Milwaukee Biz Blog

I will begin by simply saying this – the City of Milwaukee desperately needs a mega-dose of tough love.

In the aftermath of the chaos at State Fair and the joint statement released by Alderman Dudzik and myself entitled: “We’re reaping the harvest we’ve sown,” the response from citizens has been most interesting. The overwhelming majority have been supportive, even complimentary, while others have been, shall I say, not so complimentary. In addition, a small number have stated their objections through veiled threats – “watch your back, Alderman – watch your back.”

Yet I will say it again: Milwaukee is facing some monumental challenges, and if we continue to ignore them, they will suck the very life out of this community.

Someone needs to inform my detractors that shooting the messenger doesn’t alter reality. So what is the reality facing Milwaukee? it’s not pretty. These problems are not going away.

Simply put, a society cannot maintain the status quo, let alone prosper, given the level of consistent institutional failure and lack of personal responsibility that exists in our city.

In addition, there are a significant number of neighborhoods in Milwaukee that are simply hellish for people to live in. We are also experiencing a growing number of neighborhoods that are at the tipping point. If crime is indeed down in Milwaukee, then fear and disorder are way up. Crime may be down on paper, but it’s not down in the lives of many of our residents. If the mayor and the police chief disagree with me, then I will simply and respectfully say that we subscribe to different standards!

While some in Milwaukee, both black and white, choose to ignore our most pressing problems, evidently Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia gets it (Google his name and you’ll see what I’m talking about!). When a crisis arises, no matter who is behind it, you must take swift, bold and decisive action. We could sure use that type of leadership here in Milwaukee.

I would also like to acknowledge the fact that because I am not a big believer in reinventing the wheel, much of what I am proposing for the City of Milwaukee comes from Mayor Nutter’s playbook. The rest of my plan comes from previous proposals that I and others have been pushing for years.

A Plan for Milwaukee

1) Revamp the Juvenile Justice System –
Our juvenile justice system is ineffective, outdated and broken. We need reform and we need it now. Chief Flynn was absolutely correct when he stated “The juvenile justice system in the State of Wisconsin is irretrievably broken.” I agree, and I call upon the mayor to meet with Governor Walker, the Attorney General and the Legislature to get this job done.

2) Continue and Increase Police Overtime –
An increased police presence is necessary in many parts of Milwaukee, especially in neighborhoods in transition. Without it we will lose these neighborhoods. It’s already happening.

3) Begin the Process of Filling the over 150 Police Vacancies Now –
Given the level of fear and disorder impacting Milwaukee, filling these authorized positions remains critical. Their presence is needed on our streets now.

4) Strict Curfew Enforcement –
There are reasons why these laws exist. They must be enforced even to the point of holding parents accountable and including summary arrests.

5) Late Night Walks –
Even the best neighborhoods look awfully different at night. Elected officials, pastors, community and youth leaders and concerned citizens need to join our police in walking our neighborhoods late at night.

6) “I Pledge Milwaukee”
Modeled after the program launched in Philadelphia, it is absolutely critical that every concerned citizen pledge to “do what they can and start where you’re at.” Allow me to be the first – I pledge to do whatever I can to ensure the success of this plan.

7) Operation SAFECAM
Surveillance cameras have proven most effective in helping police identify criminal activity and individuals involved in acts of disorder. They have also proven effective in curtailing criminal activity. They must be expanded engaging the private sector. The initiative launched in Philadelphia needs to expand here.

8) Orphanages –
Children have a right to grow up in a safe, secure nurturing environment. For a variety of reasons, that is simply not occurring in far too many homes in Milwaukee. Our foster care system is at best ineffective, and at its worst, broken. While the term “orphanage” may have negative connotations in some people’s minds, let’s not forget that Boys Town is an orphanage. When it comes to this issue, we need to go back to the future. A well run orphanage could provide a much more stable and suitable environment for kids that are currently in foster care. It would also keep siblings from being separated.

9) Boarding Schools –
Our community came very close to realizing the creation of a SEED School (boarding school) for “at-risk” children in our community. The benefits of this type of all-inclusive schooling shouldn’t be limited to the children of affluent families. Governor Walker, the Legislature and our private sector can make this initiative happen – and it’s critical to our future.

10) Drastic and Far Reaching Changes to MPS –
Once again, I am calling for what I and others have been calling for for years. We simply cannot continue to support a school system that is costly, ineffective and, with few exceptions, not meeting our needs.

Admittedly, many of these problems are not easily dealt with. While I applaud the mayor and others for their mentoring and fatherhood initiatives, given the severity of the problem, it’s simply not enough. We need to shake things up in Milwaukee and get this city moving again. Leadership is all about setting priorities, and if some can find the time, resources and money to advance a downtown trolley that at best remains questionable, we ought to be able to tackle some of the more pressing problems facing our city.

