South Milwaukee Blog

What a terrific way to celebrate our city and our most iconic attraction … thank you to Brian Morrison and Friends of Grant Park for bringing us these truly special events. Mark your calendars!

Check out the individual Facebook events here.

More wins than losses, over the course of years – that’s how we’re going to turn around downtown South Milwaukee, just as other communities have revitalized countless downtowns across the area, state and country.

It takes patience, dedication, hard work, creativity and a clear sense of self to make this work. And we’re delivering … one property, one activity, one event at a time.

Ready for a roundup?

Let’s start with some bittersweet news from the local dining scene: You may have heard Scrappy’s BBQ is closing this week. I say “bittersweet” because I know a key reason why Mike is doing this is because he needs to spend more time at his other successful, growing and local family business, Classic Cargo International. I wish him nothing but the best, and will sure miss his burnt ends. That property is for sale.

On to the good news, and there is a lot …

• Borak Entertainment. Much more to come on this, but Papa Luigi’s finally has a new user five years after the flooding damage to the building: Borak Entertainmen. This Latin dance nightclub has already hosted several events in the space, such as live bands and dance; free lessons on Thursday and Saturday dance nights; painting classes; and seasonal fashion shows. I met the new owner recently and left impressed with his plans to make this building a regional hub for Latin dancing and more, building on his existing work at The Wherehouse and other locations. Check out their Facebook page for more information on who they are and what they do — and I think you’ll see how much potential this has to bring new life to this historic building and our downtown.
• Bonnie Holly is back! Bonnie (aka Natalie Gajewski) was the co-owner of Revolution Hair Studio downtown before it closed last year, to be replaced by Black Sheep Tattoo. Well, Bonnie never left the business, and she’s opening Barbarella, a new brick-and-mortar studio at 915 Milwaukee Ave., next to Avenue Coffee. She replaces Mara’s Sewing House, which recently moved to 1233 Milwaukee Ave. Bonnie expects to open in May, and we’ll be celebrating her return as well.
• Aurora Healthcare’s plans for 900 Milwaukee are also progressing, as they look to bring 20 back-office employees downtown to its closed Lakeshore Medical Clinic space. They expect to be open this summer.
• There’s also a new CBD oil business planned, according to the Shepherd Express.
• Coming soon: A new downtown community garden! Growing South Milwaukee is hosting a formal unveiling of its garden space in the 1300 block of Milwaukee Avenue on May 26. Check out the Facebook event here. I’m told all plots are booked for this season, but there are still plenty of ways to get involved in this unique effort that combines urban revitalization and urban agriculture.
• Speaking of events … there are three big ones coming up downtown.
  • First, the Rotary Club of Mitchell Field is bringing back its Food Truck Sunday on May 19. Details here.
  • The South Milwaukee Downtown Market opens its 11^th season on Thursday, May 30, bringing dozens of vendors, live music and a palpable energy to our city center each week. This is a cornerstone of our downtown revitalization efforts.
  • And, of course, Crusherfest! Progress continues on the making of Da Crusher statute, and it’s on track to be in the ground at the farmers’ market site by June. The big unveiling party, Crusherfest, is set for June 8-9, and it promises to be among the most unique celebrations in the region, to go along with one the most unique attractions. Details here.

And there is one more piece of bittersweet news downtown.

The sweet part is that the law firm of Eberhardy & Eberhardy has moved from Cudahy to South Milwaukee, to 2211 10th Ave. I want to welcome Paul, Sara and their team to the city. It’s exciting to have this respected firm now call South Milwaukee home. More details to come on their official opening.

You may recognize the address, and that’s the bitter part – it’s the former Drenzek Chiropractic office. You may have heard that Dr. Kristin sold her business last year after being diagnosed with cancer. Well, I’m happy to report that Dr. Kristin’s cancer is in remission and she is starting a new career! She will be working side by side with her husband, Nick, in their new Charles Schwab branch office in Oak Creek’s Drexel Town Square.

Welcome to South Milwaukee, Dr. Weiss!

From the press release, released shortly after the decision made at Wednesday’s board meeting …

School Board President Carol Dufek is pleased to announce that Dr. Jeff Weiss was selected as the new Superintendent of the School District of South Milwaukee effective July 1, 2019. The School Board approved his appointment at the School Board meeting this evening.

