McGee Rivals Plan Serb Hall Rally Friday

Large African-American Political Rally Set for Serb Hall (!) Tomorrow
--also--
Foley & Lardner Bills City $46K for Kaye Nuisance Suit Defense
--and--
Shovel or Else!

By Michael Horne

The venerable American Serb Hall Banquet & Conference Center, 5101 W. Oklahoma Avenue, will be the site Friday of an all-candidate rally in the recall election for 6th District Ald. Michael McGee. The event, scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m., will very likely draw the largest number of African Americans ever to gather at one time in the legendary south side meeting hall.
According to its sponsors, the CRG Network, "as of this date, five candidates have already agreed to attend this special event." That alone might be able to break the African American attendance record at Serb Hall, known for its bowling and fish fries. What will be even more interesting will be to see if the candidates in the potential recall election will be able to draw their supporters down to the deep south for a political rally involving the near north side district now represented by McGee. It is extremely rare for a get-out-the-vote rally to take place miles from the district where the election is to take place, but perhaps the CRG folks were not able to book space in a 6th District hall on short notice. Maybe they don't know their way around the neighborhood that well.
Although there are similarities between the Serb Hall neighborhood and the 6th District -- both are located on Planet Earth and in the City of Milwaukee, for example -- their differences are in black and white. There may be nearly 500 African Americans in the entire 11th district where Serb Hall is located. Of each of the dozen plus census tracts in the 6th district, most have four or five times that number. A McGee supporter says the embattled alderman plans to spend Friday in his district dealing with the issues of his constituents. But won't he be missing a fine Serbian Fish Fry?

FOLEY & LARDNER BILLS CITY $46K FOR KAYE LAWSUIT
The State's oldest and largest law firm billed the taxpayers of the City of Milwaukee $46,751 for its defense of city officials against the outlandish claims leveled against them in a Federal Civil RICO lawsuit filed by Joe Kaye in September 2005.
Foley & Lardner was chosen as outside counsel in the matter after Kaye sued numerous officials, including Ald. Michael S. D'Amato, City Attorney Grant Langley, the mayor and other non-officials including Julilly Kohler in a bizarre claim that a conspiracy existed among them to deny Kaye his "right" to purchase City-owned property adjacent to that which Kohler owned (and where I lived at 1144 E. Kane Place). Kohler bought the property, combined the lots, created a Planned Unit Development, complied with every zoning and historic restriction and is still working on developing the difficult site. Kaye would never have had the assets to do even a fraction of this, and God knows what shape the property would be in at this point under his ownership.
Last July, Judge John Stadtmueller threw out the case, simultaneously tossing out a few choice words about the ridiculousness of it all. For good measure, he also said Kaye must pay the costs of the legal defense of the city and the other defendants. This report is the first to document the amount that Kaye will be liable for, provided he has any funds. He will also be responsible for some $11,000 in legal fees incurred by Carl and Shirley Ferguson, formerly of the East Village Association, as well as the unknown legal fees and litigation support costs of Kohler. --Michael Horne

Shoveling Scofflaws
"Rehabilitated" felon Frank Crivello wants us to know that he is once again a successful entrepreneur. (Go google him and read all the crap he's spreading lately.) He is still a lousy landlord, and has yet to shovel the walks at the Walgreens store and shopping center he owns at the prime intersection of E. Brady St. and N. Oakland Ave. ... Timothy Brophy, Jr., the embattled slumlord whose empire is falling in a weekly procession of foreclosures and judgments brought by his lenders like Wauwatosa Savings Bank and others likewise failed to tend to his property at the southeast corner of N. Jackson and E. Pleasant streets, the only unshoveled walks in that district ... Another no-goodnick is the owner of the former Astor Market, at the northwest corner of N. Astor and E. Brady streets. The property is for sale, despite the uncleared walk. It reminds me of Donald Trump's aphorism -- a loser is somebody who puts a "for sale" sign on a dirty car. Ditto for somebody who tries to sell an untended property. (I told that to David Price, the listing agent for the property. He was not amused. Nor did he see to it that the walk got shoveled.) The City of Milwaukee requires that all walks be cleared of snow within 24 hours after the end of the snowfall. Let's hope Ald. D'Amato send out the shovel troops to clear these walks before somebody gets hurt. The streets will be cleared, and the fee will be placed on the tax bills of the offenders. We threaten this sanction often enough. With unemployment as high as it is in this city, you think the alderman will be able to find somebody to clear out the walks in this vital commercial district, and to charge the property owners until it hurts.
--Michael Horne