"BOOMGAARD" NAME GOOD AS "GOLD"

"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them." -- Bill Vaughn

"The word "Boomgaard" is Dutch for "orchard" -- Cities of Franklin and Oak Creek, WI joint press release April 23rd, 2008.

A MilwaukeeWorld Hound Dog Team report

Special to the readers of milwaukeeworld

By Michael Horne

There is a new name for S. 27th Street as it slices through Oak Creek and Franklin: Call it "Boomgaard." C'mon! We dare you! You'll get used to it! It's PR 101!
"Boomgaard" is brought to you by the branding wizards at The Zizzo Group. Remember them? Three years ago this week, Zizzo gave Marquette University sports teams the name "Gold." You remember what a success that was.
The Journal Sentinel called the Gold a "14-karat Fiasco." Anne Zizzo said it was "PR 101" that people would get used to the "Gold" name, but it was dropped within a week after much public outcry.
By November, Elizabeth Hockerman of the Small Business Times wrote "Crisis Management 101: Zizzo Survives Own PR Nightmare." And now she's back.

We are supposed to be happy that the Cities of Franklin and Oak Creek have teamed up in a joint venture to provide a "high-quality urban atmosphere, to attract, secure, and retain high-quality development,business and institutions," on their shared, commercial border. Their portion of S. 27th "Straat" -- The Boomgaard, if you will -- runs six miles from the City of Milwaukee border to the Racine County Line and was home to truck farms and orchards for generations.
The promotional material refers to "settlers living off of the land until the 1970s when grocery stores became prevalent." Who among us does not remember the peasants of Oak Creek and Franklin scurrying down to their root cellars as darkness approached, their barefoot children gathering raspberries on the side of the road waiting for the day that a supermarket might come to town?
For this the taxpayers paid $329,633 to the Zizzo Group as part of its subcontract with engineering firm HNTB for "branding and creative marketing theme work." It was the unanimous favorite of the representatives of the cities and their stakeholders, according to a Franklin Now article by Julie Becker reporting the decision. The councils met in closed session, in apparent violation of the state open meetings law, and the stakeholders are unidentified. However, both communities have been courting large developers; they hardly show any influence of New Urbanist design principles, they both endorse new freeway exchanges on the corridor while not objecting to the partial closure of a freeway exit at the corridor's gateway to the City of Milwaukee, which isn't mentioned anywhere in their plans. However, the S. 27th Corridor Master Plan by Schreiber Anderson Associates of Madison does call for more urban principles than the communities have embraced in the past with such developments as the monstrous NML campus.
The public response to "Boomgaard" was similar to Marquette's response three years ago. The Oak Creek mayor says he wants the name changed. Franklin resident John Michlig in "Sprawled Out," ("The Search for Community in the American Suburb") wrote,"Surprise! Nobody likes the name!" Public comments seem to oppose the name -- and the $370,000 expense.
Names rejected by the panel include such catchy suburbanisms as "CityGate," "Twin Corridor," "27 South" and "MetroSouth." They also considered several variations of the word "orchard," but too many business districts and neighborhoods had already played that one to death.

The Zizzo Group press release announcing the firm's selection was dated September 10th, 2007, and carried the contact name of Jeff Fleming, who then worked for Zizzo. Fleming left not long after and has since joined Howl Fire, an American Indian-owned public relations firm.
Was Boomgaard a little "Senior Prank" he pulled on his boss before splitting from the firm? "Hey boss, they're going to love this name! Let's run with t! Oops! I'm leaving for a new job. It's your problem now!"

HNTB, the engineering firm that hired Zizzo, makes no mention of the Oak Creek - Franklin S. 27th Street contract anywhere on its website.

DUTCH? WHAT DUTCH?

The Dutch word "Boomgaard" is in honor of the Dutch settlers, who were said to have arrived in Franklin starting in the 1840's, according to the Zizzo press release, which also cites Polish settlers in Oak Creek starting in the 1830s along with Franklin's Irish and everybody's Germans. However, an examination of the census for 1850 for both Oak Creek and Franklin show no names that one would associate with Holland or with Poland. Nor are the two countries listed as a place of origin for settlers, although portions of ethnic Holland and of ethnic Poland may have been under German control at that time.
Maybe they could call it "Harlem." That's a venerable Dutch place name. The Polish word for orchard is "Ogrod," if that helps.

--Michael Horne
[There will be a meeting on Boomgaard issues today, Tuesday, May 13th, 2008, at 4 p.m. at the Oak Creek City Hall. I sure wish I could find where they post the agendas and minutes for these things. --Ed.]