The search process, beginning in January 2019, included a rigorous application and several interviews. Finalists completed an extensive interview process which involved staff, parents and a student, as well as several opportunities for the School Board to meet with candidates.

Dr. Weiss has been the Superintendent of Richmond School District in Sussex, Wisconsin, since 2013. He previously worked in the Racine Unified School District as Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Park High School Principal, and Supervisor of English/Language Arts. Previous to his time in Racine, Dr. Weiss was an English/reading teacher and specialist.

We believe that his educational experiences in different leadership positions will be helpful in leading the School District of South Milwaukee in the future as we continue to serve the educational needs of our students. By the timely completion of this search, a smooth leadership transition can occur for the 2019-20 school year to insure future educational stability for the students and staff in the School District of South Milwaukee.

Dr. Weiss obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside and his Masters of Education Degree at Carthage College. He continued his professional studies by earning certifications at Cardinal Stritch University and completed his Doctorate of Education degree at Cardinal Stritch University in 2017.

I look forward to building on the partnership between the city and school district, which only grew stronger under the leadership of outgoing Superintendent Rita Olson. Good luck in retirement, Dr. Olson!

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Honored to honor Richard Thinnes at Tuesday’s South Milwaukee Common Council. What a dedicated community volunteer, including more than 40 years in support of South Milwaukee Human Concerns.

Thanks for your service, Mr. Thinnes! You have touched many, many lives, and our city is better for your tireless work.

From the South Milwaukee Beautification Committee …

Bring your green thumb, celebrate spring, and join us in planting in the downtown! We are looking for volunteers to help us on Saturday May 11th to plant in the downtown planters, get the Veterans Memorial site prepared for Memorial Day and (time permitting) work on select city welcome signs.

Free lunch and beverages will also be served. Meet us at 9:00 a.m. at Tri-City Plaza on 10th and Milwaukee and work until we’re done!

All ages are welcome. Have a group interested in helping? That would be great! Email me at brooks@smwi.org. Or just show up.

A busy month starts April 26 with UNBOXED, featuring the Davis Boys & Girls Club Dancers, an original media/dance stage play about the power of individuality written and directed by Cedric Gardner.

Also, registration is coming up for South Milwaukee Youth Theatre, and the SMPAC’s Season Preview & Tasting Party is May 22.

And it’s awesome to see George Winston, one of my favorite musicians, making a return to South Milwaukee!

There are also Showcase Dance Studio (April 28) and Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy (May 18) planned.

Here is a full schedule. Details at the SMPAC website.

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Please join me at South Milwaukee’s event starting at 7 p.m. on May 2 at City Hall.

Thanks to Franciscan Villa for this collaboration!

The legislature’s Join Finance Committee held its only Milwaukee-area budget public hearing on Wednesday in Oak Creek.

And while I had to leave the packed event before I could present them in person, I shared these remarks with the committee. From them …

The first few months of divided government have further polarized a polarized state, and instead of lawmakers working to unite us, we get the opposite. I fear the budget process will be another example of that.

But I have hope.

I have hope that you, the Joint Finance Committee, your colleagues and the governor will ultimately put their partisan differences aside starting with the budget process … coming together around common sense ideas that move Wisconsin forward and improve the lives of the people who live here – the millions who call our cities, villages and towns home.

I represent 21,000 of those people. And I stand before you today asking for your help in making our jobs a little easier, for your help in making sure we can continue to deliver our services in the manner and at the level our residents have come to expect of us.

Police, fire, paramedics, public health, our library and senior center, garbage pickup, and, yes, snowplowing – even on an April day like this – we deliver these on the front lines of government every day. We are the government people see most often, and what they rely on most.

Levy limits make that job increasingly difficult.

You will hear a lot of suggestions today and throughout these hearings, so I will make mine short and sweet: Deliver common-sense levy limit reform in this budget.

Keep alive the proposals Governor Evers has put forth, especially the one to allow communities to increase their levy from the prior year by 2% or by net new construction, whichever is greater. That small change alone would impact millions of residents of this state for the better, as it will allow us to more adequately fund the services they need and use every day or week.

Here is South Milwaukee’s story, in summary …

For 11 straight years, our “net new construction” figure – used to calculate how much we can increase our base levy, our largest source of revenue – has measured less than 1%. For 2019, it was 0.3%, meaning we were only able to increase our levy by approximately $22,000. 

$22,000. On a $19 million budget. And it was worse in previous years.

