Author Archives: Erik Brooks

I am thankful for so many things this holiday — family, friends, food on the table, a roof over my family’s heads.

I know it could be very different. We are blessed.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to lead this city. We’ve accomplished a lot, and there is much more to come in the days, months and years ahead. I’m excited for the future. But, for today, and every day, let’s be thankful for what we’ve done, together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is the full schedule, and flyers for everything. See you around town!

Great news from a great corporate citizen.

From the press release …

Northwestern Mutual, through its Foundation, is dedicating its support to causes that are meaningful to the company’s employees with grants totaling $225,000. Twenty-five local nonprofits will receive $1,000 to $10,000 on behalf of Northwestern Mutual employees through the company’s Days of Sharingprogram, now in its 10th year.

“We continually strive to cultivate a culture focused on giving back, and our employees are a key part of this,” said Eric Christophersen, president, Northwestern Mutual Foundation. “Our Days of Sharing program provides an opportunity to celebrate the season of giving while honoring the volunteer service and community support given by dedicated employees.”

Beginning in October, employees nominated their nonprofits of choice. From that group, 25 organizations were chosen at random.

Two are from South Milwaukee: Human Concerns will receive $3,000, while Growing South Milwaukee — which is planning to bring a community garden to downtown South Milwaukee in 2018 — received $1,000.

Thanks, Northwestern Mutual. The donations are richly deserved.

And congratulations to Human Concerns and Growing South Milwaukee!

I’m always happy to see partnerships like this in delivering our services. We are stronger together, especially in the fight against drug abuse.

From the Oak Creek Health Department …

The Oak Creek Health Department and a local Boy Scout are creating a mobile Wake Up Call room in partnership with South Milwaukee and Cudahy Health Departments. Adolescent and teen drug use is on the rise throughout the U.S. and an issue we face here in Milwaukee County. The Mobile Wake Up Call room is a trailer that contains a life-size exhibit of a teen’s bedroom with more than 20 “red flags” that can signal drug or alcohol use. The bedroom identifies spots where teens may hide drugs, household items that can be used as drug paraphernalia and ways teens try to cover up drug and alcohol use. The Mobile Wake Up room will be used in our communities to educate parents and caregivers about the signs of drug or alcohol addiction and prevent and stop abuse. Eagle Scout Joe Schissler started a GoFundMe to raise funds to support the construction of the Wake Up Call room for his Eagle Scout project.

Donate here. 

Local woodworker Larry Oleson is hard at work on the Little Free Libraries, and a few are still available to loving homes.

Interested? Email me at erikbrooks32@gmail.com, and let me know why we should add your name to the list. I don’t need a thesis — just a sentence or three on your plans for the library and why it would make a great fit for your neighborhood.

I want to thank our partners for their support of this.

• That list starts with Larry. He has been so gracious to lend his talents to this twice now. He is making these for free, and this couldn’t happen without him. Take a look at his progress in the image with this post.
• South Milwaukee Library. As in 2015, they donated all the wood for the libraries, from their collection of retired bookshelves.
• South Milwaukee Ace Hardware. They are donating a number of materials for the project, including the doors and windows, hinges and latches, nails, screws and more. Very cool.
• Bliffert Lumber in Cudahy. They recently stepped up to donate posts. We also had a private donation of shingles.

The South Milwaukee Police and Fire Commission has chosen our next Police Chief: longstanding Milwaukee Police Department leader William Jessup.

The commission offered Jessup the job at its meeting on Thursday night, contingent on standard pre-employment testing.

Jessup has been with the Milwaukee Police Department for 27 years and currently serves as an assistant chief for MPD, heading its Investigations & Intelligence and Risk Management Bureaus, which include the Training Academy, Human Resources, Information Technology, Communications, Internal Affairs, Public Relations, and budgeting.  Mr. Jessup has commanded MPD’s District 7 operations on the city’s northwest side, and has previously served as an MPD inspector, deputy inspector, lieutenant, detective and officer.

Jessup also has personal ties to the South Shore, having grown up in Cudahy, and working as a paid on call firefighter and emergency medical technician there before beginning his professional career in law enforcement.

William Jessup will officially start in January, and replace Ann Wellens, who is retiring after 28 years on the SMPD, including 12 as its chief. We wish Ann well, and welcome Bill to South Milwaukee.

Update: This post was edited to reflect that the budget acted on by the common council included a 5.7% levy increase for 2018 — exactly the amount approved in the public safety referendum. This change, which I supported, was made prior to the public hearing. 

We have published our 2018 city budget, and it was another difficult one.

The public safety referendum result certainly helps, allowing us to adequately fund our paramedic program and add two new police officers, while helping us avoid potentially deeper cuts. But it does not solve many of our annual issues we face in funding our city services.

Costs go up. Yet with constraints put on us by the state for more than a decade, it is increasingly difficult for our budgets to keep up. This has left us — and dozens, maybe hundreds of small-growth communities like us across the state — to make hard choices to balance our budget, while trying to invest for the future.

We live within our means in South Milwaukee, and we deliver strong value for your taxpayer dollar. “Doing more with less” is a mantra for us, and I am proud of the work our people do every day to deliver the services you have come to expect from us. This budget delivers on that promise. Again.

After months of hard work by our city administrator, department heads, the council and others, we will present this budget to the community at a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20, and a likely final vote by the Common Council the next night. Here are a few details …

• The city tax levy is projected to increase 5.73 percent from $10,764,455 to $11,381,095.
• Expenditures are projected to increase 4.28 percent, to more than $20.5 million.
• Revenues are projected to increase 1.61 percent, to almost $9.1 million.
• The tax rate will not be set until the final budget is passed. I will share that information in a future post.

The proposed budget makes long-term investments in our city and its services.

It includes the creation of dedicated fund to protect the additional funds raised through the referendum and ensure they are spent where they are supposed to be spent. Of note, $348,212 of the $616,641 raised through referendum is going to fund operating costs for paramedics and the new officers in 2018; the rest is going toward building fund balance that will eventually be used to deliver these services as costs increase and paramedic revenues decline over the next decade.

We’re also making an investment in economic development in this budget, allocating $123,520 (about half of that from the tax levy) toward economic development activities in 2018, including the recent hiring of our new economic development director and additional consulting services to help us through the amazing amount of change, challenge and opportunity we’re facing across the city when it comes to redevelopment. I’ll talk more about that in a future post.

We’re investing in our front-line people, too. The budget includes a 2 percent across-the-board salary increase for employees, including police and fire union members, whose contracts expire at the end of the year. This is to protect the investment the city made in the compensation pay plan, and to keep us competitive in the marketplace for talent, something increasingly difficult to do.

Health insurance continues to be a budget challenge, as we work to maintain a competitive benefit despite significantly rising costs. For years, we’ve done that through plan design and premium contribution changes. This year, our renewal came back at +3.5 percent, or more than $92,000 in additional costs. All in, health insurance will cost the city more than $2.8 million in 2018.

The budget includes new revenue sources, including a $110,000 increase in state transportation aids, and the following recommended user fee increases:

• An increase in the self-deposit station daily usage fee from $2 to $3 – still a bargain compared to many other area communities. In an independent study of our Street Department earlier this year, we were told this a “Cadillac service” that few, if any communities, provide at the cost we do. We are proud to continue to deliver it, in a more sustainable way.
• Changes to the special pickup and chipper policy. Unlike what you may have read online, the first special pickup or chipper job will remain free in most cases (those three cubic yards and smaller for special pickups; 12 cubic yards or less for chipper jobs). Fees will be assessed for larger jobs and/or additional pickups. For example, there will be a $25 fee for additional special pickups, and for those greater than three cubic yards, with another $25 for each three cubic yards beyond that. Similar fees will apply for larger and more frequent chipper jobs. This is a reasonable approach, reflecting that not all special pickups are created equal, and that this is another one of those “Cadillac” services that, even with the new fees, we will continue to provide a high level. Some area communities do not provide this service at all.
• A 15 percent increase in charges to users of our commercial garbage pickup service. Dozens of apartment buildings, businesses, schools and others use this service, which was a money-loser for us. This increase puts us more on par with what private collectors charge. It’s the first price increase in eight years.
• The addition of a $500 motor vehicle crash response and cleanup fee, charged to those involved in major accidents. It reflects the cost of services our first responders provide above and beyond patient care, from de-energizing vehicles to cleaning up the scene.  Many communities charge this fee, which is usually paid for through insurance coverage.

We welcome your feedback on the budget, either at the public hearing or one-on-one. Or comment here.

I again thank everyone who had a hand in shaping this document. This is the single most important thing we do every year, and, while it’s not easy, it’s important work to ensure we continue to be good stewards of taxpayer (your) money.

I’m proud to say we are.

From the South Milwaukee School District …

Hark! It’s time to gather for music, fun, food, and frivolities! The 39th Annual Ye Olde Christmas Feaste will be held December 9-10, 2017 at South Milwaukee High School. Come join us in song, good humor, and feasting in an old English courtly atmosphere, with you as an honored guest.​​​​ Our student performers look forward to entertaining you. The deadline to order tickets is December 4, 2017. $30/each or book a full table (6 people) for $170. Order your tickets now.

Here is a PDF of the flyer.

Proud to be a small part of this, reading from 11:30 to noon. See you there!

Here is a Word version of the flyer.

Here is the latest installment of South Milwaukee Business Spotlight, a collaboration with the South Milwaukee Community & Business Association where we’ll spotlight a local small business regularly. Businesses are chosen by the SMCBA.

This month, we profile Skyline Catering, owned by South Milwaukeeans Ernie and Kathy Wunsch.

Our list of business-building special events in South Milwaukee gets more special all the time. The latest addition: Gallery Night on Saturday, Nov. 25.

Mark your calendars for this new Shop Local Saturday event!

Thanks to organizers Jamie Allard (owner of Serendipitous Design & Gifts) and Ryan Lemire-Gonzalez for their work in pulling this together. I love it.

Special plug for Parkway Floral’s “Little Shop of Horrors Night.” Details here.

From the Cudahy Police Department …

On November 10, 2017 at about 12:18 pm, The Cudahy Police Department responded to a report of a robbery within Landmark Credit Union, 4801 S. Packard Avenue. The investigation revealed the suspect entered the bank, approached a teller, and demanded money. The suspect fled the area with an undisclosed amount of money. No one was injured. Through investigation, the suspect was positively identified.

At about 6:18 pm, Cudahy Detectives located the suspect’s vehicle parked outside an area motel. After seeing the suspect enter the vehicle, detectives followed the suspect into the city of Oak Creek. Officers from Oak Creek, South Milwaukee, and Cudahy Police pursued the motorist. The pursuit ended on the golf course in Grant Park where the suspect was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit.

The suspect, a 29 year old male, was conveyed to the Cudahy Police Department for further investigation. Multiple charges will be sought later in the week. 

During the pursuit, a Cudahy Police Officer was involved in a single car squad accident within Grant Park. The officer was conveyed to a local hospital where he was treated and released.

Although the investigation is ongoing, the Cudahy Police Department is not seeking any other suspect for the bank robbery.

Check out coverage from Fox 6 and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

From Mr. Wolbach at South Milwaukee High School …

Hello South Milwaukee,

The Building Trades class at the high school was busy this fall making sheds. Students had a great time learning how to frame walls, cut angles for rafters, and shingle roofs. We are now ready to sell the sheds. If you are interested, the sheds are about 4 feet deep by 6 feet wide and have a height of 8.5 feet at the back.  We are looking to sell them for a winter special of $450.  If anyone is interested please feel free to e-mail Ryan Germain for questions rgermain@sdsm.k12.wi.us or 414-766-5159.

There are four left, so act quickly. Christmas gift, perhaps?

Please consider decorating a tree, and being a part of this new holiday event in South Milwaukee. Here is a PDF of the flyer. Share it in your social networks!

Karla Harris is giving back to the world even in death.

Karla passed away on Nov. 1, and a celebration of life is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10, at Salvatore’s/Papa Luigi’s II in South Milwaukee.

Her family is asking to honor her memory in two ways …

• Perform a random act of kindness.
• Donate art supplies. One of Karla‘s last requests was to finish an art supply collection for the schools in Florida who opened their doors to the community during Hurricane Irma, which devastated the area. In doing so, they also opened their art supply cabinets to keep the children occupied. When school started in September, they found their supply cabinets empty, hence the need for supplies. The Harrises have already shipped one pallet of supplies, but they still need a lot more. Items include crayons, colored pencils, colored pens, colored markers, colored chalk, paint or other items. Bring them to the visitation … or make a check out to Clarence Harris with “Art Supplies” in the subject line.

I’ll be doing both. Join me in honoring this terrific woman.