Dubai Can't Pay Its Bills: Who'd Have Thunk That?
You mean there is something fiscally irresponsible about building skyscrapers and high-rise condo towers on artificial islands in a desert environment?
No!
Friday, November 27, 2009
GOP Has Problems If Economy, News Improve
The news as reported by the Journal Sentinel that Wisconsin is not the tax hell that GOP leaders repeatedly claim is hardly Republicans want to read.
Likewise the news about job losses in the state plateauing.
That is because Republicans want- - need - - to campaign against incumbent Jim Doyle even if the incumbent is not on the 2010 ballot, and taking away the "blame-Jim" card eliminates a major, if not the pivotal Republican strategy.
The better is the trendlig news for Wisconsin as it climbs out of a deep national recession, the worse politically for Republicans.
Imagine needing more suffering to succeed electorally.
For years, incumbent Milwaukee County Exec Scott Walker profited politically from the messy Tom Ament legacy.
Ament was a convenient excuse for Walker and his thin, one-note opportunism.
But if Doyle is not available as an easy punching bag for GOP cookie-cutter ads, Walker or the unlikely primary winner Mark Neumann, will have a harder time connecting with the voters through facts.
Will Smart Growth Affect The Road To Sprawlville: Chapter XXXII
Our continuing series, The Road to Sprawlville, again surveys the political and natural environment and notes that by 2010 all Wisconsin municipalities shall have a Smart Growth plan in place.
Meaning that the people and leaders in each community will have approved local definitions and limitations on growth designed to slow down sprawl.
The Journal Sentinel discloses that most, but not all communities will have met the deadline that was a decade in the making - - and that extensions might be granted to those cities, villages and towns that for some reason need more time.
But having a plan and following a plan are two different circumstances, and while the recession has caused the suspension or scrapping of some developments, clashes will ensue pitting development against preservation, as well as plan-adherence against plan-dismissal.
Planning without teeth has long turned regional planning into a phony drama: maybe more local Smart Growth plans that were approved with real citizen input will prove more important to resource stewardship with true common purposes.
We'll see.
Milwaukee's Governments: Two Leaders, Two Budgets...Many Differences
Lisa Kaiser at The Shepherd captures the salient difference between Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett when it comes to their budgets - - and hence, their leadership and what we might expect of them as Governor.
As Kaiser explains - - and the contrast is a bright line separating these 2010 gubernatorial hopefuls - - Barrett's budget is balanced through modest increases with givebacks, and honest construction, while Walker's will teeter and perhaps collapse early through modest increases, plus givebacks that have yet to materialize.
The Barrett approach is truth-in-budgeting; Walker's is not, but is true to a pattern of past budgeting characterized by imaginary numbers, gaps and red ink.
Now which would you prefer in the Governor's office and Executive budgeting process
Thursday, November 26, 2009
SEWRPC Economic Profile For City Of Milwaukee Still Outdated, Inaccurate
Why the South Eastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission will not correct and update a City of Milwaukee economic profile posted on its website remains a mystery.
Much data is circa 2004 and earlier, as I pointed out many months ago.
Not a confidence-builder.
Barrett Wants Quick Federal Action Against Asian Carp Threat
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, aware that the destructive Asian carp has made its way past an electric barrier and is closing in on Lake Michigan, has asked two federal agencies to block the carp by closing a set of dams and locks near Chicago.
Barrett's letter is here.
The New York Times took note of the imminent danger a few days ago.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
LGBT Publication Now On-Line
Check out the Wisconsin Gazette, a progressive publication sent my way online.
The state needs this kind of fresh source of news.
Monday, November 23, 2009
For My Brother Dan
I rarely put information on this blog about personal matters, but I am posting an obituary from Tuesday's New York Times that captures much of the spirit of Daniel Rowen, my younger brother, who died a week ago after a struggle with a rare cancer that was discovered this spring.
The obituary focuses on his work as an architect. Dan was the family artist and the one who returned to our roots in New York and found great success there.
He left behind a rich legacy in one of the most competitive professional environments anywhere.
A website contains a few images of his work and lists of accomplishments.