This is not sustainable. Costs go up, and we’re not allowed to reflect that in our budgets because the state has hamstrung us on revenue. And what if we want to give our people a raise, or if we want to add services? What do we do then?

I’ll tell you one thing we can’t do: Cut fat. We did that long ago. Cuts now are cuts to people, and services. The days of Cadillac benefits are long gone too. We certainly seek ways to do things better through efficiencies and partnerships, but those only go so far.

South Milwaukee went to referendum in 2017, to ensure we can adequately fund our paramedic  program and add two new police officers. It passed 2-to-1. While that allowed us to increase our levy and helped solve that problem, this is no way to fund a government. “One-off” solutions like this don’t solve the problem.

You can help solve the problem, with levy limit reform.

And don’t do it for us. Do it for the hundreds of communities like us across the state, big and small, blue and red, urban and rural, rich and poor, in every legislative district, including yours.

There’s a lot of data here, but I’ll offer this point from the Wisconsin Policy Forum: “During 2012-16, only 62 of nearly 600 cities and villages averaged new construction rates of 2% per year or more, while 186 averaged 0.5% or less.”

186 at 0.5% or less. And for many like us, this has been the case for a decade. We are not alone in doing more with less, literally.

Please fix this in the next state budget.

I’m not asking for more shared revenue or other state aids, although there is a strong case for that as well. Others will make that case. Today, I’m simply asking you to give us the tools and funding flexibility we need to do our jobs at the local level.

Enact common sense levy limit reform and, in doing so, make a stand for local government and for local control — and for the residents we serve, your constituents.

Effective April 4, 2019, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved the South Milwaukee Water Utility’s application to increase water rates by an average of 41%.

Check out the Water Utility web page for more information, including details on the capital project the increase is supporting, the detailed ruling by the PSC and a list of frequently asked questions.

The utility tells me we will start billing the step 1 rates on a prorated basis May 1, and the step 2 rates on Sept. 1.

From the Rotary Club of Mitchell Field …

Welcome Summer with One of the First Food Truck Events in 2019 

Food Truck Sunday is coming on Sunday, May 19 at South Milwaukee’s Downtown Market, 11th & Milwaukee Avenues. The trucks start serving at noon and stay until 4 p.m. so there’s time to enjoy lunch, meet friends and take home dinner for later.

Returning food trucks include All About Tacos, Cupcake-A-Rhee, Little Havana Express, Marco Polo, The Rolling Cones, and Timber’s BBQ.

• All About Tacos has almost every taco combination you can imagine and donates a portion of their profits to breast cancer research.
• Cupcake-A-Rhee will make you drool with their mouth-watering selection of cupcakes.
• Little Havana Express claims some of the most “authentic” Cuban sandwiches in Milwaukee with their shredded beef and chicken breast sandwiches and Havana pork plates.
• Marco Polo serves crispy chicken with authentic international sauces.
• The Rolling Cones offers unique rolled bread cones stuffed with your choice of meat and vegetarian fillings.
• Timber’s BBQ has some of Milwaukee’s finest BBQ, smoking up wings, brisket, ribs and more with a distinct flair that sets it apart from the competition.

New this time around are A & A Cafe, My Funnel Truck, Pinâ Mexican Eats, Rollin Smoke, and Yogi’s Pud’n Bowltique.

• A & A Cafe features gourmet sandwiches, loaded homemade chips, and salads.
• My Funnel Truck is the place to get the “perfect funnel cake” and ice cream creations.
• Pinâ Mexican Eats, a spin off from the Pineapple Cafe, will make their debut with authentic tacos, burritos, nachos, and quesadillas.
• Rollin Smoke puts a new twist on barbecue with BBQ nachos, smoked Italian beef, BBQ mac & cheese, smoked cheesy potatoes, smoked chocolate mousse and fatties – bacon-wrapped sausages stuffed with all different things then sliced and served as a sandwich.
• Last, but not least, Yogi’s Pud’n Bowltique has people raving about her amazingly delicious, decadent, rich, and completely satisfying pudding flavors are.

The family-friendly event offers live music by acoustic guitarist Rohn Eric Larson and lots of seating at shaded picnic tables. Parking and admission are free.

Food Truck Sunday is hosted by the Rotary Club of Mitchell Field with support from Educators Credit Union. Proceeds from the sale of beverages go back to the South Shore communities of Milwaukee County via grants to non-profits and college scholarships for students.

