South Milwaukee's 4th District

I received the following press release on Tuesday from the South Milwaukee Police Department:

On Monday, December 21, 2009, the Tri-City National Bank located at 2115 10th Avenue was robbed at approximately 9:29 a.m. The suspected was located and taken into custody at 9:46 a.m. The suspect, a 45-year-old male/white, acted alone in the robbery. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office will review the case for robbery charges. No one was injured during this incident.

Police Chief Ann Wellens says an observant citizen helped lead police to the nearby apartment building where the suspected was arrested.

Well, Wall Street loves the deal.

Check out Journal Sentinel and Reuters stories with some positive reaction to the news Sunday night that Bucyrus International was spending $1.3 billion to purchase the mining division of Terex Corporation … and perhaps move 500 jobs to South Milwaukee.

Now the question is: What does the deal mean for South Milwaukee? More specifically, what does it mean for downtown South Milwaukee?

I hope it means everything — that it’s the tipping for the real revitalization we need downtown.

During my campaign for alderman, I noted that we need to do more to partner with Bucyrus to promote and grow our downtown. It only makes sense.

Bucyrus stands at the heart of our downtown. Draw a four-block circle around the complex, and that’s South Milwaukee’s city center.

This is a huge opportunity for us, a point of difference, a competitive advantage. How many other cities can boast this? Other than Cudahy, I can’t think of another community in the area, maybe the state, in a similar situation.

Let’s seize on this opportunity. Let’s shout from the rooftops that South Milwaukee is home to what is now the world’s largest mining equipment manufacturer, home to a company that is committed to growth even in the worst of economic times.

A few things we could do:

• Call out Bucyrus’ presence as part of our city welcome signs, something like, “Welcome to South Milwaukee: Home of Bucyrus International.”  This, honestly, seems like an easy one, and I wonder why we haven’t done this already.
• Market the Bucyrus complex as a destination for visitors. About a year ago, Bucyrus opened a mining museum as part of its Heritage Building. Didn’t know that? You’re not alone. I see this museum as a nice attraction for the city, if promoted well. I’d also like to see it be open longer. At this point, it’s only open every other Saturday. Regular plant open houses and additional plant tour opportunities could make the facility — and, by extension, downtown South Milwaukee — a true tourist attraction.
• Better promote downtown businesses to Bucyrus employees — those already there and the potentially 500 new ones on their way. The South Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce attempts this with an annual business fair, and the South Milwaukee Downtown Market also reaches out to Bucyrus employees. I’d like to see other activities aimed at getting those employees to shop and eat “local.”
• Develop communications aimed at enticing the new (and existing) Bucyrus employees to buy homes in South Milwaukee. Let’s make South Milwaukee the starting point for their house hunt — not Oak Creek or Franklin.

Of course, these are just a few things we can do. Whatever happens, I hope the Bucyrus announcement at least gets the conversation started about our downtown area — a conversation that right now isn’t happening. I’d love to hear what you think.

So, you want to run for local office? If so, you had better get on it.

Up for election next year are the mayor (Thomas Zepecki), city clerk (Kathleen Lisowski), city treasurer (Karen Skowronski), city attorney (Joseph Murphy) and municipal judge (William Fenger).

So far, it appears each one is running again in 2010. 

As of Friday there was a declared challenger in just one race: mayor. Former 3rd District Alderman Richard Raduenz has announced his intentions to run against Zepecki in 2010. Zepecki, who is seeking his fourth term, easily beat Raduenz in 2008. Learn more here.

There’s still time to enter any race, however. Prospective candidates must declare their candidacy and submit nomination signatures by January 5.

Learn more about the paperwork and other requirements to run for office on this checklist from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

Remember that all 4th District residents will now vote at Rawson Elementary School, 1410 Rawson Avenue, as part of a shift towards one polling place per district. Previously, there were two. I support this change because it saves money, adds efficiency and, most importantly, eliminates confusion among district residents about where they should vote.

Click here to see a list of city polling places, as well as 2010 election dates.

And I’ll keep you posted as more candidates enter the local spring races.

From an award for a local alderman to some good deeds done by our largest employer, here are some recent headlines of note …

• Amvets Post 4 Award Dinner: Jim Shelenske, alderman from the 3rd District, is being honored by Amvets with its Community Service Award. Congratulations, Jim!
• Resolve to Improve the Profitability of Your Business: This item from NOW has more information about a class being offered through the South Shore Economic Development Consortium, the coalition of economic development leaders from South Milwaukee, Cudahy and St. Francis. I previously wrote about this group and its innovative efforts at starting a “Buy South Shore” campaign. Check it out here.
• Anti-Noise Group Tries to Shush Bill Honoring Harleys: Find out what made State Sen. Jeff Plale, D-South Milwaukee, say the following: “I am proud to accept their Dirty Dozen award, and I look forward to hanging it on my wall.”
• United Way Tops $45M Goal: See how Bucyrus helped United Way get there.
• Bucyrus Helps Patrick Cudahy by Buying Hams
• Judge Adds to Sizzler USA Award in E. Coli Case

I received a crime update from the South Milwaukee Police Department this evening. It’s a bit concerning, but I’m glad the SMPD got its man.

On Sunday, December 13, 2009 at about 11:54a.m. the Aldi grocery store at South Chicago Ave. and Drexel Blvd. was robbed by a lone, masked gunman. Witnesses saw a subject walk into the store with a black ski mask over his face. That subject walked to the back of store via the checkout lanes that were busy. The subject then walked to the back of the store and then came back to the sole cashier. The subject told her she needs to open her drawer and he pulled a gun (didn’t point it at anyone), took the money from the drawer and walked out of the store. Witnesses followed and obtained a good vehicle description and almost complete license plate of that car. This led to an arrest of a suspect within about 1 hour and 20 minutes of the robbery taking place. The suspect has not been charged as of this time, it is set to be reviewed in the next few days.