I look at these photos and am both amazed and sad: my 'little' brother did all this, and he's gone?
Dan was also the consummate father and husband. He was crazy about his wife and three boys - - so this is where his loss is greatest.
He also had made during the last few years a fascinating transition to a kind of patriarch (in the best sense of the word) to a large extended family and circle of friends and friends of friends in New York, and beyond.
This group is as stunned and devastated as is our immediate family at his sudden and inexplicable death.
Dan did nothing in half-measures.
His presence and impact were immense.
I could not have asked for a better brother.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Asian Carp to Strike And Ruin Great Lakes
The Asian Carp will destroy the Great Lakes, and, so far, all efforts to defeat their steady march there are failing.
Same Old GOP Song-And-Dance, Pre-Election Year Version
Scott Walker and Ted Kanavas express some synthetic outrage over a highway repair schedule.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Guest Post About County Fiscal Policy And Jobs
I'm happy to post the work of Ph.D candidate John Kovari, who has worked in City Hall and at the Public Policy Forum.
We need more polished, young thinkers like this.
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Lately I’ve been using economic data for some research on economic development, and curiosity led me to test some political assumptions that have popped up recently.
When we look at the Milwaukee County data between 1990 and 2006, a surprising dynamic emerges. Jobs and tax rate have a positive statistical relationship. Go figure. For you stats geeks, the Pearson’s correlation coefficient is 0.536 and statistically significant (p<0.05).
The Great Multi-Billion Dollar Highway Replacement Wheel Keeps On Turning
The same cycle, over and over and over again - - whether it's the Marquette Interchange, or the Hoan Bridge, or at any given time, roadways and spans across the state and country.
And nowhere in the so-called long-term reconstruction $2+ billion plan will there be a rail corridor.
So there will be plenty of money left over to do the next concrete cycle.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Is True To Form
Their snotty editorial about Louis Butler underscores why no takes that part of the paper seriously.
Remember When An Improved Marquette Interchange Meant Safer?
Oh, we remember.
That $810 million poured into the Marquette Interchange was barely about expansion - - despite eleven new lane miles and wider ramps - - and was hyped as all about safety.
But TMJ4 is reporting that in one key interchange connection, serious crashes seem to be overcoming the 'improvements.'
Details below - - and, by the way, none of this is news to frequent users of the big new traffic machine: Some ramps push through traffic from high elevations and into congestion that feels worse than before.
Clarke Concerned about Crashes on Marquette Interchange Ramp
By Charles Benson
Story Created: Nov 18, 2009
Story Updated: Nov 19, 2009
MILWAUKEE - It's accidents like the one that shut down the northbound I-43 ramp last month that has Sheriff David Clarke worried. There have been 68 accidents there in the last year.
Sheriff Clarke wants to know if the ramp's tight turn is to blame for the rising crash stats.
"Just as a motorist when I came around this I said 'This thing is pretty steep for even 40 miles an hour," says Clarke
Clarke asked the state to study the I-43 ramp and crash data to see if there is a problem.
State Transportation officials say there is nothing wrong with the ramp. It was built to federal highway safety standards. But Sheriff Clarke wonders if there is a design flaw.
Clarke adds, "In this day-in-age with the technology and engineering available I find it puzzling that the state would put that steep of a ramp inside an interchange."
The state and the sheriff agree speed is a problem. Clarke set up a speed checker until he can get some answers from state engineers.
"It's a new ramp so we want to properly diagnosed it so we know what intervention might be necessary to prevent someone from being seriously injured or killed."
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
We Need The Hoan Bridge II: Smaller, Less Wasteful Of Land
In an age of shrinking budgets, the notion that the overbuilt Hoan Bridge would be rebuilt as is...is foolish.
Smaller, less gaudy, is better for all parties, including taxpayers, and certainly for the City of Milwaukee where the bridge now sits as a monument to a bygone, excessive era.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
County Process Flaws Stalled Park East Turnaround
It has taken far too long for some Park East projects to move forward, in part because Milwaukee County does poorly when it comes to development.