For more information on Food Truck Sunday, visit facebook.com/southmilwaukeefoodtruck or rcomf.org.

I love this! From the South Shore Chamber of Commerce …

South Shore Soup: 4 p.m. on April 28 at Milwaukee Gourmet House, 800 Milwaukee Ave. in South Milwaukee.

South Shore Soup is a micro-granting soup dinner supporting creative projects in Cudahy, St. Francis, and South Milwaukee; the communities that make up the South Shore Chamber. This innovative micro-granting event has been done throughout the Country and in Milwaukee.

Please email infossccwi@gmail.com for an application.

Tickets can be purchased online at ssccwi.com

PLEASE RSVP ON OR BEFORE Friday, April 26, 2019

Deadline to Submit Application: Sunday, April 21, 2019. Winners will be contacted on April 22, 2019.

How to attend: For a donation of $10 for adults (children 12 and under are free), attendees receive a variety of hearty soup, salad, bread, desert and they VOTE for a grantee. Pr-registration is recommended to get a count for the food.

How it works: At the Soup dinner you hear from four presentations ranging from art, urban agriculture, social entrepreneurs, education, technology and more in hopes the attendees will “grant” them the proceeds from the soup dinner for their cause.

What is the process: Each presenter has four minutes to share their idea and answer four questions from the audience. At the event, attendees eat, talk, share resources, enjoy and vote on the project they think most benefits the cities most. At the end of the night we count the ballots and the winner goes home with all the attendee registration money raised to carry out their project.

Winners come back to a future Soup dinner to report their projects progress.

Do you have a project you would like to support? Do you know a group that would like to sign up? Have them fill out an application. Questions email Trish Wimer at trish2@wi.rr.com

Congratulations to the South Milwaukee boys’ and girls’ track teams, which both took home Woodland Conference East team championships on Tuesday. Check out the full results here.

A special shoutout to our champions!

• Boys: Aidan Sodemann (800 and 1600 meters); Riley Williams (triple jump); Ty Spaltholz (shot put); Daylehn Juszczak (pole vault); and the 4×400 relay team of Jacob Wysocki, Zach Fredrickson, Tarek Slusar, and Kashief Deacon.
• Girls: Katie Keller (3200 meters); Jordyn Benn (high jump); Kali Schlunz (pole vault); Kaylee Patnode (long jump and triple jump); the 4×160 relay team of Patnode, Olivia Osborne, Nora Rajchel-Wilcox and Araia Breedlove; and the 4×240 relay of Keegan Schell, Kiley Rohrscheib, Abby Benn, and Olga Ortiz-Salgado.

Go Rockets!

I’m really proud of the city’s Adopt a Tree program.

Created by the South Milwaukee Beautification Committee three years ago, this public-private partnership has already led to the planting of 100 trees on local streets, with another 50 coming this year.

And we’re not stopping anytime soon. The goal: Reforest city streets, and in doing so deliver all the benefits trees bring.

The good news for residents this year: After our initial solicitation for participants — letters sent to homeowners who have seen trees removed recently — we still have a couple dozen trees remaining for purchase. Cost is just $100, a fraction of the overall cost of the cost of the tree and planting.

Interested? Learn more here.

This program is just one aspect of our enhanced urban forestry efforts in the city in recent years, and there are more to come. I’ll share some of those successes on Arbor Day on April 26.

Like many communities, we continue to remove dead and dying trees across the city, especially ash. But for the first time in many years, we are planting, too, and that investment in our city’s green infrastructure is great news for South Milwaukee. The Adopt a Tree program brings that investment to life, literally.

South Milwaukee is looking for a new library director.

Nan Champe, who has served in the role since 2014, has accepted a position as the library director in Pewaukee, and I wish her nothing but the best. Her leadership during an important time of transition at the library was greatly appreciated.

From physical improvements (including an awesome new mural by a talented local artist) to stronger collection management to enhanced programming to internal operations, Nan drove an incredible amount of positive change for this vital community resource, and leaves the library in a really strong position for her replacement.

Check out the job posting here.

Thanks, Nan, for your service, and thanks to the South Milwaukee Library Board for your guidance during this important time, and going forward. This board is full of talented, passionate members who love libraries and this city — and I’m excited to see who they hire as Nan’s replacement.

Kathy Manning, previously in leadership roles at the Germantown and North Shore libraries, will serve as the interim director. Welcome, Kathy!