Scaffidi is trying to develop the heck out of every vacant piece of land in O.C. but never says what is in the works. The suspense! Maybe he could build his beloved Meijer store there instead of the town center..........................

I remember clearly Dick Bolendar attending the public meeting at the library, in full support of the project counter to the expressed concern and disagreement of the residents. He lied to us telling us the project wasn't going to cost us one thin dime. This was about the time Betty Koplin, first district alderwoman stopped going to the meetings leaving Dimity Grabowski in charge as the council did not move to replace her until forced by resident complaint. Why is Scaffidi acting like a real estate developer? Because the city is a business not a public governmental entity. No one wants to develop in OC. Developers are sick of jumping thru hoops to get their projects approved. Project after project is failing or going elsewhere. Tax payers beware. The MIL rate increased this year. Most properties had lower tax bills because the properties decreased in value. Massive planned spending on a revolving debt plan is in process. The cupboards are bare. Were privatizing services which means each year we will see higher costs for the services and then you will pay for garbage pick up. You may want to ask what do you get for your tax dollar for living in the city of OC?

Part of the reason I am running for Alderman for the 1st District is the almost 100% "yes" voting record of the current Alderman. What has he done for this defunct project to get the property developed? When I was circulating my nomination petitions this project and the lack of communication from the current Alderman (most noticeably the comment "I don't even know who my Alderman is") came up a lot.

Someone needs to be able to stand up and vote "no" on items if they won't work well for the entire citizens of Oak Creek. I will not be a rubber stamp "yes" vote. I will ask questions that need to be asked, and if it deserves a "no" vote I won't be afraid to say "no".

Drexel Town Center, WisPark, Lakefront Development, moving the fire station, city hall, library...land swaps, future this, future that...a ton of questions that should have been asked but were not.

Questions that are not too late to still ask. Regular updates and communication from me will happen - not just at election time.

In Dan's defense Steven, it's not the alderman's fault that the resident's don't know who their alderman is. Thats the norm across OC. The resident's are deadbeats they don't know the issues because they aren't interested and don't vote.
I'm not so sure I agree with your writing that it's not too late to ask questions and change direction. The Wis Park Developmental Contracts are now the driving force. Wis Park is driving the bus. Under Bolendar, city government went south. About the only one that really understand what happened, where were at and what we might be able to do in the courts would be Larry Haskins. Give him a call for answers but shape your questions carefully before you call. Go pull the contracts from the CLerk's office and match them with finance.

The biggest fallacy in many of these posts is that development is something we should fear. Given the state has imposed levy limits on muncipalities, there are only two ways you can balance your budget, increase your tax base (bringing new business into the city) or by reducing services.

Reading the many comments on the Patch, the citizens aren't interested in reducing their level of services, which include snow plowing, garbage pickup, fire and police protection, etc. The City hasn't added Fire or Police officers in many years, and the facts of last year's budget is the city spent less than it did the previous year, and did so with fewer employees. That's sound budgeting.

This argument that the electeds are just interested in developing every available piece of land is nonsense. They've proposed adding a new city park along the lakefront, if they were just interested in development, why would they support that effort?

Lastly, if you ignore the conspiracy theorists (one in particular) there are a significant number of new businesses that have recently located here. I can think of three on Howell Avenue alone, and recent press reports in the Biztimes and Business Journal have done extensivie stories on developers who ARE interested in coming to Oak Creek.

There are a few characters in this city who oppose any change, and support the status quo, which cities like Brookfield and many other communities around us will tell you, is a recipe for disaster.

Okay, it's not all Dan's fault...but there is fault there. It is a two-way street even if the citizens don't ask. But I want to change that, and if a citizen chooses not to pay attention, it won't be for lack of trying on my part. I would not say all the citizens are "deadbeats", that's an unfair general characterization of everyone who lives in Oak Creek. I would like to believe that many don't pay attention or don't vote because of a lot of reasons, some good, some bad. All I can do is provide them with the opportunity and go from there. Give them a reason to get involved, give them a feeling that going out to vote is important...especially at the local government level.
People get involved with their churches, schools, youth sports, civic organizations because they see a need, or have the desire to make things better. You just never know what infoming the public will lead to.
I'm not saying that it's too late to make changes. I just believe that had some questions been asked earlier, perhaps the Drexel Town Center project would not be as controversial as it is becoming. I had a very interesting discussion the other day with someone who possesses a wealth of knowledge about Oak Creek politics. And I might very well be the only "no" vote on some issues, but if what I've read and what I've been told is true, questions need to be asked and answers need to be given. I won't be argumentative, not a hinderance, just inquisitive.

No one is againest developng the city but it seems that the big dog on the block is wi-pack and I will give you 2 guess who is after the post office land and pushing the city to ger control of the land
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Look around who controls all the big empty fields in O.C, wi-pack who controls O.C. Wi-Pack the city fathers jump thru hoops and pass,s out sweet heart deals for them .

Discussion is good!

Steve it would be refreashing to have somebody on the common council that thinks and can say no . AND CAN ASK THE TOUGH QUESTIONS We are lacking in alderperson with spines to stand up to the special interest lobby that contols O.C.