The City, with a Department of Development, has a better track record and more expertise with which to work, but County officials wanted control over parcels they owned - - but didn't have the staff and tools to make things move smartly and quickly.
The result: inertia.
Scott Walker recently suggested starting a County agency to compete with the City's DCD.
That's duplicative and wasteful.
Ceding more control to the City would get projects in the ground faster, and thus on the tax rolls quicker, too.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Milwaukee Needs More Than Sweet Talk From UW System
With the UW system deeply rooted in its hometown of Madison, the City of Milwaukee and its legislative delegation better get some assurances about making the big city on the big lake the center of UW system water research.
Scott Walker Kicks Gay People: Typical GOP Playbook Material
Oh, it just wouldn't be a modern-day GOP camdidacy without kicking gay people around, right.
Er, Right?
Trib Explains Why Water System Leasing Is a Bad Idea
In light of what Milwaukee Comptroller Wally Morics had proposed studying, this Chicago Trib piece is really worth a read.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
If Barrett Runs...
The basic question will be:
Do you want as Governor our fringe-dwelling Milwaukee County Executive, Scott Walker, who asked Sarah Palin for her support when she was here a week ago?
Friday, November 13, 2009
Doyle DNR Bill Veto Very Regrettable
He sent signals that it was coming, so while Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of the bill returning the power to appoint the Department of Natural Resources Secretary to the DNR board - - and reversing a Cabinet-expanding power grab engineered by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson - - it is disappointing.
It sets up a collision with the Legislature and members of his own party just as Democrats are perhaps sorting out their 2010 gubernatorial candidate troubles - - Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett might be close to announcing - - in the wake of Doyle's sudden decision to step aside next year.
And it is a slap at much of Doyle's core constituency - - environmentalists, urbanists, conservationists - - who believe that a DNR moderately removed from gubernatorial direction would function more in the public interest and less driven by special interests.
It is painfully ironic that Doyle through his veto would validate the Machiavellian move to control the DNR from the Governor's office pulled off by a power-hungry, statist Thompson - - Doyle's nemesis as he chafed as Attorney General in Tommy's shadow all those years.
Tommy was the walking definition of bad, obstructive, Imperial governance personified for AG Doyle as Tommy grabbed the DNR Secretariat, killed the Public Intervenor in Doyle's offices and sent Consumer Protection off to the Ag Department.
All of which pleased the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, our state's champions of weak public resource regulation, and the most vocal supporter of keeping the DNR Secretary close to the Governor where the WMC could more easily and quietly make self-serving pitches.
Of course, a rare veto override is possible.
And would exacerbate tensions between the Governor, legislators and activists who have worked for years to restore some of the DNR's historic independence - - the reform bill kept intact a governor's ability to appoint the DNR board members - - and implement a change that Doyle supported when he was a candidate in 2002.
I don't see anything good in this action. It's a step backwards for grassroots democracy and public participation in the most basic of agencies.
Airline Jobs Win Was "Team Effort," Walker Not Mentioned
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's self-serving news release in the wake of Republic Airlines' job creation announcement earlier this week did not persuade the editorial writers at the Journal Sentinel to include the County Exec/gubernatorial candidate by name in their praise.
Maybe they remembered Walker's "lipstick-on-a-pig" dismissal of the Milwaukee 7 in 2005 - - reprised here.
Gov. Jim Doyle, whose business expansion tax credit plan helped seal the deal, was lauded in the editorial, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, an early M-7 supporter and organization co-chair, got the last word.
Maybe actions do speak louder than words.
Study Finds Highway Lobbyists Steer Politicians Away From Maintenance Projects
Hardly a surprise, and neither is the industry's denials.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Palin's Book Will Earn Her Money and Celebrity, But...
Will she enjoy the opening her 'blame-everyone-else' book gives to David Letterman, Tina Fey and others who helped convince her to quit the Alaska Governorship?
