Both Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele are asking the public to chip in to help launch a new sports arena, primarily for the Milwaukee Bucks. We agree that keeping the Bucks is important to the city’s future. But how Barrett and Abele are handling their requests couldn’t be more different, and those differences say a lot about their leadership qualities.
Barrett, Abele and their aides participated in negotiations with the state and Bucks’ leaders to develop a comprehensive, complex plan for building a new arena and developing the Park East land nearby. But beyond the initial press conference, only Barrett has been willing to explain the details of the plan for his constituents in a public forum, taking questions from Common Council members and explaining why he thinks that the city should approve $12 million in tax incremental financing (TIF) and build a $35 million parking garage. Council members will be able to vote on the plan, if it’s approved by the state Legislature.
While Barrett tried his best to get everything out in the open as soon as possible, Abele has gone into hiding. He’s sent out two aides—Department of Administrative Services Director Teig Whaley-Smith and Economic Development Director James Tarantino, who’s only been on the job since May—to sell the plan to the public and county supervisors. And he turned down a request to be interviewed by the Shepherd on his plans.
If the Legislature approves the deal as is, the county is on the hook for a lot more than the city’s parking garage and TIF. The county has committed $4 million a year in bad debt for the next 20 years—a funding mechanism Barrett rejected—as well as offering to sell nine acres of Park East land to the Bucks owners for $1. Abele’s plan, crafted in secret, could have a big impact on an already strained county budget because the debt that’s collected currently goes into the county coffers. Plus, if the state can’t collect the $4 million yearly for the Bucks, it will reduce the county’s state aid and likely cause property taxes to rise.
There are so many questions to be answered about the county’s contributions, but Abele won’t explain to his constituents or county supervisors why he thinks this is the best deal he could negotiate, especially since it appears to be so much worse for county taxpayers than Gov. Scott Walker’s original bonding plan. Adding insult to injury, rumors are rampant that if Abele doesn’t get his way, his Republican legislator buddies will strip the county board’s ability to approve land deals in the pending state budget, further diminishing transparency and accountability in county government.
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Mayor Barrett has shown that he’s willing to stand behind his proposal to make the arena deal work. If County Executive Abele is so confident about committing county resources to keep the Bucks in town, why won’t he defend his plan in public?
