(old found draft post) Fixing Milwaukee Notes – Notes from 9/7 Sunday Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sep 11, 2008 @ 16:08
My “Fixing Milwaukee” post are on hiatus. The problem is real big, I am a bit discouraged at the moment. I am not sure of the next steps.
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Reference Definition: Institutions
Definitions Matter. For future reference, I will use the definition for “Institutions”
“Institutions are the humanly devised constraints that structure human interaction. They [...]

“Nearly one-fifth of local streets – 193 miles – are now beyond their intended life spans, some by as many as 60 years.” (Fixing Milwaukee

An interesting Milwaukee Journal report documented that Milwaukee CityGov can’t even manage the basic of street repair:
But decaying roads can be found throughout the city’s 1,025-mile network – from the inner city to more affluent neighborhoods.
The analysis also shows:
• More than half of city streets have gone four decades or more without repaving. About 97 miles [...]

More Wasted Taxpayers Money and a Culture of Corruption (Fixing Milwaukee)

Sigh:

When the County Board set up the Task Force on Work Reform for Men more than a year ago, it was pitched as a low-cost effort to find jobs for out-of-work African-Americans and Hispanics.
Who can argue with that?
But the biggest job the task force has created so far is a $248,000 consulting gig for a [...]

“County Executive Scott Walker and other county officials hope to reap significant savings by issuing the pension debt at about 6% and investing the earnings at 8%” (Fixing Milwaukee)

What idiocy!
So who will get fucked on the most on this?
1) The taxpayers who stick around  and will have to pony up in increased taxes and reduced services to cover this action which is sure to fail?
…or…
2) The larger pool of creditors, retirees, and taxpayers when the county declares bankruptcy in 10 [...]

Fixing Milwaukee Note: Buh Bye Milwaukee School Board Idiotarian Hardinh

She corrupt. She’s an Idiot. And now soon she’ll be gone.
The lack of nine valid signatures appeared Thursday to have brought an end to Charlene Hardin’s controversial, 12-year career on the Milwaukee School Board.
“This letter is to formally notify you that your nomination papers did not include 400 valid signatures required to have your name [...]

Fixing Milwaukee: “A team of Journal Sentinel reporters spent a year examining the drinking culture in Wisconsin”

The series is called Wasted in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal did a good job.

Though he is now a convicted felon, get ready for former Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee Jr. scammer 2.0

So, McGee Jr. has been convicted and now sentenced:
After the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic said in a statement: “The evidence at the trial showed that Michael McGee Jr. was one of the most corrupt elected officials in Milwaukee’s history. Although his sentence was below that recommended by the government, his case should serve as [...]

Fixing Milwaukee: Milwaukee School District Leadership and Taxes

From the FraudFiles:

Tonight the Milwaukee Public Schools board is going to vote in favor [Purpleslog note: They did] of increasing city property taxes 14.6% for the school portion. That is the largest portion of the property tax bill, so overall taxpayers will see a sharp increase in their bills.
Student enrollment has been steadily declining, while [...]

Fixing Milwaukee Notes: You know you city has a gap when the Guardian Angles start showing up.

Dang:
The Guardian Angels, a national citizen volunteer crime-fighting organization, will begin patrolling two Milwaukee County Transit System bus routes today, a member of the Milwaukee chapter of the organization said Thursday.
Willie Brooks, the spokesman for the Milwaukee chapter, said the patrols are in response to two incidents Monday in which a bus driver and a [...]

“Fixing Milwaukee” (and America) – Governing note

From here:
Burke gave us another set of ideas that seems to have fallen by the wayside in contemporary American politics, and in contemporary American conservatism: the value of prudence and judgment in public life, and along with those virtues, the merits of republicanism rather than plebiscitary democracy. Written in 1777, Burke’s letter to [...]

Fixing Milwaukee Notes: Economic development and replacement of the Hoan bridge

Economic Development (Growth) is key to any plan to shrink the Cream City Gap. More wealth means more options for all actors.
DoT has an idea:

An analysis his department had received in July builds a strong economic case for the roadway overhaul, including the prospect for construction valued at $5.7 billion on land around the current [...]

Fixing Milwaukee Notes: The Justice System

The link: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=802130 :

Shanks first caught the public eye in 2002, when, at 13, he was charged in connection with the killing of Charlie Young Jr. Witnesses said he was part of a mob of up to 16 males, ages 10 to 32, who beat Young, 36, with weapons including shovels and tree limbs after [...]

Fixing Milwaukee Notes: The Debt Problem

From the Milwaukee Journal:
Wisconsin’s largest local government employers have about $6 billion worth of health insurance and other non-pension benefits they have promised to future retirees that they have yet to save up for, according to a new report. Of the nearly $6 billion of retirement obligations identified in the report, about three-quarters, or more [...]

Dumbass Budget for Milwaukee Proposed by Mayor Barrett

The details are here.
My browser crashed on my first try at this, so this will be much briefer.
Mayor Barrett like all good socialists, wants a much bigger budget and tax increases.
If he can’t get it, he threatens to do things like reducing police and fire positions, library hours and garbage/refuse collection.
What is interesting is that [...]

“Fixing Milwaukee” Notes: The Domains of the Problem

I think these are the domains of the problem/solutions – they all overlap somewhat:
-Leadership-Institutions-Governing Process-Focus-Public Relations-Demographics-Culture(s)-Human Capital (capabilities)-Security-Wealth, Internal Investment, External Investment-Happiness and Quality of Life-Entrepreneurial activity-Economic Growth-Business Environment
Any suggestions,additions, corrections, etc?

Example Strategic Citizen: Milwaukee’s Jill Welytok

The local paper reports:

Once a month in southeastern Wisconsin, three groups of inventors meet with people who want to help them.[...]At their core is a Milwaukee-area woman aiming to help change a culture.[...]“If you have a good product that you can produce, or that someone else can produce within the appropriate margins, you have access [...]

Fixing Milwaukee Notes: Milwaukee School District Governance

From the 9/19/2008 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Milwaukee School Board voted Thursday night to begin looking into dissolving the Milwaukee Public Schools system.
…and…
The resolution called for the administration to examine state and federal guidelines for dissolving the school district and who would be responsible for educating children in Milwaukee if that happened.
…and…
Andrekopoulos began the meeting by [...]

Wisconsin has Problems with Entrepreneurs and Businesses

JSONLINE Community Columnist Al Smith nails it:
He joins an administration filled with hard-core ideologues and militant bureaucrats who view businessmen as the new kulaks, virtual enemies of the people whose wealth is to be expropriated in order to fund the endless expansion of the state.
The disdain is exemplified by John Wiley, the outgoing chancellor of [...]

Fixing Milwaukee Note – Education and Youth Truancy

Yikes:
Nearly half of Milwaukee Public Schools students are habitually absent from school, according to a report released Thursday by the state Legislative Audit Bureau.
The report, a review of public school districts’ efforts to reduce truancy, also found that more than 9% of Wisconsin’s students had at least five unexcused absences in one semester – the [...]

Reference Definition: Institutions

Definitions Matter. For future reference, I will continue to use this definition for “Institutions“:
Institutions are the humanly devised constraints that structure human interaction. They are made up of formal constraints (rules, laws, constitutions), informal constraints (norms of behavior, conventions, and self imposed codes of conduct), and their enforcement characteristics. [Ref: Douglass C. North Nobel Lecture]
Does [...]