Franklin Today

Common Council President looks to you for thoughts and opinions

Before I begin the guest blog posting, I just wanted to say that this is directly from CCP Taylor. As always, it is not edited or filtered out. Just like with other bloggers in Franklin, if any elected official (Common Council or School Board) would like to have their own "5 minutes" of sorts, feel free to send me an e-mail @ franklinblog@gmail.com.

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I know there is a blogger who blows awful lot of hot air really wants me to write about the full-time Mayor issue but he isn’t going to get his wish. When the issue is brought back to the Common Council all of his questions and many more that he hasn’t thought of will be answered. I could care less what he thinks he knows but he sure does like to write about me every chance he gets. I guess I better start looking behind my back while I am out walking. Don’t worry Franklin residents you will get your opportunity to cast a vote to let us know whether or not you want your Mayor to be full time.

Now that I have given the “press secretary” more to rant about I would like to ask for your help. You may have noticed that this unnamed blogger likes to point out that I lived in La Crosse. This is one of the few things written that has been true. I did live in La Crosse for eight years. I went to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where I majored in political science and public administration. I also served on the Common Council for four years.

Recently La Crosse was named one of the “Ten Places to Live in 2009” by US News and World Report. This is nothing to be ashamed about considering how honored Franklin was to be named in the upper 90’s of the top 100 a few years ago.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/real-estate/2009/06/08/best-places-to-live-2009

I have never once stated that I want Franklin to be more like La Crosse. This is just another example of the “press secretary” getting off message. A large percentage of Franklin’s population has lived in another city for some part of their lives. Maybe they moved to another part of the country for college or their company relocated to the Milwaukee area and they bought a home here. Just think about all of the growth that has occurred in the last ten years. Where do you think they all came from?

I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking the best ideas from other parts of this state and the country and look to see if those ideas could work here. Alderman Olson has said on the record that the best ideas have come from our residents and not our elected officials. Listening to Franklin’s citizens is what I have done since I was elected a year ago April. The dog leash ordinance was the recommendation of one of my constituents and after spending months talking to others the issue was brought to the Common Council and passed unanimously. I haven’t heard of any problems with the ordinance so far.

My intention of this blog is to ask others to come forward with their recommendations and ideas. I know that many have lived somewhere else that they really liked and wished they could duplicate a certain aspect of that city. Not every idea will be right for Franklin but I won’t call your idea “Foolish”. I also will keep what you tell me confidential because in Franklin anything different is considered a bad idea by a few closed minded individuals.

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you.

Steve F. Taylor

Related coverage on Sendik's closure

Back in January, Metro Milwaukee Today did a series covering Sendik's Fine Foods and its status at the Shoppes at Wyndham Village. Feel free to check back on these posts:

A struggling Sendik's in Franklin?

City of Franklin & Sendik's Fine Foods duped?

A successful Sendik's Food Market in Franklin!

When the dreams of Middleton go astray

It's "official" - Daykin reports on Sendik's closure

Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Daykin confirmed what people have been hearing yesterday. Sendik's Fine Foods at the Shoppes at Wyndham Village will CLOSE by the end of the month. Roundy's has acquired the store and will turn it into a Pick n Save, and will reopen as such in November.

What's concerning me is how Roundy's expects to have three Pick n Save locations all so close to each other. The stores I'm talking about are the ones at 76th & Rawson, Hwy 100 & Janesville, and now this new one on Hwy 100 & Drexel. I just haven't seen the massive growth in demographics that would tell me that a Pick n Save on Hwy 100 & Drexel would work out, given the fact that all those in the demographic area already go to the other two that are currently open.

Does this mean Roundy's will close one of their other 2 locations in the immediate area? I don't think so. The one on Rawson just got an facelift of sorts, and is on one of Franklin's busiest intersections. The one in Hales Corners (Hwy 100 & Janesville) was recently built as a larger store from the original one at the Garden Plaza strip mall, which they shut down once the new store was completed and is still vacant to this day.

