Theproposed expansion of Interstate 94 and the renovation of the ZooInterchange could claim more than 30 homes and even some commercialbuildings.
But property owners beware: The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) wants to make it more difficult for owners of seized properties to be fairly compensated.
Thattidbit was spotted by the invaluable Gretchen Schuldt and RobertTrimmier at Citizens Allied for Sane Highways (CASH) as they combed theDOT’s budget requests. Right now, the state will cover all of theattorney’s fees for homeowners who successfully contest the amount theDOT offersif they show that the DOT offered less than 85% of themarket value of the homewhen it seizes a property for a transportationproject. But the CASH duo discovered that DOT wants to limit thatamount. Schuldt and Trimmier argue that the change will encourage theDOT to give low-ball offers to homeowners, then make it difficult ifnot impossible to recover attorney’s fees when they contest the offerin court.
“Instead of dumping costs on the property ownerswhen a court catches WisDOT screwing up or ripping them off, WisDOTshould just do its job better and make fair purchase offers in thefirst place,” Schuldt said in a statement.
Jerk of the Week: State Sen. Glenn Grothman
Republicanstate Sen. Glenn Grothman of West Bend easily wins the Jerk of the Weekhonor. On Monday Grothman sent out a press release that any Economics101 student would understand is essentially asking for a severerecession and possibly a depression: Grothman does not want Wisconsinto get federal monies through the proposed stimulus package. You don’tneed a Ph.D. in economics to understand what we all learned from theGreat Depression in the 1930s. When the economy is slowing down, andprivate investment and consumption are not sufficient to prevent thisslowdown, the government needs to spend in order to avoid a seriousdownturn. But Sen. Grothman has a different view of simple economics,as evidenced by his latest diatribe against the proposed federalstimulus package, including the plan to channel monies through stategovernments so the aid can get into the economy quickly andeffectively. This would avoid much administrative waste. But Grothmangoes on and even attacks President Bush for being “irresponsible” fortrying to keep the economy from going into a free-fall. WhenGrothman declares Bush to be too liberal and forward thinking to suithis extreme ideology, we know we have found the Jerk of the Week. Wecan only assume that he has Herbert Hoover pictures adorning the wallsin his Capitol office.
Heroes of the Week: The Great Lakes’ Protectors
Oneof the biggest legislative achievements last year was the passage ofthe Great Lakes Water Compact, which has been in the works for years.Although the process was tedious at times, it was never boring.Remember when it almost blew up at the 11th hour because conservativelegislators in Wisconsin and Ohio wanted to redo the entire thing? But cooler heads prevailed, and Wisconsin is now among the eight states and two Canadian provinces that have pledged to use this precious resource wisely. Thelegislative effort was helped along by overwhelming grassroots support,from individuals calling their representatives to environmentalorganizations that made the compact their mission.
