Franklin Independent Journal

EDITORIAL--it was only a matter of time. Last Tuesday, Franklin Mayor Tom Taylor apparently has no more use for Greg Kowalski’s non-profit group; Citizens for Community Development which just over one year ago made this proposal to the City. But that was then and this is now and this is now and the Mayor’s “flavor of the month” is Franklin resident and businessman Mike Zimmerman who presented an idea for a sports complex on county land currently being used by Crystal Ridge Ski Hill.

At the time, by all appearances Mayor Taylor seemed excited about the proposal Citizens for Community Development had put forth for the Milwaukee County Sports Complex located in Franklin just off Ryan road.

FranklinNOW wrote this in its coverage of the June 19 meeting:

"We've got a proposal that needs to get backing, needs to get support and needs to become reality. This will put Franklin on the map," said Mayor Tom Taylor, who asked city officials to consider plans for a multi-sport complex at Crystal Ridge, 7900 W. Crystal Ridge Drive.

Typical POLITICAL GIBBERISH.

Define: “…put Franklin on the map.”

"We've got a proposal that needs to get backing, needs to get support and needs to become reality.”

What Mayor Tom Taylor is really doing here is setting up Franklin taxpayers for him and the common council to deliver the city’s $1.5 million impact fee fund to this developer, which in reality will become $3 million since the city (taxpayers) must match the $1.5 million impact fee in order for it to be used.

We also have a politician who based on his “resume” on the City’s website has never held a job in the private sector, but includes that Taylor served as an Executive Board member of Milwaukee District Council 48, AFSCME that represented approximately 14,000 public employees and served as Vice President and Chief Steward of Local 882, AFSCME.

This is the same government sector union that was recently part of a broad coalition of worker rights organizations that filed a legal challenge to Gov. Walker’s Budget Repair Bill. The organizations included the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 24, AFSCME Council 40, AFSCME Council 48, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), the Wisconsin State Employees Union, The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union – Health Care Wisconsin (SEIU).

Together the organizations are filing a federal law suit against Scott Walker’s bill which denies hundreds of thousands of public employees their right to collectively bargain for a better life. The groups challenged the constitutionality of the state’s Budget Repair Bill which would destroy collective bargaining rights for all but a select group of public sector workers. We all know how that went.

I heard the mayor say he was a Republican!

One thing seems certain though, Mayor Taylor seems to have a very short attention span. Here are some of his administration’s unfinished “needs:”

South 27^th Street Corridor Project—remember the infamous “BOOMGAARD?

Remember the unfinished mess over the Payne & Dolan quarry enhancement/expansion and that company’s ignoring air quality monitoring ordinances for more than six years.

Refer to theses stories: to bring yourself up to speed on the mayor and common council’s lackadaisical approach to ordering Payne & Dolan to comply with city ordinances. This quarry operation is releasing crystalline silica dust into the atmosphere:

According to OSHA the disease Silicosis is caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust. Crystalline silica is a basic component of soil, sand, granite, and most other types of rock, and it is used as an abrasive blasting agent. Silicosis is a progressive, disabling, and often fatal lung disease. Cigarette smoking adds to the lung damage caused by silica. Silica has been classified as a human lung carcinogen. Silicosis makes an individual more susceptible to Tuberculosis (TB), Scleroderma – a disease affecting skin, blood vessels, joints and skeletal muscles, as well as possible kidney disease.

Also, the quarry is surrounded by residential areas and is in close proximity to Pleasant View Elementary, Clare Meadows Senior Apartments, Franklin High School and the City's very popular the walking trail.