One thing that can be learned from this is when a person enters your business wearing a ski mask, and does not remove it, the Police should be called. Even in Wisconsin winters, it is not “normal” for a person to continue to wear a full mask inside a business. It is better to call the Police and determine nothing criminal is taking place than to wait until after an incident does occur. The sooner the Police are able to respond the better our chances of locating a suspect.

There was no immediate word on if this incident may be related to other recent armed robberies in Cudahy and St. Francis.

From the time I first heard the concept, I’ve been intrigued — a coalition of communities around Mitchell International Airport working together to promote economic development around this valuable transportation resource.

An Aerotropolis.

The Daily Reporter has a story on the concept – and the move afoot to unite interested parties to move forward on it — on its website. Check it out here.

The Airport Gateway Business Association is a key driver of the initiative locally, and, according to the story, it seeks to “form a nonprofit business called Milwaukee Gateway Aerotropolis Corp. that would attempt to attract businesses to the area around General Mitchell. The nonprofit corporation would collect money from municipalities to draft plans for the area, promote it to businesses and seek state and federal grants for development projects.”

The goal: Attract a cluster of aviation-oriented businesses around Mitchell International to create an “airport city” that drives economic development in surrounding communities … including the South Shore.

You can learn more about the concept on the website of John D. Kasarda, a leading national proponent of the concept, here. From his site:

Airports will shape business location and urban development in the 21st century as much as highways did in the 20th century, railroads in the 19th and seaports in the 18th.”

Why? He adds:

Major airports are key nodes for global production and enterprise systems offering them speed, agility, and accessibility. They are also powerful engines for local economic development attracting aviation-linked businesses of all types to their environs. These include, among others, time-sensitive manufacturing and distribution; hotel, entertainment, retail, and exhibition complexes; and office buildings that house regional corporate headquarters and air-travel intensive professionals.

As aviation-oriented businesses cluster around these airports and along transportation corridors radiating from them, a new urban form is emerging — the Aerotropolis.

What an opportunity, one I’m glad is getting some traction locally.

From the Daily Reporter story:

The Gateway business association is asking for representatives of eight area municipalities, Milwaukee County, General Mitchell and the Port of Milwaukee to serve on the nonprofit company’s board, pledge to dedicate city planners’ time to its efforts and raise $5,000 to run the business. The airport business association would dedicate $15,000 to the effort.

I’d like to see South Milwaukee take part in this.

I support taking a regional perspective to economic development, working with area communities and organizations, when possible, to grow the entire area. Certainly, there are times when cities have to be self-interested when looking to grow, but more often than not partnerships are the preferred route to economic development. Working in isolation, too often we all lose.

The South Shore Economic Development Consortium is a great example of the possibility of partnership. The Aerotropolis has the potential to be another.

Just received the following email alert from the South Milwaukee Police Department:

The cities of Saint Francis and Cudahy have had a total of three armed robberies over the past few weeks.  The suspect is described as a white male, 5′9″-6′, slim to medium build.  The suspect has been using a handgun during the robberies and has been covering his face with a mask and hood, which is on prior to him entering the businesses.  It is believed that the same suspect is involved in all three robberies. The target businesses so far have been restaurants with a time frame of about 5:30p.m.-8:30p.m..  No vehicle description has been obtained.  Please advised your employees of this and go over your money drop and hold-up policies with them.  No South Milwaukee business has been targeted as of this time, but the proximity of the other two cities with ours puts us at a higher risk. 

If your business is robbed, it is very important that employees call 911 as soon as it is safe and prior to making any other phone calls! Have you employees lock the door as soon as it is safe to prevent the suspect from returning if he is spooked.  Remind employees to get as good of description as they can including clothing, height/weight, vehicle and a direction of travel. 

If you see a person matching the above description in or near your business do not hesitate to call 911!  It is not uncommon for criminals to “case” or watch a business prior to entering it.  Being aware of your surroundings is one of the first steps to being safe. 

Remember, you can sign up to receive these updates from Officer Mike Hill by emailing him at mhill@ci.south-milwaukee.wi.us. And a big thanks to Officer Hill for offering this valuable service.

Snow-mageddon never quite materialized for South Milwaukee, but my thanks go out once again to our hard-working road crews for keeping the streets clear of the slushy mess that fell in the city.

I also have answers to a few of the questions raised by my earlier post on the city’s snow policies. Among them:

• Shoveling. Here is what our code has to say about shoveling your sidewalk after a snowfall. You have to do it “within 24 hours of daylight” after the storm. Confused? I was too. Simply, what it means is that if the snow stops during daylight hours, the clock starts ticking immediately, and you have 24 hours from that point to clear off your sidewalk. If the snow stops during overnight hours, the clock starts ticking at dawn the next day … and your 24 hours start then.
• Snow emergencies. I had a couple questions about these. First, let me start by saying that these are apparently very rare for South Milwaukee. City Administrator Tami Mayzik estimates that only one or two have been declared in the 13 years she’s been with the city. With that in mind, when one is declared, parking is indeed prohibited on main thoroughfares in South Milwaukee (College, Rawson, Milwaukee and 15th avenues among them) from to 2 to 6 a.m. View a list of these streets here.
• Parking options. I also had a question asking if the city provides any parking options for those who have nowhere else to park during a snow emergency. The answer: We don’t. We leave it up to residents to make their own alternate arrangements.

I hope these answers are helpful when the next snow-nami rolls around.