Franklin Today

Mayor Taylor urges all residents to contact their legislators

2010-03-09T17:04:50-06:00

The City of Franklin has put up a letter from Mayor Tom Taylor regarding Senate Bill 548 and Assembly Bill 759. You may now follow all Franklin Today updates and information relating to these two bills in the state legislature by going to the Sex Offender Legislation link on this site.

After the jump is Mayor Taylor's letter to all residents of Franklin.

Dear Fellow Citizens of Franklin, Wisconsin:

As the Mayor of the City of Franklin, I am requesting your immediate help in trying to block an attempt by some Wisconsin State Legislators, whose areas are outside of Franklin, to pass legislative bills that would nullify or invalidate the City of Franklin's sex offender residency restriction and child safety zone ordinances.

The City of Franklin's sex offender residency restriction and child safety zone ordinances were enacted by your Common Council in an effort to make the City of Franklin a safer place for children and for women. These ordinances have been tested in the courts and according to our law enforcement officials, have served our community very well.

We, as a City government, have worked vigorously along with the members of the public to win court battles and political fights that challenged your right to enact reasonable and rational laws for the protection of your children. The City of Franklin and thousands of Franklin citizens fought at State Fair Park, at the State Capitol, and in the courtrooms to keep Franklin safe. I respectfully ask you, as the Mayor, to once again fight to protect your right to pass laws and keep laws in place for the safety of your family.

Your local elected officials are doing and will do what we can to fight this new attempt by a few state legislators to interfere in the people of Franklin's right to self governance; however, there comes a point in a political battle (and that's what we have here) where it is up to each and every resident that lives in Franklin to fight to keep their community safe by contacting their elected representatives.

As the Mayor and as your neighbor, I am imploring you to immediately take the same time you may take to place a phone order for a pizza, to make two calls to keep your family safer from sexual predators. Please call or send a message to Mary Lazich and Jeff Stone at the phone numbers below (leave a voice mail message if there is no answer):

Senator Mary Lazich, Sen.lazich@legis.wisconsin.gov, 1-608-266-5400, Room 109 South, State Capitol, P.O. Box 7882, Madison, WI 53707-7882

Representative Jeff Stone, Rep.stone@legis.wisconsin.gov, 1-608-266-8590, Room 314 North, State Capitol, P.O. Box 8953, Madison, WI 53708.

Please urge Mary and Jeff to continue to fight this attempt by some in the State Legislature to interfere in your local government's right to pass ordinances that serve to protect the children of Franklin. Both Mary Lazich and Jeff Stone have said that they agree that these bills should be defeated, but they need your help. Calling and writing e-mail messages to them will assist them in showing their colleagues that the people of Franklin care deeply about keeping ordinances in place that protect their families.

A democracy can only survive and flourish if the people's voices are heard. This is your Community and this is your State. Please call, write, or email your State representatives as soon as possible at the numbers and addresses found in this letter. Please ask them for their support in fighting SB 548 and AB 759 and ask them how you can help them in assisting them to win the political battle to kill these two bills that may violate your State Constitutional rights. Please contact the candidates for Governor and those seeking state office for their support in killing SB 548 and AB 759. Find out where they stand on the right of local governments to pass and enact laws that protect their citizens. Ask each candidate what he or she will do today to kill this irresponsible proposed legislation.

We in Franklin have fought too hard and for too long to let a few people that live outside our community dictate what we can or cannot do as citizens of Franklin, Wisconsin.

I have been informed that two individuals in particular are pushing for the passage of these two divisive bills. I was told that Senator Lena Taylor and Representative Frederick Kessler are supporting these two very controversial pieces of legislation. You may wish to contact both of them to voice your opposition to SB 548 and AB 759. You may also wish to contact Governor Doyle's Office to strongly voice your opposition to these two bills. I have included contact information for those mentioned above as part of this letter to you.

I and a number of elected officials and citizens will be traveling to Madison to fight these two bills, but it is absolutely essential that the members of the Wisconsin State Legislature hear from the residents of Franklin who are also Wisconsin taxpayers. I have been informed that there is a public hearing proposed for AB 759 on Thursday, March 11, 2010, at 10:15 a.m., before the Committee on Corrections and the Courts of the Wisconsin State Legislature in the Assembly, in Room 415 Northwest in the State Capitol.  There may be an attempt to push these two bills through now or prior to the Legislature's adjournment on April 22, or prior to Governor Doyle leaving office. That is why you must act immediately.

