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Mayor Barrett Statement on PabstCity Vote I want to thank Alderman Bob Bauman for his leadership on this project. Bob and Aldermen Davis, Hamilton, Wade, Witkowski and Witkowiak showed true courage and vision today. It is mind boggling that the Common Council just rejected a $280 million private investment in our city. The status quo won. Defenders of the status-quo have said everything is fine-we don't need $280 million in private investment. We don't need to employ central city residents. What they have said loud and clear today is, we don't care about central city blight and decay and we certainly don't care about putting Milwaukeeans to work. There are 1,000 families out there who won't have family members getting jobs because of the action taken today by the Common Council. I want the Aldermen who voted against the PabstCity project to look the 1,000 families in the eye and explain why they won't have those jobs. I want those who opposed this project to go to Hillside and other near west-side neighborhoods and tell those residents that you'll have to find work elsewhere. The opponents took great pleasure in spreading their misinformation campaign. They said City services would be gutted. They said $41 million tax dollars would be lost. None of this is true. TIF financing is not a tool that puts services and tax dollars at risk. It is a tool that grows the tax base, grows the economy and puts our residents to work. The special interests who won today don't employ residents of our central city. They don't offer hope. They want us to believe that a return to 1960 is just around the corner. They are wrong. I want the defenders of the status quo to share with all of us their plans to develop the 21 acres of decay and blight that they claim can attract even more investment than the current $280 million. Let's have them put their money on the table. I'll work with them. I will not slow down. In fact, I am more convinced today than ever that the fight to grow Milwaukee has to be accelerated. I have said since day one that I will do everything I can to grow this economy, put Milwaukeeans to work and expand our tax base. We are facing levy limits. We have a central city unemployment rate that is sky high. Unlike the defenders of the status-quo, I will not walk away from those issues. We will move forward. |
The alderpeople also let their constituents -- us -- know that they're not interested in the revenue from House of Blues, Gameworks or Marcus Theatres, nor do they care about turning their Downtown into an entertainment destination. Perhaps they prefer the blight of the former Pabst Brewery.
Maybe they'll tell you that they could put that $41 million to better use. It's a good thing for suburbanites that the City of Glendale didn't feel the same way -- they're spending more on renovating Bayshore Mall.
Projections showed PabstCity would have paid back $38 million of its city financing through property taxes, bringing in some 1,100 jobs during construction and beyond. It would have brought in $2.7 in taxes after the initial loan was paid off in 30 years -- a realistic period of time for an endeavor of that size.
Despite what some have said, PabstCity would help local entrepreneurs like Johnny V and his Mo's group (he said just that at the public hearing), Shank Hall and others. A rise in tide lifts all boats. We know that. And, it's our responsibility to help raise the tide.
This vote against Pabst City is yet another wound and blow to our national credibility. The Common Council should not be willing to help close Milwaukee to national developers and business.
Detroit, Pittsburgh and many cities are flying past us, and here we have 300,000 sq. ft. of great national, regional and local tenants lined-up for Pabst City, and Milwaukee's Common Council says "no!"
The majority of Milwaukeeans don't agree with our elected officials and their negativity -- see the below OMC poll results.
Which of these is the best way to encourage Downtown prosperity?
A soccer stadium: 10.7%
A casino: 11.3%
An IKEA: 34.0%
PabstCity: 44.0%
House of Blues did $17 million in business in its first year in Cleveland. Don't we want this kind of success in Milwaukee? If so, we need to step up, play and take a little risk.
We say Pabst City is more than worth our commitment. It would help our businesses grow, bring more density Downtown and build Milwaukee's national stature.
More importantly, the development would finally bring Downtown into the 21st century by creating a real entertainment district. A city like Milwaukee needs its icons to show off. The Milwaukee Art Museum, the Midwest Airlines Center, Miller Park -- these structures highlight Milwaukee and pay off in less tangible ways than property taxes.
The backwards alderpeople who voted against PabstCity are the same Milwaukeeans who told us that the city was too conservative for OnMilwaukee.com. That was seven years ago. Lets hope it doesn't take another seven years to get another forward-thinking project like PabstCity off the ground.
May this process continue and hopefully a new plan will emerge. But, today, it's sad that Milwaukee killed years of work and told national retail that we are closed for business.
Kudos to Mayor Tom Barrett, who stuck his neck out to support PabstCity. But for the nine alderpeople who killed it, may your re-election efforts hinge on your stubbornness and unwillingness to innovate. Here are the Common Council members who voted against their funding. Call them or e-mail them and let them know you'd like to see Milwaukee spring forward, not fall back.
Mike D'Amato (District 3)
(414) 286-2221
mdamat@milwaukee.gov
Jim Bohl (District 5)
(414) 286-2221
jbohl@milwaukee.gov
Michael McGee (District 6)
(414) 286-2221
mmcgee@milwaukee.gov
Bob Donovan (District 8)
(414) 286-2221
rdonov@milwaukee.gov
Robert Puente (District 9)
(414) 286-2221
rpuent@milwaukee.gov
Michael Murphy (District 10)
(414) 286-2221
mmurph@milwaukee.gov
Joe Dudzik (District 11)
(414) 286-2221
jdudzi@milwaukee.gov
Tony Zielinski (District 14)
(414) 286-3769
tzieli@milwaukee.gov
Willie Hines, President (District 15)
(414) 286-2221
whines@milwaukee.gov
