THE BUDGET IN HISTORY

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

and the Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team


It is the height of budget season, and no city outdoes Milwaukee when it comes to the openness and public airing of municipal expenditures. No other city does it like we do. We have office holders who work harder explaining the budget than they do campaigning. Talk about public servants!
Tonight, Tuesday, October 7th, 2008, Mayor Tom Barrett will hold one of many "Town Hall" meetings on the budget. This one will be held at the Miramar Theatre, 2844 N. Oakland Ave., and will likely draw a good crowd.
In addition, members of the Common Council may hold listening sessions in their own districts. These are completely discretionary, and are part of our culture.

Under the current system, in place since a 1978 Charter Ordinance, we use an Executive Budget system, in which the Mayor proposes a budget, and the council approves it. Officially, the Common Council Finance Committee goes through each department's budget during open session, and eventually the entire council and the mayor hold a grand public hearing on the budget, which may occur as late as October 20th. This Joint Meeting, adopted as 18-04-6 of the City of Milwaukee Charter, will occur on October 20th this year, so we're in the thick of things.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE ...

Milwaukee did not adopt a formal city budget until 1913, when the Mayor and the Council Finance Committee began to work collegially together to develop a budget that would then be sent to the council for approval. First stop -- the Finance Committee. It went on this way until the budget of 1979, when the current system was adopted.

According to A Financial and Administrative History of Milwaukee by Laurence Marcellus Larson [Bulletin University of Wisconsin, June, 1908] Milwaukee faced numerous citizen revolts due to excessive taxation. Tax levy limits, set by statute one year and rescinded the next, were common then. Woe be the city contractor prior to 1874 when the city had no authorization to borrow funds in anticipation of tax revenue. Milwaukee had great credit, and no money in the bank.
The city was fourth in the pecking order to collect funds -- the State, County and School Board all set their property tax levies first.
According to the history, "frequently the levy for county purposes was surprisingly high. ... Mayor John Maxwell Stowell [1882] would abolish the county government and transfer its functions to the city government."
Writing a century ago, the author continued, "This suggestion has since been repeated at various times, but thus far the legislature has taken no notice of it."
Well, we're still talking about it 100 years later.
In 1871, one hundred thirty-eight years ago, Mayor Harrison Ludington lamented on the sectional differences in the city where one district received good services and costly improvements, while others suffered from neglect. "Let us forever bury these, and be all Milwaukee," he said.
We're still talking about that, too.
City improvements like streets and sidewalks were paid for by assessments against adjoining property owners, and many thought that was unfair. That's straight from today's headlines.
The need to provide city services to new Milwaukeeans was extremely costly for established citizens.
As Larson wrote, "immigrants were poor and remained so for some time, hence the burdens of those who had originally settled the city were increased beyond patience."
Nothing new there, either.

... SHORT ON CASH, WE TURNED TO LIQUOR FOR OUR SALVATION

Although Milwaukee's early budgets were rudimentary, our politicians were skilled enough to find ways to get non-tax revenue. In the 1850s officials eagerly eyed the operations of the new police department -- and were deeply disappointed when the amount of fines collected was lower than hoped.
In 1888 the city's revenue was $2,737,775, of which $1,668,481 came from taxes, $366,518 from assessments and $702,775 from "other."
Then as now, one of the best sources of "other" revenue is in the licensing business.
Consider this. In 1873, when liquor licenses cost $30, the city's total licensing revenue from all sources amounted to $31,838. The city raised the fee to $50 in 1874; $75 in 1883 and $200 in 1885.
By 1888, all license revenue amounted to $268,272. Nine-tenths of that came from liquor licenses.
Today, a Class "B" Tavern License costs $610 -- not that big of a hike from 1885, all things considered. If the tavern license fee had matched the growth of the Consumer Price Index, it would run $4,449 by now.
City government is a bargain!

The Mayor's Town Hall meeting on the budget will run from 5:30 to 7 p.m. I will moderate the panel which will consist of the mayor, Budget Director Mark Nicolini and Ald. Nic Kovac. It is organized by a loose confederation of East Side neighborhood associations and is coordinated by Joe Klein.

