As readers of this blog know, I have written "ad nauseam"  :-)  about the lack of consideration for small business parking in areas where there is No Construction Work being done, but No Parking signs are left posted --- and tickets are written for patrons of businesses and residents who might have "logically" thought if there is No Work going on, parking for a few minutes should be ok --- Wrong !!

 

Contacting the Officials that Be had not been very productive, as the finger pointing (Construction Crews, DPW, Administration, Police, BID) invariably followed a circular pattern, 

 

I am happy to report that Guy Johnson, the Shorewood Village President, as he promised,  has taken an interest in this situation and is reviewing it with the Village Administration and DPW.

 

Will there be an immediate change to the current practices ? 

 

I don't know ---- but I am encouraged the process is being reviewed ---- and that the plight of the hapless small business owners is now a consideration.

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT BELOW.
 

 Frequent readers of my blog --- both of you :-) --- may recall that last fall when the Village was starting the Streetscape project, they had NO PARKING signs all along Oakland Avenue --- for days at a time when NO WORK was being done.

 

This week --- AGAIN --- on the 4400 block of North Oakland, which is heavily concentrated with small businesses that rely on walk in traffic --- the street has been marked NO PARKING all week although there has been NO WORK done.

 

Obviously, when they are working in the area, the construction crews need to have the street cleared of parked cars.  

 

But when they are not working in a retail area --- even if it is for one day only !!!! --- why can't they take the signs down or cover them.

 

Again --- let me ask of the  Village Government --- the Village Board Members --- the Administration ........... do ANY OF YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT THE SMALL BUSINESSES IN SHOREWOOD ????

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK ?  PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW ! 

Just about 10 years ago the merchants on North Oakland had to endure a disastarous summer of (non) business as Shorewood tore up the street and sidewalks and made North Oakland the "Jewel of Shorewood" !!

Now Shorewood is at it again (obviously they didn't get it right 10 years ago) as the street is a two lane mess, sidewalks and crosswalks are torn up --- and the business owners are Hurting .....

But according to recent comments from the Shorewood BID reported in Shorewoodnow.com  ---

"We are turning what could be somewhat of an inconvenience into an exciting way to attract customers and keep them coming back for the quality products and personal service that Shorewood is known for," BID member Barb Caprile said."

Barb --- you just Don't Get It !!!  It is NOT an "inconvenience" for the merchants on North Oakland --- it is a Financial Disaster. 

Talk to the guys at Mautz Paint -- this should be one of their busiest times -- and their business is way down.  If you don't have GPS with the optional topographical map feature --- trying to patronize the Wick Family's store is all but impossible. 

And just in case the project moves along too quickly --- according to the Village Website, construction will be suspended for most of the month of July to accomodate the 4th of July parade and the Criterium Bicycle Race.

Hmmmmm --- did the BID ever think of re-routing the Bike race so that the Oakland merchants can get back to business as soon as possible ?  As I noted in my blog last year, the Bike Race actually Hurts the Majority of the Businesses on Oakland -- yet the BID keeps it going, and against all evidence otherwise, the BID claims they do it for the Businesses !!!

Why not relocate it to another business area in Shorewood and let them enjoy all the boost to business the Bike Race brings -- NOT !

And since the 4th of July parade is Mobile by Nature --- how about a different route so work can continue on the Oakland Construction. 

I think most of my business neighbors would agree we with me when I say --- Let's Get the Damn Thing Done and Give Us Back our Customers ----  Please !!

 WHAT DO YOU THINK ?  YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW !

 

According to property tax information available on the internet, the property at 3907-09 N Sherburn, which is one of the parcels for the Sunrise Development that the Village Board is planning on funding for $800,000 plus has changed dramatically for 2007.

The past assessments for the Sherburn property had a separate assessment for the land and a separate assessment for the improvements (buildings) which is the normal breakdown, and is the way that the property at 1111 E Capitol (Riverbrook Restaurant) is assessed.

Following are the assessments for the Sherburn property for the past few years, applying the applicable State Equalizers:

Sherburn                                      Land                           Improvements                    Total

2004                                           474,000                        1,627,240                         2,101,240

2005                                           507,900                         2,250,282                        2,758,182

2006                                           530,425                         2,350,081                        2,880,506

2007                                          2,282,447                       00000000                         2,282,447

                      This is a drop in the assessment of $598,059  which equals a 21% drop in value !!