If anyone is offering a better plan, or any plan for that matter, I’m all ears. If not this plan, what’s the alternative? If not now, then when? These problems aren’t going away, they’re getting worse.

The clock is ticking, Milwaukee.

Ald. Robert Donovan represents the City of Milwaukee's 8th Aldermanic District.

Not only am I strongly, strongly opposed to what PETA plans to do on Canal Street outside the Cargill plant at noon today, but I think it is absolutely absurd and shameful.
If PETA protestors do what they say they’re going to do – have half-naked people spattered in fake blood and encased in Saran wrap dancing around like human cuts of ground round in the public right-of-way – it constitutes disorderly conduct and in my opinion should not be allowed under any circumstances.
To me, it’s ridiculous that the city attorney has caved in to the PETA threats of legal action (First Amendment) over this, and as the alderman for the area I believe my opposition should have been more solidly supported. If my position doesn’t hold sway, why even have the permit cross my desk? Why waste my time?
My constituents – including many who work at Cargill and put in solid hours week in and week out to support their families – pay me as their alderman to exercise a certain degree of common sense when it comes to approving permits and noise variances for everything from parades to block parties. It (approving the permits) is part of my job, and in this case I firmly believe I am doing my job.
But instead, our bureaucracy just buckles and tells PETA to “come on down with your fake blood and Saran wrap.”
A PETA official was quoted as stating that I “need to be introduced to the First Amendment.” No, I believe strongly that PETA needs to be introduced to common sense!
Further, while they are familiarizing themselves with common sense, I strongly suggest they do it while enjoying a nice steak sandwich.

Milwaukee Alderman Robert Donovan represents the city’s 8th District.

In much the same way they forced General Motors into bankruptcy, unsustainable and overly generous pension and health insurance benefits are leading Milwaukee residents down a road that may force Milwaukee Public Schools into bankruptcy.

Milwaukee is now the fourth-poorest big city in the U.S., and the fiscal and educational failures of MPS have, in my opinion, helped deepen poverty in Milwaukee.

The tax burden heaped upon taxpayers by MPS seems to widen each year, and I think MPS bankruptcy - a process that could be initiated by a referendum put to city voters - is our only viable option to recovery and some semblance of solvency.

Considering our poverty rate, how else will Milwaukee taxpayers dig out from under the billions of dollars in obligations granted by irresponsible MPS school boards?

I ask residents to consider some very hard-to-swallow facts about MPS:

Unsustainable budget

• Rising costs of health care and benefits have led to a $67 million increase in the district’s budget from 2009 to 2011.
• If property taxes are not increased, current trends may result in a budget gap as large as $200 million by the 2012-2013 school year.
• MPS is faced with $2.2 billion in unfunded post-retirement benefits for its employees.
• As a consequence of its current financial problems, MPS may have to cut up to 7.5% of its teaching positions for the next school year (especially art, music and gym teachers), as well as other specialists, such as librarians.
• Class sizes are projected to skyrocket – to as much as 50 students per classroom at the high school level.

 

Increasing reliance on property tax levy

• State aid revenue per student has been flat or declining. This fact, combined with rising district operating costs, has led to an increased reliance on property tax revenues to fund MPS.
• Over the past three years, while the Milwaukee community has been in the grips of a deep recession, the district’s property tax rate increased 33%, from $8.84 to $10.66 per $1,000 assessed valuation. In the past year alone, the increase was almost 9 percent.

 

High employee benefit costs

• Generous and expensive employee benefits – particularly pension plans and health insurance – have been the driving force behind the district’s financial crisis.
• Next year, MPS will provide 77 cents in employee benefits for every dollar it spends on salaries.
• The district currently offers its employees two health insurance plans, one of which costs $7,380 - or 45 percent - more per year (per employee, family plan) than the other 80 percent of MPS employees have enrolled in the more expensive plan.
• MPS could save up to $47.3 million per year if all of its employees used the less costly (but still generous) health plan - enough money to fund more than 450 teaching positions.

The preceding information, put together by the city’s Legislative Reference Bureau, should trouble any city taxpayer and anyone who is truly concerned about Milwaukee’s future.

 

But if you listen to the candidates in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race, there’s no mention or discussion of these catastrophic MPS problems. We just keep hearing both candidates talk about jobs and job creation, but nothing about the MPS problem and its possible ramifications.

Personally, in my travels in Milwaukee I see far too many young people who are ill-equipped for today’s global economy, and who do not possess basic and technical skills needed to secure a good-paying job. I see a lack of communication skills, a manner of dress and appearance, and behavior that will preclude them from working anywhere.

It is mind-boggling to me that Bucyrus International Inc., a manufacturer that is among Milwaukee’s finest employers, is having a hard time finding welders to fill good-paying job slots - the kind of jobs that helped build Milwaukee and this community. Where are our tech skills? Why isn’t Bradley Tech High School churning out students who have skills such as welding?

