Pondering the pothole problem

Take heed, victims of potholes in the city of Milwaukee. You'll likely see this phrase from the city attorney's office countless times this year: "The winter weather has hampered the repair work and the ability of the patch materials to remain in the repairs. The (Infrastructure Services Division) followed its normal procedures and it was acting within the city's discretion."

The statement came as a result of a claim made by Sharon Maliszewski who is asking the city for $86.55 to pay for a wrecked tire she got from a pothole at 3rd Street and Oklahoma Avenue. The city attorney's office said that the Department of Public Works patched the road on a "consistent basis" even though the patches didn't hold and the city, therefore, is not responsible.

Clarification: A group of aldermen is not looking to limit alcohol sales at local street festivals to one per person, as incorrectly reported here last week. Instead, their proposal would allow sales of beer in plastic bottles if the festivals ask the chief of police for permission.

According to Alex Runner, aide to Common Council President Willie Hines, organizers of the Harley-Davidson anniversary celebration wanted an exception to the bottle and can ban to allow vendors to sell beer in plastic bottles. Police have said they like the bottle ban since unruly festival-goers have thrown them at the cops in recent melees.

Prodigal Pol: Leaving the big tent of the Grand Ol' Party can be difficult. Just ask Chetek state Rep. Jeff Wood.

The former Republican announced he was switching parties to run for re-election as an independent and immediately was called on the carpet by his former colleagues in the Republican Party. At one time party operatives were going to target Wood's nomination papers, alleging he circulated them as a Republican and should hold to that on the ballot.

"While we feel there are serious questions to the legality of the nomination papers filed by Jeff Wood, we have decided not to pursue a challenge to his filing," said Reince Priebus, party chairman.

"Wood chose to cut a backroom deal with Assembly Democrats and Rep. Mark Pocan. The Republican Party of Wisconsin could spend the next several weeks battling Jeff Wood over these nomination papers. However, this is a case of first impression and Jeff Wood has destroyed important evidence."

Road Trip: Summerfest attendance may have been down this year, but the festival could still get a new entryway. Under a plan before the city, Harbor Drive would be widened and Milwaukee World Festivals, which operates Summerfest, would also get use of the park immediately north of the north gate.

The newly-opened Discovery World museum would agree to pay for the road project since the purpose, according to the proposal, is to ease traffic flow around the museum during festival season. A new road would also be built across a current island just east of the freeway on-ramp and a driveway for a new north gate would also be built.

Taking Shots After Murder: Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan took advantage of the July 4 quadruple homicide by taking a shot at the state criminal justice system and fired off on former Police Chief Nan Hegerty. He said his own research showed that the suspects in the case had lengthy records and should have been in jail and not playing with guns on the street.

"Where is the justice for our taxpayers who must reach ever deeper into their wallets to pay for the rising costs of public safety -- in part because we have judges who can't seem to keep these thugs in jail or prison?

"And, while we're at it, where was the justice for former Milwaukee Police Capt. Glenn Frankovis -- a good, smart, dedicated officer -- who was fired for calling guys like these ‘thugs' when -- at the end of the day -- that's an appropriate descriptive.

"Lastly, instead of studying the racial disparities of those incarcerated in our state prisons, perhaps Gov. Doyle should think about studying why we aren't making criminals serve their sentences and why we've instead decided it's OK to place dangerous criminals on probation so they can be back on our streets plying their trade and passing on their "skills" to the next generation."

Helping With Registration: In a rare display of leniency towards vehicle scofflaws, Ald. Donovan has proposed to ease up on vehicle owners who have taken steps to register their rides but have yet to display the proper tags. The city currently tows vehicles that do not have up to date license plates no matter if the tags have been stolen or for some other reason haven't been displayed.

Donovan's plan would lower the fee from $50 to $75 to between $15 and $45 "if the motor vehicle owner, at the time of violation, had properly completed and paid for a current motor vehicle registration as reflected by the records of the Wisconsin department of transportation."

The plan doesn't, however, cover the fact that the vehicle owner would have to go to the city impound lot and pay over $100 to get their vehicle back.

Donovan's resolution notes that there have been some unintended victims in the towing crackdown.

"Two years of enforcement experience has shown that a number of motor vehicle owners subjected to towing and penalties for violation of the ordinance prohibiting unregistered motor vehicles from being placed upon the highways, streets and alleys of the city have, nevertheless, made good faith efforts to obtain proper registration."