This is discouraging…

Assembly Democrats dialed back a proposed sales tax increase for Milwaukee County, voting to allow the sales tax to rise 0.65% but not the full 1% recommended earlier by legislators, according to information released early Thursday morning.

Most of the sales tax increase — 0.5% — would go for Milwaukee County buses. The remaining 0.15% would go for public safety. If approved, the change would allow the County Board to raise the sales tax from 5.6% to 6.25%.

The Joint Finance Committee last month recommended increasing the sales tax 1% to pay for buses, parks and public safety.

It’s important to remember as this goes through the Legislature that the referendum that passed in Milwaukee County last Fall was to grant a 1% sales tax for parks, transit, and EMS services. It was not a referendum on a 0.5% sales tax for transit. It was not a referendum for a 0.5% sales tax for parks, recreation and culture.

There will need to be a huge thrust to get the original intent of Milwaukee County voters support for a combined parks/transit/EMS solution back into the Senate version of the budget.

Nothing starts the day by being rudely awoken by an aerial assault on Milwaukee’s gypsy moth population! Hopefully we don’t need to call in the artillery.

• $2.3 Billion for a new zoo interchange on Milwaukee’s west side? Another great example of how building roads is expensive. As a region it’s time that we realize a good mass transit infrastructure is just as important as a good highway infrastructure. It’s often less expensive too. Why is spending over three billion dollars on two interchanges no big deal while a hundred million to link us to the nations third largest city evokes outrage from the right?
• This new Republican strategy of having a bunch of older white men calling a latina “racist” is totally what’s going to put the GOP back in power. It may not do much to help them with the general voting population, but it’s sure to lock up any white power voters out there who were still on the fence.
• There’s going to be a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wins, which the Red Wings won 4 games to 2. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with some kind of mocking name for the Penguins before the finals start in Detroit on Saturday!

Details are still trickling in, but it turns out that the wait and last minute push by myself and countless others in Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin paid off.

Overnight, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to create a commuter rail authority in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties funded through a rental car fee.

They also voted to allow Milwaukee County to impose a 1% sales tax that would allow the County to remove transit, parks, cultural programs and emergency medical services from the property tax levy.

As you may recall, I was heavily involved the group that was behind the passage of the referendum last November, the Quality of Life Alliance, so this is really just mind blowing news. To have worked on something so big and with so many moving parts and six months later have it bear fruit… it’s an amazing feeling.

Even more amazing is knowing that finally, Milwaukee County and all of Southeastern Wisconsin can start playing catch up with the rest of the Country when it comes to our mass transit system and how we fund our parks and cultural programs.

More soon I’m sure, but I wanted to get something out there early this morning.

Great work by all those involved. We made a very hard push last night with several State Senators who were on the fence, and who’s support in making this happen was crucial. Everyone deserves a huge round of applause.

Couple quick pieces of good news:

• Milwaukee County Government is finally, finally, going to start utilizing this Internet thing. The City of Milwaukee does a wonderful job with having live webcasts of meetings, documents in electronic form, etc. It helps to make Government more transparent and is a move long overdue. Kudos to Supervisor Dimitrijevic for spearheading this effort.

• Awards for Milwaukee County Parks were once a frequent thing, but not so much in the last decade. So it’s good when then they get some positive attention. The American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration has Milwaukee County Parks as one of the top four contenders for the 2009 National Gold Medal for Excellence in the Park and Recreation Management Program. Basically, an award for the best managed park program in the nation. Doing a lot with a little gets attention.

• It’s good to see Milwaukee Police Chief getting some national attention for his stand against the wild west mentality of everyone slinging a gun around Milwaukee. People who don’t live in big cities just can’t understand why the idea of “open carry” is a bad thing. I’ve been listening to the people the media is interviewing in favor of “open carry” and am just amazed when they talk about the need for “protection”, and hence a loaded handgun, when they’re weeding the garden in their front yard. In Pewaukee. During the day. If you don’t feel safe enough to not wear a handgun for “protection” where you choose to live - especially in the suburbs - then you’ve got bigger issues.

Happy post-Earth Day!

The Quality of Life Alliance, a group I’m a part of, released the following press release today asking for the Joint Finance Committee to include the voter approved 1% sales tax for Milwaukee County in the upcoming budget.

For the sake of our Park System, Transit, and Emergency Medical Systems, we are asking the Joint Finance Committee to include in the next State budget what the citizens of Milwaukee County have already approved: a one percent sales tax increase that will provide sustainable, dedicated funding for Parks, Transit and EMS.

