Video of the Day: What is a Virtual Office?—From Boxers To The Boardroom

Here is a tip for the City's Lean Forward Franklin EDC

Mayor Taylor Throws Citizens Group Under the Bus

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:

1. Is the Quarry Expanding? Well...yes and no
2. Who's Monitoring the Quarry?
3. “There is absolutely no expansion of the quarry with the approval of this project”
4. City’s Elected Officials and Payne & Dolan’s Dirty Little Secret
5. Quarry Draft Ordinance Too Dense for City Leaders

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.

Will the Last Business to Leave the City Please Turn Out the Lights

Canndace Romano at FranklinNOW is reporting that Steve Taylor can remain a City of Franklin Alderman while serving on the Milwaukee County Board.

That's the legal ruling of City Attorney Jesse Wesolowski, who pored over League of Wisconsin Municipality opinions and state statutes to determine whether serving both bodies would be a conflict of interest.  Read Romano's full story…

Meantime, JSOnline is reporting that Contract manufacturer Masteq LLC has purchased a 7,000-square-foot building in the Muskego Industrial Park for $300,000, and will move there from Franklin Industrial Park on June 1.

According to Steven Horvath, co-owner, the new location, in the Muskego Industrial Park will double the company's capacity.  The company, with seven employees, plans to double its workforce once the new plant is fully operational.

Franklin taxpayers must question the effectiveness and leadership of the Forward Franklin Economic Development Committee which is the “brain-child” of Alderman Steve Taylor, who also chairs the recently reorganized committee. 

This group of citizen volunteers appointed by the mayor and approved by the common council is tasked with assisting the Community Development Authority chaired by Mayor Taylor, to determine types and locations of commercial and manufacturing zoning throughout the City and to actively pursue, within the goals and guidelines of the Common Council including:

• Develop and implement a retention program to retain existing businesses in the City.
• Develop and implement a plan to solicit businesses for relocation to the City.
• Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to include promotional materials, public relations efforts, surveys and the enhancement of the City's existing web site from a marketing perspective.

Alderwoman Kristen Wilhelm Walks Out of Common Council Meeting

Tuesday night’s common council meeting was not short on drama.  Near the end of the two and a half hour meeting on Tuesday, March 20, District 3 Alderwoman Kristen Wilhelm abruptly walked out of the meeting before it was adjourned leaving District 3 unrepresented for the remainder of this meeting.

Mayor Tom Taylor can also be heard on the City’s recording of the meeting calling an unidentified person a “…moron with an IQ of 2.”

The mayor’s remarks came off as very juvenile for the mayor of a major suburb of Milwaukee County who is also the chairman of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council (ICC).

Is this the sort of "monkey shines” Franklinites expect from their elected representatives on the common council?

We strongly recommend readers listen to the entire meeting audio to hear the spending proposals offered by Alderman Steve Taylor’s Forward Franklin EDC (See budget, business plan and other meeting documents below).

Franklin Forward EDC Plan/Budget

How does the mayor, Alderman Taylor and commissioner Haskins propose to pay for their “vision?”  They want to spend unused funds from the comprehensive master plan.

Is this their idea of responsible leadership?

Good Cop—Bad Cop

Alderman Steve Taylor’s stance on the 2012 City budget posted last month on his FranklinNOW blog “From the Fourth” read like a  “good cop—bad cop” scene from NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," with Alderman Steve Taylor taking one for Mayor Tom Taylor while simultaneously throwing himself and fellow aldermen and Finance Committee members Tim Solomon and Kristen Wilhelm under the proverbial bus.  Political ambitions take no prisoners.

Alderman Taylor writes:

[All emphasis added.]

The Finance Committee’s proposed budget which the Mayor has vetoed had a levy increase of 2.3% but savings of $35 on a home assessed at $235,000. Unlike the “shell game” which the Mayor boasts as a levy decrease the approved budget is extremely transparent with actual savings.

