Waukesha Water Consultant Says Milwaukee Should Not Be "Petty And Vindictive"

Earlier this week I posted and interpreted a document about Waukesha's water diversion needs, wants and strategy.

Provided upon request by the Waukesha Water Utility, the document outlined obstacles to Milwaukee's agreeing to sell Waukesha water from Lake Michigan, but none the less said Waukesha needed Milwaukee to sign on to Waukesha's diversion application before it was to be submitted to the state for review - - and noted that if Milwaukee wouldn't play ball, Oak Creek and Racine were available as alternative suppliers.

That posting, with a link to the full document, is here.

Waukesha Water Utility general manager Daniel Duchniak said portions of the document might have been used in a subsequent meeting on the subject with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
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The document's author is Bill McClenahan, a lobbyist and consultant to Waukesha. He works for the public relations firm Martin J. Schreiber & Associates, founded by the former Governor.

Also in the records provided by the Waukesha Water Utility was an email accompanying the attached document sent on March 8, 2009 from McClenahan to Duchniak, Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson, and former Governor Schreiber that further illuminates Waukesha's attitude and approach to Milwaukee:

Here is the full text:

"One item I did not mention, but which should be added to the attachment: people involved in the effort to make Milwaukee the water technology hub have expressed concern that a failure to cooperate with Milwaukee's neighbor on water issues will hurt Milwaukee's efforts to establish itself as a leader and visionary. Milwaukee could take the opportunity to set a positive precedent on how such sales should be conducted or it can risk looking petty and vindictive."

There you have it, Milwaukee: regionalism is always about doing what the suburbs want.

You've been warned.