Before the walk I participated in a town-hall style meeting at the John C. Cudahy YMCA on Swan Street, where I discussed with the large crowd our City's public safety strategy. We then hit the streets, walking from the Cudahy YMCA through the Woodlands area to the Risen Savior Lutheran Church near 95th and West Brown Deer Road.
The walk provided an important way to strengthen community ties and send a clear signal that crime and violence will not be tolerated. I am proud to stand with partners like Alderman Robert Puente, Melissa Herguth of the YMCA, Captain Eric Moore of the Milwaukee Police Department, Pastor Kenneth Fisher of Risen Savior and many, many more to make Milwaukee's neighborhoods safer and stronger.
New Report Calls Milwaukee a Great Place to Retire
According to the most recent issue of AARP The Magazine, Milwaukee is among the top five places in the U.S. for baby boomers to retire.
The rankings were decided by evaluating a series of benchmarks that determine what makes a city livable: new urbanism, smart growth, mixed-use development, and easy-living standards.
"An example of urban renewal at its best, Milwaukee features picturesque river walks and affordable water-front living," the magazine declared.
Milwaukee: A Growing Economy
A new report from the Public Policy Forum shows that Milwaukee's economy is growing.
According to the report summary, "Milwaukee added 2,039 net new jobs in the last 12 months and 4,057 jobs since May 2005." The report states while there is still progress to achieve, "the city now shows signs of headed in the right direction in terms of employment gains."
The study also finds that "the turnaround began somewhere around 2004 and has continued to this day where the city is now growing faster than the state."
(By the way, I took office on April 20, 2004.)
For the complete blog report, see:
http://milwaukeetalkie.blogspot.com/2007/07/wisconsins-new-boomtown.html
New State Bill Will Bring Property Tax Relief to MilwaukeeSincerely,
For months I have been lobbying the State Legislature to pass legislation that closes a terrible loophole allowing some companies to be exempt from paying property taxes, placing greater tax burden on Milwaukee homeowners.
As a result of a court decision commonly known as the "Newark" case, numerous for-profit manufacturers successfully argued that they should not pay taxes because they are waste treatment or pollution abatement facilities. As a result, the leftover tax burden has been shifted to Milwaukee property taxpayers who are forced to make up the difference.
I and other mayors across Wisconsin have been urging lawmakers in Madison to fix this broken situation, and I am happy to report that the State Legislature has passed, and Governor Doyle has indicated he will sign next week, new legislation that ends this unfair practice.
This is big news for Milwaukee taxpayers. An estimate prepared by the Department of Revenue indicated that $1.8 billion in property value across Wisconsin could have potentially become tax-exempt based on the "Newark" case. In Milwaukee alone, the loophole has already forced Milwaukee taxpayers to pay back more than $450,000 in property taxes collected since 1999. If this mess had been allowed to continue, more than $66 million in Milwaukee property value could have been lost, thereby shifting another $1.5 million in property taxes onto City homeowners.
That is not right, and the closing of this loophole is a huge win for Milwaukee property taxpayers. It ensures that everyone will pay their fair share for city services and that homeowners won't be stuck with a bigger tab.
I was proud to work to fix this broken system, and I applaud Senators Dave Hansen and Rob Cowles and Representative Dean Kaufert for working diligently to pass this much-needed legislation.
Mayor, City of Milwaukee
Visit my website at: http://www.city.milwaukee.gov/mayor