PHOTO CREDIT: Evan Casey
Plans for a proposed meat processing facility on the city’s north side were halted Tuesday as protesters packed the Common Council chambers holdings signs that said “Stop the Slaughter” and “No New Slaughterhouses in Milwaukee.” The facility, which would be run by Strauss Brands LLC in the Century City Business Park, could help create upwards of 250 jobs in the area. However, protesters are saying the city should not help finance a facility that could bring harmful odors and pollutants to the area.
“Slaughterhouses, chemical plants, oil refineries, foundries, all types of industries that produce noise, dirt, odor, have traditionally had a stigma in central city communities. Why? Because for whatever reasons, those types of negative land uses, just seem to always end up in poor neighborhoods and primarily neighborhoods of color,” Alderman Robert Bauman said during the common council meeting. Bauman made the motion to send the item back to committee to gather more public input.
However, Alderman Khalif Rainey, whose district encompasses Century City, said he wants more jobs for his community. Some of the entry level jobs at the facility range from 14$ to $17 an hour.
“It's about job creation,” said Ald. Rainey. “Look at the root of crime and the root of violence. It’s poverty. And that’s what we’re experiencing here in the inner city of Milwaukee. It’s poverty. Job creation is the solution and that’s what this opportunity presents.”
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However, the city has already received over 100 complaints about the proposed facility, according to Ald. Bauman. Even so, Ald. Rainey said he didn't recognize hardly any of the protesters who came to City Hall Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, none of these people are my neighbors. None of these people reside within the Century City Triangle Neighborhood Association,” Rainey said.
Keith Terry and his mother came to protest the facility Tuesday. Terry’s mother currently lives within blocks of the proposed facility.
“We don't need that in our neighborhood,” Terry said. “To rebirth the inner city Milwaukee, it's going to take some aggressive things. But there's other uses for that land. They can work harder to find a better use.”
Robert Grillo, founder of Slaughter Free Chicago, came to the meeting Tuesday. He said the deal the city would be giving Strauss is not favorable. The city could give the facility $4.5 million if 500 jobs are created there.
“They’re opening the slaughterhouse in a neighborhood that's blighted,” Grillo said. “Whoever brokered this deal should be fired. This is the worst deal they could get.”
The item was referred back to the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. They meet next on Oct. 29.
