No Runny Eggs

I could’ve swore that local governments were supposed to be capped to a 3.86% increase in property-tax levies last year. Imagine my surprise when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that property tax levies actually increased by 6.1% in southeast Wisconsin last year, with municipalities increasing their levies by 5.2%. I don’t know what’s worse; the fact that they busted the cap by 33%, or the terming of that 33% busting as a “hold” by the presstitute who wrote the story, Mike Johnson. Hell, I wouldn’t even term the average county increase of 3.4% a “hold”.

A commenter over on Greg Kowalski’s post on the alternatives to Boomgaard went and did some research on “Boomgaard”. Somehow, I doubt that this name would have flown had either the steering committee or either Common Council had known what Unfettered Candor found out:

It’s too bad I did not get an email reply from my Dutch friend from

Amsterdam before the public comment site for the Boomgaard District expired.

Several days ago I mentioned the crazy Boomgaard controversy and how there was such a public outcry in opposition to this title.

Today I learned that there is a district in Amsterdam that has been dubbed the “Boomgaard District” as well. It is a homosexual red light district. He said the title “Boomgaard” [fruit orchard] was a lampoon of that area….

Given that the stretch is pretty much bracketed by a sex toy shop and a strip club with a few not-exactly-4-star motels in between (necessitating special attention from both the Oak Creek and Franlkin police departments), I guess that puts another spin on the name.

Do go read Fred Keller’s further comments.

Greg Kowalski not only recaps the list of other finalists for what’s now the Boomgaard District (DUCK!), but the other names the Zizzo Group came up with.

- Citygate - Yeah, that worked real well in DC </sarcasm>
- Twin Corridor - There is no trace of the old 41 Twin drive-in anymore. Other than that, and an otherwise-complete lack of originality, it actually isn’t too bad.
- Metro South - Yeah, that’s going to go over real well with those that think the metro area ends at the Menomomee River valley or Oklahoma Ave.
- 27 South - Welcome to the jungle, fellow gangbangers.
- Root River Junction - Honestly, I like it. However, do you really want a harsh focus on what most of those on either side of the Root River consider an impenetrable barrier?
- Orchard Station - Station? STATION?
- Orchard Six - Juuuuust a bit too cute by half (literally).
- SouthCorr - Real attractive name…NOT!
- SoCol - See Root River Junction and Metro South, and add in a dash of Orchard Six.
- 27 Stretch - I’m sure the On the Border guys love it. I’m not so sure about anything else.
- Lower Six - There’s exactly one “Lower” that’s been successful, and we’re not in Manhattan.

I may not be creative, but I know butt-ugly names when I see them. The ad hoc committee and ultimately the Common Councils should’ve gone back to the drawing board.

Revisions/extensions (6:30 pm 5/1/2008) - $329,633 for this load?

Kevin Fischer’s posting of Franklin’s votes in key multi-municipality races info got me to digging for Oak Creek’s breakdown in those races. While the PDF file the city put up is marked unofficial, the link says it is official:

Turnout - 27.49%

Supreme Court: Gableman 3109 (59.93%), Butler 2079 (40.07%)
Eliminate the Frankenveto: Yes 3735 (72.84%), No 1393 (17.16%)
County Executive: Walker 4243 (77.44%), Taylor 1236 (22.56%)
County Supervisor District 9: Cesarz 2238 (52.82%), Balistreri 1999 (47.18%)
Circuit Court District 40: Dallet 2890 (66.85%), Norman 1433 (33.15%)

I know a few of you were keeping an eye on the live thread, and I have to thank Pete, Coop and Dad29 for helping me out with the results. I really should be sleeping, but there’s a couple of random thoughts I still need to do:

