Blogging Blue

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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This is a joint blog entry by Greg Kowalski of Metro Milwaukee Today and Zach of Blogging Blue.

In recent weeks, both of us have spent time blogging about the goings-on in Cudahy regarding the recall of their mayor because of his vote against allowing a Wal-Mart in Cudahy. As we’ve blogged about the situation in Cudahy, we’ve both been inundated with comments from a very passionate individual who supports putting a Wal-Mart in Cudahy. The commenter in question – Tom/Tony Collins - has only recently appeared on both of our sites, and while we both appreciate what Mr. Collins has brought to the debate about the Cudahy Wal-Mart, we’ve come to realize Tom/Tony Collins is actually an alias name for another blogger in sockpuppet mode. The sockpuppet in question is none other than CudahyNOW blogger, Wal-Mart secret activist, and McCue recall supporter Randy Hollenbeck!

In reading Mr. Hollenbeck’s blog, we both felt that while we don’t agree with many of his views, we appreciate Mr. Hollenbeck’s passion in sharing his viewpoints. Both of us shared our sympathy with Mr. Hollenbeck in light of recent personal attacks on his family due to the Wal-Mart situation. The kinds of personal attacks Mr. Hollenbeck has come under simply for sharing his views are uncalled for, but what’s also uncalled for is using a false identity to post on another blog. It’s bad net etiquette, and what’s more, it says something about the person using the false identity.

Most folks who blog do so to share their views on issues they’re passionate about, and that’s a great thing. Inevitably, folks are going to have disparate views on issues, and debate will no doubt ensue, but we think that’s a great thing. Debate is healthy, so long as it’s an honest debate, which is why we both politely encourage Mr. Hollenbeck to please, if he chooses to comment, post in his own name instead of somebody else’s. It’s unacceptable, unnecessary, and dishonest, and we both believe that if you’re going to express your opinion, don’t be ashamed to take ownership of your opinions and beliefs.

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I’ve spent a little time talking about the effort to recall Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue, and some folks within the Cheddarsphere have been very vocal in their support of the effort to recall McCue, but I can’t stop wondering about something:

Are these same folks who are so intent on recalling Ryan McCue perfectly okay with spending taxpayer dollars to fund a special election, should the recall prove successful? In these times when local municipalities are finding their budgets stretched thin, do Cudahy’s taxpayers really want to see their money being spent on a special election because a group of citizens engaged in a recall effort that strikes me as being an incredibly petty and spiteful response to one of their elected officials casting a vote they don’t agree with?

After all, that’s really what this recall election is all about; a vote cast by Ryan McCue. This recall isn’t about inappropriate or objectionable behavior, nor is it about illegal or corrupt behavior by an elected official; it’s about a group of folks getting their collective undies in a bunch because they want a Wal-Mart in Cudahy, and they think everyone should agree with them. I only hope this vocal minority - and that’s exactly what they seem to be - get put in their place, and I hope Ryan McCue remains as Cudahy’s Mayor for the remainder of his original term.

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Things are getting interesting in Cudahy. Not only have some citizens who support putting a Wal-Mart in Cudahy’s “city center” started a recall of Mayor Ryan McCue, but now comes a report by Randy Hollenbeck of The Way I See It that the ever-popular Citizens For Responsible Government have gotten involved. I would have thought that that folks from CRG would have crawled back under their collective rocks after their Franklin group - which was founded by Orville Seymer - was accused of violating state campaign finance laws.

Here’s my favorite excerpt from the Milwaukee JournalSentinel’s article:

The group [Franklin CRG] made what turned out to be false or exaggerated claims against opponents in fliers, claiming in one case that the candidate knew a sex-offender home was being planned for Franklin and that the candidate did nothing to fight a landfill expansion whose height would “exceed the Empire State Building.”

Apparently CRG has gone fishing in Cudahy, filing an open records request for a list of all City of Cudahy officials who have access to a city-issued credit card, as well as copies of credit card statements for said credit cards. I’m wondering what CRG - who coincidentally are assisting with the recall effort against Mayor McCue - are hoping to find in the city’s credit card records, because this seems to me to be nothing more than a fishing expedition by a group known for engaging in witch hunts. In any case, I’ve included a copy of the open records request below.

Greg Kowalski over at Metro Milwaukee Today has much, much more on this situation.

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…but Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue is having none of it. Shortly after casting a vote against Wal-Mart, McCue became the subject of a recall effort spearheaded by two Cudahy citizens who support putting a Wal-Mart right in the heart of Cudahy.

Randy Hollenbeck of The Way I See It, a local Cudahy blog, has taken up the issue of putting a Wal-Mart in Cudahy, and among the arguments he uses to justify putting a Wal-Mart in Cudahy is as follows (emphasis mine):

Wal-Mart doesn’t affect Cudahy’s image, just like have Pick N’ Save does not. What it does do is increase the standard of living. Look up what standard living means if in doubt.

While Randy Hollenbeck would like folks to believe having a Wal-Mart in Cudahy will increase the standard of living, the opposite is true. In fact, Wal-Mart has helped employees file for public asssistance, a fact which seems to fly in the face of Randy’s argument. Now sure, I suppose some will argue, “But Zach, you linked to the AFL-CIO…that proves that this is all about unions hating Wal-Mart.” Now sure, I linked to an article on the AFL-CIO website, but here’s proof that Wal-Mart assisted employees in seeking out and applying for public assistance.

And let’s not forget that almost two thousand Wal-Mart employees here in Wisconsin receive BadgerCare, at a cost of almost 1.8 million dollars to Wisconsin taxpayers. Now while Randy Hollenbeck might not mind paying his tax dollars to foot a health insurance bill that Wal-Mart and its billions of dollars in profits should be picking up, I’m not into corporate handouts. But getting back to my main point, the fact that almost two thousand Wal-Mart employees in Wisconsin need BadgerCare just underscores my point that Wal-Mart does little to raise the standard of living, as Randy Hollenbeck asserts.

Putting aside Randy Hollenbeck’s argument about Wal-Mart raising the standard of living in Cudahy, I believe this is an issue of folks in Cudahy settling for a Wal-Mart when they could raise their expectations much, much higher. Why not seek out a development that enhances Cudahy’s reputation, instead of settling for the eleventh Wal-Mart within a twenty mile radius?

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