                      (note: the 1111 E Capitol Dr property had a decrease in its assessment of about 4%)

• Is this the only property in Shorewood that has dropped in value by 21% ?
• Why is the assessment no longer broken down into its parts ?
• What implications does this have for the proposed Sunrise Development ?
•  Inquiring Minds Want to Know !!

                                     Do you Know ?            Do you have any Comments ?

  

  You Paid for It: A Shining Shorewood

 For some thoughts on issues other than Shorewood, visit my other blog at

http://nonconventionalwisdomperspectives.blogspot.com/

Two nights ago, on the 18th, the Shorewood DPW committed a large crew during the night to do a snow removal operation in the Business District.

Hooray !!!!!

On my block (4400 N Oakland)  and south, they did a great job.  Shoppers can actually get from their cars to the shops now.  

However -- (you knew there was going to be a however) -- the Merchants on Capitol Drive have nothing to cheer about.  As of this afternoon, their stores and the street are still separated by mounds of ice and snow.  

I wonder if anyone on the Shorewood Board of Trustees has ever had any retail experience (other than shopping).  If they ever depended upon retail sales for their livelihood, they would know that this week -- the week before Christmas -- can be a make or break event for many of the merchants.

With the high rate of property taxes that are paid for commercial property in Shorewood --- in addition to the BID tax that commercial property owners pay --- it is outrageous that these merchants are not taken better care of by the Village.

Note to Village Trustees:  Forget about bicycle races, and forget about artist displays by outside vendors at the high school, and forget about spending Tens of Thousands of Dollars Advertising how Friendly Shorewood is to Pedestrians and how Upscale the stores are for Shoppers --- try spending the money on clearing the snow banks so the merchants can make a little money and keep their businesses open.

In today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was a proposed Light Rail plan by Michael  Cudahy. 

I won't repeat his reasoning for Light Rail here.  If you are interested and don't have today's paper, you can look it up online at http://www.jsonline.com/

The initial line he proposes, in part, comes from downtown up Farwell and Prospect (one way on each), joining up on Oakland Avenue, to terminate at the Shorewood / Milwaukee boundary line.

Now let's imagine that the line would continue up Oakland Avenue, through Shorewood to Hampton, then west Santa Monica, north to Silver Spring, and then west on Silver Spring to Bayshore.

Since we are going to tear up Oakland Avenue anyway, wouldn't this be the ideal time to explore the Light Rail option ?

If the plan goes ahead as Michael Cudahy proposes, and the heavy infrastructure costs are covered by the Federal Money that he has identified, perhaps Shorewood can participate at not much more of a cost than including the rails in the Oakland Makeover. 

I would be willing to bet that  Mr. Cudahy and Mayor Barrett, would be very interested in working with Shorewood --- and perhaps our neighbors in Whitefish Bay and Glendale.

For Whitefish Bay and Shorewood, Light Rail would help their shopping districts compete with Bayshore ---  even as folks  ride the rail to Bayshore, they will have the opportunity to shop Shorewood and Bay's more boutique offerings along the way. 

For Glendale, it would make Bayshore a more viable destination for shoppers from the East Side and Downtown.

If we are serious about increasing Shorewood's residential appeal, and building up our retail markets, I believe Light Rail will do much more than our current plans for new street lights and garbage cans along Oakland and Capitol ---- or  artificial turf  and a second dome at the high school.

 

 

 

 

Dear Dave,

I have to wonder, whose idea was the bike race in the first place, that the businesses went for it? Theirs, or the board's? It seems to me that either you want a unique event or an event that could tie it into something uniquely Shorewood...

"We're the place where everyone walks and bikes, where people bike to pick up groceries or to drop their kids off at school, and that's why we have bike races so come on down by bike, bus, or foot and enjoy it with us" or some such.

But it seems that for all the money they spent on a PR firm the public has no clear sense of what Shorewood is uniquely--hence we see this rush by some to make us yet another suburb with an overly pricey piece of uninspired infrastructure (D2D).

There was an article in the NY Times on this trend toward fancy stadiums and how many communities have experienced a lot of anger and resentment over them--does anyone bother to google or search the Times to do a little research to see if any other communities were in a similar boat and what we can learn from them?