For that matter, where is Milwaukee Area Technical College in this picture, and why isn’t it producing technically capable young people who can fill jobs in industry and manufacturing?

More than 10 years ago, a private corporation weighed down with debt - Harnischfeger Corp. - filed bankruptcy and emerged as Joy Global Inc. It is now one of Milwaukee’s most successful enterprises.

Why should MPS - a public sector corporation - be prohibited from the same “start over” opportunity? This is a question taxpayers must start asking, and soon.

I believe bankruptcy should be explored NOW for MPS. The unsustainable mountain of debt, rising property tax increases, and billions in unfunded future benefit obligations make bankruptcy seem to me to be our only viable option.

 

Robert Donovan is a Milwaukee alderman.

It seems a news media report (not by BizTimes) last week had me mixed up with my esteemed colleague from the 4th Aldermanic District - also known as “Bob” - and said that I was supportive of the proposed $54 million downtown trolley route.

I am NOT in support of the trolley project, but I had to explain the mix-up to several constituents and residents who either called or approached me in person to express their dismay. I think I’ve set the record straight with most of my constituents on this matter, but just in case there are any doubters, I wanted to raise these points:

• There seems to be zero grassroots energy or momentum calling for a downtown streetcar trolley, and my constituents are certainly NOT clamoring for it. To me it appears that supporters are just trying to find a way to spend the $54 million in federal mass transit money that’s been sitting idle since the early 1990s, and will do anything to make it look like a rail project that somehow puts Milwaukee in a “new modern light” to outside observers.
• My constituents are clamoring for jobs, for more cops, for restoring the Milwaukee Fire Department, for fixing our schools, and for fixing and paving our streets. These are the real “wants” that I’m hearing from them.

Why can’t government deliver what the people really want? Please don’t tell me that the $54 million simply cannot be used for some other public purpose.

 

With our powerful Senator Kohl and Senator Feingold in Washington, D.C., why couldn’t they pull some strings and free the idle transit money up for another purpose? Better yet - how about a binding referendum on how the money should be spent? Let the people decide!

If the choice of how to make use of that $54 million was put in the hands of voters, I guarantee it wouldn’t end up paying for the downtown trolley.

Bob Donovan is the alderman of Milwaukee’s 8th District.

 

During its special session today in Madison, the Wisconsin Legislature chose to delay action on historic legislation that would give Milwaukee’s mayor the power to appoint the superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools and authority over the MPS budget. Instead, legislators want to hold a hearing in Milwaukee in early January on a separate Senate bill that would give more power to the state superintendent of public instruction to supposedly help low-performing schools.

I agree with critics that the Senate bill isn’t as firm as the mayoral control legislation, and in Milwaukee it’s not what’s needed to bring about real, far-reaching changes.

I find it ironic that lawmakers are delaying an MPS reform measure that has been delayed (in arriving) for a decade or more. Does anyone really believe that more delay in making substantive changes in MPS is going to do anything to help our students? And, will the hearing in Milwaukee next month attract anyone other than the usual crowd of special interests on the MPS control issue?

Sure, I’m not thrilled about the delay, but for me the real outrage should be directed at the many opportunities we’ve lost in Milwaukee over the years. Let’s face it, poor leadership in Milwaukee has left us behind so many other cities (Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Des Moines, and Denver, to name just a few) when it comes to economic growth, jobs, transit/transportation, and education. These are often the same cities that are cited as already having a program or an initiative up and running that we are only beginning to talk about or consider; why can’t we be one of those cities?

The long list of missed opportunities, I believe, also stretches to the Milwaukee County Courthouse, where the pension scandal (brought about, in my opinion, by leadership that was not only poor, but also corrupt!) sparked recalls that forced out a county executive and some county supervisors. There was an opportunity to change the way county government does business; but in the end not much has changed there.

While other cities made dramatic changes to their public school systems 10 or 15 years ago, we have a mayor who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into this (mayoral control proposal), despite the obvious glaring mismanagement, deficiencies, dysfunction, mediocrity, and low expectations that have long plagued MPS. Our mayor seems more interested in being liked, rather than providing the bold, gutsy leadership this city needs so badly.

When will we see actual leadership in Milwaukee - leadership that goes beyond just words, and is backed up by real actions?

Robert Donovan is a Milwaukee alderman.

Once and for all, it's time to fill the vacant police officer positions on the Milwaukee Police Department so our city doesn’t have to endure another holiday weekend where citizens are faced with dodging bullets whenever they venture out of doors.

The sad reality is that despite all of the rhetoric about public safety coming from Mayor Barrett, officer vacancies in the police department are higher today than when the mayor assumed office more than three years ago.

