Strong Crossroads Section Today
The center-piece editorial about flooding and the Deep Tunnel is well-done. Both the history of how the Deep Tunnel's performance, and the financial projections of separating the sewers deserve broad consideration.
I hear conservative talkers demanding that the sewers be separated, but aside from the reflexive pounding aimed at the MMSD - - as if that agency wasn't already spending a fortune on system upgrades - - I don't see these conservatives setting aside their partisan and ideological squawking and backing the $5 billion or more needed from taxpayers to do the total makeover they say they want.
I had already posted Barbara Miner's fine climate change op-ed, and Scott Bernstein from Chicago's Center for Neighborhood Technology produced another on our need regionally for more transit to spur development.
And the piece by John Gurda on the demise of the union at Rockwell Automation, formerly Allen-Bradley, blew my mind.
I used to cover that powerful, legendary union when I was labor reporter for The Milwaukee Journal; I guess I've become too disconnected and narrow a citizen, because I should have been aware of what was happening there, and I somehow missed it.
Gurda is a real resource for this community; his writing is smooth and substantive. A good call by the paper to continue to feature him regularly, and all in all, a solid Crossroads for the public to sift and winnow today.
Final thought: with all that square footage available, and no doubt the infrastructure for just about any commercial or industrial use, why didn't UWM make a deal for space there for both its expanding engineering school and the private-sector innovation center.
The building is historic. Park is available. It's on a bus line. The to-be-expanded WATER Institute is down the street, and both Marquette's engineering school and the Milwaukee School of Engineering for collaboration are much closer than the County Grounds.
3 comments:
A little disappointed that the Gurda piece didn't mention UE's long history as one of the most progressive unions in the country, refusing to kunckle under during the McCarthy era and ending up as an independent, rank and file-run union outside the AFL-CIO. A lot of left-wing history in the UE's story.
Thanks for the info Mr. Rowen.
This confirms my assumption the money spent so far on the Deep Tunnel since the early 80's would have easily covered the cost of separating the sewers if the correct decision would have been made in the first place.
Not sure what is more sad though, the initial messed up decision, or those who have unflinchingly defended it ever since.
Mr. Rowen - in your 'final thought' were you refering to the A-B building as having availible square footage?
If so according to the article it's being used, by Rockwell Automation employees. They just don't happen to be unionized.
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