Common Council president Steve Taylor—as noted earlier— also serves on the City Finance Committee.  It strikes me as rather odd that Steve Taylor would boast that a committee he serves on, and has served on for several years, would openly “boast” that the Finance Committee proposed a budget with a tax levy increase of 2.3 percent; taking care to note in the same paragraph that the mayor vetoed the Finance Committee’s proposal, adding “Unlike the ‘shell game’ which the Mayor boasts as a levy decrease the approved budget is extremely transparent with actual savings.  Again, Finance Committee: BAD—Mayor Tom Taylor: GOOD.

Common sense would dictate that none of the current members of the Finance Committee should be renominated by Mayor Tom Taylor for appointment to this committee when their term is up, considering the fact that Mayor Taylor vetoed their proposed budget increase.

We also found it interesting that Alderman Taylor found it necessary to printout that the “… approved budget is extremely transparent...,” begging the question: Why wouldn’t it be?

Alderman Taylor continues:

The Mayor proposed a budget in September which lowered the tax levy but placed a separate fee for garbage pickup on your tax bill. The levy decreased by 2.4% which resulted in $101 savings on a home assessed at $235,000. However, a $104 dollar fee, also known as a tax, for garbage pickup would be added to your tax bill and it is also not tax deductible. There may be a time when the City of Franklin has no choice and has to separate the garbage service cost from the tax levy but now is not the time.  Shout it from the roof tops with me..."Finance Committee: BAD—Mayor Tom Taylor: GOOD."

Three months or so later, it was time to add a NEW garbage pick-up tax, which Alderman Taylor fails to explain what exactly has changed in the previous few months to make it necessary to create a new tax on Franklin homeowners.

Being a cynic of government and particularly Mayor Tom Taylor's arguably long-time corrupt administration, I ask you to consider this question: Is it possible that the Mayor’s proposed budget which, Alderman Taylor claims, lowered the tax levy by 2.4 percent, amounts to the City’s annual cost for garbage pick-up and in a budget shell game the 2.4 percent "savings" was appropriated somewhere else, necessitating the a separate fee for garbage pickup on your tax bill?

Is the Forward Franklin Economic Development Committee Spinning its Wheels?

We humbly submit this multiple-source REALITY CHECK for the citizens of Franklin, Mayor Tom Taylor and the Forward Franklin Economic Development Committee members and ask that you remember what you see and read here when our bloviating, misleading City leaders declare "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" and claim that Franklin’s economic climate is improving thanks to this committee which,  since its creation on June 21, 2011, has held five meetings and one workshop.  A look at the committee’s meeting minute’s reveals little to no substantive progress in achieving the primary goals of this new committee, other than considering whether to reappropriate funds and spend $110,484 for marketing materials and possibly a website.  Here are the meeting minutes for “Forward Franklin’s” October 24 meeting; providing readers with a glimpse of its work.

Basically, according to the City's website, the purpose of the Forward Franklin Economic Development Committee is to promote and enhance the City of Franklin; to actively pursue commercial and industrial business development/investment for relocation into the City of Franklin to achieve a balanced tax base; to work with the business community in the retention and expansion of the businesses already within the City; and to promote the City in various manners as an excellent place to live and do business.  Read More...

Here is the REALITY CHECK we promised earlier.

FBC’s Neil Cavuto discusses job creation in America with Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.

RELATED STORIES

• What the New Unemployment Numbers Are Telling Us
• Fox and Friends "DNC Chair Denies Unemployment Has Gone Up Under Obama"
• Wasserman Schultz goofs on unemployment
• Dodd-Frank Act Overview
• Story of Stuff, Full Version; How Things Work, About Stuff (A Tides Foundation anti-capitalism video playing in classrooms across America)
• Job Creators Alliance

Franklin’s Public Hunting Grounds and what You Have Been Told—or Not

 

In separate stories published on November 22 and 23 we asked readers if they could identify the Wisconsin DNR Public Hunting grounds pictured in the story.  To-date we have not received the correct answer from among these choices: Tichigan, Vernon, Franklin or Oconomowoc.