Did anyone talk to the other criterium communities to see what their experience was before committing to the event to ensure that the expectations were realistic? Or is the standard procedure to just say "Hey, sounds great," invest the money, and potentially discover it was a costly mistake after the fact?

I wonder, too, does anyone in the government here take a look at what this Village has to offer that no other place in SE Wisconsin does, and figure out how to capitalize on it?

Walkable Shorewood is a great idea...walkability is a major reason I moved here. But where are all the many events that draw people to walk? I love this new garden walk--maybe just as Milwaukee is the city of festivals we could be the village of walks.

We could promote ourselves as a place where creative and eclectic people go when they grow up... a place where art, music, and drama thrive . . . there are so many possibilities for capitalizing on what we are but sometimes it seems that Shorewood's self-perception is rooted in low self-esteem.

There's so much that could be done PR wise here, and I'm not even a PR person, just a writer who has seen creative and aggressive PR campaigns and lazy and uninspired ones.

I feel like there's NO press effort whatsoever... I'm a media junkie. Why am I not hearing about how exciting, progressive, and innovative Shorewood is when I peruse local media?

What's that PR firm doing for our tax dollars? Where's the branding, and if it exists, why is no one using it?

I suspect the research you just did on the bike race is not at all the norm here. Maybe it is the norm and and it's just hidden from sight because the people in power here don't value clear communication or input from the community?

It's weird to me, because the people I know and have met here are wonderfully smart, creative, and communicative, full of clever ideas and eager to participate in spirited dialogue.

Anonymous

Email me your comments

READER COMMENT #1

Nakape@aol.com wrote:
Wow, Dave...if only such research were done whenever Shorewood was considering investing time, money, and energy in a major project instead of assuming that no plans must ever change or be altered once they spring forth (D2D anyone?). Clearly, a few hours (more?) of your time elicited some worthwhile information to consider.

That said, my take on this is that to a certain extent, businesses should be prepared to spend money on promoting themselves, and one way to do that is to be willing to lose business in order to create goodwill and draw attention to a business district. My husband is an antiques dealer who has done particular antique shows and lost money if you weigh his sales against his time and expenses but he'll declare the day a success if he handed out cards and made friends--it's this attitude that has kept his business going since 1962 in one form or another. When he had a shop on First Ave. in NYC, he opened it for the NYC Marathon Sunday each year even though he rarely made money that day and normally wasn't open on Sundays. He'd open the doors, have refreshments available, give directions to any tourists wandering in (and direct them to the great eateries on First Ave.), and cheer on the runners. His purpose was to draw attention to his shop, to what an exciting and friendly place First Avenue is and to continue to build his connections to his neighboring business owners. He says that if he had a shop in Shorewood, he'd capitalize on the event by having a special bike race sale, discount, feature, or promotion ("bike burgers! Race Day Special!" or "15% off everything in stock to anyone who comes here by bike or foot instead of by car!")--he'd find a clever and fun way to tie in to the event. Sure, there's overtime for the police but there is for any big neighborhood event, isn't there?

Ultimately, I think it's up to the businesses in Shorewood to decide whether this particular event has more positives than negatives for them overall, and to weigh how best to help boost the district's profile, traffic, and business. I also suspect that for each car-addicted grouch who declares he won't come back to the Shorewood business district after suffering the enormous inconvenience of blocked traffic for 1 day out of 365, there are more people who think to themselves, "How cool that all these local businesses are a part of this" and who make a point of patronizing the businesses who support our community (I know we do).

--Nancy Peske Darrow

RESPONSE

Hello Nancy

Thank you for taking the time to send your thoughts on my Criterium posting.
I absolutely agree with you that businesses have to spend money on promotion --- it Does take money to make money !

I think your husband is right on target regarding the NYC Marathon --- but the analogy doesn't fit with the Criterium Bike Race.

The Marathon is unique --- only one NYC Marathon, and you have to be there, in New York City, and on that ONE race route on that ONE day--- whereas the Shorewood Criterium is actually only one stop of many Criteriums in the area ---

Listed here are the dates of the Criterium in the various nearby communities, surrounding our date in July:

July 9th Menasha
July 10th Manitowoc
July 11th East Troy
July 12th Burlington
July 13th Hales Corners
July 14th Shorewood
July 15th Milwaukee - Schlitz Park
July 16th Waukesha
July 18th Hartford
July 19th Milwaukee - Lakefront
July 20th DePere
July 21st Sheboygan
July 22nd Kenosha
July 23rd Milwaukee - Downer Ave
July 24th Whitefish Bay

Obviously, this is not a unique event which showcases Shorewood. Its draw to spectators is diluted at best.