Many other Wisconsin cities, villages, and towns adopted sex offender residency restriction and/or child safety zone ordinances after Franklin adopted its ordinances. You may wish to contact your friends and relatives living in other parts of Wisconsin and ask them to contact their Senator and Representative and urge them to oppose these two bills.

Please help me and the aldermen stop these types of attacks that erode our right as citizens to home rule.

Sincerely,

Thomas M. Taylor
Mayor of the City of Franklin

Other Contact Information:

Senator Lena Taylor, Sen.taylor@legis.wisconsin.gov, 1-608-266-5810
Room 415 South, State Capitol, P.O. Box 7882, Madison, WI 53707-7882

Senator Jim Sullivan, Sen.Sullivan@legis.wisconsin.gov, 1-608-266-2512
Room 15 South, State Capitol, P.O. Box 7882, Madison, WI 53707

Representative Frederick Kessler, Rep.kessler@legis.wisconsin.gov, 1-608-266-5813
Room 302 North, State Capitol, P.O. Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708

Governor Doyle's Office
P.O. Box 7863
Madison, WI 53707
1-608-266-1212

P.S. Please read the attached Resolution 2010-6630 that was recently passed by your City of Franklin Common Council that opposes Senate Bill 548 and Assembly Bill 759.
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Franklin Today Note: I'd also like to remind everyone of the sponsors of Senate Bill 548. They are all shown in this article. If you are interested in ensuring that all interested parties are aware of your position, make sure to include those legislators as well, since they're the ones putting their names on the bill.

Superintendent schedules early morning public forum on upcoming budget

2010-03-09T13:23:53-06:00

It is what it is. On the Franklin Public Schools website, it is stated that Superintendent Dr. Steve Patz will be holding a public forum on Wednesday, March 17th. This forum will focus on the upcoming 2010-2011 budget, which is slated to have a $1.6 million shortfall that needs to be remedied. It's great to have a public forum, however I see one huge problem: the forum is on a Wednesday morning from 7:30 to 9am.

While this is just my opinion, I would tend to believe most of you will be taking the kids to school and then off to work around that time. I suppose if one felt it to be a very serious matter they would do their best to find time to show up at the forum, but the odds aren't siding with that idea. Furthermore, the superintendent's public forum comes less than 12 hours after the School Board candidate forum, being held at Franklin High School and hosted by the Franklin Education Association.

I believe the public forum was made with the best of intentions to gauge public input. Unfortunately, I also believe it was scheduled at the wrong place with the wrong time. My suggestion would be to hold the public forum from 5-6:30pm at Franklin High School the night of the candidate forum. That way the district receives the maximum turnout of residents and elected officials likely to be in attendance for the forum will also be able to hear what the taxpayers have to say about the upcoming budget.

Parks Commission recommends council begin talks on Crystal Ridge

2010-03-09T13:05:53-06:00

I attended last night's Parks Commission meeting, which I felt was going to have a little more energy than what was encountered relating to the Crystal Ridge site. Also at the meeting were concerned residents Jan Coenen and Kevin Klein, developer Jim O'Malley, community writer John Michlig, School Board candidate Hugo Nguyen, and Plan Commissioner/Trails Committee Chairman Dave Fowler. At issue was Crystal Ridge's special use permit.

The residents who spoke mentioned the need for improvement at Crystal Ridge, especially given the fact that the site, if fully utilized, can hold major sporting events for the region in areas such as soccer and youth football. A desire to see a year-round facility topped the remarks made by Mayor Taylor, noting that the Hampton Inn & Suites project for land north of the Citgo station on 76th & Rawson is still moving forward. The mayor noted that if the hotel opened today, guests wouldn't see one of Franklin's finest pieces of land out their windows. That view will either encourage guests to either come back to Franklin or find someplace else to stay. I'll kindly assume the mayor is believing the latter with the current state of Crystal Ridge.

At issue is the need for an additional several inches of top soil to be placed on the site. This soil would then be seeded with grass with the end result being an area that has a huge potential for various sports during the Spring-Fall months. There was also a desire to not only keep the current ski hill, but to also enhance it. The need right now is to place several more inches of top soil on the site so such activities can take place. Apparently this was the reason why the special use permit is being brought up; the owner (Milwaukee County) and/or operator/lessee was supposed to put down the top soil in a timely fashion. From what I'm hearing, this has not been done yet.

At the end of the discussion, several Parks Commission members made remarks citing the need to look at the future of Crystal Ridge, and passed a motion recommending the Common Council to actively seek a dialogue with Milwaukee County about the site's future. In my opinion, this tells me that the discussion is aiming more towards a potential collaborative effort between the City of Franklin and Village of Greendale to effectively takeover the site and "rehab" it.

