I pledge to live by every word I said in this BizTimes cover story.
More importantly, I’m excited to see South Milwaukee included in the company of Oak Creek, Wauwatosa and Waukesha. It’s an honor to stand next to my colleagues and share goals built around common sense, apolitical approaches to solving problems.
Indeed, South Milwaukee is “open for business” — and I’m committed to work together to move this city forward, no matter your politics.
Here’s to a promising future!
Filed under Community, Local Business, South Milwaukee
Please join me for the city’s annual Flag Day ceremony this Thursday at City Hall.
The brief ceremony starts at 6 p.m. at the gazebo outside of the Grobschmidt Senior Center. It will feature a flag retirement ceremony, music from the South Milwaukee Municipal Band, food and refreshments.
Check out the event listing on the city’s Facebook page for more information.
See you there!
(Flag Day is actually June 14, but we typically hold this event on a weeknight.)
Filed under Community, South Milwaukee
A quick shoutout to Coach Galewski and the Rockets, who are off to a 7-1 start after 10-3 win over Homestead on Friday …
Good luck the rest of the way.
Why not take in a game in coming weeks? Check out their full schedule here. Their next home game is June 16 against Whitnall. First pitch is 5 p.m.
(The photo is of my son, Christian, pitching to one of the Rocket players Saturday, when Little Leaguers were invited to practice with the team. Very cool.)
Filed under Schools, South Milwaukee, Sports
What’s on your mind? Let me know.
Don’t forget to stop by Studio One Art Glass from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, for the second Meet the Mayor session.
No topic is off limits, so bring your ideas, concerns, complaints, compliments … or just stop by and say hi. And check out some of Kim’s terrific handmade glass pieces while you’re there.
Studio One is at 1333 Milwaukee Ave.
Here are two other upcoming sessions, each from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Filed under Community
Check out these South Shore headlines …
Filed under Headlines
I love Thursdays during the summer.
The South Milwaukee Downtown Market opens its sixth season today, and I hope to see you there.
Hours are 3 to 7 p.m. at its new, temporary location at 12th and Milwaukee Avenue (until the 11th Avenue construction project is complete in July).
More than 50 vendors are expected selling organics, arts, crafts, baked good, prepared foods and more.
Learn more on the market website and Facebook page … and join me in supporting this community attraction.
This photo is from the Grant Park Beach Facebook page.
Yes, there’s new life at the beach this summer, with four new volleyball courts now up and plans for the reopening of the concession stand, rentals and more. Volleyball leagues are forming now. Register here.
Stay tuned for more information — I promise, it’s really good stuff, for both Grant Park and the entire City of South Milwaukee.
Filed under Community, Milwaukee County, Parks, South Milwaukee
I just spoke with the interim director of the South Shore Y in Cudahy, and she assured me it’s “business as usual” at the location as the organization enters bankruptcy.
Membership, classes, hours, etc. will remain the same during the bankruptcy process.
“We will operate as we always have,” she told me.
Learn more about what’s next — and check out a Q&A — here. From it …
Operations at each of these centers and Camp Matawa will continue without interruption through the bankruptcy process. The YMCA of Central Waukesha County and Kettle Moraine YMCA are very strong operators. If these transactions are approved, they intend to not only run, but help improve, our West Suburban, Tri-Country, Southwest and Feith Family Ozaukee Y’s. We hope to find similar partners for the South Shore Y and Camp Matawa …
We are open for business as usual during the bankruptcy process. Our intention is that all programs, camps, classes, etc. will continue to operate as normal. Ultimately, our belief is this plan will help reestablish a strong, healthy Y in Milwaukee while preserving the majority of our centers, programs and staff.
I wish the best for the South Shore Y — and the entire organization. It does so much good in our community, in each community it serves, something my family has witnessed first hand. For example, the Y teaches 9,000 kids to swim each year. My two kids were two of them. So was I.
Filed under Community, South Milwaukee
You’ve probably heard the news about the bankruptcy filing of the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee today.
So, what does that mean for the South Shore Y? To be determined.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel …
Under the restructuring plan announced Wednesday, the Y will deliver services through centers that are primarily leased, restricted or gifted and establish “a truly urban mission.”
The centers that will remain include:
The other properties will be sold to “operators better positioned to continue these Ys and invest in these centers for the long term,” the release said.
Those other properties include:
Here is the Y announcement. It says the Y is “seeking long-term strategic partners for both the South Shore YMCA and Camp Matawa that are better suited to maximize the potential of those operations.”
