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This Just In…

As first reported on SouthMilwaukeeNOW, former South Milwaukee Mayoral candidate Jim Logic has been bound over for trial on a felony theft charge in connection with a cheese business he formerly operated. Logic is alleged to have set up a dummy corporation with a name remarkably similar to that of a company he worked for, and he stands accused of using that dummy corporation to cash a check worth roughly $28,000.

Now I suppose I should be shocked at the allegations against Logic, but considering some curious statements he’s made in the past, I’m not shocked at all:

Logic admits he’s a bit of a maverick compared to many involved in city government, but said he is results-oriented and looks for the shortest means to make something happen.

Now I know he’s innocent until proven guilty, but stealing money from your former employer sure does strike me as the “shortest means to make something happen.”

** On a side note, I have an interesting story about the 2004 South Milwaukee Mayoral election that ended in a tie. I happened to vote in that election, and when my wife came home from work that night, I asked her who she voted for. Her response? “I didn’t vote, and even if I had, my vote wouldn’t have mattered.” She learned a lesson that day about the importance of every vote, and I don’t think she’s missed an election since.

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There’s been a lot of controversy recently about the possibility of a Wal-Mart being placed on the site of the failed IcePort development in Cudahy’s downtown area. The Mayor of Cudahy, Ryan McCue, is the subject of a recall effort after voting against allowing the Wal-Mart in Cudahy, despite his previously stated opposition to putting a taxpayer-subsidized Wal-Mart in Cudahy:

I do not think that the City of Cudahy should provide a $12 million tax subsidy to the world’s biggest retailer. Residents may not even see the tax benefits from the development for 20 years.

Throughout the controversy, websites have popped up both in support of the Wal-Mart and and in opposition to it, and there have been a lot of myths, half-truths and outright lies that have been told. Putting aside the issue of whether or not a Wal-Mart in Cudahy would be subsidized by Cudahy’s taxpayers - which I believe it would - there’s still the issue of Wal-Mart’s proven track record of trying to avoid paying its fair share of property taxes:

The Cudahy taxpayers have also been told that Cudahy can rely on Wal-Mart re-paying for this taxpayer subsidy of over $1000 per Cudahy family with the “new taxes” that will be paid by Wal-Mart in the future. First, at the present tax rates it will take Wal-Mart over 30 years before they would even pay off the existing Municipal Bond debt, let alone pay for the fire, police and other services provided by the City. Remember, their Menomonee Falls store did not even last that long, and closed after only 15 years. Second, the citizens of Tomah, Wisconsin also got similar promises from Wal-Mart just a few years ago when they subsidized a new Wal-Mart Distribution Center for multi-millions of tax dollars in their city. The ink on that agreement between Wal-Mart and the City of Tomah had barely dried when, after just a few years, Wal-Mart sued and won a $949,000 property tax refund from the City and a 25% reduction in future tax bills. Wal-Mart did not care that Tomah taxpayers would have an additional 20+ years of payments due on those Municipal Bonds issued for just that Wal Mart development.

For more information on the lengths Wal-Mart has gone to in order to dodge paying its fair share of taxes, click this link.

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What’s your definition of a riot?

I know my definition includes any of the following:

• Bottles or other hard objects being thrown
• Police in riot gear using tear gas or other crowd control measures
• Fires being set and looting occurring

However, according to the folks over at the Daily Scoff, this is what constitutes a riot:

Now call me crazy, but I don’t consider that a riot. Now this is a riot:

Like I said, call me crazy, but I don’t see how the first picture could even remotely be construed as being a “riot.”

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When are these folks going to get it right?

Understaffing in Milwaukee County’s procurement office has left it vulnerable to inside rip-offs, a new audit report says.

Budget cuts shrank the staff by more than 50% between 2003 and 2007, leading to shoddy recordkeeping, poor training and corner-cutting, the report from County Auditor Jerome Heer states.

Most notably, a policy change in 2003 allowed buyers to make purchases of any amount without any management oversight, the report says.

“We were just lucky somebody didn’t exploit the vulnerability,” Heer said Wednesday. The office oversees about $50 million in county purchases annually.

So I can’t help but wonder, does dumb luck count as a management style? After all, it’s thanks to dumb luck that the county has avoided being ripped off due to staffing cuts, poor training, and corner-cutting. I’m also left to wonder if this is really the kind of County government Scott Walker is proud to manage. I know he’s pushed hard to decrease the size of county government, but at what cost? Some cuts just shouldn’t be made, and cutting the ability of the county government to provide oversight and prevent wasteful or inappropriate spending shouldn’t be something we strive for.

Perhaps if Scott Walker spent more time managing Milwaukee County and less time getting his gubernatorial campaign up and running, this kind of problem wouldn’t be happening.

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A few weeks ago, the Oak Creek and Franklin common councils voted in favor of naming the South 27th Street corridor the “Boomgaard District,” a name that’s the brainchild of the South 27th Street Steering Committee and Zizzo Group Advertising + Public Relations, a Milwaukee firm hired by the cities for $370,000 to brand and market the district for development. Not long after the name was announced to the public, folks from both communities began to question the choice, and what began as a few bloggers noting their confusion and concern has turned into a full-fledged news story.

What I found to be most interesting in the MJS story on Boomgaard was a quote attributed to Oak Creek Mayor Dick Bolender, who said:

“I want it changed,” said Oak Creek Mayor Dick Bolender, who broke a 3-3 Common Council tie in favor of the name during a closed session in March - an apparent violation of state open meetings law - though he insists he was never enamored of the choice.

“My heart wasn’t in it then, and it’s not in it now,” he said.

What I can’t help but wonder is why Mayor Bolender voted in favor of a name he wasn’t absolutely sold on, and what’s more, I can’t help but wonder why he voted in favor of a name he didn’t fully support, given the fact that hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent coming up with the name. I’ve emailed Mayor Bolender for clarification on why he voted in favor of the Boomgaard if he wasn’t fully convinced it was the right choice for the 27th Street corridor, and hopefully he’ll have a good answer, because his comments voicing his concern about the name - which come after the public has reacted negatively to the name - seem to fly in the face of his vote in favor of the name.

Greg Kowalski over at Today’s Concerns has some excellent commentary on the decision to name the corridor the “Boomgaard District,” and he’s been leading efforts by bloggers and citizens of both communities, so go check out what’s he’s written on the “Boomgaard Boondoggle.”

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