Did you see tonight's Parks Commission agenda?

2010-03-08T12:25:00-06:00

If not, then here you go:

ITEM 5B: Crystal Ridge Ski Hill (7900 West Crystal Ridge Drive) Special Use permit as it relates to future park purposes and adequate athletic fields within the City of Franklin.

If you recall, I mentioned that the City of Franklin, or should I say Mayor Taylor, are beginning to show a greater interest in the ski hill. This was kicked off by a Common Council meeting in February where Mayor Taylor and several aldermen expressed displeasure over the current situation at Crystal Ridge, especially when the terms of the special use permit the city gave to the ski hill operator is apparently not been met yet.

The discussion relating to the permit is significant; if the Parks Commission decides to recommend to the Common Council to revoke the ski hill's special use permit, and the council agrees, then to my knowledge the ski hill would have to shut down until the city felt it came into compliance with its special use requirements. This could anger both the operator and Milwaukee County, the owner of the site with some large financial troubles at the present time. This could pave the way for a possible takeover of the ski hill site by the City of Franklin. It could become a multi-governmental takeover if the Village of Greendale became a party to this due to the site straddling the Franklin/Greendale border.

This should provide for some interesting discussion as time goes on.

Franklin leaders are heading to Madison

2010-03-08T11:25:00-06:00

This past Saturday the Common Council met in special session to discuss the recommendations by the Community Safety Task Force, which met last Friday. The Community Safety Task Force has its main concerns surrounding how to tackle Senate Bill 548 and now Assembly Bill 759, which if enacted into law pose a threat to Franklin residents by eliminating our current sex offender ordinance and impacting Franklin's right to home rule.

The Common Council did two things Saturday:

Approved of funds that would be used to inform you, the Franklin citizens, as well as Churches, community organizations and schools about SB 548 and AB 759. The initial dollar amount to be approved was $10,000, but Alderman Tim Solomon raised that figure to $25,000 and it stuck. Common Council President Steve Taylor noted the need to ensure the taxpayers are made well aware of what their $25,000 is spent on, which Alderman Solomon agreed and added Taylor's remarks to his motion as a friendly amendment.
Gave the OK to send a contingent of officials to Madison to speak on behalf of the city. Initially, that official list was to be Mayor Taylor, Alderman Olson, and City Attorney Jesse Wesolowski. Alderwoman Kristen Wilhelm then asked why there needed to be an OK for persons such as the mayor, since it should be the right of the mayor to automatically speak on behalf of the city. She also asked why only one alderman was on the "official" list rather than the entire Common Council, noting that other aldermen should be encouraged to also speak against these bills in Madison. Thanks to her observation, a friendly amendment was included that placed the entire Common Council on that list.

All Franklin residents are strongly encouraged to contact State Representative Jeff Stone and State Senator Mary Lazich regarding these bills. They are our elected leaders in the State Assembly and State Senate, respectively. Their contact information has been posted on an earlier Franklin Today write-up. There is also a public hearing on the Assembly bill (AB 759) this Thursday, March 11th, at 10am in Madison.

What concerns me is that there was little discussion relating to reasons why state legislators are proposing these bills now. As you know, I posted what I discovered during my research of SB 548 and why it is an issue today. While some city leaders firmly believe the answer to SB 548's creation lies with several Milwaukee legislators, I believe the answer lies some 120 miles north of Milwaukee, in the Green Bay metro area. That's where these bills have also been receiving a decent amount of press coverage, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting it.

I hope that we are looking at all potential solutions that will motivate those Democratic and Republican legislators in NE Wisconsin to back away from the bill as it currently stands.

Campaign signs begin to sprout up

2010-03-08T09:08:00-06:00

The warm weather over the weekend has encouraged candidates, including myself, to venture out and put up their campaign signs in the yards of their supporters. Here are some personal observations I had:

If the School Board race is going to be similar to the number of campaign signs throughout the community, then I'd say Melissa Klein and Hugo Nguyen are cruising towards an easy victory April 6th. This would leave the 3rd seat wide-open for speculation as to who among the remaining three candidates would grab it.
The race for 5th District Alderman is looking good - Bryan Maersch and Doug Schmidt both have a good number of signs out throughout their district and in key commercial areas of the city.
The race I'm in, for 1st District Alderman, has been so far a great experience for me personally. My opponent, Steve Olson, has up his larger signs in key commercial areas and in two yards near his home. I suppose I'm one of the last ones to get into the clutter, so-to-speak, in terms of placing signs in the commercial areas of the city.