And by the sheer number of races and the various communities having them --- this is NOT a Shorewood Community event.

The Criterium is a "quick and dirty" way for the BID to try to show they are doing something with all of our tax money they are spending. Much as Roundy's will pay a food manufacturer like Del Monte or a similar company to "private label" something like Roundy Brand Green Beans --- the BID is taking something that someone else's is doing, and trying to "private label" it as a Shorewood event.

Ultimately --- you and I totally agree that "it's up to businesses in Shorewood to decide whether this event is more positive than negative --- and that was the purpose of my survey, which showed that the Negatives far outweigh the Positives --- now the question is whether the Village Board will pay any attention to the businesses ?

Dave


READER COMMENTS #2

Peter Kazaks wrote:
Hi Dave--

Interesting post on the economic impact of the Shorewood Criterium. I
walked over from my home on Woodburn street and met a group of friends to
watch the race. I spoke with Andrew McCabe in front of his Allstate office
and stopped in at Pick 'n' Save deli to buy some food to eat while I
watched. It is disappointi

I have long questioned whether the events sponsored by the Shorewood BID actually help or hurt Shorewood business. Last week’s Criterium bicycle race, on July 19th, afforded an opportunity to do an assessment of a BID event.

A “pre race” press release from the BID read:

“We’re excited about bringing this great race to our community for the fourth year in a row,” says BID Executive Director Jim Plaisted. “The Criterium’s successful record of attracting thousands of spectators and potential shoppers offers many advantages to businesses and we encourage everyone to join in and help promote the race.”

I did an informal survey of the businesses in the 4400 – 4500 block of N Oakland, during the race, to see what the business owners had to say about this BID event.

One of the business owners, Tim Wick, e mailed me the next day with the following:

“At the race last night we talked about the impact of the bike race on retailers.

I tried to figure out a fair way to judge the impact. I took my daily total sales number from the last seven Thursdays.

I then came up with an average of what a normal Thursday would be…………. it comes out to about a forty percent decrease in sales on the day of the bike race.

I also looked back on last years number and found the loses to be the same.

Given the facts, I feel this event is to costly to the village and its retailers.

The police and DPW spend thousands in over time.

The retailers suffer loses, so who really profits from this?

Tim Wick”

As Shorewood residents know, several streets are closed to parking starting at noon on race day, including most of N Oakland Avenue, which is lined with businesses.

Among the other businesses I talked with:

1) A business owner of a service business said that he not only loses business for the day, but that he has had customers say they would not come back, and would take their business to someplace where they do not close the street to parking for customers.

2) A restaurant owner told me that he lost business for the day, especially his lunch crowd, due to the closed street.

3) Another restaurant owner thought he might do a little better on race day --- maybe 5%, but he wasn’t sure, and said he could also be losing some business. He promised to get me numbers when he had them.

4) Another service business that ironically helped sponsor the race said the street closing hurt his business, he got no more business due to the race, and he really questioned any future sponsorship.

5) A merchant specializing in confections, said their business was down for the day, and were hoping it would pick up later.

Overall, the business owners I had an opportunity to speak with, thought the Criterium hurt rather than helped their businesses.

The BID district also claimed that “thousands” of spectators and potential shoppers" would be attracted to the race.

In my rough estimation, aside from the racers, the race support crews and others involved in the race, there were maybe a few hundred spectators. I am trying to quantify those numbers from a third party source.

In the end this is another example of the BID Wasting Tax Dollars and Hurting the very Businesses they are suppose to be Helping !

Email me your comments

Well --- did that headline get your attention ? If it did, then I succeeded in doing what the Village Board is so successful at – only in reverse.

I had maintained throughout the recent trustee campaign that the Village Board was overly obsessed with “business” in Shorewood, to the detriment of the “residential” component of the Village.

Focusing on business makes the Village Board look good. We all traverse the main streets of the Village --- and the business facades are prominent and easy to visualize. In contrast, there is not the same visualization factor of the residential infrastructure --- which is actually the Backbone of Shorewood.

