DCD LINK SEEN TO UWM DOWNTOWN SITE EFFORTS
Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com
By Michael Horne
A few months ago, a fellow named Dave Reid, described only as an east side resident and owner of website firm Texo Development LLC, sent a mass e-mail opposing plans to develop a UWM engineering school on 84 acres of county-owned property in Wauwatosa. He started a group called UWM Downtown, and its blog, hosted by Texo. Reid argued persuasively that the school should be located in the city. The Wauwatosa site is far distant from any nucleus of intellectual activity, and isn’t likely to become one. The design for the school wastes acreage as only a suburban development can waste acreage. What with parking, detention ponds and whatnot, probably 80 acres would be wasted, Reid says. The site lacks site amenities, is isolated, “a world to its own,” as Reid puts it.
Of course, there are no plans to connect the Wauwatosa campus by rail to the main campus on the east side. The city is clearly the site for the school, as the mayor and common council have decreed. The county site is favored by County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, Supervisor Michael Mayo and County Executive Scott Walker. Throw in Michael Cudahy, and that’s about it.
Reid and his group seem well organized – almost too well organized. It now appears he has some help behind the scenes.
An e-mail sent yesterday from uwmdowntown@hotmail.com included a 10-page position paper supporting the expansion of the school downtown. Reid took credit for his group issuing the paper in a recording made yesterday, Tuesday, June 10th, 2008, where he recorded this explanation of his activities.
However, if you bother to open the white paper and check the document properties, you will find the author of the paper is listed as “DCD.”
That would be the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development. DCD spokesperson Andrea Rowe Richards says the department does not have any contracts with Reid or with Texo.
Still, it appears that when the Barrett administration works behind the scenes, it hides its activity behind a transparent screen.
posted by Michael Horne @ 12:11 PM
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The Wauwatosa site is far distant from any nucleus of intellectual activity
Umnnhhhh...MCW/Froedtert/Childrens' might resent that--as might the future GEMed R&D folks who will be at the same site.
That "far distant" comment struck me, too. I thought intellectual collaboration was the whole idea for the County grounds site, apart from revenue for the County.
But events may be fast overtaking us. Baltimore is expanding its investment in biotech in a very big way. We are already behind Madison, Boston, and cities in and California and elsewhere. How realistic are biotech plans for Milwaukee in the first place?
That said, I hope the idea of a rail link between UWM/East and Wauwatosa is not being dismissed out of political cowardice. Why not wait for the sales tax referendum (yet another delay, I realize) and see just what the public is willing to support?
(How strange that Walker is for the Tosa site, but against even allowing a vote for a tax increase. Does the Tosa site make any sense without a rail link?)
But maybe the whole focus of the school needs to change. In that case, maybe a manufacturing industry-focused downtown site would make more sense, perhaps coupled with a much smaller biotech presence in Tosa.
That "far distant" comment struck me, too. I thought intellectual collaboration was the whole idea for the County grounds site, apart from revenue for the County.
But events may be fast overtaking us. Baltimore is expanding its investment in biotech in a very big way. We are already behind Madison, Boston, and cities in and California and elsewhere. How realistic are biotech plans for Milwaukee in the first place?
That said, I hope the idea of a rail link between UWM/East and Wauwatosa is not being dismissed out of political cowardice. Why not wait for the sales tax referendum (yet another delay, I realize) and see just what the public is willing to support?
(How strange that Walker is for the Tosa site, but against even allowing a vote for a tax increase. Does the Tosa site make any sense without a rail link?)
But maybe the whole focus of the school needs to change. In that case, maybe a manufacturing industry-focused downtown site would make more sense, perhaps coupled with a much smaller biotech presence in Tosa.
As for rail, I liked the proposed Cudahy Plan from last year, but would also be in favor of transit along existing freight rail lines on the East and/or North sides.
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