Milwaukee Professionals Association

ELECTION 2008 - WHO WILL YOU VOTE FOR

235 Days Before the 2008 Spring Primary

235 Days Before the 2008 Spring Primary

Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2007
By: Mary Glass
Email: mgurbanicongroup@yahoo.com


Hi Neighbor!

It is 235 days ¡V 7 months and 21 days before the 2008 Spring Election in Milwaukee.

That tells me that the concerned taxpayer/voter should start his/her evaluation process for who he/she wants to run the City and County government through 2012.

WHO
My frequent blogs will speak about and highlight all the available offices for election in 2008. However, for this article, I am focusing on the City and County, with a primary emphasis on the Mayor, Common Council President, County Executive and County Supervisor Chair positions.

The following are in office now:
Mayor ¡V Tom Barrett
Common Council Chair ¡V Willie Hines, Alderman 15th District
County Executive ¡V Scott Walker
County Supervisor Chair ¡V Lee Holloway, Supervisor District 6

It is like preparing for April 15th ¡V tax day. You will need to gather your receipts beforehand of ¡§best practices¡¨ and ¡§customer/taxpayer care¡¨. Some considerations are:
„?? What has the elected officials done to EARN your vote?
„?? Have you seen the claims promised in 2004?
„?? Has your neighborhood improved ¡V garbage collected and receptacle put in the correct place or garbage left here and there on the ground, furniture pickup and other debris left unattended or reminded/monitored, parks opened and maintained, parks with bubblers, lighting, grass, bike racks, park furniture and garbage cans working properly and maintained, city vacant lots maintained, pot holes and breaks in the streets minimum, alleyways clear of garbage and debris, lighting as needed and operable, street sweeping not hit-and-miss to NO sweeping, corner garbage cans available for debris, citizens notified and giving warnings prior to high fines for maintenance, public notified of lengthy inconvenience of public streets and alleyways?
„?? Do you feel like the parking checkers, towing and the city enforcement of disbursement of parking tickets is a ¡§racket¡¨ and thereby undermines your trust of the city officers - has caused a bottleneck in the courts and the ¡§lack of drivers licenses¡¨ since so many people that get ¡§parking¡¨ tickets do not have the means to pay?
„?? Do you see on a regular basis parking checkers and law enforcement officers writing ¡§bogus¡¨ tickets and thereby cause a distrust of the system?
„?? Do you see the police department in your neighborhood as a friend or foe?
„?? Do you think more and more money spent for law enforcement and little to NO funds for the systemic causes as a fault of the mayor and the common council?

MARY GLASS BLOG Mary Glass

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235 Days before the 2008 Spring Primary

Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2007
By Mary Glass


„?? Do you feel that your neighborhood will/is included and benefiting from the Milwaukee Wireless Initiative, Manpower-Gilbane, Park East, KRM/Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Commuter Rail, Transit through the County, purchase of the Private Industry Council building, developments on the lower east and east side, Harley project and M-7 project?
„?? Do you see People of Color and the Working Poor around the table of M-7?
„?? Do you think the mayor, county executive, common council members, county supervisor and the supervisors have shown ¡§due diligence¡¨ in creating jobs/employment within the city and county of Milwaukee?
„?? Who do you know that is working on and/or being trained for any of the projects above?
„?? Do you see your neighborhood lacking service; but other areas ¡§with¡¨ service?
„?? Has your quality of life issues ¡V employment, education attainment, affordable housing, safety prevention and intervention, improved since the last election ¡V Year 2004?
„?? Are your business opportunities better now in 2007 than it was in 2004?
„?? When was the last time Community Development Block Grant, Emerging Business Enterprise, Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation and the Redevelopment Authority helped small business owners in your neighborhood?
„?? When was the last time the Department of City Development helped small business owners in your neighborhood structure deals and proposal for clearing the barriers of the City of Milwaukee?
„?? What do you see the mayor and common council doing to REMOVE and LESSEN the barriers for capacity building for small neighborhood businesses in your neighborhood?
„?? Do you see a difference in business assistance and development in your area vs. other areas?
„?? Have you (the property owner) received information regularly from your alderperson and supervisor to make informed decisions?
„?? Do you see the ¡§mayor¡¨ and ¡§county executive¡¨ hosting ongoing meetings in People of Color and Working Poor neighborhoods?
„?? Do you see your ¡§alderperson¡¨ and ¡§supervisor¡¨ hosting regular meetings in their districts?
„?? Do your alderperson and supervisor send out through the U.S. Mail newsletters that speak to his efforts and/or collaborative efforts with the council and mayor to improve your neighborhood and the district he represents?
„?? Or, do you receive once-in-awhile information that talks about the conditions of the neighborhood and district and then talk about solutions for the downtown, some large corporation, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce or the City of Milwaukee ¡V which does not include you r your neighbors?
„?? Do you see services to help those ¡§re-entering¡¨ Milwaukee from being incarcerated?
„?? Do you see the birth of ¡§mental health¡¨ and ¡§homeless¡¨ solutions to impact the overwhelming conditions in Milwaukee?
„?? Do you see ¡§drug and alcohol¡¨ rehab programs to curb the systemic issues of drug and alcohol use?
„?? Have you seen the mayor, common council president, county executive, aldermen, and supervisors make changes in the lack of housing for the homeless, re-entry incarcerated Milwaukeeans and low income families vs. an increase of high-end condo ¡V town home projects for newcomers from the burbs and other states?
„?? Do you see ¡§employment¡¨ and ¡§under-employment¡¨ a priority for our city and county elected officials?
„?? Have you seen major corporations being given dollars from the city-county-state-federal coffers with little to NO accountability for re-investment into neighborhood growth of Milwaukee?
„?? Have you seen large social agencies being given large sums of funds yet no change?
„?? Have you seen favoritism, election payback and discrimination by those in city and county elected offices?
„?? Have you seen ¡§crime¡¨ ¡V drugs, homicides and incarceration increase as ¡§big business¡¨ and is a means for making money by the powers to be?
„?? Have you seen the same people making the same decisions for the masses yet they do not ¡§look like the masses¡¨?
„?? Have the appointments by the mayor, common council president, county supervisor and county supervisor chair represented their districts and/or the majority population of the City of Milwaukee ¡V People of Color and the Working Poor?
„?? Have the elected officials protected the coffers with ¡§sound management¡¨ ¡V not just ¡§balancing a budget¡¨ or not ¡§raising taxes¡¨?
„?? If they have ¡§balanced the budget¡¨ and/or ¡§not raised taxes¡¨ are you better off ¡V are your services better?
MARY GLASS BLOG Mary Glass