Since signs are likely very limited per candidate, make sure you contact them if you are interested in having one in your yard.

More vacancies on the way

2010-03-08T01:06:53-06:00

I heard from a friend of mine over the weekend that Blockbuster is closing both of its Franklin locations - a larger-sized store in the Franklin Centre shopping center near 76th & Rawson and a smaller-sized store in a strip mall next to Chili's on 27th Street. This is more bad news for the 76th & Rawson business district, since this means another decent-sized building will be vacant. My friend said the store clerk at the 76th & Rawson location told customers the last day of business would be March 14th.

For 76th & Rawson, Blockbuster joins 5 Star Coffee, Ka Martini Lounge, and Sentry Foods as former Franklin businesses. Dare I ask where the Economic Development Commission is on this growing problem in Franklin?

Several student bands raise $1000 for the library

2010-03-03T13:18:33-06:00

At last night's Common Council meeting, three bands were acknowledged and praised for their efforts to raise funds for the Franklin Public Library. They held a benefit concert at the library recently, which raised $1000. The children involved in the bands are from Forest Park Middle School and Franklin High School. The bands are called Dark Vortex, Midnight, and The Curb Farmers. Photos from the presentation last night are after the jump.

Thanks to Melissa Klein for providing the photos.

Support Boy Scout Pack 538 by donating blood

2010-03-03T12:26:04-06:00

I received a forwarded e-mail from a reader about an upcoming blood drive that will be held at the Franklin Public Library from 2:30 to 6:30 on Monday, March 8th. If you're interested, click the link contained in the message below.

All,

Please consider donating blood on Monday March 8th from 230-630 at Franklin Public Library. This event is being coordinated with the Blood Center of Wisconsin. Please go to the link provided to schedule an appointment. If attendance proves to be too low the event is in jeopardy of cancellation. Any scout who recruits at least one donor will be entered into a raffle to win a prize!

Patients are counting on receiving this blood to help them survive or heal. Let's all participate and make this blood drive a success for all of us. If you haven't signed up yet, please consider doing so. Thank you!!

http://bloodcenter.com/pack538

SB 548: The sponsors and history behind the bill

2010-03-02T14:09:20-06:00

After speaking with several contacts, many issues came to light revolving around Senate Bill 548. The issues are significant since it caused the bill to land bipartisan support. After the jump will be the list of sponsors as well as some recent history that likely sparked this.

The sponsors are:

WI STATE SENATE

Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee)

WI STATE ASSEMBLY

Rep. Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee)
Rep. Donald Friske (R-Merrill)
Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison)
Rep. Gary Sherman (D-Port Wing)
Rep. Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee)
Rep. Annette Williams (D-Milwaukee)
Rep. Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay)
Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink (D-Milladore)
Rep. Joe Parisi (D-Madison)
Rep. Chris Danou (D-Madison)
Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette)
Rep. Alvin Ott (R-Fort Junction)
Rep. John Townsend (R-Fond du Lac)
Rep. Mary Williams (R-Medford)
Rep. Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan)
Rep. Jerry Petrowski (R-Marathon)
Rep. Richard Spanbauer (R-Oshkosh)
Rep. Jeffrey Wood (I-Chippewa Falls)
Rep. Barbara Toles (D-Milwaukee)
Rep. Scott Newcomer (R-Pewaukee)

TOTAL: 10 Democrats (including Senator Taylor), 10 Republicans, 1 Independent

I found out why Senator Taylor was the chief sponsor of this proposal, as well. Senator Taylor is the Chairwoman of the Senate Committees on Judiciary, Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform, and Housing. Franklin’s State Senator, Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), is also on this committee. When I asked my contacts why no other State Senator joined with Senator Taylor with the bill, the response was more-or-less, “Because it’s Senator Taylor.”

Now for the Assembly sponsors of this bill…

Most Democrats who put their names on the bill likely did it for obvious reasons, especially those representing the various sections of Madison. Other Democrats, in particular those from Milwaukee, could have done so after seeing what has unfolded in Green Bay. NE Wisconsin/the Green Bay area is where the majority of Republicans sponsoring this bill hail from, as well.

When Franklin passed the landmark ordinance in 2007, many of our aldermen (and Mayor Taylor) were the first to say that numerous communities mimicked our ordinance throughout Wisconsin. This was especially true in the Green Bay area, where almost every suburb enacted similar sex offender ordinances, and the City of Green Bay, fearing an incursion of sex offenders from the suburbs, carbon-copied Franklin’s ordinance and enacted their own. Thus, the vast majority of the Green Bay area is off-limits to sex offenders released from prison, and now that’s creating issues.

