COUNCIL COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS EXPECTED NEXT WEEK

Who's Been Naughty? Who's Been Nice? We'll Find Out Next Week

By Michael Horne

At the organizational meeting of the Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008, aldermen old and new were given a slip of paper by President Willie Hines, Jr. asking them to rate their choice of committee assignments on a scale of 1-7, to correspond with the seven council committees.
They are, Community and Economic Development, Finance and Personnel, Judiciary and Legislation, Licenses, Public Safety, Public Works, and Zoning and Neighborhood Development. (An eighth committee, Steering and Rules, is chaired by the president and is populated by the chairs of the other committees.)
The little slips of paper are coming in to the president's office, according to Alex Runner, his legislative aide in these matters. The contents are a state secret at this time, but it is expected that Hines will reveal the committee membership and leadership sometime next week so the council can get down to business in time to adjourn for the August recess.
With 14 aldermen other than the president, who serves only on the S&R committee, and with only 7 committees, it is clear that at least half of the council members will not chair committees. And, with only two rookies on the council, and 13 returnees, some veterans who might have expected to chair a committee by this point in their career will surely be disappointed.
Only five current members chair committees: Joe Davis, Sr., Michael Murphy, Jim Witkowiak, Bob Donovan and Robert Bauman. Assuming they're happy with their committees and that the president is happy with them, they'd probably be disappointed to be demoted or removed from their positions. But the president can do as he jolly well pleases, let us not forget.
On the bright side, Alderman Michael D'Amato's departure leaves a chairmanship vacancy on two committees -- Judiciary and Legislation along with Zoning and Neighborhood Development. D'Amato also served as vice chair of the Finance and Personnel committee. Those three spots will almost certainly be spread among three different aldermen this time. (D'Amato's dual chairmanships, an unusual council achievement, probably had a lot to do with the horse trading that accompanied the Hines accession to the presidency in 2004, as I recollect.)
Ald Michael McGee, the only other departing alderman, was kicked off of all of his committee assignments when he was indicted last May, so he doesn't leave any shackles to fill, committee-wise.
So, President Hines will probably be shuffling his assignments over the weekend and will have to make some tough and unpopular decisions among his colleagues. It is almost certain that at least one alderman will find himself on committees he had rated as a "six" or "seven." Interestingly, none of the aldermen I've talked to put Licenses at the top of the list. (More likely, it's 7.) 'Tis a shame, I figure, since Licenses has the best ratings of all council televised hearings; the decisions of the committee, unlike those of other committees are not subject to mayoral review or veto; and it's a heck of a great forum for raising money; probably inferior only to Zoning and Neighborhood Development and Judiciary and Legislation. (Another reason D'Amato chaired those two committees.)
Former Ald. Don Richards remembers when he was a rookie and President John Kalwitz assigned him to the then Utilities and Licenses Committee like it or not. "then the next time around I voted against him as president, so he reappointed me to the committee as punishment. And then there was one year when we all wanted to be on the committee because we got so much face time" during the committee's often marathon sessions.
Richards looked fit at the reception in the council committee rooms Tuesday. He attributes his good health to becoming a vegetarian in 2000. "I spent the 20th century eating meat. I'll spend the 21st century as a vegetarian. But I won't be done with my self improvement then, since I've decided to give up alcohol.a hundred years from now."
Former Alderman Tom Nardelli, now with the office of County Executive Scott Walker, says presidents John Kalwitz and Tom Donegan would ask aldermen to express their areas of interest in a general way prior to making assignments. As a practical matter, the results depended on how many promises were made during the presidential selection process. Strong supporters of the successful president, especially those with seniority, stood a good chance of getting a chairmanship. Tacit supporters might get a seat, he added. Then the committees would usually be balanced north side / south side; male / female (we had a lot more women on the council back then) and black / white. Overall it was "usually pretty fair," he said, and he was even awarded a chairmanship from President Pratt despite their differences as he recollects. Former president Judge Tom Donegan called to say he was hearing motions from the bench today, but would try to get back to us when he was done locking up criminals and being tough on crime.

GALLIVANTING GALLERY NIGHT TONIGHT



This is Spring Gallery Night, and I plan to "roam for mere pleasure" this evening, mingling nimbly with the community's artistic set. My first stop will be Cedar Gallery, 326 N. Water Street, (right above Starbucks) where my second cousin, Charles James Kaiser (b.1939) will be showing two full floors of his most recent works in oil. Charles is old to painting, but relatively new to exhibiting, and has been wildly busy since his retirement last year as the head of the art department of Mount Mary College. His only other large scale show was in November in Cedarburg. The Historic Third Ward will bring him much better exposure for his works, which show a heavy influence of magic realism and nature, which is entirely in keeping with the Wisconsin academic tradition. ... I also got a call from Jim Eannelli, the great musician and instrument maker. He takes his frustrations out on canvas, and says he's getting better and better as he paints more and more furiously. The trick is when to stop, especially for a painter of the expressionist stripe. Jim will be at Nedobeck's Diamond Ink Gallery, 218 S. 2nd St. which will also have new paintings by fellow artist/musician Mike Fredrickson, who has also been busy lately according to Pat Nedobeck. That should be a rocking party. Between Cedar and Diamond Ink, I'll find time to stumble into the Elaine Erickson Gallery and tour the other spots in the Marshall Building, 207 E. Buffalo St. On the way to the south side, I'll investigate the "wine barometer system conveniently arranged by Flavor and Body" at Vino 100 Milwaukee Third Ward, 102 N. Water St. As of this writing, I do not know if this is art or drink. If it's both, I'm game. Finally, I'll make it up to DeLind Gallery of Fine Art at 400 E. Mason St. ... National Public Radio called me up a couple weeks ago looking to do a story about the E-Bay fakes sold by James Kennedy, the art fraudster who now faces federal charges in Chicago. I said Bill DeLind would be the ideal person to interview, since Kennedy tried to peddle his fake Picassos to him a couple of years ago in Milwaukee. Alas, DeLind's interview was postponed by the unfortunate death of Bill Estes, a stalwart of Wisconsin Public Radio, who was to have interviewed him here for the national program. I'll get back to you when the show eventually airs.
--Michael Horne

EARTHQUAKE RECORDED ON UWM SEISMOGRAPH




Brett Ketter of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Department of Geosciences sent a link to the school's website at milwaukeeworld's request. Ketter says he's been on the phone all day giving interviews about this morning's earthquake in southern Illinois. UWM has had a seismograph since 1972, and it captures significant geologic events like today's quake. You can get a snapshot of the quake by linking here. Also, do you know what the best thing about an earthquake is? Answer: The best thing about an earthquake is hearing people use the word "epicenter" in its proper, non-corrupted context. meaning "above the center," as in "the community of Bellmont, Illinois is the epicenter of the earthquake, lying 7 miles above the source of the event." We never spoke about epicenter as in the sense of "super duper center" until well into the 20th century when journalist Stewart Alsop wrote about "The White House, that epicenter of power..."
--Michael Horne