- Be afraid, Doyle. Be very afraid. An 18-point win for Scott Walker does not bode well for your chances in 2010, stacked Government Accountability Board or not.
- That having been said, other than Walker, Paul Cesarz, Mark Borowski, and Joe Rice (who did not have an opponent), the tax revolt is dead in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Racine Counties. $400,000 for a shed? Why not? $9 million in borrowing for maintenance? Go right ahead. $12 million for a Taj Mahal fire station? You betcha. $66 million for a makeover? Hey, at least it’s not $110 million. You wasted the breathing room we gave you last time? Go ahead, here’s some more.
- Fortunately, it spread further out. Attempts to jack taxes in Germantown, Hartford and Jefferson got shot down.
- Sanity will soon return to the state Supreme Court. Dickie Scruggs’ friends had best find a new state to try to pillage. The bad news; Doyle gets to choose the next judge of Burnett County.
- On the other hand, the same voters who delivered the margin of victory for Justice-elect Gableman decided that in the battle of stinky and extra-smelly, they would take extra-smelly.
- Bold prediction of 2008: there will be a lot of 3-3 ties broken by Hizzoner here in Oak Creek.
- Finally, a blogger makes good on an election. Congratulations, Kathy.
- I hope the guards at the jail Michael McGee-Jackson Jr is at took away his shoelaces; his world is crashing in on him.

Welcome to the NRE Wisconsin spring general election live thread, covering the non-partisan portion of the 2008 elections. The elections I’m keeping an eye on:

- Wisconsin State Supreme Court - Louis Butler (inc.) vs Michael Gableman
- State constitutional amendment limiting the governor’s use of the line-item veto
- Milwaukee County Executive - Scott Walker (inc.) vs Lena Taylor
- Milwaukee County Board - various races including the 9th
- Jailbird Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee’s re-election bid
- Kenosha’s 5th Aldermanic race with Kathy Carpenter
- Racine County’s 3rd Supervisory race with Lou D’Abbraccio

…I would have offered this place up to the various candidates in Oak Creek like he did for Franklin’s candidates.

I guess that’s the difference between Oak Creek and Franklin; the latter has a very vibrant local blogosphere, while the concept never really took off in Oak Creek. I probably deserve a heap of blame for that; I declined an early offer to be one of the “Community Bloggers”, and I don’t do a lot of local focus here (I think that’s related).

(H/T - Clint)

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development has a sortable list of various “top 25″ employers. One can specify either private enterprise, government, or both, various industry groups, and even narrow a search down to either a county or municipality level. While Clint took a look at the larger picture, I’ll go local. With the caveat that some of the information does not appear to be accurate as to locale, I’ll roll through some selected highlights (or should that be “lowlights”):

- In Milwaukee County, no Oak Creek entity, on its own, is among the top 25 employers among both public and private employers.
- Again in Milwaukee County, among school districts, the Oak Creek-Frankin School District only trails Milwaukee Public Schools, West Allis-West Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, and is larger than any municipal government other than the city of Milwaukee.
- Among Milwaukee County municipalities, the city of Oak Creek trails only the cities of Milwaukee, West Allis and Wauwatosa. That’s right; there are more city of Oak Creek employees than city of Franklin employees or city of Greenfield employees despite a smaller population.
- In the city of Oak Creek itself, the school district trails only Midwest Airlines, Bechtel Construction (which should drop to nothing when the power plant is done), UPS and Delphi (which, the last I heard, is on the chopping block). I do have to note that the DWD numbers for Oak Creek-based employees of We Energies appears to be off.
- Meanwhile, the city also trails PPG, Reinhart/County Market, and the Postal Service. I do have to note that, if all three Pick ‘N Save locations were combined (the Ryan Rd. one is owned by Ultra Foods, the other two by Mega Foods), Pick ‘N Save should jump ahead of the city.

Is it any wonder why taxes are out of control?

This is a repeat of last month’s post listing the Oak Creek polling places. They’ll be open from 7 am until 8 pm tomorrow.

Heads up, Oak Creek readers (if I have any, that is). Starting with the February 19 primaries, there are new polling places for those of us in the 1st, 2nd and 6th Aldermanic districts. Also, there is still a temporary relocation of the polling place for those in the 3rd Aldermanic district. You can either go to the city’s website to view, or move your eyes down just a bit…

1st Aldermanic District (Wards 1, 2, 3) - Oak Creek-Franklin School Administration Building, 7630 S. 10th St. (just south of the divided roadway portion between Rawson and Drexel)

2nd Aldermanic District (Wards 4, 5, 6) - Oak Creek West Middle School, 8401 S. 13th St. (between Drexel and Puetz)

3rd Aldermanic District (Wards 7, 8, 9) - Temporarily at the Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell Ave. (between the library and the National Guard depot). Do note that beginning with the fall primary election on September 9, 2008, this polling place will be back at its regular place at Oak Creek East Middle School, 9330 S. Shepard Ave. (between Puetz and Ryan, though in the new building)