In Steve Koczela’s critique of the Legion Post debate, in his blog he posted ( in part):

“While Michael Phinney insisted that he has been a champion of business in Shorewood, Eckman pointed to her vote against the smoking ban as evidence of her pro-business stance…..

Eckman also claimed credit (somewhat dubiously) for some of the new businesses in Shorewood, at least one of which is actually located in a building owned by Dave Tatarowicz.”

Knowing that *Success has many Fathers, but Failure is an Orphan* --- I thought it would be interesting to note the businesses that have recently closed, and/or left the village, and/or moved and the landlords have not been able to quickly fill the spaces. With the loud rhetoric emanating from the Village Board on how well it is doing for business, through its own actions and vis-a-vis the BID ---- I wonder who will offer to adopt the following Orphans !

4517 N Oakland Stone Age Jewelers
4144 N Oakland Carriage Cleaners
4522 N Oakland ???
3575 N Oakland 8,000 SF Street Level Retail
1808 E Capitol Cajun Food
1926 E Capitol Irish Dance Studio (moved to larger quarters, space still vacant)
1522 E Capitol Phone Store
3801 N Oakland Coffee Café
4013 N Oakland Shorewood Wine Bar
4022 N Oakland Red Rock Café

The BID does have an excellent section on its website, under the Business Opportunities Section, for Space Available --- but it has never listed any of these spaces for potential businesses to find !

PLEASE NOTE: I am not advocating that there is really a lot that the Village or the BID can or could do in relation to these businesses closing, or the spaces that remained vacant so long. Actually, just the opposite --- businesses will come and go, when it is in the best interests of the business owners, landlords, and patrons. And the effect of Village government in exactly how those dynamics work out, is extremely limited.

Unfortunately, as long as there is the “wow” factor involved in such highly visual projects as the Streetscape Program, the BID, and now the threatened diminution of Wilson – that is where the efforts and our taxes will go.

At its last meeting the Village Board voted to authorize bids for the new Streetscape Plan. Preliminary estimates for the first phase are in the $3 million range.

Many of Shorewood’s residents probably remember the last time Shorewood had a major renovation project, It was the streetscaping of North Oakland Avenue in 1996. That renovation replaced the street, sidewalks and all the streetlights. Also installed were sidewalk pavers, benches, planters and trash receptacles.

We now find, barely more than 10 years after spending all that money on North Oakland Avenue, that all those nice new street lights, pavers, benches and trash receptacles are obsolete !

Apparently everybody involved failed to notice that we have winters in Shorewood, we use salt on our streets, and all those nice new fixtures, made of cast iron, are prone to rust. Reportedly, they have rusted to the point that they need to be replaced.

Our weather has not been especially kind to all of those pavers that were installed along the sidewalks either. Walking on what is left of the pavers, is taking a risk to breaking an ankle ! Patterned cement, in hindsight, would have been much more economical to install and maintain, while achieving the same decorative look.

The average taxpayer probably imagines that when the Village Board was informed that all the tax money that was spent 10 years ago has rusted away --- literally --- the Board was upset, and determined to find out how and why such a major mistake was made, and that the Board decided to get those answers and to thoroughly examine the new proposals, before committing to any new multi million dollar projects.

Unfortunately, the average taxpayer would be wrong !

The only Board Member who dared to rock the boat during the discussion to approve the bid process was Jeff Hanewall. He brought up concerns about the designs that were being proposed for the new streetscaping, and asked questions as to whether they were appropriate for Shorewood. It is noteworthy that Trustee Hanewall is an architect and is well versed in such matters, albeit that design is always of a subjective nature.

In the following discussion, it appeared that all the other trustees and village management considered the plan, as presented, to be a “done deal”, with no room for discussion or dissent.

When the slide show presentation of the plan was made to the board (you can view the same presentation on the Village’s website), there was a heavy emphasis on the fact that the CDA conducted a number of public meetings, and that Shorewood citizens in study groups, actually voted in favor of the plan that was presented.

That story, however, quickly changed upon questioning.

Trustee Hanewall questioned how the process was actually run. He questioned whether the design firm involved limited the selections available to the participants of the groups, and whether the selections were made without the context of viewing the elements as a whole. He pointed out that a popular vote of approximately 20 volunteers was going to be the deciding factor for a multi million dollar project for a village of 13,000 plus residents.