In the event you would care to conduct your political activity this evening in domestic circumstances, Sherwin Hughes has just called to suggest you head over to Gerard Randall's house at 112 E. Brown St. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for a fundraiser for Johnny Thomas, the first-term county supervisor for the 18th district. Thomas is a former finance auditor for Harley-Davidson who split the private sector to replace the retiring Roger Quindel on the county board.
--Michael Horne

INFILL OFFICE BUILDING PLANNED FOR THIRD WARD LOT

THE PROPOSED OFFICE BUILDING ILLUSTRATED WILL OVERHANG THE OLD MILWAUKEE ANTIQUES CENTER [341]. VIEW IS TO THE NORTHWEST ON N. MILWAUKEE STREET BETWEEN E. BUFFALO AND E. ST.PAUL STREETS

By Michael Horne

The Milwaukee City Plan Commission will meet in Congress Assembled on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 1:30 P.M.at 809 N. Broadway for the purpose of conducting its regular meeting [agenda pdf].
Among items on the agenda is this new proposal for the redevelopment of an existing building at 341 N. Milwaukee St. and its neighboring parking lot at 331 N. Milwaukee St. as office space. According to its statement of intent, the developer, Sixty North LLC, plans two commercial and 24 residential units for the old O. C. Hansen building, now vacant, and best known as the former site of the Milwaukee Antique Center. The Small Business Times noted on October 1st that the firm had secured an option for the site and its adjacent parking lot. Zimmerman Architectural Studio did the designs for the building and is asking for approval on behalf of the owner, about whom I couldn't find much.

PROPOSED RETAIL BUILDING THREATENS TO SUBURBANIZE RIVERWEST SITE

Another item on the agenda is virtually the antithesis of the smart, dense, urban planning exhibited by the Sixty North project.
That is a proposed 34,000 square foot retail facility planned for 3950 N. Holton St., just south of E. Capitol Drive. There, Mequon developer Lloyd P. Levin of 525 Properties, Ltd., hopes to build two utterly undistinguished buildings [pdf] surrounded by 136 parking stalls. [The city only requires 68 parking spots]. The building represents a complete reversal of the Norquist Doctrine that whenever possible, buildings should front on the street and parking should be in the rear. The design is from the Briohn Building Corporation of Brookfield. They probably don't know any better, but let's hope the commissioners, including Whitney Gould, Stephanie Bloomingdale, Michal Dawson and Larri Sue Jacquart, appropriately freak about this indignity to the northern end of the street named after the magnificent Edward Dwight Holton, the most noble man who ever trod the streets of this city. Norquist would never have let this thing get to this stage.
-- Michael Horne

EX-TRUSTEE PHINNEY, FIGURE IN WORKPLACE BOY PORN CASE, PLEAS GUILTY

"Portrait of a Textile Worker" 2005 Terese Agnew. [See final post for details]

By Michael Horne

Village of Shorewood ex-trustee Michael Phinney has entered a plea of guilty to federal charges of possessing child porn, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an item posted Friday, September 26th, 2008. Phinney, the co-owner of Phoenix Resource Group, resigned his village seat in April, 2008, immediately after Milwaukeeworld broke the news that federal officials had been alerted in April 2007 to Phinney's accessing sexual images of young boys at work. We wondered then what the gestation time was for prosecuting this crime. Things have sure sped up since then.
Phinney stopped showing up to work the day after agents seized his computer from the Third Ward offices of Phoenix: -- on the eve of his reelection victory.
Before the revelations, Phinney's demanding and pushy ways were already a source of strain at the telemarketing company. He forced an extraordinarily expensive telephone system on the business and made other cavalier decisions to the detriment of the firm. He had no roster of clients or particular skills. Plus there was that unpleasantness of him using his work computer during business hours to watch boys have sex. It's hard enough to run a business as it is without all those shenanigans going on!
Phinney's wife, Lisa Froemming, filed for divorce last month. She is asking Phinney for maintenance and support for the benefit of their two minor children, a boy and a girl.

