Tag Archives: Jeff Stone

April 6, 2011 · 12:07 am

Big Turnout: Tallying Tuesday’s South Milwaukee Election Results

The results are in, and one big headline is the turnout.

More than 5,700 of the city’s 13,378 eligible voters turned out to vote on Tuesday — or 42.8%. This is significantly higher than projected … and surely a sign of the contentious political times we’re in.

You can see South Milwaukee’s election results here.

Among the highlights:

  • The 1st District aldermanic race, the only contested City Council contest, wasn’t very close in the end, with incumbent Mike Karbowski and newcomer Craig Maass coming out on top. Mike Moeller finished third.
  • The rest of the council won re-election in uncontested races. I finished with 727 votes to David Bartoshevich’s 919. Ray Navarro and Pat Stoner will represent the 2nd District, and Lisa Pieper and Joe Bukowski will continue to represent the 3rd District.
  • Three incumbents — John Haslam, Pat Bordak and Carol Dufek — will return to the South Milwaukee School Board for three more years. They were the only three names on the ballot Tuesday.
  • In a further sign of South Milwaukee’s strong Republican leanings in recent elections, Jeff Stone outpolled Chris Abele in the race for Milwaukee County executive, 50.5% to 49.1% — this despite Abele easily winning countywide.
  • Additionally, David Prosser easily outdistanced Joanne Kloppenburg, 53.5% to 46.3%, in a state Supreme Court race that was evenly split statewide.

I will close with a thank you to everyone who voted for me on Tuesday. I look forward to serving the residents of the 4th District for two more years and hopefully more, providing a strong and distinct voice for my constituents and delivering new ideas and a fresh perspective to local government.

5 Comments

Filed under Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 16, 2011 · 11:16 pm

Following Up on the Forum

Update: Check out news coverage from Fox 6 and Oak Creek Patch.

Wednesday night’s South Shore Economic Development Forum was well-intentioned, well-done and well-received, and it was a good way to remind county executive candidates Rep. Jeff Stone and Chris Abele about some of the bigger issues facing our area.

An estimated (my estimate) 150 to 200 people joined Stone, Abele, the mayors of South Milwaukee, Cudahy and St. Francis and Milwaukee County Supervisors Pat Jursik and Marina Dimitrijevic at the forum. Issues discussed included the future of the Hoan Bridge, the extension of the Lake Parkway, the Aerotropolis concept, preserving and enhancing our parks and transit, and water concerns.

A few observations:

  • Perhaps a couple dozen anti-Walker protesters gathered before the meeting at the entrance to the South Milwaukee Peforming Arts Center parking lot.
  • The mayors seemed unified on every issue discussed, certainly a good thing as we work to stand up for our common interests. That said, it would have been nice to have Oak’s Creek’s mayor be part of that discussion. He was not there.
  • I also thought there was too much mayoral/supervisor roundtable and not enough candidate forum. There was only time for three or four questions for Stone and Abele despite dozens being submitted by audience members. Abele arriving 30 minutes late didn’t help.
  • The most interesting question posed to the candidates was one asking how each feels he differs philosophically from Gov. Scott Walker, the former county executive. Abele answered it by focusing on his differences with Walker over the right to collectively bargain and the handling of the budget repair bill. Stone chose not to answer the question … and deftly turned it into a chance to say how he is Jeff Stone, not Scott Walker.
  • Another interesting question was around the concept of “metropolitan government.” The concept was roundly panned as potentially hurting community identity, although there was more support offered around at least the concept of consolidation of certain local services.
  • Airport privatization was also broadly dismissed, with one panelist calling it “a solution in search of a problem.” With the airport drawing record traffic and its future brighter than ever, there seemed little appetite by either executive candidate to pursue the concept once pushed by Walker.
  • The longest sustained applause and only standing ovation of the evening was directed at state Sen. Chris Larson, who Dimitrijevic announced as being in attendance early in the forum. Larson stayed well after the forum, longer than Abele or Stone, talking to constituents and even posing for pictures.

Jursik and Dimitrijevic should get a lot of credit for putting this together and working to keep the South Shore top of mind as we pick a new executive. We need to make sure we continue to be part of that conversation.

Were you at the forum? I’d like to know what you think. Post your comments below.

13 Comments

Filed under Politics

Tagged as , , , ,

March 10, 2011 · 11:07 pm

Debating Debates: Stone, Abele and Wednesday’s South Shore Forum

I’m looking forward to Wednesday’s South Shore Economic Development Forum, and I give Milwaukee County Supervisor Pat Jursik for taking the lead in putting it together.

I am expecting an open, honest and robust discussion about some of the important issues facing the collective economies of South Milwaukee, St. Francis, Cudahy and Oak Creek. There are many … including many that we can, and should, tackle together.

One thing the forum won’t be, however, is a debate. So while the two candidates for Milwaukee County executive are scheduled to be there, state Rep. Jeff Stone and philanthropist Chris Abele will probably not interact much during the event.

Stone is raising Abele’s alleged unwillingness to debate as an issue in the campaign, even as the two candidates appear in 12 forums similar to next week’s before the April 5 election. Check out the Journal Sentinel story here. From it:

Stone called Abele’s rejection of debates a disservice to voters. The sessions Abele has accepted don’t allow an “opportunity for an exchange or a real, true debate of the ideas,” Stone said.

Abele spokesman Brandon Lorenz called Stone’s criticism “a desperate charge from someone who skipped out on two forums in the primary.” Stone did not attend the final two of four candidate forums held before the Feb. 15 primary, when it was a five-way race.