So what does this tell us? Fortunately, we won't have an empty box for too long after Sendik's Fine Foods departs the city. It'll be Pick n Save before the Christmas shopping season. I suppose another plus is the fact that residents in the neighboring high-end subdivisions won't have to be worried about the first SuperTarget in the metropolitan area being across from their homes. If anything, what we're seeing here is Roundy's getting somewhat defensive of their home turf by preventing a SuperTarget or a Greatland Target (which also sells a lot of groceries) from getting a foothold near two of their more popular food stores (Rawson and Hales Corners).

On the other side of things, the dreams of Greenway Station are now long gone. However, a Pick n Save and a Target could generate extra traffic and thus make the center more appealing for, say, a Panera Bread or salon & spa to locate in one of the outlot buildings. It all comes down to what the potential tenants want, and from what we're seeing with the closure of Sendik's tells us that they weren't generating enough traffic to even keep themselves afloat. Maybe Pick n Save will...

Yes, the word about Sendik's got to me, too...

If you guys haven't checked out John Michlig's Sprawled Out blog yet, yesterday he had an entry with "BREAKING NEWS" proportions. I believe he's pretty accurate to a certain degree, it's breaking news that it happened but as my blog pointed out several months ago, the writing was clearly on the wall. All that was left was for the deed to be done. Well, yesterday, it was done, and from what my sources told me, what John Michlig wrote, and what Sendik's Food Market's IT Director wrote on his Twitter -  Franklin will be losing one of our Sendik's food stores. Sendik's Fine Foods, in the Shoppes at Wyndham Village, will be shutting down...less than a year after it opened to much fanfare.

Since it's early in the morning, I don't want to make too many remarks on it now, since I do have a lot to say. I'm also waiting to see if the mainstream media outlets, like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Tom Daykin, pick up on the story to prove (or disprove) it. Being as involved as I was with regards to that project as a whole, the possible closure of Sendik's Fine Foods is a big letdown. Let's just put it this way, Franklin: We were initially promised something similar to a Greenway Station when this project kicked off on Halloween night, 2006. Tom Balistreri, the owner of Sendik's Fine Foods, and hometown developer Mark Carstensen certainly made their impressions with the public that this shopping center was going to be top notch and, in my opinion, certainly upscale. We ended up getting a Target, and now the gem of the center (in my opinion), Sendik's, will be shutting its doors.

Like I said, keep in touch with this site as the day (and week) goes on. Hopefully some clearer answers will emerge, and quite possibly some more open-ended questions and observations.

Criticisms that went too far?

Over the past day or so, our State Senator's aide (and Franklin resident), Kevin Fischer, hasn't seemed to be on the good side of many people. Out of nowhere, he wrote a piece about what I believed to be (after reading the entry) apparent nepotism within the Franklin Little League, of which the former Little League President, Dave Bartels, came out in force to denounce. Then he took aim, as per usual during budget time, at the Franklin Public School Board for apparently not being too forthcoming on the future budget.

I guess when one reads the post about the Little League "scandal", if you may, it really made me wonder just how all of this came to be; how and/or why would this particular matter be of such top priority for our aide? Sure, I'm willing to go on the record in saying he has every right to write about whatever he wants, whenever he wants...but the passion over a Little League that he even admits to never attending any games is, well, interesting to say the least. Kudos to Mr. Bartels for standing up for the Little League and the children who play in it. It's unfortunate, however, that Bartels fell into the trap Fischer set-up for him and the other families who have children in the Franklin Little League. You see, the response by those families and Bartels was, in my opinion, the goal Fischer wanted to achieve. The response on his blog continued the controversy.

Then we move onward to the Franklin Public School Board, where the lack of apparent public discussion by Board Members prior to an October budget vote is a huge sin. It seems that since the NOW didn't do an article in Franklin, the School Board is giving the public the silent treatment.