ADDITIONAL MAYORAL COMMUNITY HEARING ON BUDGET SET

The neighborhood associations of the Third Aldermanic District will jointly sponsor an informational session and Q&A with Mayor Tom Barrett Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at the Miramar Theatre, 2844 N. Oakland Avenue. The meeting, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 5:30 p.m. and should run about an hour and a half, according to Cambridge Woods Neighborhood Association President Joe Klein, who arranged the event at the request of the mayor's office.
The mayor's staff will circulate question forms for the audience to express their concerns. I guess I'll help out by emceeing the event, or at least that's what Joe tells me. Klein says he thinks there is a good chance the theater -- excuse me, theatre -- will be filled to capacity. We'll just have to see if the Brewers will be playing Game 5 of their series with Philadelphia that evening. Let's hope will have already swept it in the first three games.
What could be more exciting? Post season professional baseball returns to town after a generation? Or a complete and thorough airing of economic policy? Don't worry folks -- the Miramar has TVs -- and a bar! Have it both ways! Come for the debate, stay for the game! And Axel's is just across the street. You think they don't debate economics there? Guess again.
--Michael Horne

MILWAUKEE PIECE IN NEW YORK MUSEUM DEBUT


Portrait of a Textile Worker, a 2005 Terese Agnew tapestry composed of clothing labels and inspired by a photograph of a young sweatshop employee, was in the debut exhibit of the Museum of Art and Design at 2 Columbus Circle in New York City last Saturday, September 27th, 2008. [See photograph above]. The monumental tapestry, 110" x 98", was composed of over 30,000 labels donated to Agnew, who had put out a call for them when she realized that while clothing labels celebrated recognizable names -- Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, Yves St. Laurent, Halston, Ralph Lauren -- the clothes themselves were made anonymously, often by very young children. The piece is one of many composed of nontraditional material in the museum, now located in what was a hideous Edward Durell Stone building that had defaced the southwest corner of Central Park for 40 years. (It's been redesigned.) Among Milwaukeeans in attendance at the gig was Julilly Kohler, who said Dominique Paul Noth of the Milwaukee Labor Press was there taking pictures "with a really big camera." I'll have to see if he can share a pic with us, without getting him in trouble with the union bosses or copyright authorities.
--Michael Horne

THREE VIE FOR VACANT BRANCH 6 JUDGESHIP

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

and the Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team

Governor Jim Doyle appointed Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kitty K. Brennan [UW ‘77] to a seat on District I of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on August 21^st, 2008, replacing the late Judge Ted E. Wedemeyer, Jr. However, the governor did not choose to name a replacement for Brennan on Branch 6 of the Milwaukee court.

I asked him why last night, Wednesday, September 24^th, 2008, and the governor said, “I’ve learned that when you appoint a judge, you make one friend and a dozen enemies.”

So, with a vacant seat waiting to be filled, three candidates have emerged to replace Brennan.

One is Ellen R. Brostrom [UCLA ‘95], an attorney at Reinhart Boerner & Van Deuren, where her resume notes that she has a long involvement with social issues dating back to her work in a soup kitchen in Massachusetts, where she graduated with honors from Boston College.

Bostrom, who is exceedingly diminuitive, (you could easily stuff her inside Rebecca Dallet, by far the tiniest of Milwaukee’s 47 judges) is also energetic and athletic. Former Ald. Michael S. D’Amato said, “I see her running past my house all the time. She does triathalons.” D’Amato, Brostrom and others were attending a fundraiser for Doyle at Good Life that evening. She told the governor that she is the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Patience D. Roggensack [UW ‘80]. It’s kind of fun to know that we live in a world where judgeships can descend through the matrilineal line of a family.

Also at the party was Daniel J. Gabler [Marquette U ‘91] another candidate to replace Brennan. He’s working in the District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor and is the former president of the Brady Street neighborhood association. Another candidate, not present at the event, is his law school classmate Christopher R. Lipscomb, [Marquette U ‘91], an attorney in private practice. The primary election is February 17^th, 2009, and the general election is April 7^th, 2009. Judges serve a six year term.

Brennan will have to get cracking over at the appeals court as well, since her term ends July 31, 2009, and as a newbie she might attract a rival, however unlikely that might be.

Since Brennan was chief judge in Milwaukee County, and therefore carried no caseload (the post is administrative), there is little practical effect of its remaining vacant until next year. The Supreme Court chose Jeffrey A. Kremers, Branch 26, to be the new chief judge; his caseload has presumably been dispersed among his colleagues.