Page 3
235 Days before the 2008 Spring Primary

Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2007
By Mary Glass


„?? Have the mayor and county executive selected knowledgeable and diverse members of their cabinet ¡V are they providing acceptable and appropriate services to the taxpayers/stakeholders?
„?? Or, do we have cabinet members that do not return calls, play favorites, hide behind secretaries, and obstruct services?
„?? Do Community Development Block Grant entitlements provide for the ¡§most vulnerable¡¨, ¡§low income¡¨ and ¡§moderate income¡¨ family decent housing, a suitable living environment, and opportunities to expand economic opportunities?
„?? Or, is it used to pay salaries and underwrite city employees in city department budgets?
„?? Have you seen our elected officials promote contractors receiving city and county funding and privileges that ¡§import¡¨ workers and contractors from outside of the City of Milwaukee while contractors and workers are available in the City of Milwaukee where unemployment and the Face of Poverty is?
„?? Do you only see your elected officials when it is ¡§ribbon cutting¡¨, a ¡§pet project¡¨, Dr. MLKing Day celebration and election?
„?? Do you receive ¡§courteous¡¨ and ¡§quick response¡¨ from city and county staff when you call on the telephone?
„?? Do you receive timely ¡§returned calls¡¨ and ¡§emails¡¨ from the mayor, common council president, aldermen, supervisor, city attorney, comptroller, treasurer, county executive, supervisors, county clerk, and judges (appeals and circuit court)?
„?? Have you seen ¡§fairness¡¨ and ¡§justice¡¨ being the hallmark for the mayor, common council president, county executive, and chair-county supervisors?
„?? Have you seen ¡§fairness¡¨ and ¡§justice¡¨ being the hallmark for the county district attorney, city attorney, comptroller, treasurer, circuit court and court of appeals judges, and clerk of circuit court selection of jury pool?
„?? Do you trust the mayor, common council president, aldermen, supervisors, district attorney, city attorney, comptroller, treasurer, county executive, supervisors, and clerk of circuit court?

Every election, you will hear ¡§empty¡¨ promises followed by posturing and claims. I don¡¦t know about you but I am looking for substance, a track record from incumbents, and reform around infrastructure for whomever is running. Additionally, it is my hope that there will be new candidates with fire in their bellies and a well-thought out cumulative vitae for the stakeholders to consider ¡V more people oriented than ¡§party¡¨ oriented.

For the City of Milwaukee, I want to see someone in the top two positions that stand on leadership, reasons for ¡§trust¡¨, changing the Face of Poverty, spending the millions that come into the City of Milwaukee on the backs of People of Color and the Working Poor to solve the myriad of quality of life issues that have reached epidemic levels due to neglect.

EVALUATION
I am looking for ¡§substance¡¨ in the past claims and promises that were made in 2004 by Tom Barrett ¡V Mayor and Willie Hines ¡V Alderman and Common Council President.

The same is expected from the 14 other Aldermen that sit on the common council.

IN THE DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS to come, I will note for you my findings on the differences of what our 2004 elected officials said and what they have done. I will evaluate the management practices; share my findings on how Mayor Tom Barrett, County Supervisor Scott Walker, Common Council President Willie Hines and Chairman Lee Holloway have managed the last 4 years.

5-YEAR SIGNATURE PLAN
Campaign Neighborhood ¡V CFNBA launched the 5-Year Signature Plan in 2005. We will showcase our work the last 20 months; select our Management Council through ¡§discernment¡¨, and TALK, LISTEN, COMMIT to ACTION,
August 20-22, 2007.

We will invite the elected city and county managers, their cabinet and others to be co-sponsors and participate in this historic event for ¡§structure in the INFRASTRUCTURE of Milwaukee¡¨.
MORE - Keep coming BACK!

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