storyhill.net, Nov. 13, 2006

Committee deals blow to proposal for ticket-writing aldermen

Nov. 13 -- A proposal proposal to seek ticket-writing power for aldermen sputtered last week when a Common Council committee recommended that the matter be placed on file.

Ald. Michael McGee said giving aldermen the power to enforce city ordinances could allow better service to constituents. He emphasized he was not asking for seeking aldermanic authority to arrest people.

."We get a lot of calls from our constituents – they expect us not necessarily to have police powers, but to address drug houses, to address some of the serious public safety issues, but even some of the smaller nuances of public safety," he said. "For instances, if you go into a store and you see one of the store owners selling single cigarettes, for instance, to a juvenile, we have to go through the arduous task of calling the Police Department, and then they would have to have factual evidence...We are sworn public officials, we have seen it with our eyes."

Ald. Michael Murphy, though, opposed the idea. “I think there’s too much opportunity for abuse,” he said before the 4-1 vote. . “The potential exists where we become maybe more vigilant for certain people versus others.”

McGee's proposal calls for the introduction of state legislation that would allow Milwaukee to grant to aldermen the right to enforce certain, unspecified ordinances.

Ald. Ashanti Hamilton supported the proposal. Constituents often contact aldermen instead of police, he said.

"It can be situations like block parties, it can be just kids hanging out in the street," Hamilton said. "To actually be able to respond to certain situations and actually get things done without overpowering the police and without overwhelming them – a lot of it is not public safety issues, it’s quality of life issues."

Ald. Michael D'Amato said he is sometimes frustrated by the way people behave and treat their neighborhoods.

“It would be tempting to have this power and issue these citations,” he said. He added, though, that “We almost protect ourselves from ourselves” by having others write the tickets.

Aldermen have opponents and constituents who support other candidates, he said.

“Even the best of us look at things biasedly, given the game that we’re in,” he said.

Civil service employees who often write up ordinance violations do not face those pressures, he said.