FEINGOLD'S GIFTS, and A FORMER PACKER'S DEBTS

FEINGOLD ONLY WISCONSIN REP TO CLAIM FOREIGN GIFTS

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

Sen. Russell Feingold is the only Wisconsin member of Congress to report receipt of gifts from foreign governments, according to a database unveiled today, Monday May 12^th, 2008, by LegiStorm. Even Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., the dean of Wisconsin congressional travelers, who has taken 21 foreign trips since 2000, did not report a single gift meeting the threshold for reporting. (In the House of Representatives the 2008 threshold is inflation indexed at $335; in the Senate, which does not index for inflation, gifts above $100 in value must be reported.) Recipients are permitted to keep foreign gifts below the threshold value, and must turn the others in to the government or purchase them for their appraised values.

Feingold’s report shows the has received Algerian tiles valued at $150, a silver bowl from Pakistan valued at $100, an Afghanistan rug valued at $200, a Tunisian mosaic valued at $75 [below the threshold for reporting –Ed.], a pair of mouth-blown Thai crystal glasses worth $150 and a $160 Iraqi chess set. Feingold’s gifts were received between January 2005 and November 2006.

Feingold’s colleague Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a pair of Afghan rugs, thank you, along with a Hermes scarf (from Luxembourg) and a Versace wallet from India along with 17 other foreign gifts.

Sen. Barack Obama has a single gift to report, a $100 Azerbaijani rug, while Sen. John McCain has two Afghani rugs and six other reported gifts.

In fact, 18 of 27 gifts reported from Afghanistan consist of rugs or carpets, which gives you the idea that the marble halls of Congress probably resemble the bazaars of Kandahar by now.

Since failure to accept a gift could be construed as a diplomatic affront, it is rare for congressmen and senators to refuse such gifts. LegiStorm finds it very unusual indeed, that “despite dozens of tangible gifts reported by the Senate and hundreds to executive branch officials, only one House official - former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) - disclosed receiving gifts in the past five years. His largest gift was a $10,000 ceremonial dagger encrusted with precious metals and gems that was bestowed upon him by Morocco. While Hastert filed, his disclosures did not meet the legal requirement that they be filed within 60 days. Instead, they were all filed when he was leaving office and often covered items received years before. The lack of other House disclosures is odd, especially given that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House official have made high-profile trips overseas. Yet their lack of disclosures suggests that they have not received the customary treatment accorded to others, including even some Senate aides. House officials claimed to Roll Call that they have received gifts, but no gifts other than Hastert's were worth more than minimal amounts.”

FORMER PACKER LEAVES DEBTS IN STATE

Former Green Bay Packer tackle Grady Jackson owes $6,745 to Cort Furniture Rental, (a Berkshire Hathaway company). In April, 2005, the firm garnished Jackson’s wages in Brown County Circuit Court. Alas, Jackson moved on to Atlanta before the furniture company could get its money. Jackson then moved to the Jacksonville Jaguars before being released this spring, so there are no wages to garnish any more, at least in Brown County, Wisconsin. The furniture apparently was rented from Cort’s New Orleans outlet when Jackson was with the New Orleans Saints in 2002.

Jackson also owes $48,943.40 to Associated Bank of Green Bay, according to a judgment entered in Brown County in January, 2006. Also, his license was suspended for failure to pay a traffic citations on September 1^st 2005 (Outagamie County, two instances) and on October 14^th, 2005 (Brown County, one instance).

Jackson’s driver’s privileges were finally reinstated on September 20^th, 2007, long after he split the state. Who knows what mischief he got into in Georgia and Florida that prompted him to settle his debts with Wisconsin’s courts? Anyway, he’s a free agent now, but we’ll report to the folks at Cort Furniture and Associated Bank when he gets a new high-paying job.

--Michael Horne

TEEN VICTIM FAILS TO SHOW IN BROWN COUNTY GOP GAY SEX SCANDAL COURT HEARING

In 2007 Brown County District Attorney John P. Zakowski [UW '83] attracted attention when he withdrew charges against then-Brown County Republican Party Chair Donald J. Fleischman for two felony and three misdemeanor counts involving sexual improprieties with a teenaged boy who lived in a youth shelter near Fleischman's Green Bay home.
Assistant District Attorney John F. Luetscher [UW '84] told Milwaukeeworld at the time the charges were withdrawn since he was not able to convince the victim in the case, identified only as A.C.O., to testify against Fleischman.
The DA refiled the charges in February, 2008, and on Monday, May 5th, 2008, the victim once again failed to appear at a hearing on the case. This time, the DA tried something different. Rather than dismiss the case, he had the sheriff arrest the youth, now identified in court documents as Anthony C. Oseman.
Oseman, born June 29th, 1990, was taken into custody and appeared before Court Commissioner Jane M. Sequin [Marquette '88] yesterday, Thursday, May 8th, 2008. Oseman was released on a $500 signature bond and ordered to stay in contact with the District Attorney, and for darn sure to show up when called to do so.
Although the cost of a signature bond is nothing, Oseman probably is paying a price for his elusiveness by forfeiting his anonymity in the case.
Meanwhile, things are not looking good for Fleischman. While the DA was rounding up Oseman, Northeastern Title Loans, LLC, filed a claim against Fleischman in Brown County Circuit Court joining CitiFinancial Corp. which had done so in March.
-- Michael Horne