This was when a whole new description of the process by the CDA was quickly offered.

The new line given was that although there was a popular vote of citizen volunteers, the CDA and designers didn’t “really” let that be a deciding factor. They said that they had actually limited the information available to the volunteers, and that they never intended to, nor did they, abide by the consensus of the study groups.

Going on the appearances and actions at the Board meeting, it would be a good guess that the project is pretty much a “done deal”. There does not seem to be any appetite on the Board to study what went wrong with the North Oakland project --- nor to examine in any depth, the proposed elements for the new project.

And that begs the question of whether we in a rush to more obsolescence ? Are all those street light and poles rusted beyond redemption ? Have any restoration experts been contacted to examine the existing poles and assess whether there are any methods which can restore them --- and how that would compare in cost to replacing them with new ones ?

It has been said that we live in a “throw away” society. And perhaps all those nice “10 year old new” light poles are destined to our landfills.

But shouldn’t we expect better in Shorewood --- shouldn’t the Village Board examine this issue much more carefully before actually committing the millions of dollars it will cost --- with at least a minimal expectation that the new streetscape will have a useful life of more than 10 years before it is obsolete ?

Shorewood citizens hear quite a bit about the Shorewood BID, but in talking to many residents, I have found that they really don't know exactly what the BID is, how it is funded, or what it does. This is understandable, as the BID Tax does not apply to most Shorewood residents.

In short, the BID district is a Taxing Body, that only taxes Commercial Property owners in Shorewood. If you own a Residential property, you do not pay the BID tax. If you own Commercial property (or mixed used), you pay hundreds or thousands of dollars per year to the BID tax.

The purpose of the BID is purportedly to "help" Shorewood businesses.

In this blog, I have already listed many of the reasons I believe that the BID in Shorewood is not needed, and how it actually hurts Shorewood business. Adding to those reasons is a look at the BID sponsored events for 2007 --- and how they do Nothing for the average Shorewood business --- at best --- and actually Hurt Shorewood Business --- at worst.

One of the big events that BID sponsors is the Shorewood Criterium (bicycle race) that is planned for July 19th. For this event, the race course is closed most of the day with no parking allowed (much of Oakland Avenue). This is obviously bad for the businesses on Oakland, as their customers have nowhere to park. As the race time approaches, traffic is totally closed for an even larger area of Oakland, to facilitate tents and displays, etc.

There are a few businesses which may see a small increase in their business, such as coffee shops --- but by and large, it is a lost business day for most businesses on the race route.

Perhaps if the Criterium brought a lot of folks from other communities to Shorewood, for the novelty of seeing a bike race, there could be some benefit to the exposure. But the Criterium is run virtually everywhere ! There is no need for folks from other communities to come see ours --- they have their own. Except for spectators who may follow the bike circuit (which from my observations couldn't be too large), the race isn't attracting "new" prospective shoppers to Shorewood.

Listed here are the dates of the Criterium in the various nearby communities, surrounding our date in July:

July 9th Menasha
July 10th Manitowoc
July 11th East Troy
July 12th Burlington
July 13th Hales Corners
July 14th Shorewood
July 15th Milwaukee - Schlitz Park
July 16th Waukesha
July 18th Hartford
July 19th Milwaukee - Lakefront
July 20th DePere
July 21st Sheboygan
July 22nd Kenosha
July 23rd Milwaukee - Downer Ave
July 24th Whitefish Bay

Obviously, this is not a unique event which showcases Shorewood.

Another event that BID sponsors is the Art and Craft Fair on the lawn of the Shorewood High School. After last years Art and Craft Fair I did an informal poll of business owners situated nearby the high school, as to whether this event helped their business. To the contrary, they told me that they noticed a drop in business, as folks who might drop in to browse and buy something, where at the Art Fair instead.

Also, the Art Fair was composed primarily of business people from "Outside of Shorewood" --- our BID money was enhancing businesses from other areas, in competition with our Shorewood based businesses !

In all fairness, at least two of the planned events, the Artwalk on April 7th and the Holiday shopwalk on December 1st basically have the right idea of getting actual potential shoppers out in front of the shops.

