Milwaukee Ald. Bob Bauman brought his frustration to the table this week, asking a Common Council committee to cut off the money spigot for the West Pointe condo project slated for the corner of 26th and Wells.
Bauman set his sights on the West End Neighborhood Association for its continued delays in getting the building done, in spite of sucking in almost a $1 million in public money. He called it a "beast," adding that "I don't know any project that takes nine years" to get done.
He said the group says it needs another $350,000 to finish the 14 condos and retail space. The city, with a healthy dose of federal funds, also gave the group a parking lot next door for the space.
"The public needs an answer on what went wrong here. ... I don't have any faith in anybody connected with this project," he said, indicating he'd like to get a private developer in to finish the job.
City officials with the block grant office and some community housing groups argued that it should be finished as soon as possible, while Bauman added he'd like to see an audit of the project.
"I'm not sure we're not just finishing this project to avoid embarrassment," he added.
The committee voted to suspend funding and the measure goes to the Council next week.
Pressing Prayer Politics: Following religious activities in government buildings can be a full-time job. Just ask the folks at the Freedom from Religion Foundation. They've sent a letter to state Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch to stop opening that body's sessions with Christian prayers.
The Foundation's legal intern analyzed 16 prayers / sermons led by representatives and found that 15 of them in a one-year period "were explicitly Christian."
Further, "these Christian prayers were not merely in the ‘Judeo-Christian' tradition. Thirteen invoked the Christian deity, eight quoted or read from the Bible and three invoked the ‘Holy Spirit.' One representative implied that nations which do not adhere to the Christian faith fall into ruin. Another representative quoted the Pope and indicated that she held her faith in higher esteem, as a guiding legal principle, than Wisconsin state law."
Tough going for agnostics in that chamber, no doubt. The state Senate doesn't do prayers before its sessions. The City of Milwaukee Common Council has a regular prayer before its monthly meetings.
Counting Our Culture: Milwaukee denizens have long prided themselves on area cultural assets, but the Greater Milwaukee Committee apparently wants an accurate count. It has proposed "the first study of its kind to survey and evaluate the arts and cultural sector and county parks in southeastern Wisconsin."
GMC chair Ed Zore says the group is doing the audit because it sees "challenges" to our culture. Some of those include some non-profit institutions like the Milwaukee Public Museum running out of money and public funding drying up for cultural entities. And, it adds, "the entire sector is under-endowed for its future stability."
An audit of more than 30 cultural organizations in the Milwaukee 7 region, including Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Waukesha and Washington counties, will be conducted over the next three months.
Resolving Restitution: Restitution is a tough process for any crime victim, since it regularly reminds of the crime in the form of the pittance of a restitution check. But the state attorney general wants even smaller amounts sent to victims.
The Court of Appeals ruled in a case brought to it by J.B. Van Hollen that prisoners can have their canteens raided and their pay taken in order to pay restitution. Inmates' so-called "canteens" usually have money put in by friends and relatives so that prisoners can pay above-markets rates for things like snacks and toiletries.
It's a tough balance, but restitution is a key part of the criminal justice system.
An avid outdoors person he regularly takes extended paddling trips in the wilderness, preferring the hinterlands of northern Canada and Alaska. After a bet with a bunch of sailors, he paddled across Lake Michigan in a canoe.
He lives in Bay View.