I didn't like that entry for a variety of reasons - the primary one being the unnecessary attacks on Board Members, especially newly elected member Janet Evans. It's been claimed that the members of the Board don't talk about issues. Well, then I suppose either I'm really special or those claims are flat out nonsense. Whenever I have a question and direct it at board members, I do get responses back. Heck, there are even times where I could get a phone call to discuss my concerns. I know of several residents who have contacted members of the School Board directly and received responses in a proper timeframe. It seems to me that all Fischer wants is what he wrote in the last sentence (emphasis mine):

If I'm so wrong (and so terrible) prove me wrong and e-mail me something, anything. Don't do it for me. Do it for the taxpayers.

Yes, have the School Board members e-mail Fischer so he can obtain more attention by the Franklin public so he can then bash them over more nonsense? If anything, those School Board members (especially Ms. Evans) should send their remarks to other Franklin bloggers (Ms. Evans can simply write her piece on her own blog). I don't see why any of them would need to do Fischer a service, to be quite honest.

Hampton Inn plans continue to be alive

Journal Sentinel business reporter Tom Daykin reported last Friday that the Hampton Inn & Suites slated for construction within the Loomis/Rawson/76th triangle is still planned to be built and opened up for business within the next year. Daykin quoted developer and business owner Ed Eldridge in his report, who noted that he'd like construction to begin in Fall and opening in 2010.

Eldridge also has the parcel of land currently housing the 2-story People's Choice Car Wash, which would be next to the hotel. It will be interesting how that parcel turns out once the hotel opens up for business. Given the unique high ground to a major Wisconsin highway (Loomis Rd/Hwy 36) and a 101-room hotel opened up next door, it wouldn't be too "out there" to see the car wash perhaps torn down for other amenities such as a restraurant. As it has been noted here many times, the Loomis/Rawson/76th business area has a severe lacking of restaurants, but has several fast food choices. I just don't know if we want to tout to the people staying at the hotel how lovely our McDonald's is to eat in...

Roundabouts supported for 27th Street Corridor

While many in Franklin might be in opposition to roundabouts throughout the city, the 27th Street Steering Committee has supported the concept of roundabouts along the 27th Street corridor from College to County Line Road. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has pushed for the roundabout concept for the past several years, and many suburbanites experience roundabouts when they're near the I-43/Moorland Road interchange in New Berlin.

Franklin was given a bad first impression of a roundabout when the Shoppes at Wyndham Village was constructed in 2008, where a very tiny roundabout welcomes residents to the shoppes into Sendik's off of Drexel. Since that roundabout opened for traffic, many residents have complained and the roundabout itself has been battered in some degree. I recall over winter when several comments came in about someone (or a plow, even) driving right through the roundabout and leaving its mark right through the middle.

The only member from Franklin on the Joint South 27th Street Steering Committee, Alderman Steve Olson, was quoted by the Franklin NOW as saying the distaste of roundabouts in our community died down since the Drexel disaster roundabout was built. However, if comments and remarks on the Franklin blogosphere and Twitter accounts made any difference, I'd have to say that the Drexel roundabout caused more frustration among residents, not less.

Ultimately, it is my opinion that roundabouts are a great component in any city or community. However, they need to be properly built and placed in the right spots. Since WISDOT has shown us in the past with the Moorland roundabouts that they can be built to carry traffic with relative ease, I believe the roundabouts on 27th Street will be not only great for smoother travel along the Franklin/Oak Creek border, but also will add on to the overall landscaping and asthetics that residents have asked city leaders to push for the business corridor.

You can see the report that HNTB, who is contracted by both cities as a consultant for the 27th Street corridor, wrote-up regarding roundabouts along 27th Street:

Download HNTB Roundabout Report 27th street2

A friend couldn't have said it better

This morning I received an e-mail regarding Franklin High School ranking near the bottom of the Top 1500 high schools in the country by Newsweek this month. It read, "So we have the 4th highest paid Superintendent but rank near the bottom of the list of the top 1500. Does not sound like a good value for our investment to me."

