Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
The City of Milwaukee has once again been thrust into the national spotlight. And unfortunately, once again, for all the wrong reasons. Saturday night’s fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith precipitated two nights of violent unrest in the Sherman park neighborhood.
There appears to be a tentative ceasefire in place, but that prompts the underlying question: How long will this lull in community unrest last? Make no mistake about it, the tension and mistrust that exist in far too many neighborhoods of color in Milwaukee are real — so real they seem palpable.
The root causes of Milwaukee’s systemic neglect (extreme unemployment, high incarceration, dilapidated housing stock, lack of education and inadequate health care) have all been the norm for far too long.
Moreover, Scott Walker and his Republican cohorts in Madison have consistently shown that they are no friends of Milwaukee. Walker’s jobs agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation or WEDC, claims it created new employment opportunities in the Sherman Park neighborhood, which was the site of the recent unrest.
More specifically, WEDC alleges that it created 483 jobs in the Sherman Park area, but a closer look reveals these companies do not actually exist in the neighborhood.
WEDC’s map on their website lists 8 companies in Sherman Park receiving tax credits or related programs, but only 3 which claim job creation as an outcome.
However, a review of these companies show they do not exist in the community despite what is indicated on the WEDC map.
All of these locations are listed with the same area of WEDC’s website, which is in fact residential neighborhood.
• Saelens Corporation, which received $400,000 in tax credits, is actually based closer to Menomonee Falls on Milwaukee’s far northwest side
• Novation Companies, which received $750,000 in tax credits, is actually based downtown and is selling its office to a California tech company
• Merge Healthcare Inc., which received $500,000 in tax credits, was actually based in Hartland With everything that have been said, these seemingly intractable conditions in Milwaukee still do not give local residents the right, or license, to indiscriminately burn and loot local businesses in their community.
Like it or not, Milwaukee is the economic engine that drives the entire state and it should be treated as such.
And, more importantly, communities of color must be given the opportunity to participate in the state’s economic prosperity, regardless of one’s zip code.