“Please don?t continue to allow the voices of the 400,000 people who voted in November?s referendum to be ignored”, remarked Cheri Briscoe of Sierra Club-Great Waters Group and Quality of Life Alliance member. The referendum was advisory and requires action from the state to be enacted.

“Our Milwaukee County Park System, once proud and strong, is now limping along with an ever decreasing staff to perform daily maintenance and a log of deferred maintenance for its facilities of nearly $275 million,” added Jim Goulee, a QLA member who is also on the Board of Directors for Preserve our Parks.

This group’s attempt to gain local legislative support for enabling legislation from our state legislators was unfortunately, a tough sell. The Governor instead inserted the creation of RTA for Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Racine and funded by a sales and use tax in his proposed budget, leaving out any support for Milwaukee County Parks.

It is now becoming apparent that the proposal for the creation of the Southeastern Wisconsin RTA is not finding the necessary support from the Joint Finance Committee and may not be included in their version of the state budget. Instituting the sales tax increase in Milwaukee County would, in fact, provide the source of funding needed for a Milwaukee County RTA and could easily accommodate a broader RTA if and when it is created.

“Milwaukee County needs property tax relief and we need a solution to our looming transit and parks crisis,” commented County Supervisor Chris Larson, Quality of Life Alliance spokesperson. “Milwaukee County needs the 1% sales tax that was passed in referendum nearly months ago. Property tax payers can?t wait any longer, transit riders can?t wait, any longer, and all our neighbors who love our parks shouldn?t have to wait any longer to see these problems fixed.”

Quality of Life Alliance (QLA) is a grassroots organization made up of representing a wide swatch of Milwaukee County?s concerned citizens set out to improve our community for a stronger future. Members of the Quality of Life Alliance include transit riders, union leaders, parks supporters, and business men and women, and everyday citizens who are deeply concerned about the future of Milwaukee County and all of Southeastern Wisconsin. Quality of Life Alliance provided the advocacy effort that led to the passage of the sales tax/property tax relief referendum last November. The Quality of Life Alliance is a registered political action committee based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

It’s important the members of the Joint Finance Committee understand the importance of this dedicated funding source to the regions well being for decades to come. All we’re asking is to let the voices of the people of Milwaukee County be heard on this issue.

If you know any of the members of the JFC from the Milwaukee area like Rep. Tamara Grigsby, Rep. Pedro Colon, Sen. Lena Taylor or Sen. Alberta Darling, please contact them to voice your support.

I’m personally not surprised, but continued record ridership puts down the “it’s just a fad, when it gets hot no one will ride it” theories advanced by the opposition.

Light rail ridership increased in March, totaling nearly 1 million boardings, the highest monthly total since the system began running, according to Valley Metro.

“We topped our previous two months, in terms of, just, purely the number of riders,” said Metro Public Information Officer Hillary Foose. “We reached about 972,000, which is equivalent, or results, in an average weekday ridership of about 34,000. Saturday ridership of about 28,500.”- KTAR.com

Good for Phoenix, and good for it’s residents who are taking advantage of alternative transit options.

Another major business leader in Southeastern Wisconsin is advocating for improved mass transit in the region, including a KRM line:

Ready to go is the KRM commuter rail project, which can provide access to a more talented workforce, a larger base of successful and growing businesses and a competitive position in the growing global economy. Public transit also offers advantages for low-income families, reducing their costs of commuting by as much as 65 percent. This not only lifts a major burden from property tax payers and citizens, but also strengthens the local economy through these families’ increased purchasing power. - Robert Mariano, CEO of Roundy’s Supermakets

I’ll point it out again, but the number of people who are opposed to mass transit in the region is steadily decreasing as more and more people start to see the benefits that a solid mass transit component bring to the overall well being of a region.

I’m also glad to see others are starting to catch on to something I’ve been talking about for yearsnow: the need for Milwaukee to be prepared for the 2016 Olympic games being held 70  miles to the south. We need to be prepared to take advantage of the once in a lifetime economic boom and attention to all that Milwaukee has to offer that the Olympics would bring.

Efficient and reliable mass transit is a big piece of that.

Support for the KRM line between Milwaukee and Chicago has been growing for years and is starting to expand beyond political parties and traditional “conservative vs. liberal” boundaries.

Three prominent Southeastern Wisconsin business leaders - Tim Sheehey, Todd Battle and Roger Caron - write about the need to move forward on the KRM line in today’s Racine Journal Times:

Our organizations are responsible for increasing the economic vitality of the surrounding community, and while each city faces unique challenges, we share a common goal of fostering business development, job creation and capital investment.

