COUNTY-CITY to be WEB ROOMIES

Dear Reader --
I spent Saturday roasting a $27 leg of lamb on my $3 estate sale rotisserie which gave me enough energy Sunday to help a friend install a beginnning of a rock garden which you can see on the east side of N. Marshall Street just south of Brady. Then, as the sun set Sunday, I took a last look at "The Compound," which had been my home and garden for about five years. I was able to salvage a number of the plants I had been growing there, although the bulldozer beat me to my favorite rose. By this morning, the little red cottage and the large ugly mustard colored building had been leveled there on E. Kane Place, and construction will begin on housing there along the Milwaukee River. The crummy trees have been removed from the site, and the forester was kind enough to retain the chokecherries and viburnums that I had planted on the steep bluff. I grabbed a final few tributes to the old place, including the address and my old mailbox. I had long since stripped it of its hardware. The maple floor of my old apartment is now on Brady Street, where it will be trod upon by the well-shod feet of Ms. Groove Intimate's customers. It really was a lovely floor.
This has left me little time for actually getting my own house in order, and then there is that business of work, a little bit of which I share with you below, including one of my favorites -- the police chief's wish list for her drug asset forfeiture money. But first, read this about the city and county sharing space. Talk about the Odd Couple!
Give me a call or leave me a message. You've got the number -- 1 414 978-8039 or email me at horne@milwaukeeworld.com Also subscribe to this thing, and you should get it automatically.
Horne

COUNTY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY to CITY BUILDING
By Michael Horne
Computer equipment has been downsized over the past decade and has “situated the City with extra space in its secured data center facility rooms in the Information and Technology Management Division located at 809 N. Broadway, according to a city report recommending the county move its Information Management Services Division to the city’s location.
The “Intergovernmental Cooperation and License Agreement Between Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee for Shared Information Technology Services and Space,” to be considered Tuesday, October 18th by the Milwaukee Common Council tells us the city could share excess space and could share equipment “without adversely impacting the operations of either organization.”
[In a publicly-traded corporation the above would be considered a “forward-looking statement.]
The document also whereases that “both the City and the County can share expertise in their unique areas of Information and Technology Service delivery,” which we have all been subjected to since the city and county joined in the www.milwaukee.gov portal. The jury is still out on that adventure. But somehow, the bandwidth after the marriage was narrower than before the merger. If you have had any difficulties with the city and / or county websites since that odd marriage, do write me. Or don’t - my mailbox is already full.
The city will license space in the building for “the purpose and placement and operation of certain information technology equipment” owned by the county. The county will make the equipment available for the joint use of the city and county.
The equipment will be that needed to run the joint computer center, “such as a power distribution unit and uninterruptible power supply,” according to Randolf A. Gschwind, the city’s Chief Information Officer.
According to the terms, “the agreed upon value to the city of its use of the equipment provided by the county is $65,000 (approximately one-half of the value of the equipment).
That value would be applied against the annual license fee for the space, which will be set at $22,632 in 2006 plus a special one-time $4,000 relocation cost. Any balance would be carried over to the next year.” The term of the agreement is five years.

CHIEF’S DRUG MONEY WISH LIST

Chief Nannette H. Hegerty has sent her wish list to the Common Council, which annually authorizes the Milwaukee Police Department to “accept and expend asset forfeiture sharing contributions on behalf of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Drug Enforcement Group.”
This year’s list includes the following:
1.) Vehicle Expenses -- $16,500.These expenses are incurred to maintain the vehicles used by the task force. They include parking, repairs and fuel.
2.) Training Expenses --$ 2,000. These funds will be used to provide task force members with training approved by the executive committee.
3.) Office Supplies -- $ 600. These funds will be used to purchase toner and other office supply expenses.
4.) Miscellaneous Services -- $1,300. These funds will be used to provide storage and alarm service for the task force’s records.
5.) Overtime Reimbursement -- $108,000. As part of the operation of the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Group operations, the West Allis Police Department, the South Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee County Sheriff and the Milwaukee Police Department are reimbursed for overtime worked on the task force. Monthly billings are submitted by the agencies involved.
6.) Asset Forfeiture Proceeds Distributions (amounts to be determined). “The MMDEG executive committee approves the sharing of a portion of asset forfeiture receipts among the members of the task force. The percentage distribution is governed by the MMDEG memorandums of understanding between members of the task force.”

Let’s hope that Chief Hegerty will fill in the public with the “amounts to be determined,” which could be substantial, and could be used to generate yet another wish list. - Michael Horne

PAPERLESS COMMITTEE HEARING
Ald. Michael D’Amato chaired the Judiciary and Legislation Committee last week in the first such meeting in which members were not burdened with binders. Instead, the committee performed its tasks with laptop computers. Ordinarily each committee member would have a binder with as many as 300 pages of paper in it. The new policy could save much paper and a considerable amount of staff time, and give a whole new fresh look to the Channel 25 news set. -Michael Horne

THE PUBLIC MARKET

The Milwaukee Public Market opened to a crush of people over the weekend. The place, at times, was impassible and the business spilled out into the neighborhood. Across the street, people waited as long as two hours to get a table at the Wicked Hop. Inside, the market was a bit like visiting an art gallery on Gallery Night - great for people watching, but hard to get a handle on the display.
The long-awaited project rushed to completion over the last few days of its construction. Simie Fein said he supplied about 90 per cent of the equipment for the market, so the walls at Fein Bros. must have been bulging with fish coolers, pizza ovens, refrigerators, ranges and other implements.
A few of the booths have yet to be completed, but there is an array of marketers. The crush of humanity prevented me from buying anything, but there did seem to be a number of Wisconsin specialties. Whether the market will be able to find products from Wisconsin purveyors year round will be for us to find out. There is an automatic teller machine on the first floor. Next to it is a machine marked “Depository.” I noted that the keys were in the depository, and informed management that it would be best to remove the keys from the safe during business hours. Details, details, details!
The booth-style of indoor shopping may prove to be inconvenient, since you apparently have to ask an attendant for each and every thing you want to buy, and to pay for your purchases on the spot.
This is not the sort of place where you can fill a market basket with goodies and proceed to a central checkout, which will doubtless add to the time required to select and purchase your food.
Perhaps some (all) of the merchants might consider installing “take a number, please” machines like you see at Sciortino’s Bakery or Usinger’s Sausage to expedite service. Also, the food selection will probably have to undergo some changes. Frankly, certain Milwaukee trademarks seem unrepresented in this venue.
I believe that with the exception of Benji’s and Jake’s, it is the only place in the metropolitan area that does not serve hot ham and rolls on Sunday mornings.
Michael Horne

LOBBY LAW AMENDED

Just months into its implementation, the City of Milwaukee's lobbying regulation ordinance is being amended. The first provision benefits large lobbying firms, since only the first four principals registered bt the same lobbyist in a calendar year would be subject to the $125 licensing fee. The "fifth and all subsequent principals registered by the same lobbyist in a calendar year may be registered without further charge."
Among other changes, a provision was removed that would have required that "sworn statements, which have been filed alleging violations of the lobbying ordinance, are not required to remain confidential." The measures are expected to be approved by the Common Council on Tuesday, October 18th.