HOLLOWAY, MAYO TAKE AIM AT BARRETT "LIE"

Charges Hurled at Mayor's Workforce Development Comments

By Michael Horne

Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway and Supervisor Michael Mayo, Sr., released a blistering letter today addressed to Mayor Tom Barrett. "This letter is in response to your blatantly incorrect claim that 'the County doesn't do Economic Development.' We are appalled that you are circulating this obvious lie."
According to the supervisors, "The facts speak for themselves, clearly showing that this is not the case. Milwaukee County IS leading the way on many economic development fronts."
The supervisors' letter was in response to the mayor's claim on March 30th that "simply put, the County doesn't do Economic Development, and no elected leaders are currently responsible for workforce development."
The mayor made these comments on the Department of City Development website when he tried to justify taking over the workforce development role long held by the Private Industry Council. (See Milwaukeeworld's Why Pick on the PIC and Barrett's PIC Nix Caper Revealed.) The Commissioner of the Department of City Development, Rocky Marcoux, is not known for his political prowess. Certainly somebody could have stopped this train wreck of a memo from becoming official writ.
Barrett, or his ghostwriter, unnecessarily offended not only the supervisors, but likely all other elected officials with his boastful comment "thus far I am the only public official prepared to step up and provide it."
The supervisors countered that it was the County that developed the Milwaukee County Research Park, including the new $85 million GE Healthcare world headquarters.
They chided the mayor, "You have attempted to emulate our successful Research Park by proposing a similar development at the Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center. However, you failed to get that economic development project off the ground."
Furthermore, the supervisors say that the County "continues to lead the way on the Park East corridor," with four development agreements signed for the former freeway land. They cite other examples which they claim show the County is adept at redevelopment. "And yet, it's the County that 'doesn't do' economic development? Mayor, you apparently know very little about what the County is doing."
Meanwhile, as we noted yesterday, Milwaukee ranks 197th of America's 200 largest metropolitan areas in 5-year annualized income growth, at 0 per cent.
[Update: April 24th 2007 -- The Daily Reporter has an article on the subject today. -- Ed.]