A 24/7 Connected Society
Before COVID-19 Milwaukee had burgeoning 24/7 Restaurant, Café and Retail scene. I believe the crime wave we are seeing now is a direct result of our streets becoming vacant at night due to the lack of open businesses - an issue particularly facing District 4. It is imperative that the City of Milwaukee incentivize businesses to remain open to provide services to both Milwaukeeans and Visitors alike. A visceral late night economy would be a boost to employment, tourism and safety.
I propose halving the 2% City Sales Tax on all non-alcohol sales made between Midnight and 6AM. Additionally, the concept of Bar Time and Retail Alcohol sales hours is an antiquated concept designed around a 9-5 culture that is largely becoming extinct. I propose eliminating Bar Time and enacting a 5% additional sales tax on all alcohol sales, for onsite consumption, between 2:30 and 6:00AM.
Retail alcohol sales are regulated by the State and I encourage Wisconsin Law Makers to abolish the 9PM-6AM curfew on purchases for off-premises consumption of Alcohol. I would then propose Milwaukee City adds a 5% additional sales tax on all retail alcohol purchased between those hours that were under the curfew.
As mobile devices have become ubiquitous so have issues surrounding their charging. I propose relocating $250,000 from the ~$33M budget for Libraries to install 150 Secure Outdoor Mobile Device Charging stations, such as https://honestwaves.com/product/outdoor-charging-locker/, in high traffic areas to enable patrons to securely charge their mobile devices enabling our populous to stay connected with their family, friends and public services.
As an additional source of revenue I propose a $50/month license for all ride-share drivers in the City of Milwaukee - with a mandatory $250 one-time two-hour training program on Milwaukee traffic laws and an overview of our traffic topology and patterns. There are an estimated 5,000 rideshare drivers in Milwaukee thus generating $2.5M-$3M a year in revenue which I propose is rolled into a matching grant, for the ~47,000 low income households (under $25k/year), Spectrum's City Wide WiFi, which currently runs $30/month, network - and we would be able to negotiate down or choose another provider. Assuming $20/month/household the $10/month matching grant would equate to $5.7M/year leaving a $2.2-$1.7M/year short fall that would be met from the late-night-bar tax proposed above.
Additionally the lack of public pools in City of Milwaukee is disheartening - as an avid swimmer I would investigate building and staffing both indoor and outdoor aquatic facilities. Encouraging local gyms - through property-tax incentives - to offer 24/7 facilities to their members is also high on my priority list.
Furthermore, the lack of public city restrooms is a problem, and not just amongst the homeless. I propose investigation in the development and placement of high-tech porta-potties in Milwaukee parks - particularly in the 4th District - that alert park security if they are occupied for an extended period of time. Perhaps long term offering property tax-breaks on 24/7 Public Bath Houses that allow the public to use the restroom but can require a membership/per-use fee for showers.
Lastly, Transportation: I will be making Transportation one of the corner-stones of my campaign and I believe the City of Milwaukee should directly pay into Milwaukee County Transit System in exchange for enhanced services such as scheduling and additional premium lines such as Connect. Specifically a Connect style route that runs from Greenfield and 1st/2nd up through Water and down Brady via Farewell and Prospect. With a 24/7 economy existing Milwaukee revenue sources will increase dramatically offering a significant avenue of funding our transportation infrastructure.