On the other hand, the small business group that we had before the BID, sponsored the same kind of events, for an annual dues cost of about $70 --- while the BID is spending tens of thousands of dollars to achieve the same result. And although every commercial property is paying the BID tax, these walks are focused on North Oakland and East Capitol --- so the businesses in other areas are paying in --- but getting nothing out.

I believe it is time to do some serious reconsideration of the entire BID. We don't need an additional tax on business in Shorewood --- especially with ill-conceived events that do more to hurt, than they do to help, the very businesses paying the BID Tax.

(Note to readers: I had posted this earlier in the articles section before my blog was up and running --- but I think it is too important not to include on the blog)

NEED A BUSINESS LOAN --- DON'T ASK A BANK, ASK SHOREWOOD --- WOULD YOU LIKE $25,000 OR MAY $50,000 ?

Under a new loan program approved by the Village Board, WE --- the taxpayers of Shorewood --- will make loans of between $25,000 and $50,000 to both existing and new Shorewood businesses.

The loans can be used for almost any reason, including for "working capital". There are no requirements that the loans be secured by collateral, or even by personal guarantee.

Speaking as a Shorewood citizen, property owner, and small business owner, I am very much against this program, for several reasons. First and foremost, when did this need to subsidize Shorewood businesses develop ? Has there been a single instance in which someone closed their Shorewood business, or decided against starting a business in Shorewood, because the village would not lend them money ? And if they cannot get a loan from a bank, why should the Village take a risk that a bank will not take.

Secondly, how do we decide which businesses to subsidize ? Should we help a new liquor store get started or how about a tobacco shop? We do have more than a number of places in the Village to get a bagel or a croissant, but don't we really need a good donut shop ?

In Shorewood we have a great place to live - we have one of the best school systems anywhere, and our Residential - Urban - Sidewalk - atmosphere is almost "Norman Rockwell" in its flavor.

Our underlying strength is not the businesses that are in the Village. Shorewood is not a shopping destination in itself. We have some destination shops here, such as Goldi's, Harley's and CC Conrad, but for the most part, businesses which locate in Shorewood are here to serve the people of Shorewood. Shops and businesses that fill the need of our population, with a convenience of being close to home.

It is no secret that our population is lower now than at our peak, and that our schools have excess capacity to serve more students. And there are steps we can take to help make Shorewood even stronger and more desirable.

We are foremost a residential community, and we have a larger than average stock of rental units. If we are to use TIF money to strengthen Shorewood, it should be used to help property owners to improve the housing stock --- ie. energy efficient furnaces, newer copper plumbing and updated electrical. We can promote energy systems that are affordable for the landlord to include heat in the rent. We can develop programs to encourage owner occupied duplexes. And we can develop programs that work with both landlords and tenants, to make Shorewood the number one rental option in the Milwaukee Metro area.

As Shorewood has grown more mature, there is also a greater need for housing that serves the needs of our senior citizens who would like to stay in Shorewood, but don't necessarily want the responsibility of a large property to maintain. As I can attest to, after both a hip and a knee replacement, a two story house with a basement, is not very user friendly to those with older joints !

(And by the way --- as a residential, sidewalk friendly community --- we need to resume show removal !)

Our focus in building a stronger Shorewood should be on our housing, and filling the needs of all the different segments of our community, higher and lower income, younger families with school children and seniors with mobility needs.

The next time you walk or drive through the Village, look around and see what kinds of business is here in Shorewood. It is business that is primarily focused on the needs of the neighborhood --- grocery stores, coffee shops, dry cleaners, barbers, hair stylists, pharmacies, insurance agents, realtors. We don't have any of the "Big Box" stores, ie. Target, Home Depot, Best Buy --- and we don't want them --- where would everyone park ?

If the Village really wants to help Shorewood business, it should disband the BID District. When I first came to Shorewood about 15 years ago, we had a local business association, that most of the businesses belonged to. It cost about $70 a year to belong, and we would get together once in a while, share ideas and conversation, and put together occasional events. All in all, the association didn't do too much --- but then again, it didn't cost much either.

Unfortunately, the Village decided that whatever the local businesses were doing, it could do better. Thus the Shorewood BID District was born. Now anyone who owns commercial property in Shorewood pays a tax, for the Village to spend for our business welfare. Whereas business property owners paid about $70 to belong to the business association, they now pay more like $700 or $800 to the Village BID.

We still don't get much --- but we sure pay a heck of a lot more for it !

The best t