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ACLU
favors SEWRPC review.
County
review
of SEWRPC relationship urged. |
County
Board approves SEWRPC study
Dec.
18, 2006 -- The County Board voted last week
to establish a committee to study the county's relationship
with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.
The
vote was 15-4.
The
committee will examine both technical and political
issues, according to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.
SEWRPC
study committee advances
All options on the table, sponsor
says
Dec.
11, 2006 -- The county's relationship
with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
would get special scrutiny, under a resolution endorsed
last week by a County Board committee.
The
Parks Committee vote was 7-0.
"We
give them $830,000 a year in funding," said County
Supervisor John Weishan, the primary sponsor of the
measure. "What do we actually get for that funding?"
Weishan
SEWRPC
is the agency that recommended a major freeway expansion
plan that would place most of the burden of tax base
loss and environmental damage on Milwaukee and MIlwaukee
County. SEWRPC currently is conducting a study on regional
water supply issues some fear wil result in new efforts
to pump Great Lakes water across the subcontinental
divide.
County
Supervisor Lynne DeBruin, a co-sponsor of the resolution,
said a big concern for her is the county's representation
on SEWRPC compared to its funding obligation.
Each
of the seven SEWRPC counties has three votes on SEWRPC,
but Milwaukee County provides
by far the most funding for the agency.
SEWRPC
also often short-changed environmental justice considerations
when consideration of community impacts should be built
into SEWRPC's daily activities, she said
.
DeBruin
The
proposed committee would include a representative of
the American Civil Liberties Union to specifically address
those concerns. It also would include representatives
from the Parks Department, the Department of Transportation
and Public Works, the Department of Administrative Services,
the Corporation Counsel, County Board staff, and two
other members to be appointed by County Board Chairman
Lee Holloway.
Weishan
said the Pewaukee-based planning agency has "more
of a 1970s, 1980s view of land use." Ideas about
urban environments have changed, he said.
"When
you look at their urban, exurban planning, I don't know
if it meshes very well," Weishan said. SEWRPC is
"not quite up to the 21st century cutting edge
thinking."
Weishan
said all options -- from having the county take over
some services SEWRPC now provides to withdrawing from
the agency -- are on the table.
The
ultimate goal, Weishan said, is to get "the best
performance and best return on the dollar for Milwaukee
County and all of us who live here."
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ACLU
endorses county review of SEWRPC relationship
Sept.
25, 2006 -- An ACLU attorney, arguing that
Milwaukee County is underrepresented on the Southeastern
Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, said the county
should re-examine its relationship with the planning
agency.
"We
talk about 'one person, one vote,' and Milwaukee County
clearly does not have that vote," attorney Karyn
Rotker told the County Board's Parks Committee.
Rotker
is ACLU-Wisconsin's poverty, race and civil liberties
staff attorney.
The
Parks Committee was considering a resolution offered
by Supervisor John Weishan that would establish a committee
to review county-SEWRPC relations.
Each
of the seven counties that belong to SEWRPC have three
votes on the commission, even though Milwaukee County
has the largest population. Milwaukee County is scheduled
to contribute $834,360 to SEWRPC next year, by far the
most among the seven counties.
As
of the 2000 census, Rotker said, Milwaukee County had
75% of the region's poor people, 75% of its total minorities,
and 85% of the region's African-Americans.
"Not
only are we getting a far smaller voice, but low income
communities and communities of color...who are overwhelmingly
concentrated in Milwaukee County, are being disadvantaged.
This is not a new problem. This has been a problem for
decades," she said.
Supervisor
Gerry Broderick said he had suggested that SEWRPC open
a satellite office in Milwaukee County, as the DNR did
when it opened an office on King Dr.
“This
whole issue of having to access information in Pewaukee
is a little daunting for folks that might otherwise
be interacting with that agency,” Broderick said.
SEWRPC's
headquarters is in Pewaukee and is inaccessible by public
transit.
Gretchen
Schuldt, co-chair of Citizens Allied for Sane Highways,
also asked that a SEWRPC review committee be established,
and asked that more members of the general public be
included. Weishan's original resolution called for most
committee members to be members of County Executive
Scott Walker's administration.
"It
is frustrating enough that members of the public are
not allowed to address SEWRPC or its committees,"
Schuldt said. "Those same members of the public
should have something to say about whether their tax
dollars should be spent on an agency that won’t
take the time to listen to them in person."*
County
Supervisor Lynne DeBruin, chairman of the committee,
said Weishan already had asked that the matter be held,
partly to reconfigure membership of the proposed committee.
The
matter will be considered at the Parks Committee's next
meeting, scheduled for Oct. 24.
*Full
disclosure: Schuldt is storyhill.net editor.
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County
review of SEWRPC relationship urged
Sept.
18, 2006 -- A special committee would be established
to review the county's relationship with the Southeastern
Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to determine
whether the county should stop funding the agency, under
a resolution to be considered Tuesday.
The
county is supposed to kick in $834,360 to fund SEWRPC
next year, tops among the seven member counties. The
Milwaukee contribution is 25% more than the $669,060
that Waukesha County -- the next largest contributor
-- is supposed to kick in.
All
seven member counties get three votes on the commission,
even though their populations and financial contributions
differ signifcantly.
SEWRPC
is the planning body that recommended massive freeway
expansion projects that would have most negative impacts
on Milwaukee; it also has been accused of gross conflicts
of interest in its freeway
and water
diversion studies.
The
other member counties and their contributions include:
