South Milwaukee Blog

Mark your calendars for May 30!

I have been a part of the district’s long-range visioning and planning twice now, and it’s a valuable process that needs (demands) as much community input as possible. Have your voice heard as we shape the future of our schools.

Check out these South Shore headlines …

• China Helps Make Caterpillar Great Again as Sales View Brightens (Bloomberg)
• Patients Who Rely on Obamacare Protections are Worried (New York Times)
• Realtors Say It’s a “Seller’s Market” for Southeast Wisconsin Homes (TMJ4)
• Voters Speak Out at Spring Hearings (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Oak Creek Approves More Funding for IKEA, Lays Groundwork for Further Development (Business Journal)
• New Valentine’s Coffee in Oak Creek Goes Well Beyond the Traditional “Coffee Shop” (OnMilwaukee.com)
• Oak Creek Fight Sends Student to Emergency Room (Patch)
• Cudahy Woman Charged with Infant’s Death Stands Trial (TMJ4)
• Cudahy High School Staff Member Put on Leave After Incident with Student (TMJ4)

We continue to invest in our roads, and you’re seeing evidence of that in a couple areas this week, including the area around Grant Park.

Check out letters sent to neighbors for projects on Hawthorne Avenue and Lake Drive, Fairview Avenue and the area around Southtowne.

Please be patient as we begin these projects.

As mayor, job No. 1 is to ensure we deliver the first-class city services you have come to expect from us. And that starts with fire and police. If we’re not doing all we can to deliver on public safety, nothing else matters.

This is becoming more and more challenging given the state of our budget. We’re proud that we’ve been able to fund our services at the levels we need to, but that is getting increasingly difficult. Times are changing. We’re getting squeezed on revenues, while expenses continue to grow, and we’ve cut all we can cut – all while demand for our services increases.

That is especially the case with public safety.

South Milwaukee is certainly not alone in this, but this is our reality. We are at a crossroads, and we need your feedback to guide our future actions.

We are offering a community public safety survey to help us determine steps we need to take around investing in two key areas: preserving locally provided paramedic services and potentially adding police officers. There is a strong case to be made for doing both, but before we act we need to know what you think.

We are working with Community Perceptions, an independent firm with expertise in conducting community surveys like this.

Surveys are arriving in the mail to each South Milwaukee residence this week.

You can also take the survey online here. To do so, you will need the code included in the mailing. If you did not receive a survey in the mail or need additional access codes for other adult members in your home, call the city at 414-768-8051.

Please take the opportunity and respond. Your voice matters.

There is good background information in the survey itself, including some compelling data. Here is a sample, and you can take an even deeper dive in this document we’ve prepared. More information — including a digital version of the options assessment and the sample survey  — can also be found on this page on the city website.

Here is the reality, taken verbatim from the survey …

• Paramedic services: In the past, the city has been able to use surplus funds to maintain paramedics/advanced life support (ALS) services. Starting in 2018, the city’s fund balance will no longer be available. Over the next 10 years, funding from Milwaukee County will be reduced by an additional 62%. The result is a funding gap, which will be nearly $250,000 in 2018 and double to more than $583,000 in 2027. The total projected paramedics/advanced life support (ALS) services budget shortfall between 2018-2027 will exceed $4.1 million. The city will need to make critical decisions regarding whether to maintain the current level of EMS services or reduce those life-saving services.
• Police: Over the past 20 years, the Police Department’s staffing level has decreased, despite a greater demand for officer time due to increases in crime and drug-related incidents. As a result, South Milwaukee is now well below the national average for number of officers for our population. In addition, South Milwaukee has less officers per person than every other municipality in Milwaukee County, except Greenfield. Additionally, there has been an increase in service calls beyond law enforcement’s traditional duties, including providing assistance to citizens with mental health and alcohol/drugs issues.  The complexities of these incidents require officers to spend more time on the scene, preventing them from fulfilling other duties.

In other words, we’ve been forced to do more with less when it comes to public safety for many years. That is not a sustainable approach to delivering these services.

So, how do we fix this? That is what we want to hear from you.

The survey offers a number of options, including exploring outsourcing, consolidation, cuts in other department and raising taxes through a referendum — one of the few options the state gives communities like South Milwaukee to increase revenues beyond the restrictive levy limits we’ve been under for a decade.

These are complex issues, with potentially complex solutions, and your feedback will be critical as we consider a way forward.

Thanks ahead of time for your participation in the survey. We will solve this, together.

Note: All survey data is returned to Community Perceptions, and your feedback will remain anonymous. Final survey results will be reported at a Common Council meeting this summer and will also be available on the city’s website.

I am proud of the progress we’re making in urban forestry in South Milwaukee, especially when it comes to tree planting. While we’ve removed hundreds of dead and dying trees in the city in recent years, with more to come, we are also making replanting a priority. We need to.

Here are two recent examples of this commitment coming to life: A new Adopt-a-Tree program and the ongoing partnership with the South Milwaukee School District around Arbor Day.

First, Adopt-a-Tree. The program, developed by the Beautification Committee and the engineering office, was launched this spring, and is a partnership between property owners and the city to plant trees in the city right of way.

We offered 50 trees as part of the program, and more than three dozen property owners signed up. That leaves about 10 trees available, as we now make the program available citywide.

Learn more about the initiative here. From the program brochure …

The Beautification Committee’s mission is to promote, encourage and work to enhance the beauty of the City of South Milwaukee. The new Adopt-A-Tree program will help improve neighborhoods by replacing some of the many trees lost to the emerald ash borer, other diseases, storm damage and age. The Common Council has agreed to fund this trial program for 2017 with 50 trees. It is available to residentially zoned properties, and trees will be planted at approved planting sites based on our tree inventory and suitability. …

All trees will have at least a 2” diameter trunk and be between 8-12 feet tall. These are street trees and must be placed between the curb and sidewalk or within 4 feet of the curb where there is no sidewalk. The cost of each installed tree plus the items listed below is estimated to be $400-500 depending on the size, species and bid prices. However, much of this cost will be funded by the City of South Milwaukee, through the program.

Indeed, the cost to the property owner is just $100.

Interested in taking part? Sign up by May 15. Trees will be planted in the right of way by June 30, and a certified arborist with pick the species of tree to be planted. One tree per property.

We’re also proud of our Arbor Day partnership with the school district.

Tree plantings start this week at the four elementary schools in what is the third year of the program.

These efforts — along with our work in December along 10th Avenue, and in other areas — show our commitment to our urban forest. I am excited we can creatively continue to invest in this important service.

Get your foursomes together, and join me at the 16th-annual South Milwaukee Police Department DARE Golf Outing!

The event is set for Monday, July 24, at Oakwood Golf Course in Franklin. The shotgun start is at 8 a.m.

Cost is $80 per golfer. For that, you get 18 holes of golf, a cart, lunch, all the beer you can drink, a chance at a $10,000 hole in one, and many chances to win great raffle prizes.

All proceeds benefit the SMPD DARE program, a great city-school partnership that teaches kids about sound decision making and the dangers of drugs.

More details here.

National Day of Prayer is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 4, at South Milwaukee City Hall. This is a non-denominational event, open to all. See you there!

April showers bring May flowers … so why not buy those flowers from a local organization fundraiser?

Two of them are holding plant sales at South Milwaukee Middle School in May …

• Saturday, May 13: South Milwaukee Middle School Environmental Club Native (and Veggie) Plant Sale, 9 a.m. to noon. More details here.
• Saturday, May 20: South Milwaukee Municipal Band Germanium Sale, 9 to 11 a.m. More details here.

And don’t forget about other discount opportunities available through the Beautification Committee’s Neighborhood Beautification Program.

Saturday is one of my favorite days of the year: South Milwaukee Little League Opening Day.

The festivities start with a parade at noon. It leaves from 12th Milwaukee, heads east on Milwaukee to Ninth, then south to Drexel, then east into Little League Park.

Quick aside: How many communities actually have a parade like this? To me, it’s one of the things that makes South Milwaukee special. 

Brief opening day ceremonies follow for the parade. Then there’s a full slate of games.

Diamond #1

• 1:00 Golden Arches vs. Big Macs
• 2:00 Red Sox vs. Yankees
• 4:00 Braves vs. Brewers

Diamond #2

• 1:00 McFlurries vs. Cheeseburgers
• 2:00 White Sox vs. Phillies
• 4:00 Mets vs. Pirates

Diamond #3

• 1:00 Small Fries vs. McMuffins
• 2:00 Diamondbacks vs. Blue Jays
• 4:00 Astros vs. Tigers

Thanks to the Rotary Club of Mitchell Field for bringing back this terrific event.

Committed so far: Streetza Pizza, Meat on the Street, Yellow Bellies, Bebe’s Bistro, Truckmeister, Press (Belgian leige waffles), Denson’s Catering, Little Havana Express, Pig Tailz MKE, Heavenly Cuisine on the Go, Happy Dough Lucky, and Jamaican Kitchen & Grill … with more to come.

Mark your calendars!

There is untapped power in our local religious communities, civic groups and other organizations working together to solve community problems.

One terrific example of this potential coming to life: an effort led by First Congregational United Church of Christ to sponsor a Free Community Meal for South Milwaukeeans dealing with food scarcity issues and in need of a hot meal.

The free meals, which started in April, are served from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at First Congregational,  1111 N. Chicago Ave.

The next one is scheduled for May 18.

First Congregational is serving the first two meals, which consist of a main dish, side vegetable, dessert, coffee, milk, and water. Others volunteering to serve are:

• South Milwaukee Human Concerns
• Divine Mercy Parish
• Trinity Lutheran Church
• St. Luke’s UCC
• Masjid Al-Huda Mosque and School
• New Day Church

Human Concerns, Gordon Foods and Skyline Catering are also assisting with in-kind donations.

I want to thank First Congregational and the church’s Mission Committee for leading this effort, and to everyone who is stepping up to help this real, and growing, need in our community. Their work is inspiring.

We are stronger, together, in confronting realities like poverty and hunger that exist in South Milwaukee, and the world — one meal at a time.

Note: The meal is handicapped accessible; there are no stairs as you enter. 

Congratulations to the South Milwaukee School District for receiving a $25,000 state grant on Tuesday to expand their Fab Lab.

Among those on hand to award the grant and share a proclamation was Mark Hogan, secretary of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

I was proud to share in the good news — especially as the parent of a sixth grader, as school leaders look to use the funds to expand the lab to more students, including middle schoolers, giving opportunities to kids like Christian that I could have never dreamed of as a student.

It’s more than fancy machines like 3-D printers, laser engravers and plasma cutters. These funds will help tomorrow’s engineers learn problem-solving and leadership skills that will be invaluable as they make their way into the workforce.

More details on the nearly $500,000 in grants awarded statewide here.

Earth Day in South Milwaukee is getting bigger and better all the time … including the addition this week of can recycling, benefiting South Milwaukee Human Concerns.

Check out the full list of activities in the updated flyer, and join us on Saturday.

A complimentary lunch — Cousin’s subs, and the famous beans made from the recipe passed down by decades of mayors’ wives — will be served.

The city’s official Earth Day celebration is next Saturday, April 29, but you can get a head start on cleanup opportunities with two events on Saturday, April 22.

• First, the Friends of Grant Park are holding their annual cleanup starting at 9 a.m. Meet at the beach. The Friends will provide gloves, hot chocolate and bags. Please bring rakes, if possible.
• There is also the South Milwaukee Community & Business Association’s Kicking Butts Downtown cleanup activity, starting at 3 p.m. Details on Facebook.

Let’s clean up this city!