WISDOT A NO-SHOW AT COUNTY COMMITTEE

PUZZLING NON-APPEARANCE
AT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE HEARING
also:
ACLU FILES RIGHTS COMPLAINT ON I-94 PLAN


Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

and the Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) failed to send a representative to the regularly scheduled meeting of the Milwaukee County Committee on Transportation, Public Works and Transit today, Wednesday, December 3rd 2008, despite being listed on the agenda.

WisDOT was to have given a "verbal report on the I-94 South quadrant of the Mitchell Interchange reconstruction," according to agenda item #2, file 08-T23 [pdf], called for at the request of committee chair, 7th District Supervisor Michael Mayo, Sr.

Intergovernmental appearances are routine in the legislative process, especially when many agencies and jurisdictions are involved in a single project. In this case, the project is the proposed expenditure of $1.9 billion to widen and reconstruct I-94 from the state line to somewhere in Milwaukee. There is hardly a governmental entity in its path that would not be impacted by the project, and a reasonable observer would imagine WisDOT would have no problem sending a couple of engineers down to the courthouse to give a verbal presentation.

Consider this: WisDOT famously announces on its website [above] that it will "meet with anyone, anywhere, any time," to discuss this project, and includes a link to an "e-mail notification" service for news of upcoming events, news and meetings. Those of us who have long subscribed to the service know it has been silent for months.
We are not surprised that WisDOT has stonewalled private citizens in its decision-making process, but it is quite unprecedented for the agency to blow off a legitimately constituted body of elected officials pursuing a matter of public interest, germane to its responsibilities, in a properly noticed public hearing.

If this is the level of cooperation we are to expect when the state opens its pocketbook for the largest public works project in its history, then expect a process riddled with waste and ill-will.

ACLU FILES RIGHTS COMPLAINT

Karyn L. Rotker, Senior Staff Attorney of the ACLU of Wisconsin filed a request today calling for a federal investigation of WisDOT for violating civil rights laws in its planning to expand I-94.

The complaint, filed with the Offices of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, finds fault with plans to:

• widen I-94
• build a Drexel Ave. interchange
• close the interchange at S. 27th St. and I-894

Rotker's complaint finds the expansion and improvements would have negative impact on residents of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's only minority-majority city, and help fuel development of its hypersegregated suburbs. Many of the points in the complaint have been discussed in earlier posts on milwaukeeworld.
Here is the ACLU complaint.pdf
Jim Rowen has more on the Political Environment blog.

Michael Horne

[As this is being written, the committee meeting is still in progress, but milwaukeeworld has left calls to the office of supervisor Mayo and the committee clerk for further details. {The Clerk has since confirmed the non appearance and mentioned that the item will be held over} This desk is also awaiting a response from the DOT.--Ed.]