Give up?  Well, the correct answer is Franklin.  We doubt that many Franklin and Milwaukee County citizens realize that there is a state-owned public hunting grounds within Franklin’s city limits on 116^th street, and wonder how many members of the Franklin Common Council are aware of this fact?  Depending upon how you feel about this we suggest calling your alderman or Mayor Tom Taylor with any questions or concerns you may have over this unique situation. 

We have a couple of concerns of our own on this subject.  First, the close proximity of Alderman Skowronski’s home to this state-owned land.  Secondly, we recalled the following statement by Mayor Tom Taylor in a September 26, 2010, JSOnline story favoring the now-controversial $41 million Ryan Creek Interceptor Project in what Taylor referred to in the article as the overdue period of growth for the city's southwest quarter, predicting with confidence that the sewer project:

“[Would open] much of the land to a building boom [and] would add more than $1.2 billion to the city's property tax base by 2025,” and that the added businesses would take some of the local tax burden off the shoulders of homeowners.”  Taylor added, “there’s little room for new businesses elsewhere: Only a few acres are left for sale in the city's business park at S. 51st St. and Ryan Road.  If a company came in and said they wanted a significant size property, we'd have to say no."

Taking the mayor at his word concerning the business (warehouse) park at S. 51st St. and Ryan Road, the mayor needs to explain to Franklin citizens how the state of Wisconsin became the owners of the 100 acres of land now designated public hunting grounds, being that, in his words ”there's little room for new businesses elsewhere.”  If the mayor is really serious about 'tak[ing] some of the local tax burden off the shoulders of homeowners.”  As Alderman Solomon likes to say, “It ain’t gonna happen.”  The state does not pay taxes to the City on the 100 or so acres it owns.

Speaking of development, we find it very “interesting” that the state-owned hunting grounds—baring its sale to a private party—prevents development of that property which just so happens to be just hundreds of yards from  Alderman Ken Skowronski’s home.  Yet, the City is preparing to take land (potentially by eminent domain) from Franklin citizens in order to build the Ryan Creek Interceptor for future sale to MMSD; which will tax property owners within its taxing boundaries, quite the oposite of Taylor's statement "...that "it will take some of the local tax burden off the shoulders of homeowners."

It must also be noted that Franklin developer Jim O’Malley, whose development company, O'malley Development, LLC owns land involved in the RCI project area.  In addition, campaign finace records filed with the Franklin City Clerk's office revealed O’Malley was a contributor to Mayor Taylor’s and Alderman Steve Taylor’s last campaigns.  In fact, O’Malley was a volunteer for the alderman’s reelection run.

RELATED MEDIA

• MMSD Public Hearing Regarding New District Boundary for the City of Franklin
• Ryan Creek Sewer Project Stinks to High Heaven

There’s still Time to Vote!

Franklinites are waiting on pins and needles for the Shepard Express to announce Milwaukee’s 2011 Jerk of the Year.  Click here to cast your vote.

To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication CLICK HERE

MMSD Public Hearing Regarding New District Boundary for the City of Franklin

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) has given notice that it will hold a public hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27, 2001 [2011], at 10:00AM at the District’s headquarters building located at 260 W. Seebooth Street, Milwaukee.  Oddly, at this writing this notice cannot be found on The City of Franklin’s website.  We did however; find the following notices on the website’s front page (Priorities?):

• Annual Spaghetti Dinner to Benefit Charities
• Emergency Services Chili Cook-Off

While both are great events, Tuesday’s MMSD Hearing is to gather public comment on MMSD’s biennial review to consider whether and how much of the City of Franklin should be included into District’s taxing boundary on account of the Ryan Creek Interceptor. It appears that that the City of Franklin permitted MMSD to include the whole City of Franklin in its taxing boundary.  Weren’t taxpayers told repeatedly by Mayor Taylor and Alderman Taylor and other City officials that the Ryan Creek Interceptor Project wouldn’t be a tax burden on Franklin taxpayers?  This latest collusion between the City and MMSD could result in Franklin residents with their own septic systems having to pay annual taxes to MMSD for service they may not want or need.

It appears that Galileo was correct: "All truths are easy to understand once they are disdovered."