As chairman of the Common Council's Public Safety Committee, I have an obligation to do all that I can to ensure that our citizens are being protected from crime and violence to the greatest extent possible. Can I ensure that every citizen is issued a Kevlar vest? No, but I can darn well make sure that our streets and neighborhoods have an adequate level of police presence and law enforcement activity.

To this end I am proposing four new classes of police officer recruits for next year. I vow to do all I can to make sure those classes are approved and that they receive all of the training and preparation they’ll need.

Also, public safety involves both the fire department and the police department, and we can’t "rob Peter to pay Paul." In other words I will not support reducing the capacity of our fire department to help pay for the additional police officers.

Very simply, given the degree of violence and disorder in the community, we need these officers on our streets sooner rather than later. Police presence can deter crime, and despite our best efforts it appears that the current number of officers patrolling our streets is simply inadequate.

I also strongly support extending and expanding the Neighborhood Safety Initiative, which has been very successful in controlling criminal activity and violence in targeted patrol areas this summer. In fact I recently experienced this initiative in person during a ride-along with officers in one of Milwaukee's toughest neighborhoods. I have great respect and admiration for their professionalism, their hard work and their dedication. I applaud Ald. Michael Murphy for spearheading the effort to continue this vital initiative for several more weeks this year, and I vow to help guide efforts to expand it in the coming year.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not castigate the elected public officials who represent many of the areas where these shootings have been taking place. There is a deafening silence, quite frankly, in the African-American community – the very community most affected by the deadly violence – and I find it mind-boggling that the individuals representing the most affected areas are perhaps the most silent and are also the ones who consistently vote against efforts to step up enforcement and to add more police officers. It is time for these "leaders" to stand up and do something about what is and has been ripping their neighborhoods apart.

I'm calling upon all of the decent citizens of Milwaukee - people from all races, backgrounds and nationalities – to stand up and say, "Enough Is enough!" Contact the mayor and your alderman and demand that the police vacancies be filled and order restored to our streets.

Robert Donovan is a Milwaukee alderman.

 

 

Dear Mayor Barrett, 

With police staffing levels decreasing to a point where, at times, we have had as few as six to eight officers patrolling a district of as many as 100,000 residents, a dangerously unacceptable situation exists.

I will not mince words. Whether you choose to admit it or not, Milwaukee is facing a public safety crisis.
We can wait no longer to deal with it. While I wholeheartedly agree that police can’t solve all of society’s problems, given the appropriate resources they can maintain a level of order in the community that is sorely lacking at this time. 

It is incumbent upon you to address the escalating violence. As Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, I am very concerned about this coming summer. Already we are seeing an increase in violence and disorder. I can only imagine what this summer will bring. Steps need to be taken now to begin a turnaround. 

I am calling on you to take the leadership role I know you are capable of to move forward and I’m asking that you do the following: 

1. Create ten investigator positions to speed up the background checks on police recruits.
2. Add a fourth police class of 66 recruits for 2007. It is essential that we fill the vacancies and begin to do so now.
The reality is that additional officers won’t have an impact for about a year. Steps need to be taken in order to salvage as peaceful a summer as possible. That’s why I am proposing these additional steps: 
3. Call upon the Governor to deploy 50-75 National Guard military police to augment our police force.
4. Work with the Milwaukee County Sheriff to relieve the County of freeway patrol duties in order to have deputies available to assist MPD. State patrol could assume the freeway responsibilities.
5. Begin the process of allowing lateral transfers. Qualified individuals that work for other law enforcement agencies can simply do an abbreviated training on Milwaukee’s specific policing strategies and then and more quickly transfer in to MPD.
6. Implement a program that has been successful in Chicago whereby officers assigned to desk duty are put on street duty one day a week, staggered.
7. Put a moratorium on all promotions within MPD since these have a trickle down effect, diminishing the lower ranks where the actual patrol officers are. These are the officers that are doing the work and promotions take from their numbers.
8. Lead a delegation of civic leaders, business owners, social service groups, and public officials to Madison to call on the Governor and the Legislature to increase state shared revenue to pay for these public safety efforts.

I look forward to hearing your strategy to improve public safety. I trust you share my concern about summertime violence and will take measures to nip it in the bud. 

Finally Tom, I would be remiss if I didn’t gently chastise you for your most unflattering penchant of taking credit for other people’s hard work. From surveillance cameras to cops in schools and everything in between relating to public safety, both you and I know not one of these ideas has originated from your office.

Let’s work together for a change. The citizens of this City deserve as much.

Cordially,

Bob Donovan
Alderman, 8th  District

Cc: Chief Nannette Hegerty
Members of the Common Council
Milwaukee Police Association
Sheriff David Clarke
Members of the Milwaukee County Board
Milwaukee County Executive, Scott Walker