CITY SET TO ACCEPT CLOCK GIFT

A TRUE GRANDFATHER CLOCK DESTINED FOR CITY HALL

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

Michelle Holly, the granddaughter of Cornelius L. Corcoran, who served as Third Ward alderman for 43 years, has donated his tall case clock to the City of Milwaukee. "It truly is a Grandfather's Clock," she told milwaukeeworld.com when we called to ask about Common Council File 080032 authorizing the city to accept this "beautiful and valuable furnishing that will serve as an elegant artifact and bring Milwaukee's great history alive for residents and visitors and to connect the city to its past."
The Charles Jacques Clock Co. Monastery Clock, c. 1900, is 93" high, 21" wide and 14" deep, according to a fair market appraisal by David Barnett Gallery of 1024 E. State St., Milwaukee. Barnett figures the clock, which is in excellent working condition, to be worth $16,000. He charged the city $450 for his appraisal, conducted on April 12th, 2008 in Oshkosh, where the clock is located.
However, for many decades the clock was just two blocks west of Barnett's shop, in the hall of Corcoran's home at 802 E. State St. (at N. Cass St.), where Corcoran lived with his wife Agnes Murphy Corcoran. She bequeathed the clock to her daughter Agnes Corcoran Toal, the mother of the current owner, upon her death in 1957. Mrs. Toal and her husband Patrick Toal, a General Electric employee, toted the huge timepiece around the country during his career with the firm, according to the current owner, who received it from her mother at her death upon promising to never sell it.
"I was wondering what to do with it," said Michelle Holly, sixty-ish, speaking from Oshkosh. "I have four children. How do I give it to one, and not to the other three?
"I went to Marquette University, and thought to give it to Marquette. Then I thought about the Milwaukee County Historical Society, which received other of my grandfather's personal items.
"And then I decided to call City Hall. I guess you could say the decision came to me."
Cornelius L. Corcoran was born in the Third Ward in 1864 where his father owned a feed and seed business which his son continued throughout his legislative career, which ran from 1892 to 1935, a record unsurpassed in the city's history. Corcoran spent 30 years as council president. An amusing episode in his career occurred in September 1910 when former President Theodore Roosevelt came to Milwaukee. [And, no, this was not the time he was shot. This was two years previous to that.--Ed.]
Mayor Emil Seidel, a Socialist, refused to greet the former president, as protocol would tend to indicate, and setting a pretty good precedent for later mayor John O. Norquist. In a quandary to find a suitably distinguished personage to greet the Rough Rider, city officials hurried to the Third Ward where they found Corcoran in his overalls slinging feed at his store at what is now 114 N. Jefferson St. Without bothering to change his work clothes, the Council President hurried to the train station to greet Roosevelt, and a major protocol disaster, brought into play by the boorish Socialist mayor, was averted.
[A Note on Terminology: Although the colloquial "Grandfather Clock" is a term known to nearly everybody, professionals tend to cringe when they hear it, preferring "Case Clock," "Tall Case Clock," or "Hall Clock." As a child, your correspondent once used the "G" word to describe an horological specimen at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington, D.C. and was roundly chastised by the doughty docent there for profaning her ears.--Ed.]

DEY AINNA NO EXCUZZA TO A MISSA DISSA SPICUZZA

"Landscape With Cows"
Francesco Spicuzza (1883 - 1961)

This charming and atypical painting by one of Milwaukee's finest artists has never before been seen. Offered for sale by its Minnesota owners, it is on display now at DeLind Fine Art, 400 E. Mason St. and carries a $9,000 price tag. Michael Goforth of the gallery likens Spicuzza's treatment of the large hill in the background to that of Cezanne's renderings of Mont-Sainte Victoire, and he has a point. The composition practically screams "W.P.A.," and it could be reasonably dated to the Depression era. For once Spicuzza is painting something other than children frolicking on a beach or a pile of peonies in a pot.
If anything screams "Wisconsin," it would be this 3' x 2.5' painting, which should be gobbled up and donated to the Museum of Wisconsin Art.
--Michael Horne