Franklin High School, fortunately, did make the list - but only at #1460 out of 1500 schools. Being named on the list is an accomplishment, but it's a competition out there with other area schools as well. When FHS is at the bottom of the best in comparison to neighboring districts, especially New Berlin and Elmbrook, I believe it is fair to bring up the question as to why we have the 4th highest paid Superintendent in the State of Wisconsin.

To continue being fair, I'll also note that I do not know how FHS did in previous years since Dr. Patz has been hired as Superintendent. But even without this knowledge, being near the bottom doesn't look pretty when it's compared to compensation. What exactly is going on that's holding FHS back from being higher on the list, and then how can it be improved so some other high school can be at the bottom of the list next year. With the administrative powerhouse that Franklin Public Schools currently has, as well as the hefty compensation package that FHS Principal Mike Cady receives, one would assume this would be on their top priorities list...

A Franklin resident addresses the School Board

I received this e-mail from a Franklin resident, named Larry. It addresses concerns that were raised with this blog post last week:

Dear School Board Members,

I am sure everyone on the Board is aware of the article The Racine Journal Times published regarding salary and benefits in all of the WI school districts.

I am also sure that everyone from Franklin who read this material “saw the elephant in the room”.

Comparing salaries and benefits [highest to lowest] of the superintendents from the Madison District, the Racine Unified District, and MPS, we see a stark inequity when Franklin’s superintendent shows up as the fourth highest paid Sup. in the state!

Daniel Nerad (Superintendent of Madison Metropolitan School District) - $256,498
James Shaw (Superintendent of Racine Unified School District) - $252,900
William Andrekopoulos (Superintendent of MPS) - $241,866
Franklin Public Schools Superintendent Steve Patz  - total compensation  $236,573.

There is no need to explain the great gulf between the degree of responsibility in connection with the size of the top three districts in comparison with Franklin’s.  Salaries and benefits should parallel that criterion.  In Franklin's case it doesn't.

Franklin is just not up to standards in this regard and that is pure waste!   That can lead one to wonder how much more addled governance, that has yet to be uncovered, has cost the taxpayers.

This demonstration of poor management fuels a narrative.  I will only mention that there are far too many taxpayers in Franklin who are at their nadir of tolerance concerning the ubiquitous whining coming from “the masters of supplication” for more tax dollars that are needed for the coffers of the Franklin School District… along with predictable referendums and what have you.

I am sure to hear some counter veiling about “how Franklin is willing to pay top dollar for the “best”.  That may apply in connection with teachers but not superintendents.  Teachers make the difference…not management.  This is just more of the "top-heavy management hierarchy syndrome" WI is noted for and has become accustomed to.

The Franklin Superintendent of Schools should fall into the same salary and benefits category that is commensurate with schools of the same size. Period.

It’s time a comparison analysis is enacted and applied effectively regarding management wages and benefits in the FPS.  Wage freezes seem to be the Rx.

It is not draconian - just smart and equitable money management.

The Board needs to abandon vague and open-ended goals and just get things repaired financially and work with what tax dollars are available. That should be the greatest challenge of all.  Any fool knows how to spend money.

The spirit of what I am suggesting is to forget all of the grandiose plans and monuments.  Start exhibiting some guts and begin chopping to maintain only what is necessary for the buildings and grounds.  Get into some ingenuity and creative management to meet these necessary items while not neglecting that which fairly compensates the crucial and the key members who can make or break an educational system.  I am not talking about superintendents or support staff…..talk’n about the TEACHERS!

It's that time of year...

Congratulations to all the Grads out there and their families. Ours had one this year, with my sister graduating the 8th Grade at St. Alphonsus last night. Next year she'll be attending Franklin High School.

Speaking of FHS, they will be at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex tomorrow getting their diplomas and being with all their classmates for the last time. Off to the future they go afterwards, or should I say after their family get-togethers and parties!