None of our cities is unique in its work to support the efficient and continued operation of transit systems at a time when state and federal funds for transit are stagnant. We all agree that frequent, reliable transit is critical to ensuring that all residents can access jobs. Conversely, reliable transit is critical in assuring businesses that they are accessible by employees.

Timothy Sheehy represents the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Roger Caron represents Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce and Todd Battle is with the Kenosha Area Business Alliance.

The business community is on board in support of mass transit and they’re a welcome passenger in the push for economic development, connecting workers to jobs and connecting Milwaukee to the global marketplace.

There are a lot of opportunities for the public to have our voices heard this week in Milwaukee and Wisconsin on a number of important issues. If you have the time, here are some of the public hearings and events taking place this week:

• The state Public Service Commission is asking Wisconsin residents and business owners to provide input on broadband needs by filling out a survey at psc.wi.gov. The survey will help identify areas of the state that do not have broadband Internet access or are not represented by the technology.
• The Milwaukee County Board has been directed by the DNR to make repairs to the Estabrook Dam in order to continue operations that have been in place since its construction in 1937, and there will be a hearing about it tonight at O’Donnell Park in the Harbor Lights room from 6-7:30pm. The Journal Sentinel has a front page article about some of the problems around the dam in todays paper.
• The Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin legislature will be holding it’s public hearing in the Milwaukee area tomorrow from 10am-4pm at state fair park in banquet room #2. This is your chance to give your feedback on the proposed budget.
• There is a public hearing on the sale of County Grounds to UW Milwaukee, which plans to build an engineering campus buildings for private business. The Milwaukee County Board’s Economic and Community Development Committee will hold a public hearing from 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow night at the Zoofari Center on Bluemound.

The hearing tomorrow about the proposed sale of the County grounds to UWM should be a lively one, and regardless of which side you come down on, it’s a good opportunity to make your voice heard.

I’m so old I can remember when the Phoenix light rail system was held up by anti-rail zealots as a prime example of how light rail in a city designed for cars would be a massive, monumental and cataclysmic failure.

Guess not.

So much for the notion of light rail’s novelty wearing off.

The average passenger count for weekdays in February, the second month of the cross-Valley line’s revenue operations, jumped 15 percent from January and was well over projections for the first year.

Almost 35,300 people rode trains on the average weekday, Metro announced Thursday. That figure exceeded Metro’s target of 26,000 by more than one-third. - MSNBC

Not only is their new light rail system - which I should point out, is located in an area that’s hardly considered “liberal” - meeting expectations, it’s exceeding them.

I also recall reading a lot about how anti-rail conservatives in Arizona were predicting nothing but doom and gloom for their “choo-choo train” and that no one would ride it even if it was ever completed. They were wrong again.

It’s the same thing we’ve been hearing from the same types of people here in Milwaukee. I believe that like Phoenix, a new commuter rail or streetcar option in Milwaukee will be met with much the same success as Phoenix.

And everywhere else it’s been deployed for that matter.

I’ve been pointing out the success stories of commuter and light rail in city after city for almost a year now and not once during that time have I heard of, nor has anyone sent me (which believe me, they would) the counters to those stories during that time. Just lots of, “Well it sure has heck won’t work here!” speculation and scare tactics.

Good job Phoenix, and congratulations on your success.

Because County Executive Walker’s stonewalling and unwillingness to work with anyone on the $92 million in transit money we had coming from the Federal government, Milwaukee County now will only get 40% of the money.

As recently as last year, Mayor Barrett was offering to split the money with the County and Walker 50/50. Walker refused, stomed his feet, and said he wanted all of the money for his project! His project , ironically, was to replace the aging County bus fleet that he’d starved of funding for years so he could claim he was “holding the line on taxes”.

So how’s that for leadership folks? I know the usual suspects will be patting him on the back and saying he stuck to his principles, but at the end of the day Milwaukee County has $10 million fewer dollars because our top elected official refused to even consider a compromise or what was best for his constituents. It was all about him, and that’s not leadership by any stretch of the word.

So yeah, of course he’s “upset” and “lashing out”. His political stunt backfired. Again. And when you’re just about to (finally) announce your candidacy for Governor, that’s kind of bad timing.

Beyond how this affects Walker though, I think it’s important to focus on the real issue here: Milwaukee County now has less money to work with as a result of the decisions of our County Executive.

That’s shameful.