Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Allow me to begin this week’s column in a highly unusual manner for me — by that I mean commending Governor Scott Walker for his recent decision to send state aid to Milwaukee in the aftermath of the community unrest. But having said that, several perplexing questions now come to mind.
The first question is: Why did it take so long for this governor and the state to respond to this chronic plight in its city of the first class?
After all, Scott Walker of all people should have been well-acquainted with the level of poverty and abject conditions that exist there. Not to mention the fact, he was elected Milwaukee County Executive not once, not twice but on three separate occasions.
And, from that lofty perch, he was afforded the opportunity to make some real, substantive changes that could have enriched the lives of countless Milwaukee residents.
But instead, Walker chose to spend the lion share of his time, and political capital, catering to the concerns of constituents outside the City of Milwaukee. In fact, there were times that his policy prescriptions for the central city were so draconian that it almost appeared that he held a personal resentment against it.
The second question that comes to mind is: Considering the magnitude of the problems at hand, why wasn’t more state money allocated for the central city? In all honesty, Walker’s $4.5 million allocation is a token gesture at best. Just last week, the governor’s economic development agency, WEDC, was publicly exposed (once again) for failure to perform its legislative mission.
According to WEDC’s own database, three businesses (Saelens Corp., Novation Companies and Merge Healthcare Inc.) had alleged that it had created 483 jobs in the Sherman Park neighborhood — the immediate area of the recent unrest.
However, a closer examination revealed that this jobs creation claim in the central city was absolutely false, even though the aforementioned companies had received $1.65 million in tax credits to do so.
Interestingly, the state funding being sent to Milwaukee – like manna from heaven – does not need the approval of the state legislature. Walker’s announcement contained the following provisions:
• $1.5 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) money to work with city officials to run employment programs for those in need of jobs.
• $2 million to help the city of Milwaukee to demolish 50 foreclosed properties owned by the city and renovate 60 more.
With matching dollars from the city, the money will help employ 200 young and unemployed area residents who will work on the homes as well as clean all vacant lots, alleys and other blighted properties in the city.
• $1 million to Milwaukee businesses to help train workers in the city.
• An effort by the Department of Workforce Development to send out mobile teams into distressed neighborhoods, where they’ll set up job centers in churches and community centers to give the unemployed better access to work
. • Work by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. to see whether the state can use existing jobs programs to help businesses that were damaged or destroyed during the burning and looting. This raises one last question in my mind: Why does it always take some sort of “crisis” before the powers that be begrudgingly responds in some token fashion? I leave you to draw your own conclusions.