South Milwaukee Blog

So, you want to run for local office? If so, you had better get on it.

Up for election next year are the mayor (Thomas Zepecki), city clerk (Kathleen Lisowski), city treasurer (Karen Skowronski), city attorney (Joseph Murphy) and municipal judge (William Fenger).

So far, it appears each one is running again in 2010. 

As of Friday there was a declared challenger in just one race: mayor. Former 3rd District Alderman Richard Raduenz has announced his intentions to run against Zepecki in 2010. Zepecki, who is seeking his fourth term, easily beat Raduenz in 2008. Learn more here.

There’s still time to enter any race, however. Prospective candidates must declare their candidacy and submit nomination signatures by January 5.

Learn more about the paperwork and other requirements to run for office on this checklist from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

Remember that all 4th District residents will now vote at Rawson Elementary School, 1410 Rawson Avenue, as part of a shift towards one polling place per district. Previously, there were two. I support this change because it saves money, adds efficiency and, most importantly, eliminates confusion among district residents about where they should vote.

Click here to see a list of city polling places, as well as 2010 election dates.

And I’ll keep you posted as more candidates enter the local spring races.

From an award for a local alderman to some good deeds done by our largest employer, here are some recent headlines of note …

• Amvets Post 4 Award Dinner: Jim Shelenske, alderman from the 3rd District, is being honored by Amvets with its Community Service Award. Congratulations, Jim!
• Resolve to Improve the Profitability of Your Business: This item from NOW has more information about a class being offered through the South Shore Economic Development Consortium, the coalition of economic development leaders from South Milwaukee, Cudahy and St. Francis. I previously wrote about this group and its innovative efforts at starting a “Buy South Shore” campaign. Check it out here.
• Anti-Noise Group Tries to Shush Bill Honoring Harleys: Find out what made State Sen. Jeff Plale, D-South Milwaukee, say the following: “I am proud to accept their Dirty Dozen award, and I look forward to hanging it on my wall.”
• United Way Tops $45M Goal: See how Bucyrus helped United Way get there.
• Bucyrus Helps Patrick Cudahy by Buying Hams
• Judge Adds to Sizzler USA Award in E. Coli Case

I received a crime update from the South Milwaukee Police Department this evening. It’s a bit concerning, but I’m glad the SMPD got its man.

On Sunday, December 13, 2009 at about 11:54a.m. the Aldi grocery store at South Chicago Ave. and Drexel Blvd. was robbed by a lone, masked gunman. Witnesses saw a subject walk into the store with a black ski mask over his face. That subject walked to the back of store via the checkout lanes that were busy. The subject then walked to the back of the store and then came back to the sole cashier. The subject told her she needs to open her drawer and he pulled a gun (didn’t point it at anyone), took the money from the drawer and walked out of the store. Witnesses followed and obtained a good vehicle description and almost complete license plate of that car. This led to an arrest of a suspect within about 1 hour and 20 minutes of the robbery taking place. The suspect has not been charged as of this time, it is set to be reviewed in the next few days.

One thing that can be learned from this is when a person enters your business wearing a ski mask, and does not remove it, the Police should be called. Even in Wisconsin winters, it is not “normal” for a person to continue to wear a full mask inside a business. It is better to call the Police and determine nothing criminal is taking place than to wait until after an incident does occur. The sooner the Police are able to respond the better our chances of locating a suspect.

There was no immediate word on if this incident may be related to other recent armed robberies in Cudahy and St. Francis.

From the time I first heard the concept, I’ve been intrigued — a coalition of communities around Mitchell International Airport working together to promote economic development around this valuable transportation resource.

An Aerotropolis.

The Daily Reporter has a story on the concept — and the move afoot to unite interested parties to move forward on it — on its website. Check it out here.

The Airport Gateway Business Association is a key driver of the initiative locally, and, according to the story, it seeks to “form a nonprofit business called Milwaukee Gateway Aerotropolis Corp. that would attempt to attract businesses to the area around General Mitchell. The nonprofit corporation would collect money from municipalities to draft plans for the area, promote it to businesses and seek state and federal grants for development projects.”

The goal: Attract a cluster of aviation-oriented businesses around Mitchell International to create an “airport city” that drives economic development in surrounding communities … including the South Shore.

You can learn more about the concept on the website of John D. Kasarda, a leading national proponent of the concept, here. From his site:

Airports will shape business location and urban development in the 21st century as much as highways did in the 20th century, railroads in the 19th and seaports in the 18th.”