MMSD Public Hearing Notice regarding Franklin Boundaries 092711

To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication CLICK HERE 

Update on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 10:34 AM by Basil Ryan

ERROR IN MMSD HEARING PUBLIC NOTICE DATE

THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL has contacted MMSD this morning to notify the body of an error in its posting of the aforementioned public hearing notice concerning the Ryan Creek Interceptor Project.  Here is the main text of our email:

The public hearing notice that appears on your website (Notice of Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District for public hearing regarding the district boundary for the City of Franklin) has the incorrect year listed.

It says, “... will hold a public hearing to gather public comment on the District's biennial review of its boundary on September 27, 2001.” Therefore, since THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL is bringing this error to your attention, our question is, will MMSD postpone the meeting and re-notice the meeting with the correct date?

If you are waiting for someone to file a written complaint, consider this a written complaint. THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL feels your notice is incorrect and confusing to the general public and should have the correct date. Otherwise it leads the reader to believe that you'll be discussing a topic that took place in 2001. FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL had numerous inquiries about the article we posted on our newspaper. We linked your public notice to our article and readers were confused about what we were trying to say and what your notice articulated. Your incorrect date has confused our readers. Please consider this objection for the reasons stated above. Please contact us if we can be of any further assistance or help.

Editors, THE FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL

We received the following response from MMSD this morning:

Dear Editor,

Thank you for catching that typo on our web site.

We did post a nearly full page public notice in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that correctly listed the proper hearing date and time. We do plan to hold the meeting this morning as noticed in the paper.

Bill Graffin

MMSD Public Information Manager

(414) 225-2077

Who will be Milwaukee's 2011 Jerk of the Year?

Thanks to a reader’s tip we have learned that the Shepherd Express’ Best of Milwaukee—arguably the oldest and most revered—Reader's Choice poll in the City of Milwaukee, this year  includes Franklin’s own District 4 Alderman Steve F. Taylor; on its list of nominees for “Milwaukee's Jerk of the Year.”  For context here are a few of Alderman Taylor’s competitors in this category:

• County Executive Chris Able
• Mayor Tom Barrett
• Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway
•  State Senator Lena Taylor
• JoAnne Kloppenburg

Click here to cast your vote at the Shepherd Express.

GOOD LUCK Steve, we’re pulling for you!

To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication CLICK HERE

Ryan Creek Sewer Project Stinks to High Heaven

The City of Franklin: Where Honest and Transparent Government Goes to Die. What you don't know can hurt you

According to the NewBerlinNOW, it is highly likely that the New Berlin, like Muskego, is looking to take advantage of Franklin tax payers thanks in-part to Mayor Tom Taylor’s highly controversial $31 million Ryan Creek sewer(Interceptor) project. Much like Mayor Taylor’s plan, New Berlin seeks to extend a sewer so that an area with the biggest chunk of remaining farmland in eastern New Berlin could be opened up for development. The plan is expected to win Common Council (New Berlin) approval Tuesday night. The Agenda for Franklin’s Common Council Meeting, also on Tuesday, August 2, makes no mention of the actions taking place in New Berlin. Will New Berlin and Muskego reimburse Franklin for the expenses the City has incurred to-date for this project? Read more.

Some observers see New Berlin’s controversial move as “back door” preparations to buy Lake Michigan water in a few years by side-stepping the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District (MMSD), aided and abetted by Franklin Mayor Tom Taylor and his staunch supporters on the Franklin Common Council; Aldermen Steve Taylor, Timothy Solomon and Ken Skowronski.

Unanswered Questions

Is New Berlin, a suburb of Waukesha County planning to connect to Franklin’s Ryan Creek Interceptor with its project? Since this is technically a MMSD project, will New Berlin residents pay a portion of their property tax to MMSD, like Franklin taxpayers and other MMSD customers throughout Milwaukee County, or are taxpayers in various Milwaukee County cities footing the bill for New Berlin to receive Great Lakes water?

To voice your support or opposition to the New Berlin project or the Ryan Creek Interceptor Project, or for answers to these or any other questions related to either project, we suggest you contact Mayor Tom Taylor or your Alderman.

