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Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is seeking to get elected officials in Milwaukee County to agree to the hotly debated and controversial property tax freeze.

In a letter to elected officials this week, Walker asked them to sign a “Tax Levy Freeze Pledge Card” and return it to Walker’s office. The three-year tax freeze was approved by the State Legislature as part of the 2003-04 budget, but was vetoed by Governor Jim Doyle. An attempt to override the veto in the State Senate failed by one vote.

“Taxpayers in Milwaukee County are already paying far too much of their hard-earned dollars in taxes,” Walker stated in the letter. “It is not fair to say that one level of government or another is at fault – they all are. And only by working together can we make a real difference for our constituents.”

And while Walker attempted not to blame anyone for past tax increases, he went on to say that residents of Milwaukee County saw an increase in 2002 despite the fact that Milwaukee County did not increase taxes. But taxes did go up for Milwaukee County residents “as a result of increases in other taxing authorities.”

Several mayors and other elected officials were miffed by the letter from Walker, saying it was a “political stunt,” aimed at again shifting blame onto local government for past tax increases.

They also said it was hypocritical of Walker to give them budget advice considering the fact that the county’s 2003 budget had fallen apart in recent weeks, with the Parks Department revealing a $2 million shortfall. This forced Walker to close most county pools several weeks early and to lay off more than 200 workers.

“He’s trying to give us budget advice, yet he can’t even balance his own budget,” said a mayor. “He’s just trying to use this to his political advantage. He needs to worry more about his own budget and let us deal with our own finances.”

It is likely that the mayors and village presidents of Milwaukee County will discuss Walker’s letter at an upcoming Intergovernmental Cooperation Council meeting in September to determine if they want to respond as a group or as individual communities.

The mayor said it was very likely that most communities were not going to raise their tax rate or tax levy this year because of the recent heated debate over the tax freeze.

“We all heard and saw what was going on,” the mayor said. “But this is a local decision, not something that Scott Walker should be telling us to do.” When Common Council President Marvin Pratt moves into the mayor’s office on January 5, will he clean house or will he instead act as a caretaker until the mayoral election in April 2004?

Most political observers expect minimal changes in City Hall staff as a result of the change in mayors from John Norquist to Pratt. Norquist, who is not running for reelection is leaving office in January to become president of The New Urbanism Council, a national landuse group.

The most likely changes at City Hall are the departures of Steve Jacquart, Norquist’s chief of staff, and Patrick Curley, director of the city’s Intergovernmental Relations Department, who is mayoral candidate Tom Barrett’s close friend and campaign advisor. Other top Norquist staff are likely to leave for other jobs in the coming months, allowing Pratt to fill spots in the mayor’s office with supporters.

Other than that, most Norquist cabinet members are likely to remain in their jobs through April, as Pratt just hopes nothing goes wrong during the three months he will reside in the mayor’s office.

“His philosophy is going to be that I want city government to run as smoothly as possible while I’m out on the campaign trail,” said a city hall staffer. “He needs to make sure the garbage gets picked up every week and the streets get plowed every time its snows. If he has any problems with that, it could severely damage his campaign. He wants no screw ups or errors.”

Where Pratt is likely to have the most impact during this three months is in appointments to city boards, committees and commissions. According to city records, Pratt will have the opportunity to appoint supporters to the Harbor Commission, Redevelopment Authority, World Festivals Board, Board of Zoning Appeals, Library Board and the Historic Preservation Commission.

“He will get the chance to have some impact, but he has to be careful,” said Jeff Fleming, a Milwaukee public relations executive and former Norquist press secretary. “If he is seen as someone who is appointing his political cronyies to jobs, it will end up hurting him.” State Sen. Gary George’s recommendation that state transportation officials set a 50 percent goal for minority business participation on the $810 million reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange would violate federal guidelines and be impossible to meet, a top state official said this week.

In a letter to George, a Milwaukee Democrat, Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi said the state agency was going to great lengths to ensure meaningful disadvantage business enterprise (DBE) participation in the massive construction project. However, he said they would not be able to set or meet a 50 percent minority business participation goal.

“While we share a common interest in fostering DBE participation on the (project), we clearly differ with regard to the method of arriving at a specific goal for minority business participation on this project,” Busalacchi wrote. “In short, your expectation that we can set DBE goals in an autocratic manner does not conform to both federal guidance and accepted and long-standing state practices.

“In effect, your proposed 50 percent goal borders on establishing a virtual set-aside for MBEs (minority business enterprises). As we all know, a set-aside is forbidden by federal rules unless there is a very strong and compelling justification for it.”

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announced plans in late July for a slimmed down reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange in downtown Milwaukee. Originally, it has been slated to be an $890 million project, but City of Milwaukee officials and residents objected. Engineering and design is already underway, with construction set to start in 2004.

George, who could not be reached for comment, has been upset that Doyle’s announcement did not include specifics on a minority business participation program, other than to recommend the establishment of a committee to address the matter. In a recent letter to Doyle, he recommended the establishment of the 50 percent goal, saying an aggressive program was needed because past DBE efforts on major projects, such as the construction of Miller Park project, had not been successful.

However, Busalacchi said the committee established by Doyle, which is comprised of union officials, elected representatives and individuals from the road building community, was seeking to set a goal that could be met. He said a 15 percent DBE goal was set for the design portion of the project, but actual DBE participation in that portion of the $25 million project hit 25 percent, or $7.5 million.

Historically, Busalacchi said DBE goals for the state’s Milwaukee-area projects have ranged from 10 percent to 25 percent, with the average in the last 18 months being about 20 percent. Federal law requires that the goal be based on factors such as the type of work involved, the location of the project and the availability of DBE firms to do the particular work.

“This is firm evidence that our approach has contributed positively to an increase in the use of DBE firms,” he wrote. “The Department has not wavered in its commitment to level the playing field to achieve the fullest possible participation by DBE firms on the (project).”