I hope this does not become an issue on Wednesday. There are plenty of other, more important, things we need to discuss.

Leave a comment

Filed under Community

Tagged as , ,

February 23, 2011 · 10:52 pm

Economic Development Forum Set for South Milwaukee PAC

Milwaukee county executive candidates Chris Abele and Jeff Stone are among those appearing at a forum set for Wednesday, March 16, at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center.

The South Shore Forum on Economic Development begins at 6:30 p.m. and includes a roundtable discussion with local leaders and comments from Abele and Stone on key issues like the Hoan Bridge, transit, parks and 794 extension.

Learn more in this story on SouthMilwaukeeNow.com.

2 Comments

Filed under Politics

Tagged as ,

February 15, 2011 · 11:21 pm

Election Results: Good Turnout, Strong Republican Success Again in South Milwaukee

This was not your typical February primary … and that’s why voter turnout was a solid 20.8 percent in South Milwaukee on Tuesday.

In all, 2,279 of 13,378 registered voters came out to the polls, according to figures from the city clerk’s office on Tuesday night.

From the report:

  • Not surprisingly, Republicans polled strongly in South Milwaukee. Jeff Stone, the conservative candidate for Milwaukee County executive, drew 1,321 votes, or 48.2 percent, almost twice as many as Chris Abele (716) and Jim Sullivan (639). Now, if you assume that Abele and Sullivan voters will unite behind Abele (who will join Stone on the general election ballot), things might be interesting in April …
  • Lee Holloway received just 49 votes, or just 1.7 percent, for county executive.
  • Conservative Supreme Court Justice David Prosser also did well here, with 1,543 votes, or 59.4 percent, compared with 607, or 23.4 percent, for second-place finisher Joanne Kloppenburg. Both will advance to the general election in April.
  • The Milwaukee County Circuit Court race was much tighter, not surprisingly, with Ray Korte edging Christopher Lipscomb and Pedro Colon. Korte did not fare as well across the area, and Colon will face Lipscomb in the April general election.
  • The 4th District proved a little less conservative than the city as a whole. Stone drew 45.3 percent (327) of the 721 votes cast in the district in the county executive primary, while Prosser drew 57.5 percent (389) of the 676 votes cast for judge.

The general election is April 5, when you’ll see local aldermanic and school board races on the ballot.

This includes my seat. I appreciate your support.

3 Comments

Filed under Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

November 2, 2009 · 11:37 pm

Where I Stand on the Hoan Bridge

Trust me, you won’t often find me agreeing with Assembly Republican leaders like Greendale’s Jeff Stone. But, when it comes to the Hoan Bridge debate, I am with him 100 percent.

Said Stone, a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee, at a luncheon panel discussion on the Hoan I attended last week at the Milwaukee Press Club: “I don’t think we can make an intelligent decision without a full study on this.”

I agree. Simply, this debate lacks information. It lacks facts. And without them, I am not ready to make up my mind on the future of the Hoan Bridge. Not yet.

And that’s why I have not put my name on the Save the Hoan Coalition. While I respect political leaders like Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Pat Jursik for their efforts on this issue, I am simply not comfortable adding my name to the list.

I need to see options, and that means a real, detailed study by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission or some other agency. No such study now exists, which means the super-charged rhetoric around this issue is just that: words. Loud, often angry words. Words only sometimes based on facts.

Now, let me set three things very straight.

  • I value a fast, seamless connection between the South Shore and downtown … like the one we have now. I take the Hoan Bridge twice a day every workday, and I can’t imagine getting to my job at MillerCoors without it. Whatever happens with the Hoan Bridge, that connection must be preserved. There can not be any compromise there, and I would not support any plan that does so.
  • I also appreciate the Hoan Bridge itself – the iconic, arched span over the Milwaukee harbor that provides some of the best views of our city and lakefront as you drive north toward downtown. I would hate to see it go.
  • And I agree with the Coalition that the way that the DOT has handled this issue so far is a major concern. While I am hesitant to use words like “clandestine,” as the Coalition has, the DOT dropped the ball in not involving South Shore leaders and residents in discussing this important issue from the start. That has bred distrust, and rightfully so. Whatever happens to the Hoan going forward, South Shore residents must be part of the solution. There is no compromise there either.

With that said, I wonder if we can do better by the Hoan Bridge. And that is where a study comes in, for if we are going to look at any alternatives to what we currently have, now is the time to do it, before we spend millions to simply redeck the bridge.

Here are just some of the questions I want answered before I make up my mind on this issue:

  • What will redecking truly cost?
  • Are there other options that would keep the fast connection between the South Shore and downtown while offering more development options near the harbor?
  • Could the Lake Parkway – a roadway I love – be extended another mile or so to bring the roadway down to street level and open up more areas for development?
  • Just what kind of development – and how much development – could realistically occur under and near the current or new-look Hoan Bridge?
  • Is there any way a lift bridge could work? (I have serious doubts about this.)

All of these and many more answers can only be provided in a detailed investigation that looks at all options. The often-discussed and cited HNTB document is far from that. It is merely a sketchbook, someone putting pen to paper and seeing “what if.”

That is simply not enough to make a decision on this issue. I need to see more than pretty pictures to make up my mind. In that way, I agree with Rep. Stone, the Metropolitan Association of Commerce and others on this: Let’s do this right.

I realize my stance is probably not the best for me politically, and I am OK with that. I feel I was elected to make sound decisions on key issues based on good, strong, fact-based information. And I need more information here.

I will keep an open mind until then. I owe that much to my constituents.

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,