New State Law Will Reduce Phosphorus In Wisconsin Lakes And Streams
Here's how the Wisconsin Association of Lakes put it:
Nov 12, 2009 - Wisconsin Association of Lakes is pleased to announce that the State of Wisconsin today took another important step in controlling nutrient pollution in Wisconsin’s waters, as Governor Jim Doyle signed legislation prohibiting the use of phosphorus in dishwasher soaps.
We wanted to take a moment to say "thanks" for your support of us, which helped make this law possible.
The bill (AB 281) was passed by the Assembly in June and the Senate in October and is the second in a series of legislative initiatives to improve water quality.
Earlier this session, Wisconsin Association of Lakes and others led efforts in which the Legislature established a ban on the use of phosphorus compounds in lawn fertilizer and these efforts extended to the dish soap ban.
“This new law banning phosphorus in household dishwasher detergents is one more important step to protecting and restoring our lakes so they may continue to be enjoyed by all,” said Karen von Huene, Wisconsin Association of Lakes Executive Director. “We are proud as an organization to have again been at the forefront of this important issue and thank the legislature and Governor for understanding how crucial it is to the health of Wisconsin’s waters.”
A 1970’s Wisconsin law prohibited the sale or use of most cleaning products containing more than 0.5 percent phosphorus by weight, but made an exception allowing dishwashing detergents with as much as 8.7 percent phosphorus.
The new law eliminates that exception and limits dishwashing detergents to the same low phosphorus level permitted in other cleaning products beginning in June of 2010.
Our member lake organizations, individuals and corporations have long supported measures to remove phosphorus from the runoff flowing into our waters.
Nutrients like phosphorus are degrading 90% of Wisconsin’s inland lakes, causing smelly algae blooms, fish kills, and declining water quality.
Enactment of this new law enhances Wisconsin’s status as a national leader and model for other states in preventing phosphorus in runoff from contaminating its waters.
Whitefish Bay Wise To Invest In Schools, Despite Recession
I meant to give props to Whitefish Bay voters who voted by referendum last week to pay a slightly higher property taxes to improve their schools.
The voters understood that investing in schools would help the Village remain attractive and continue to provide quality educations to the students.
I'm always baffled when I read about suburbs that turn down local school referenda even though the ability to absorb small annual tax increases is relatively easy, given the communities' demographics.
Michigan Pol Headed To Middle East Pitching Great Lakes Access
But Gov. Doyle is headed there first, so let's hope he's got a better offer in his pocket touting Milwaukee and water-related business opportunities here than what Michigan's Lt. Governor has in mind.
John Michlig On Development And Other Developments In Franklin, Washington State And California
Several threads tied together nicely by Franklin blogger John Michlig.
I like the NY Times citation about foreclosure rates being lower in communities served by transit.
Water Privatization Would Cost Consumers
A study throws cold water on leasing the Milwaukee Water Works.
Hat tip, Riverkeeper.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Milwaukee County Board Again Threw Away $800,000
Unnoticed during the financially-strapped Milwaukee County Board's 2010 budget deliberations was its routine transfer of a huge gob of local property tax dollars to pay an assigned share of the annual operating expenses of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC).
SEWRPC's non-elected 21 commissioners (three each from seven counties, regardless of population) bill the Counties annually and get their checks in the mail.
Milwaukee County, based on its share of the seven counties' equalized property value, always pays the most: in 2009, the bill hit more than $841,000 (see p. 16 of the SEWRPC budget).
The 2010 payment will be in that range, give or take.
Supervisors tangle each year over pet projects, programs, taxes, fees, parking rates, janitorial services, and long lists of people, places and things.
But they silently approve SEWRPC's check each and every time - - for the last 50 years.
And the City of Milwaukee, whose taxpayers front half that County contribution, have absolutely zero say in the matter, along with zero votes on the SEWRPC board.
For the County, it's taxation without challenge. For the City, taxation without representation.
A sum in the $800,000 range would pay the salaries and benefits of about 10-12 deputies, or police officers, or for other public safety, health, or development personnel in City Hall or the County Courthouse.
Or a small rebate to taxpayers in dollars saved, or put out for competitive bid, since SEWRPC is hardly the only organization that can provide the mapping or planning services that the County might say it absolutely needed.