Why? He adds:

Major airports are key nodes for global production and enterprise systems offering them speed, agility, and accessibility. They are also powerful engines for local economic development attracting aviation-linked businesses of all types to their environs. These include, among others, time-sensitive manufacturing and distribution; hotel, entertainment, retail, and exhibition complexes; and office buildings that house regional corporate headquarters and air-travel intensive professionals.

As aviation-oriented businesses cluster around these airports and along transportation corridors radiating from them, a new urban form is emerging — the Aerotropolis.

What an opportunity, one I’m glad is getting some traction locally.

From the Daily Reporter story:

The Gateway business association is asking for representatives of eight area municipalities, Milwaukee County, General Mitchell and the Port of Milwaukee to serve on the nonprofit company’s board, pledge to dedicate city planners’ time to its efforts and raise $5,000 to run the business. The airport business association would dedicate $15,000 to the effort.

I’d like to see South Milwaukee take part in this.

I support taking a regional perspective to economic development, working with area communities and organizations, when possible, to grow the entire area. Certainly, there are times when cities have to be self-interested when looking to grow, but more often than not partnerships are the preferred route to economic development. Working in isolation, too often we all lose.

The South Shore Economic Development Consortium is a great example of the possibility of partnership. The Aerotropolis has the potential to be another.

Just received the following email alert from the South Milwaukee Police Department:

The cities of Saint Francis and Cudahy have had a total of three armed robberies over the past few weeks.  The suspect is described as a white male, 5’9″-6′, slim to medium build.  The suspect has been using a handgun during the robberies and has been covering his face with a mask and hood, which is on prior to him entering the businesses.  It is believed that the same suspect is involved in all three robberies. The target businesses so far have been restaurants with a time frame of about 5:30p.m.-8:30p.m..  No vehicle description has been obtained.  Please advised your employees of this and go over your money drop and hold-up policies with them.  No South Milwaukee business has been targeted as of this time, but the proximity of the other two cities with ours puts us at a higher risk. 

If your business is robbed, it is very important that employees call 911 as soon as it is safe and prior to making any other phone calls! Have you employees lock the door as soon as it is safe to prevent the suspect from returning if he is spooked.  Remind employees to get as good of description as they can including clothing, height/weight, vehicle and a direction of travel. 

If you see a person matching the above description in or near your business do not hesitate to call 911!  It is not uncommon for criminals to “case” or watch a business prior to entering it.  Being aware of your surroundings is one of the first steps to being safe. 

Remember, you can sign up to receive these updates from Officer Mike Hill by emailing him at mhill@ci.south-milwaukee.wi.us. And a big thanks to Officer Hill for offering this valuable service.

Snow-mageddon never quite materialized for South Milwaukee, but my thanks go out once again to our hard-working road crews for keeping the streets clear of the slushy mess that fell in the city.

I also have answers to a few of the questions raised by my earlier post on the city’s snow policies. Among them:

• Shoveling. Here is what our code has to say about shoveling your sidewalk after a snowfall. You have to do it “within 24 hours of daylight” after the storm. Confused? I was too. Simply, what it means is that if the snow stops during daylight hours, the clock starts ticking immediately, and you have 24 hours from that point to clear off your sidewalk. If the snow stops during overnight hours, the clock starts ticking at dawn the next day … and your 24 hours start then.
• Snow emergencies. I had a couple questions about these. First, let me start by saying that these are apparently very rare for South Milwaukee. City Administrator Tami Mayzik estimates that only one or two have been declared in the 13 years she’s been with the city. With that in mind, when one is declared, parking is indeed prohibited on main thoroughfares in South Milwaukee (College, Rawson, Milwaukee and 15th avenues among them) from to 2 to 6 a.m. View a list of these streets here.
• Parking options. I also had a question asking if the city provides any parking options for those who have nowhere else to park during a snow emergency. The answer: We don’t. We leave it up to residents to make their own alternate arrangements.

I hope these answers are helpful when the next snow-nami rolls around.

Snow season is here … and it’s going to pack a wallop Tuesday night and Wednesday.

With that in mind, here’s some things to keep in mind when it comes to snow removal, along with the corresponding section of the municipal code.

• Snow and ice must be removed from your sidewalk “within 24 hours of daylight” after the end of a storm. (Section 12.20).
•  You also have to make sure snow is removed from your roof “within six hours of daylight” after a storm. The fear is it could fall from the roof. (Section 12.24).
• And, if you don’t comply, “the Street Superintendent shall without notice have the ice and snow removed therefrom” … and have the service charged to the homeowner “as a special tax against said lot or parcel of land, and the same shall be collected in all respects like other taxes upon real estate.” (Section 12.26).

