Photo credit: Milwaukee County Parks
Milwaukee’s cool and inviting lakefront is one place within our highly segregated region where all citizens freely gather, especially on the warmest days. Fortunately, our county’s exceptional network of waterfront public parks was developed to serve everyone.
Far-sighted parks founders and planners intentionally filled in our Lake Michigan shoreline and created Lincoln Memorial Drive to increase recreational opportunities. In doing so, they also protected homes and businesses built on the lake-view bluffs from erosion. All this enhanced our city by making its most valuable and appealing natural resource available to every local citizen and visitor. This great opportunity for Milwaukee County residents was accomplished in part through tax dollars hard at work.
Now Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is proposing a wrong-headed program of widespread and pricey paid parking on the lakefront and in many parks and parkways. This is an outrageous departure from the original purpose and mission of Milwaukee County Parks—and we live in a county that has inadequate public transit to its parks.
Scheming to make people pay to park in county parks is a glaring social justice and civil rights issue. Instituting paid parking in Milwaukee County Parks, with touted base rates of $2-3.50 per hour, would be a step backward in citizens’ quality of life. Here’s why.
Parks have long been free and open space; essentially, they’ve been like everyone’s “backyard,”—perfect for family outings and public forums. Instead, perversely attempting to exploit parks as “revenue streams” will cast a pall over them and certainly reduce their use. Feeding of meters, onerous fines and ticket enforcement will mean more hassle and hardship for everyone. It will be a shameful day when people are priced out of their own public parks—especially considering the fact that we’re already paying entry fees for many park amenities: golf, swimming, the Mitchell Park Domes, botanical displays and more.
Abele Blithely Ignores Reality
Abele’s administration seems oblivious to the imposition that paid parking in parks will place on people of limited means. A day at the beach might soon cost $15—or way more if you get a parking ticket. Misleading platitudes by Abele that paid parking will encourage people to walk, bicycle or take the bus to enjoy a park blithely ignore the realities of the distance many residents live from the lakefront and other major parks. (Is Abele telling us to walk more, or does he really want to get more of our money?)
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Furthermore, not all citizens are able to walk or bicycle great distances, or up and down steep bluffs. Worse, only a minor portion of money collected in a privatized parking operation would go to the Parks Department. Where is the public good in this scheme in which citizens will be gouged for mostly private gain?
In another assault on environmental justice, county administrators have announced plans to close the swimming pool in Lincoln Park. This facility is the only deep-well pool located in the city’s North Side neighborhood; all the other pools in this part of Milwaukee have already been closed. It’s worth noting that this pool serves many African Americans. In short, officials are trying to balance the county’s parks budget on the backs of those who most rely on these much-needed facilities. Parking and other rising user fees are simply regressive “taxes.”
Milwaukee County’s shrinking share of state revenue is cited as the reason why citizens are to pay ever-greater fees to use their own city’s parks. In fact, Abele’s commitment of $4 million a year for 20 years of taxpayer money for a new, privately controlled arena for the Milwaukee Bucks has caused a drain in his revenue stream, and now we are stuck with that bad deal. We have no other worthwhile choice but to continue to rely on the property tax levy to fund our parks.
As president of Milwaukee’s Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), I urge Milwaukee County officials to abandon this ill-conceived—and unjust—paid parking plan. Let’s reaffirm our long-standing commitment to providing free and open public parks for all to enjoy.