Instead, that same sum is sent out to SEWRPC's headquarters in Pewaukee to support planners who are working hard to divert Lake Michigan water to the City of Waukesha, or to approve Interstate highway expansions in the out-counties or to otherwise busy themselves moving capital and jobs farther from the very people who each year pick up the largest piece of SEWRPC's operating budget.
The next time a Milwaukee County supervisor wails about the tough budget and the lack of money to spend on good things, ask that supervisor about the SEWRPC appropriation.
DNR Secretary Appointment Struggle Is Too Much About Power, Not Policy
Word on the street is that Gov. Jim Doyle will veto the bill approved by both houses of the Legislature that would take the appointment of the Department of Natural Resources Secretary away from the Governor and return it to the DNR board.
Republican legislators removed the appointment from the board and gave it to Gov. Tommy Thompson some years ago so Thompson could directly control the agency, and especially its regulators who often bumped into Thompson's core business supporters.
As a first-term gubernatorial candidate, Doyle said he'd support reversing what Tommy and his legislative allies had done to the DNR.
Years of grassroots organizing - - bipartisan and non-partisan - - have united the hook-and-bullet-crowd and environmentalists in a successful legislative effort to put the appointing authority again into the board's hands.
Governors appoint the board members, with staggered terms, so the political control of the agency would be muted under the bill, but not ended.
Doyle has a decent record of environmental initiatives, with a vast expansion of the stewardship fund and its acquisition of lands for the public domain as his chief resource preservation legacy.
But environmentalism, per se, has never been one of his passions, and while that in itself is not a bad thing, it would be regrettable if he placed the preservation of gubernatorial prerogatives over public control of the state's natural resources.
I have worked for several elected chief executives and I understand that what they like, what they do and what motivates them is management and control, with hiring a key perk.
They are not legislators, and they are not advisers.
But that does not mean that holding on to power and handing it unchanged to the next office-holder is the end-all and be-all of political leadership.
Doyle's relationship with environmentalists and conservationists has sometimes been rocky - - look no further than his removal of his own DNR Secretary, Scott Hassett, after Hassett filed an enforcement action over water and air pollution caused by a UW coal-fired generating plant in downtown Madison.
That was a huge contradiction for the state and Hassett was right to begin to put an end to an eyesore and health hazard right in the heart of the Capitol city.
His sudden removal spoke volumes for the need to insulate the DNR secretary position and agency direction from some of the political stresses of the job.
I hope Doyle makes the right choice in this matter, and that there is not a further mess - - an override vote that will put many Democrats in opposition to their Governor.
And no doubt serving to amuse of some GOP politicos.
Will Private Sector Grants Materialize For UWM's Wauwatosa Engineering Complex?
People keep telling me that UWM will have a hard time raising the millions needed to make the engineering and innovation center a reality on the County Grounds site.
No one is saying that the fundraising would be easier with a Milwaukee city site.
Just that pledges are not being announced for the Wauwatosa campus.
Coal Continues To Be A Problem Fuel
Passing along a nicely-done op ed from the Journal Sentinel about the perils of burning coal to generate electricity.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Most Amazing Scott Walker Flip-Flop Yet
Remember Scott Walker's "lipstick on a pig" denigration of the M7, the then-budding Milwaukee regional economic development effort?
Well, now Scott loves the M7 big time, according to a statement from his office about Republic Airlines' expansion at Mitchell Airport.
No mention in the release that Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, perhaps Walker's foe in the 2010 gubernatorial tilt, was an initial co-chair of the M7, or that Gov. Jim Doyle, allegedly so anti-business, put tax credits - - explanation here - - into the state budget that helped Republic expand in Milwaukee.
Ah - - why let the facts interfere with the spin?
Walker's release is self-serving, short and simple - - classic Scott.
Given his new love affair with the pig, expect Walker to "Shop The Pig" and show up when Piggly-Wiggly opens this fall in the old Lena's/Jewel on E. Capitol Dr.
