This story was updated on April 13, 2013.
On April 3, OnMilwaukee.com reported that Juneau Park Paddleboats owners Tim and Val Ritter had lost their contract with the Milwaukee County Parks Department.
The Ritters were outbid by Wheel Fun Rentals, a large California-based company with franchises all over the country.
Many readers sympathized with the Ritters and expressed support for Juneau Park Paddleboats, Inc. The Ritters informed OnMilwaukee.com today of new developments in their pursuit of an appeal to save their business.
The Ritters' appeal will be heard on Monday, April 29 10 a.m. in Room 201-B of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, 901 N. 9th St. The hearing will be held before the Administrative Determination Review Committee comprised of Gerry Broderick (chair, non-voting); Supervisor Jason Haas; Richard Ceschin, Deputy Director of the Milwaukee County Human Resources; and Veronica Robinson of the Milwaukee County Ethics Board.
"This hearing will be open to the public to attend (adults and children welcome) and they can voice their support at that hearing. In the event supporters are unable to attend the hearing, they can contact the above personnel (as well as their respective County Supervisors) and ask that their letters, emails, telephone calls be entered into the record on April 29th and made a part of the proceedings," said the Ritters in an email.
Val Ritter told OnMilwaukee.com that she and her husband felt that the loss of their business was unfair, indicating that Wheel Fun Rentals had filed an Open Records Report on Juneau Park Paddleboats, Inc. to investigate their finances and effectively outbid them.
Ritter also expressed outrage that the much larger out-of-state company was "basically writing a check for all the sweat equity we’ve put in and the client base we’ve established."
The Ritters established Juneau Park Paddleboats 16 years ago and were the first business of their kind at the lagoon in Veterans Park.
For more information on the Ritters and their appeal, visit facebook.com/Supportjuneauparkpaddleboats.
Colleen Jurkiewicz is a Milwaukee native with a degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and she loves having a job where she learns something new about the Cream City every day. Her previous incarnations have included stints as a waitress, a barista, a writing tutor, a medical transcriptionist, a freelance journalist, and now this lovely gig at the best online magazine in Milwaukee.