Of course, the city has a responsibility during heavy snowfalls, too — clearing the streets. And it’s a job our Street Department performs ably. According to the department’s website:

The Street Department conducts an average of 30 salting operations during an average winter season. Snowfalls which require plowing average six times during the winter and range from light and fluffy, to heavy and wet snow.

This week’s storm promises to be of the heavy and wet variety … so please be patient when it comes to having your streets cleared. You can contact the Street Department at 768-8075 if you have any questions or concerns about plowing.

If the mayor declares a snow emergency, that would mean parking would be prohibited on arterial city streets between 2 and 6 a.m. until the emergency is lifted. Stay tuned on that one. You can learn more about snow emergencies on this page on the South Milwaukee Police Department website, and in Section 28.10 of the municipal code.

I just received the December newsletter from the South Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce today. You can view it here.

The newsletter contains item on a special Chamber Christmas ornament, some affordable family fun at AMF South Park Lanes and a holiday raffle at M&M Physical Therapy.

Click here to visit the Chamber website and learn more about this valuable organization.

The chamber’s goal is to “promote the commercial, retail and civic welfare of our city,” according to its website. “We have joined together to promote South Milwaukee because we believe South Milwaukee is a wonderful place to live and work.” I couldn’t agree more.

The South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center is a true jewel for our community — and that jewel shines bright at Christmas time.

Two big Christmas shows are coming up this week.

• The Milwaukee Children’s Choir will present “A Festival of Winter Spirit” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 6.
• And the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra returns on Wednesday, December 9, with its Hometown Holiday Concert. The performance starts at 7:30 p.m.

You can order tickets by calling 766-5049, or visit the SMPAC website for more.

In case you missed it, here is some news of note from the area …  

• Reprimand Withdrawn Against South Milwaukee Firefighter
• Allied Printing Expands After Acquisition of Competitor
• Another example of why the 2010 South Milwaukee budget was not nearly as painful as it could have been: 3 Weeks After Passing Budget, Franklin Cuts Another $300,000
• Regulators Approve We Energies Deal
• And, not surprisingly, South Milwaukee Republican State Rep. Mark Honadel has endorsed Scott Walker for governor, according to a recent press release from the Walker camp.

The South Milwaukee Common Council voted 8-0 Tuesday to approve the 2010 city budget.

So, what will that mean on your tax bill?

The tax rate approved by the council is about $7.09 per $1,000 of assessed valuation — an approximately 12-cent increase from 2009 — meaning that for the owner of a $200,000 home, the city portion of your tax bill will be $1,418, up from $1,392 last year.

That’s a $26 increase, or about $2 per month.  

Keep in mind that this is for the city portion of your tax bill only … the only part of your bill that the Common Council can control. And we indeed kept increases under control.

I hope 4th District residents are happy with the finished product. I know I am.

I am also grateful for the experience I gained — and lessons I learned from city administration and staff, department heads and other alderpersons — in going through my first budget process as an alderman. It’s knowledge I will apply in coming years.

Check out this post to learn more about the budget.

The South Milwaukee Common Council meets at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1, at City Hall, and it’s your final chance to weigh in on the proposed 2010 budget. I hope you can attend.

We held a public hearing on the budget on Monday evening, and no citizens chose to comment on the document. While that’s disappointing, I am happy with the budget we’ll be voting on on Tuesday … and you should be too.

Among the highlights of the proposed budget, which reflect some new, much closer-to-final figures from previous drafts:

• Expenditures are budgeted to increase 2.55% to more than $19.7 million. This is below the state’s expenditure restraint limit of 3.2%, meaning South Milwaukee is line for a payment of nearly $375,000 from the state in 2010 — a well-deserved “reward” for conservative budgeting.
• The tax levy is anticipated to increase 2.49% next year, putting the total levy for city purposes at just over $10 million.
• The corresponding tax rate will be $7.08 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of 1.77% from 2009, or about 12 cents per $1,000 of valuation on the city portion of your tax bill.

I invite you to learn more about the budget at Tuesday’s council meeting and, if you’d like, let your voice be heard on this important document.

And, while you’re at it, give a big thanks to the mayor, Finance Committee, city administrator and her staff, and all of our department heads for putting together a fiscally responsible and financially sound budget during a difficult economy.

This budget is not without pain — for instance, it includes not filling four vacant positions in the street, engineering and health departments and library — but it could have been worse, a lot worse, if not for a lot of hard work by a lot of people.