Final Highway 164 Federal Court Ruling In Routine Reconsideration Delay
For those of you keeping track, a significant US District Court decision several weeks ago - - full text in a link, here - - that cited federal and state agencies for improper methods that forced through the reconstruction of State Highway 164 is in something of a routine holding pattern.
There was a teleconference among the parties on October 29th, but not much took place because - - in lay terms - - the agency defendants have asked US District Court Judge Lynn Adelman to reconsider his preliminary findings.
And the plaintiffs - - The Highway 164 Coalition and Waukesha Environmental Action League - - objected.
This is all pretty much pro forma, I am told, so expect a final ruling in three weeks or so.
Then expect an appeal by the state and feds, because the initial ruling slapped them pretty hard and could end up requiring a lot of remedial work on the project, or in its yet-to-be-completed phases.
The road reconstruction and expansion runs from I-94 north through Waukesha County into more rural Washington County.
And has been the subject of extensive grassroots objections for years.
Another lay opinion: I could see the ruling requiring that other taxpayer-financed projects be planned and executed far differently with regard to public input, environmental impact studies and other public procedures and protections.
To which activists would say: "About time."
Melodie Wilson's Death
Melodie Wilson was as classy and professional as they come.
Tim Cuprisin, now at OnMilwaukee.com, has some perspective.
Monday, November 9, 2009
What The UWM Chancellor Said About R&D
I was out of town when UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago shared some of his thinking about new colleges and research institutes with athe Northwest Side Community Development Corporation, so I am catching up on my reading and posting this link to how Howard Snyder, the NWSCDC's Executive Director, took the chancellor's remarks.
For the record - - my son Sam works at the NWSCDC, but he didn't mention this presentation and reaction to me.
I am told, separately, that Santiago has submitted to state officials an initial $35 million land and infrastructure spending plan for the engineering and innovation school and center he wants to build at the County Grounds, in Wauwatosa at the Zoo Interchange - - with grants to cover half the initial sum.
Philanthropist Michael Cudahy has backed away from interest in donating to the new campus that Santiago wants located on the County Grounds - - despite suggestions it should be in the City, and certainly closer to Marquette University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering and the rest of UWM and the heart of the region's commercial and industrial presence.
That's a lot of money headed out of Milwaukee and the very neighborhoods and constituencies that most need public investments.
More on that later.
Rep. Richards Blasts UW Water Consultant Hiring
State Rep. Jon Richards has blasted the UW System's move to bring former DNR spokesman Jeff Smoller on board as a consultant who might help move water research and related development out of Milwaukee, where such efforts are taking shape, finally.
For Richards, a really tough statement.
Health Care Vote Hero
Dust off the label "Profile in Courage."
I especially like his ability to hold off the GOP's strong-arm tactics.
Waukesha Talks Tough On Great Lakes Water To The Wall Street Journal
I was struck by three things in today's Wall Street Journal story about Waukesha's pitch for Lake Michigan water:
First, the absence of Mayor Larry Nelson from the story.
Nelson is in a tough spot politically in Waukesha: he's a Democrat in a very Republican area, with generally pro-business establishment Republicans to court come election time next April, but also with generally Democratic environmentalists in his city raising questions about the implications of the diversion plan.
And conservatives already see the $78 million capital cost - - and about $5-6 million in annual operations - - of the diversion as a big number for the city's water ratepayers to swallow.
The best path for Nelson, like all chief executives, is to be on-the-job, on-the-case, managing a problem.
I also notice water utility general manager Dan Duchinak - - the spokesman fronted for the story - - saying that the diversion is preferable to going west of the city and buying land where there is available shallow and clean water.
So it's better perhaps to tangle with Milwaukee and force a solution there than it is to bump up against developers and municipalities to the west?
Again, let Duchniak deliver these messages, not Nelson.
Finally, the story ends with Duchniak saying Waukesha could end up going to court if the city's application gets turned down by one or more states "for the wrong reasons."
Better to have a threat to blow up the entire Great Lakes Compact come from a non-elected staffer than the Mayor, but I cannot imagine a worse public relations message being sent via a major national newspaper to the decision-makers, regulators and observers both in the Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces with advisory roles to play.
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