RELATED STORIES

• Click to read previous FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL stories pertaining to the Ryan Creek Sewer Project.
• Click to read previous stories pertaining to the Ryan Creek Sewer Project posted on our sister publication BATTLE JOINED.

To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication CLICK HERE.

Franklin Voters Decide Winners and Losers

By Basil Ryan and Fred Keller 

Franklin Aldermanic District 3

Wilhelm Shaves Schick

Despite some controversy in the final days of the campaign concerning his Financial Statement, specifically his employment status with Waste Management, challenger Bob Schick was soundly defeated by incumbent District 3 Alderman, Kristen Wilhelm.  Here are the preliminary (unofficial) results.

• Kristen Wilhelm: 1066 votes, representing 71.39% of the vote.
• Bob Schick: 423 votes, representing 28.28% of the vote.

Franklin Aldermanic District 4

“Peko” Won’t Be Back— District 4 Voters Reject Kosovich, Again

In what could be described as the slimiest race in this election cycle, the citizens of Franklin’s District 4, again rejected Pete Kosovich; this time in his bid to regain the aldermanic seat he once held in this District.  Kosovich lost this seat in 2008, blaming Basil Ryan for his defeat by just a 10 votes to challenger Steve F. Taylor.  In 2011 however, the results were quite different.  Here are the preliminary (unofficial) results.

• Steve F. Taylor: 1250 total votes representing 62.66% of the vote.
• Pete “Peko” Kosovich: 738 total votes, representing 33.99% of the vote.

FRANKLIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL  cameras were on-hand for Alderman Taylor's victory speech and thank you to his supporters at Mulligans

Franklin School District

Voters Expel David Works from Franklin School Board

If the election results for Franklin School Board were a report card, David Works would receive a failing grade.   Newcomer Tim Nielson received 3,462 votes, ousting Works, who fell short with 2,845 votes.   Incumbent Linda Witkowski was reelected to her second three-year term with 4,260 votes.

Witkowski and Board member Janet Evans have been proponents of transparency within the district, making well-informed decisions rather than rubber-stamping proposals presented by the administration, and holding the line on spending.  With the fiscal responsibilities impacting school districts in the immediate future, the Franklin School Board needs to do their homework.  In reviewing Nielson’s campaign site, it appears citizens may have elected another School Board member who thinks independently.  Only time will tell. 

Neilson will officially take his seat on the Franklin School Board at their reorganization meeting, Wednesday, April 20, 2011.  Along with Witkowski and Evans, he’ll join Judith Bialk, Melissa Klein, Debbie Larson and Jeff Traylor.

Here are the preliminary (unofficial) results.

• Linda Witkowski (Incumbent): 4260 total votes representing 40.09% of the vote.
• Tim Nielson: 3462 total votes representing 32.58% of the vote.
• David Works (Incumbent): 2845 total votes representing 26.78% of the vote.

Unopposed Races

Franklin Aldermanic District 6

• Ken Skowronski (Unopposed incumbent): 1137 total votes, representing 98.44% of the vote.
• Write-in: 18 total votes, representing 1.56% of the vote.

Mayoral Race

• Tom Taylor (Unopposed, seeking third three-year term): 7757 total votes, representing 97.3% of the vote.
• Write-in: 164 total votes, representing 2.07% of the vote.

Here are additional results of the other races in this general election provided to us by Franklin’s City Clerk, Sandi Wesolowski.

Spring 2011 General Election Preliminary Results

To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication click here.

Meet the Aldermanic Candidates: The First Three Tasks

The Franklin Independent Journal has decided to publish only video of the last question to all Aldermanic candidates from the March 16, Candidates forum.  If you wish to watch the full-length version—questions 1-6, as well as the candidates’ closing statements, please see Wag the Dog’s post “Candidate Forum Reveals Little.”

FINAL QUESTION: When you’re elected in April, what will be the first three tasks you wish to accomplish as an Alderman?

I need to get a tripod!

To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication click here.