4th Aldermanic District (Wards 10, 11, 12) - Carollton Elementary School, 8965 S. Carollton Dr. (no change)

5th Aldermanic District (Wards 13, 14, 15) - Meadowview Elementary School, 10420 S. McGraw Dr. (no change)

6th Aldermanic District (Wards 16, 17, 18) - Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell Ave. (just north of the previous polling place at City Hall)

Heads up, Oak Creek readers (if I have any, that is). Starting with the February 19 primaries, there are new polling places for those of us in the 1st, 2nd and 6th Aldermanic districts. Also, there is still a temporary relocation of the polling place for those in the 3rd Aldermanic district. You can either go to the city’s website to view, or move your eyes down just a bit…

1st Aldermanic District (Wards 1, 2, 3) - Oak Creek-Franklin School Administration Building, 7630 S. 10th St. (just south of the divided roadway portion between Rawson and Drexel)

2nd Aldermanic District (Wards 4, 5, 6) - Oak Creek West Middle School, 8401 S. 13th St. (between Drexel and Puetz)

3rd Aldermanic District (Wards 7, 8, 9) - Temporarily at the Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell Ave. (between the library and the National Guard depot). Do note that beginning with the fall primary election on September 9, 2008, this polling place will be back at its regular place at Oak Creek East Middle School, 9330 S. Shepard Ave. (between Puetz and Ryan, though in the new building)

4th Aldermanic District (Wards 10, 11, 12) - Carollton Elementary School, 8965 S. Carollton Dr. (no change)

5th Aldermanic District (Wards 13, 14, 15) - Meadowview Elementary School, 10420 S. McGraw Dr. (no change)

6th Aldermanic District (Wards 16, 17, 18) - Oak Creek Community Center, 8580 S. Howell Ave. (just north of the previous polling place at City Hall)

I missed the budget meeting and the subsequent Common Council meeting here in Oak Creek where they passed a tax-and-spend-to-the-max 3.86% levy increase/4.1% expenditure increase budget the other week. However, thanks to Mark Verhalen, I do have one of the reasons why they did that rather than the original 3.03% levy increase and 3.0% expenditure increase; they wanted to grab $250,000 in additional state shared revenue for the 2009 budget under a program supposedly for communities that practice fiscal restraint available only to those local governments that did tax and spend to the max.

Yes, you heard that right - the state is passing out state tax money to communities that screw the taxpayers the maximum amount allowed so that they can continue to spend out of control when the one-year semi-freeze limit hits.

Words, at least those not involving BS-bombs, H-bombs and F-bombs, fail me.

I probably should’ve had something up before now, but I’ve been a wee bit lax in getting local stuff up. Here’s what’s up for election in Oak Creek in the spring 2008 election cycle:

- 2nd Aldermanic District (incumbent Al Foeckler - not running)
- 4th Aldermanic District (incumbent Michael Toman)
- 6th Aldermanic District (incumbent Tom Michalski)
- City clerk (incumbent Beverly Buretta)
- City treasurer (incumbent Barbara Guckenberger)
- Municipal judge (incumbent Alice Rudebusch)
- One Oak Creek-Franklin School District seat (incumbent Sheryl Cerniglia)

Oak Creek Now points out that candidacy papers are due by 5 pm January 2, and notice of non-candidacy by the incumbents are due by 5 pm December 21.

The word is Al Foeckler announced Tuesday that he is not running for re-election. That leaves an opportunity for interested citizens. Even though I just moved back to the 2nd, I do not anticipate following in the footsteps of Fred Dooley and Kathy Carpenter, but I will offer the following bits of advice for potential candidates (culled from the still-in-business State Elections Board):

- Read the Campaign Finance and Bookkeeping Manual, even if you do not intend to raise or spend more than $1,000 or receive more than $100 from anybody other than yourself in a calendar year.
- File a completed Campaign Registration Statement with the city clerk the moment you decide to run, before you either start raising/spending funds or start circulating nomination papers, and before 5 pm January 2.
- Collect at least 20 signatures on the Nomination Paper for Nonpartisan Office form and have them into the city clerk’s office before 5 pm January 2.
- File a completed Declaration of Candidacy with the city clerk no later than 5 pm January 2.