Photo credit: State Representative Evan Goyke's Facebook page
“No offense to you, Mr. Goyke, but big city democrats [sic] can stay as far away from us as possible. We would certainly not consider having you speak at our Rotary club.” This was the response I received from a Wisconsin Rotary Club president in Medford, Wis., back in 2014 in response to my request to speak to his Rotary chapter about a publication I was writing to highlight Milwaukee and engage communities in a discussion about our city.
Far too many Wisconsinites see Milwaukee as a drain on the state. The argument goes that Milwaukee takes more than it gives. These attitudes—regarding education funding, anti-poverty programming, crime and prison costs—have been fueled by attacking press releases and op-eds from Republican legislators. Conservative talk radio has never missed the opportunity to slight Milwaukee’s leaders and cast blame on Milwaukee for anything and everything bad that happens.
We know these attitudes exist, and we know they’re wrong. Changing someone’s mindset is a major challenge. In 2016, I set out from Milwaukee intent on dispelling decades-old myths about the city; this is a review of my attempt to cross the Milwaukee divide and a preview of my follow-up effort currently underway.
There’s an old saying in Wisconsin politics that there are “Millions for Milwaukee, pennies for Polk.” This was first used by a Democrat and has since been invoked by legislators on both sides of the aisle. The idea is not far from the core of Professor Katherine Cramer’s important work, The Politics of Resentment.
I was inspired to write and published a booklet about Milwaukee that I entitled Moving Milwaukee Forward. (It is available digitally on my legislative website.) The piece was once called a “chamber of commerce puff piece” by a former Republican colleague—a backhanded compliment, I think. My intent was to tell the whole truth about Milwaukee, beyond negative headlines that have inaccurately defined us for too long.
With Moving Milwaukee Forward in hand, I set out to engage communities around the state. I met with local elected officials, community leaders and basically anyone that would listen in about a dozen communities around the state. I would walk the audience through the content in the booklet and then hold a discussion about Milwaukee. It became clear to me that many people are paying attention to Milwaukee. For example, when I’d highlight the redevelopment of the Menomonee Valley, heads would nod. Several community leaders have seen what we did and are trying to replicate our success. Nearly every town I visited had a similar industrial area in need of redevelopment.
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Everywhere I went, leaders were trying to retain young workers. Milwaukee’s success in transforming its Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods is being replicated elsewhere around the state. Communities also face unacceptable segregation and areas of increasing poverty and crime. Strategies in Milwaukee that focus on neighborhood-based crime reduction and engage local corporate or philanthropic anchor institutions to revitalize neighborhoods are also being replicated around the state. At the end of my effort, it was clear that I learned as much or more than I offered. I believe I made an impact and certainly know I was impacted for the positive. I saw that leaving Milwaukee to proactively engage communities has great value.
There was an era when Milwaukee Democrats led the state’s political agenda. Legislative leadership, the Joint Committee on Finance and other powerful committees all included or were chaired by Milwaukee legislators. Gerrymandering has reduced the number of our legislative seats for now, but cannot remove our power, our ideas and our leadership. Reclaiming our political power must include confronting and combating inaccurate and outdated images of our community. Milwaukee needs to reach beyond our borders and state our influence and our power. We need to go declare our value to Wisconsin.
Next week, I will publish my second booklet about Milwaukee. I will again engage leaders in communities around the state. The effort will build on the successes and failures of my 2016 effort. One major difference will be in my tone and delivery; I won’t be so timid this year. I am proudly a big city Democrat. That’s who I am, that’s who I represent, and Wisconsin is lucky to have us.
It’s time that Milwaukee regains political power in Wisconsin. To do so, I will move forward in three important ways:
Educate. My new publication gives in-depth information and statistics about Milwaukee’s value to Wisconsin.
Advocate. My new publication puts forward big ideas—new and innovative policies to move our city and region forward.
Legislate. Good ideas only count if they become law.
As I again hit the road to talk about Milwaukee, I take no offense. I am a proud, big city Democrat.
Rep. Evan Goyke is currently serving his third term in the State Assembly representing the 18th Assembly District on Milwaukee’s north and west sides. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Goyke served as a trial attorney in the Office of the Wisconsin State Public Defender in Milwaukee, where he provided legal representation to indigent defendants in a large range of criminal cases. He is a 2009 graduate of Marquette University Law School.
