Disturbing news is coming out of the Milwaukee Public Museum: they want to reduce or eliminate the popular “free day” that many Milwaukee County residents enjoy currently on Mondays.

What’s telling in all this is the red herring of a reason being used to justify the move.

Finley said the purpose of raising the issue was not necessarily to try to bring in more revenue to the museum, but to bring uniformity to various county attractions.

“With all the cultural institutions in town, there is a hodgepodge of discounts for county residents,” Finley said Monday. “It would be easier on all the residents if we had consistency among all the institutions.”

Apparently, the MPM now sees itself as the scheduler for all of Milwaukee’s cultural institutions and because their “free day” doesn’t match up with the one at the zoo or the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Milwaukee Public Museum should just get rid of it. Good to know.

It’s misguided reasoning to be sure, and if the end result of such a course would only inflict damage internally on a privately held institution, that would be another matter. This however, is the Milwaukee PUBLIC Museum which we all pay to support whether or not we visit it.

The “free day” for Milwaukee County residents is a huge success and as the article points out, Monday is the busiest day of the week for a reason. And that’s a good thing! Thousands of people who may not otherwise have the means to visit the MPM are able to get the educational and cultural benefits from doing so because there is a “free day” for them to utilize.

School children from the inner city are a particular group that benefits from the free Monday policy and it would be a crime to deprive them of the cultural and educational opportunities the MPM provides. Getting kids excited about learning is something the MPM does well and I think their Board of Directors as well as our elected Supervisors understand that.

Hopefully, they’ll all agree to shoot this idea down as quickly as it was raised.

The Public Policy Forum released it’s long anticipated report on about the future of County Government in Milwaukee today, and as intended, it should get people talking about the future of Milwaukee County Government.

The report is titled “Should it Stay or Should it Go? Exploring the potential for structural reform in Milwaukee County government.” and like previous reports authored by the non-partisan Public Policy Forum, it’s a comprehensive, intelligent and thought provoking report that lays out many of the problems our County faces while also offering some recommendations to politicians and other civic leaders.

The synopsis for the report, which you can download for yourself on their site, follows:

Should It Stay or Should It Go?
Exploring the potential for structural reform in
Milwaukee County government
January 2010

Milwaukee County government faces immediate and substantial fiscal and programmatic challenges. The county’s structural deficit is defined as the gap between expenditure needs and anticipated revenues & is projected to grow from $48 million in 2011 to more than $106 million by 2014, despite several successive years of significant expenditure and staff reductions and anticipation of significant wage and benefit concessions in 2010. This projection is the clearest indication yet that the county’s finances are crumbling and that valued services in areas like parks, transit, mental health and public safety face severe degradation without prompt and concerted action. This action could take any of several forms, including the complete elimination of Milwaukee County government. This report, commissioned by the Greater Milwaukee Committee, provides detailed analysis and perspective on the complex issues surrounding that option, as well as other potential structural changes.

It’s by no means a quick read. Instead, it’s a very in depth look at the reasons we have a structural deficit and possible solutions for digging ourselves out. I haven’t yet had a chance to read the whole thing myself as yet, but I did take some time early this morning to read the roughly 10 pages dedicated to Parks funding and governance structures. (If you want to follow along, the part about parks starts roughly on page 86)

In short, the recommendations about a dedicated funding source for the parks will sound familiar to anyone who reads my blog, but hopefully the idea of something like an independent parks district will find some new supporters in the environmental and business community because of this report.

In a nutshell, this is exactly what many park supporters have known and been raising awareness about for years, and it’s great that the PPF has come to many of the same conclusions as we have because it will increase the credibility and hopefully the acceptance of some of the recommendations.

While well researched and written reports like this can help to move the ball forward in addressing the long term issues facing Milwaukee County, it’s important to face the reality that there are also a lot of people who are heavily invested – for a variety of reasons – in having nothing change at all.

The Public Policy Forum, and it’s President Rob Henken, once again deserve credit for producing the kind of in-depth analysis that helps to break down very complex issues into a something the public can understand and develop a greater understanding of. It’s data like this that helps to make our Government more efficient and accountable to it’s citizens and they deserve a very big “thank you” for doing so. Also, the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and it’s President Julia Taylor, deserve acknowledgment for providing the financial resources needed to produce a report as thorough and exhaustive as this one.