male patient from the lake bank overlooking Lake Michigan. The patient fell over the edge, eventually ending up towards the bottom of the bank. Due to the mud, brush, and steepness of the lake bank, it was decided that lowering the patient to the beach and placing him in an inflatable raft for transfer onto the SMFD Rescue Boat was the best option. This means of rescue was used successfully last year with another one of their patients.

This time, however, the CFD inflatable raft was deployed from the SM Yacht Club and escorted to the location by the SMFD Rescue Boat, who also had a Cudahy Police Officer and Milwaukee County Sheriff Deputy on board. Once on scene, the CFD raft picked the patient off the beach and brought the patient to the SMFD Rescue Boat. Due to the size of the SMFD Boat, it is unable to get close enough to shore to execute a direct “pick off.”

The SMFD Boat brought the patient back to the SM Yacht Club where he was evaluated by SMFD Paramedics. His injuries were determined to be non-life threatening and he was transported to Froedtert Hospital for further care.

There are lots of deserving homes and businesses out there — I see them every day. Make sure they get nominated for their great work!

There are two easy ways to enter: Simply write the address as a comment on the pinned post on the city’s Facebook page, or use this online form.

From the city website …

The South Milwaukee Curb Appeal Awards are presented to South Milwaukee businesses, homeowners and civic organizations who devote extra effort to their property’s beautification, through landscaping and other street-facing efforts.

Judging criteria include utilization of color, appropriateness for the architecture of the structure, originality, lawn upkeep, and decorative exterior structures. Properties also will be judged on the overall exterior appearance of their buildings.

*Current-year Garden Tour entrants are also not eligible.

Winners will be selected by the Beautification Committee. Five winners will be selected to receive a cash prize, a sign, and recognition on the city’s/mayor’s digital platforms.

Start your Heritage Days Sunday with …

Suburban Soles – Guided Nature Walks
Sunday, July 28, 2019 – 10:00 a.m.
“Echos from the Past”
Discover Histories of the Seven Bridges & Wulff Lodge
GPS Grant Park Area 5

Put on your hiking shoes and join us as this week’s Suburban Soles adventure will focus on the history of the Seven Bridges area.  Local historian Nels Monson will be your guide for this fact-filled tour.  Wander through the picturesque ravines as we visit the site of the Grant Park Tourist Camp, the original beach area, and the home of Frederick C. Wulff – the man whose vision and dedication led to the creation of this delightful public treasure.  This tour is sure to please anyone interested in the history of Grant Park.

And end with Family Day at South Milwaukee Lionsfest! Chicken dinner, discounted rides and plenty of kids activities. Details …

Just a couple hours after the parade and few blocks from South Milwaukee Lionsfest on Saturday is the Friends of the Mill Pond and Oak Creek Watercourse Great Duck Race.

Check out this fun event to raise money for a terrific organization.

The race starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, at 15th and Milwaukee Avenue. You can buy ducks at the event — one for $3 and two for $5.

• Grand Prize: $500
• 2nd  Prize $250
• 3rd  Prize $150
• Lame Duck: $25