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Alliance
Success!
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The Alliance to Protect the Public Good had a huge victory at the County Board of Supervisors Budget hearing on October 30 when several hundred Milwaukee citizens came, sporting yellow Alliance stickers and signs, to let their supervisors know how much they value County structures in their lives. An overflowing crowd of concerned citizens ranging from individuals pleading for their local park maintenance and pools to the very trade workers who maintain those parks, fighting for their jobs wore black shirts and the Alliance stickers for unity. They gathered to tell the County Board they support a small raise in property taxes, just $1.16 a week, to protect their services. The tax increase represents the success the Alliance has had on bringing diverse groups together on the common goal to sustain as many services as possible from the slash and burn cuts in County Executive Scott Walker’s original budget proposal. For individuals at the meeting, this tax increase represented much more. Many passionate speeches were given on the particular interests
that individuals value most in the community. Vi Hawkins from Friends
of Dineen Park said, “I am a senior citizen who would be affected
by the social service programs, transit and disability program cuts.
I pay a lot of property tax and I know it will still go up but I
much rather it be used for our quality of life.”
Many came to specifically fight for their pools, “My parents learned to swim along the Milwaukee River, I learned at Gordon Park, my kids learned at Madison pool and my grandkids learned at Noyes. Are we going back to the river again? I hope not.” Although many of the speeches were about individual issues of community members, the theme of the night was not about individual needs. Whether your county job is threatened, you have a physical or mental disability, or if you simply enjoy an afternoon at the Art Museum, exercise in Pulaski and Noyes pools, or a safe bike ride through Milwaukee County Parks, it was repeated throughout the night that the quality of life Milwaukee County has to offer impacts all of us. Many Alliance members at the hearing said they understand that in many ways the county has no control over the current budget crisis. However, the fear is that if we lose all of these services now, in the long run we will never get them back. Of those who spoke many supported the measures necessary to maintain these structures. As Nic Onorato said to the County Board, “It has been said that it takes a village, and now it is time for the village to help itself. Raising the tax levy to the maximum amount allowed by law won't fix everything, but if it helps protect the quality of life in Milwaukee County and the lives of the people who live in it then that is the way it is going to have to be.” There is still more work to be done to protect Milwaukee County public structures. Citizens or groups interested in learning more about the Alliance to Protect the Public Good are urged to call (414)384-9094. Read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage the public hearing |