From Green Bay TV station WBAY, which did a report on this bill yesterday:

A state Senate bill may override local sex offender residency rules, creating a statewide standard, trying to address a problem that's come to a slow boil.

"The local ordinances were getting so restrictive that it was driving people underground," state Representative Phil Montgomery, an Ashwaubenon Republican, said.
Montgomery cites Green Bay as an example. Its ordinance effectively puts 93-percent of the city off-limits, virtually prohibiting sex offenders from living in the city.
Which is why he and other lawmakers back a bill to override local sex offender residency rules and replace them with an overall, statewide rule.
"What we need to have is statewide standard to protect the children and families of the state, and what this allows for is a uniform interpretation of the law," Montgomery said.

The Green Bay Press Gazette also did a report this morning on this matter:

Green Bay's sex offender residency ordinance prohibits sex offenders from living in nearly 90 percent of the city. The ordinance was approved in 2007 because of concerns that most of Brown County's listed adult sex offenders lived in Green Bay. An analysis that year by the Green Bay Press-Gazette of the state's Sex Offender Registry found 65 percent of adult sex offenders in the county lived in Green Bay.
The increased cost hasn't translated into increased safety for city residents.
Authorities refer about 200 sexual-assault cases to the Brown County District Attorney's Office, a number that hasn't changed much since the ordinance passed.
However, sex offenders refusing to register with the state has more than doubled since the city ordinance went into effect in 2007, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Authorities referred 41 cases of noncompliance to the Brown County District Attorney's Office in 2009, according to the state corrections department. That number jumped from only 14 cases in 2007 and is more than the 38 cases referred in 2008.
"It's a result of the residency restriction because convicted sex offenders can't find a place to live so they would rather go underground," said Tom Smith, Corrections sex offender registration specialist.
Noncompliance is a refusal to provide correct information, including an address. Refusing to register is a felony that carries a $10,000 fine and up to six years in prison.
"They're giving up," Smith said. "They want to comply but can no longer comply because of the restrictions that are held over their head."
Safety zones and loitering ordinances around parks, schools and day cares are some alternatives to the city ordinance, Smith said.
Ben Heiman is a member of the city's Sex Offender Residence Board, which hears the appeals of convicted sex offenders wishing to live within the city of Green Bay. He said noncompliance is a problem but it's not due to the city ordinance.
"That's nonsense as far as I'm concerned. That's a scapegoat and a copout. We're trying to do what we can do, the best we can do, for this city."
Donna Ysebaert of Green Bay is a grandmother and said she worries about not knowing if a sex offender lives next door. The sex offender residence ordinance is a good idea but it needs to be tweaked, she said.
"If they're going to be released, they have to find housing somewhere," she said. "They're really not solving a problem. They're just making another one."
Ysebaert expressed concerns over copycat ordinances by surrounding municipalities and potential overcrowding at the Brown County Jail. She said if people support the ordinance, they can't complain about taxpayers footing the bill.
Jed Neuman supervises 52 probation and parole agents in Brown County. The sex offender ordinance isn't necessary, he said, since agents already require similar restrictions regarding housing and contact with minors.
"They've had to become real estate agents. It really makes our jobs quite difficult," he said.
Agents have to pick up offenders each morning when they stay at the Brown County Jail to help them look for housing, then drop them off each evening. Agents have reduced their caseloads to remain effective at protecting the public and rehabilitating the offenders, he added.
Everett Olson, 23, was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl when he was 19 in 2006. He said the city ordinance is a good idea because it rewards those who are doing something positive while also protecting the community.
"I think it's good because it keeps a lot of the really violent offenders out, and people who have no support or income," he said.

To my knowledge, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has not covered SB 548 yet.

My contacts told me that sex offenders are now trying to locate places to live in the outskirts of Green Bay in the various rural townships. This is provoking the leaders of those townships to take action.

I believe it is necessary for our residents and leaders to know the full background on a legislative bill before taking action. I still stand against SB 548, which imposes rules and regulations that are far-reaching and negatively impact a community’s right to protect its own citizens. I also am supportive of the Franklin Common Council resolution tonight that notifies our representatives in the legislature that the City of Franklin opposes SB 548. However, my contacts notified me that if the bill goes to the legislature there is strong potential that it will pass. Franklin leaders now and in the future need to take the possibility of this bill being approved into consideration for future action and planning.