GOULD RECUSES SELF FROM DOWNER ISSUE
BULLETIN! BULLETIN! BULLETIN!
RECUSED!
GOULD TO SIT OUT DOWNER VOTE!
Updated Friday, February 8th, 2008
By Michael Horne
In her first act as a member of the City of Milwaukee Plan Commission, Whitney Gould this morning recused herself from voting on a zoning change she had previously endorsed when she was in the pay of the publisher of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The action came after a tumultuous day for Ms. Gould, who had taken her solemn oath of office less than 24-hours before.
The news of the recusal was telegraphed to milwaukeeworld via an e-mail from Deputy City Attorney Linda Ulice Burke received this morning at 11:05 a.m.
According to Ms. Burke:
"I have been informed that Commissioner Gould will be recusing herself from the first item on Monday's agenda."
Milwaukeeworld sought a ruling from the City Attorney yesterday when it became apparent that the Downer issue could pose a conflict for Ms. Gould. See stories below.
GOULD
EXTRA!
EXTRA!
NEW COMMISSIONER TO HEAR FROM CITY ATTORNEY TODAY ON DOWNER PROJECT RECUSAL
Special to the Readers of www.milwaukeeworld.com
Friday, February 8th, 2008 9:45 a.m.
(c) 2008 By Michael Horne
Within 24 hours of her inauguration, Plan Commissioner Whitney Gould has faced the first challenge of her political career, thanks to a milwaukeeworld investigation. We asked Deputy City Attorney Linda U. Burke (St. John's U., '77) if Commissioner Gould ought not recuse herself from acting in the matter of Downer Avenue Development Phase II since she had previously opined on the subject when she was a paid employee of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (See story below.) It would be the very first file she would have voted on as commissioner. But there seems serious doubt whether she will be able to cast that precious first vote, the one that any commissioner remembers fondly for a lifetime.
By telephone, Ms. Burke left this message:
"Thanks. I really appreciate your bringing this to our attention. I will talk to the Commissioner tomorrow [Friday, February 8th, 2008] about what her legal options are regarding recusal. Obviously, I cannot tell you what our decision is until I speak with our client."
We will continue to update this story at www.milwaukeeworld.com
GOULD TAKES OATH IN QUIET CITY HALL CEREMONY
Swears to Uphold U.S., Wisconsin Constitutions
Will Discharge Duties "to the Best of her Abilities"
Special to the Readers of www.milwaukeeworld.com
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
By Michael Horne
City Clerk Ron Leonhardt told Milwaukeeworld he received a telephone call from the Department of City Development this morning indicating that Ms. Gould was prepared to appear at his office today to be sworn in to her new responsibility. The event occurred sometime before noon, according to Leonhardt.
Gould, appointed to the commission on January 15th, 2008 by Mayor Barrett, was approved by a unanimous vote of the Common Council members present at the February 5th, 2008 meeting. She is expected to make her first public appearance in her official role at 1:30 p.m. next Monday, February 11th, 2008, when the Plan Commission holds its regular meeting in the first floor boardroom at 809 N. Broadway.
The first item on the agenda shouild hit quite close to home for Ms. Gould -- literally. It is Common Council File 070963 , a proposal sponsored by outgoing Alderman Michael D'Amato to provide a Detailed Planned Development zoning designation for Downer Avenue Redevelopment, Phase II.
The request by developers Joel Lee and Boris Gokhman calls for construction of a 7-story hotel, 11-story condominium, an addition of four stories of medical office space to a renovated garage building, along with construction of some townhouse dwelling units. The former Chancery restaurant building would be demolished as part of the plan. (Phase I, including the construction of a parking garage east of N. Downer, has drawn the opposition of some neighbors who have sued the city in connection with the approval.) The development is north of E. Webster Pl., west of N. Downer Ave., and east of N. Stowell Ave. It is in sight of, and within a block of Commissioner Gould's 112-year old, 1,541 square foot, 1.0 bath single family "old style" bungalow with vinyl siding and detached garage.
GOULD: GOKHMAN "DESERVES PRAISE"
In January, 2007, Gould, then the architecture critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, decried opposition to -- and the opponents of -- the Downer Avenue plan as "nasty," "even thuggish" in an opinion piece published in the paper. The same article said developer Gokhman "deserves praise" for his proposal. Is this grounds for recusal at her very first hearing? Milwaukeeworld has a call in to the City Attorney.
[Update: Monday, February 11th, 2008 -- By a voice vote, the plan commission approved the file, with Commissioner Gould apparently recused and Commissioner Rodman abstaining. Aldermanic candidates Nik Kovac and Patrick Flaherty were in the audience. Ald. D'Amato made an impassioned argument in favor of the project noting it had been the most exhaustively scrutinized project in Milwaukee's development history. He also said it was critical to get the project underway since the downer Avenue business district is "dying." -- Ed.]
[Following is the exact text of the oath administered to Whitney Gould this morning. -- Ed.]
STATE OF Wisconsin
County of Milwaukee
“The undersigned who has been appointed to the office of Plan Commissioner but has not yet entered upon the duties thereof, swears that she will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and will faithfully discharge the duties of said office to the best of her ability.”
/s/Whitney Gould
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of February 2008.
/s/_Ron Leonhardt________________________________
posted by Michael Horne @ 11:20 AM
6 comments
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6 Comments:
WOW you should call this the GOuld worship page, Michael I am starting to lose all respect for your wonderful abilities when you continualy write for this woman. SHe was a decent journalist that I respected but did not always agree with because of her inability to understand we are not Chicago and can never savor a past we never had to begin with in the first place.
Whatever you say, anonymous. Sorry if my worship practices have caused you to lose all respect for me.
Horne
Whew -- such feverish coverage of Whitney Gould! But there was so much missing! Who, may I ask, is her First Gentleman (or Lady), and did she smoke weed in her callow youth? Milwaukeeans are waiting with baited breath...
I could hear the clatter of the teletype machine in your smoke filled office as I poured over your BULLETIN. The excitement gripped me an I devoured every word. What determined work Congratulations.
I'm not sure I understand what her conflict of interest is with the Downer Ave vote. Can't she have the same opinion she had when she wrote for the paper?
The first thing I found annoying was the lie that Downer was dying, rather that just suffering from really bad property management. The next thing was the city rewarding bad landlords (current and previous) with a special zoning district that would allow them to make money at the neighborhood's expense. Then they screwed the historic commission, cut them out, and to add insult to injury, the stuff that's going up is not only too big, but butt ugly. It's basically the city saying f--- you to the eastside.
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