Regional News, Out-of-Hat Commentary

Let's start with today's news that early favorite Jenifer Finley will not run for her husband's seat as Waukesha County Executive. (McBride, of course, is on top of it.) Sounds like Vrakis is probably in.

I do not live in Waukesha County, and have not been following the race over there. But I do have an interest in how things turn out, since we are quite possibly on the cusp of a new regional cooperation battle.

The first Finley, Dan, stirred up quite the hornet's nest when he suggested, in his new capacity as PresidentandCEO of the Milwaukee Public Museum, that it may be time for a new "cultural district" in Southeastern Wisconsin. When I heard that, I thought, Hm. A cultural district might be a good way to economize and share audiences, kind of a UPAF on steroids. Anti-tax knee-jerks heard NEW TAXES.

At any rate, the local rag says, No, not necessarily:

Finley said he wasn't talking about a new tax, adding that "it's way too early to know how" the district would look. He noted that the idea goes back to a 1996 regional task force, led by Milwaukee County Supervisor Dan Diliberti. It recommended coordinating recreation and culture in five counties, including sharing some services to reduce costs. The task force made no mention of a tax or other regional financing.

Unfortunately, Finley's critics erroneously linked that task force to another Diliberti-led task force in 2003 that looked at culture, parks and recreation in Milwaukee County, suggesting that instead of paying for them with the property tax, the county levy a dedicated sales tax. [See, for example, Charlie Sykes.] To make sure county residents didn't end up paying twice for those services, the task force wisely recommended the state require the county to permanently reduce its property tax levy by the amount of taxes previously spent on parks and culture. The task force did suggest the Legislature create a task force to "develop a recommended funding mechanism" for cultural facilities that draw a majority of their visitors from outside the counties in which they're located but was no more specific.

I got to thinking about inter-county cooperation when I learned of another cooperative venture that seems to be moving ahead without a hitch: Chicago's Metra Line is finally getting into Milwaukee. This is good news for commuters, and is another example how regional authories can work together to make things happen that benefit, you know, the people.

Now, I know that the regional public doesn't always care about "culture." Some of the regional public is even ready to write off Milwaukee, culture and all:

For many of us, the city is something that we have to go around on our way to Chicago. There’s nothing really special about Milwaukee that can’t be found elsewhere. Sure, the art museum is cool, but there are other art museums. The beach is nice to look at, but I wouldn’t want to swim there. The restaurants there aren’t anything special. The universities there are okay, but nothing about them makes them better than any other university. The sports teams are nothing to write home about. The stadium is cool, but it’s either an enclosed stadium or an open stadium, not the cool convertible stadium we were promised. There are theaters and performing arts centers, but nothing that can’t be found in other smaller cities in the state.

I doubt that adding a half a percent to Wendy's sales tax is going to make her feel any more invested in the Milwaukee Ballet or those cute little Irish dancers. But what a cultural district might do--tax or no tax--is boost the ability of those miscellaneous dancers to do their whatnot at more reasonable ticket prices in front of wider audiences.

Dan Finley seemed to undestand that whole thing about regional cooperation, the kind of can-do attitude that make the trains run (we'll wait and see about on time). Anyone who even has to ask if Milwaukee is worth it--or who can't see a forest for the imagined taxes--doesn't.