I’ll keep you posted as to what that means.
Filed under South Milwaukee
The Bookmobile is back, and I think it’s great.
The van, a partnership between the South Milwaukee Public Library and South Milwaukee School District, will make a number of planned stops this summer around the city.
It will appear at South Milwaukee Little League from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on these days …
It will also stop at Grobschmidt Pool from 1 to 2 p.m. on these dates …
The Bookmobile will have books for young readers through teenagers, and kids will be able to sign up for the summer reading program at the stops. There will also be story time.
Kids need to have a library card to check out books.
Sounds like fun … and I’m sure my family will be there.
Filed under City Services, Library, Schools
We have a lot of work to do downtown, and we will do it. We will come together as a community around a plan for our city center — and then commit to work that plan. We will start that process soon.
One thing we can do right away: Be more proactive in enforcing our existing property codes. And that’s what we’re doing.
In my first weeks as mayor, I’ve asked that the city be more out front in ordering downtown property owners to make much-needed improvements to their facades … simply getting them to comply with our property maintenance ordinances.
Broken, cracked or clouded windows. Peeling paint. Dilapidated signs advertising businesses that haven’t operated in years. Those are just some of the issues with select (too many) downtown properties.
So, our property code enforcer is being more aggressive in “writing up” more buildings in our central business district, not waiting for complaints before sending notices to owners mandating that they get their buildings to code — and hopefully more than that, perhaps using our underutilized facade grant program.
This brings me to the photo above. Thursday, I, our code enforcer and city engineer made the first of several downtown walks, discussing problem properties and pointing out issues. We started at 13th and Milwaukee and walked east to 10th and back again. Next up, Milwaukee Avenue east of 10th, then 10th Avenue north and south.
I’m sure I’ll learn a lot as I go … and hopefully this will make a difference in improving the look of our downtown, one building at a time, as we plot a long-term strategy.
Indeed, we’re just getting started!
Filed under Downtown, South Milwaukee
The Business Journal has more information on what may (stress, may) come to the corner of Pennsylvania/Nicholson and College Avenues — and it’s potentially more than a Frontier League baseball stadium.
Of course, this is all conceptual at this point. I remain in contact with the Oak Creek mayor on this potential development, and I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under Oak Creek
From the South Milwaukee Police Department’s Crime Alert service …
The use of Green Dot money card scams is on the rise, again. Green Dot cards are a reloadable card that can be used to transfer funds. These cards, and those like them are often used to conduct scams because of the anonymity they offer. Use the attached link to learn about Green Dot cards and the common scams.
www.moneypak.com/protectyourmoney.aspx
Want to get regular updates on local crimes and scams? Sign up here.
Filed under Crime, Police, South Milwaukee
Check out these South Shore headlines … and please keep all those who knew Mr. Koch in your prayers. It sounds like he left quite an impact.
Filed under Cudahy, Headlines, Oak Creek, South Milwaukee
From South Milwaukee Fire Chief Joe Knitter …
In another one of those “nothing ever surprises me” moments . . . we had a citizen stop in and report that he was helping a 90-year old friend clean his garage out and was given a cigar box that the 90-year old had hand-written “Danger” and “Torpedos” on and the box contained some type of explosives. I’ve attached the pictures. The kicker was that the guy had them in the trunk of his car and transported them to the front of the firehouse without knowing exactly what he was dealing with. Luckily, I had dealt with similar items in the past at Caterpillar when they found boxes of them while cleaning out an old warehouse. I removed them from the trunk of the citizens car and placed them behind the fire station for safe storage. I then called the Southeastern Wisconsin Threat Analysis Center (STAC) which is a cooperative law enforcement group co-located with Milwaukee Police Dept’s Intelligence Fusion Center downtown, and requested they notify MPD’s Bomb Squad (that’s whom I dealt with last time). A Lt. from MPD called me shortly after and arranged to come out to pick them up. He happened to be the same guy I dealt with during the Caterpillar incident. In the end, they may or may not have been dangerous . . . it all depends how they are handled and what type of shape they are in. The Lt. stated that he would take them back for safe storage and eventual disposal when they destroy all of their confiscated explosives.
As a side note, these “torpedos” were used by the railroad (and by Bucyrus on their crane rails) to signify trouble or get the operators attention when the rail car or crane wheels passed over them. They were affixed to the tracks with the wires that are protruding out of them (see the pictures). While they were not meant to harm anyone, we are told that they are extremely loud and can cause hearing damage and injuries to anyone handling them.
Filed under Fire
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