This past Saturday the Common Council met in special session to discuss the recommendations by the Community Safety Task Force, which met last Friday. The Community Safety Task Force has its main concerns surrounding how to tackle Senate Bill 548 and now Assembly Bill 759, which if enacted into law pose a threat to Franklin residents by eliminating our current sex offender ordinance and impacting Franklin's right to home rule.
The Common Council did two things Saturday:
- Approved of funds that would be used to inform you, the Franklin citizens, as well as Churches, community organizations and schools about SB 548 and AB 759. The initial dollar amount to be approved was $10,000, but Alderman Tim Solomon raised that figure to $25,000 and it stuck. Common Council President Steve Taylor noted the need to ensure the taxpayers are made well aware of what their $25,000 is spent on, which Alderman Solomon agreed and added Taylor's remarks to his motion as a friendly amendment.
- Gave the OK to send a contingent of officials to Madison to speak on behalf of the city. Initially, that official list was to be Mayor Taylor, Alderman Olson, and City Attorney Jesse Wesolowski. Alderwoman Kristen Wilhelm then asked why there needed to be an OK for persons such as the mayor, since it should be the right of the mayor to automatically speak on behalf of the city. She also asked why only one alderman was on the "official" list rather than the entire Common Council, noting that other aldermen should be encouraged to also speak against these bills in Madison. Thanks to her observation, a friendly amendment was included that placed the entire Common Council on that list.
All Franklin residents are strongly encouraged to contact State Representative Jeff Stone and State Senator Mary Lazich regarding these bills. They are our elected leaders in the State Assembly and State Senate, respectively. Their contact information has been posted on an earlier Franklin Today write-up. There is also a public hearing on the Assembly bill (AB 759) this Thursday, March 11th, at 10am in Madison.
What concerns me is that there was little discussion relating to reasons why state legislators are proposing these bills now. As you know, I posted what I discovered during my research of SB 548 and why it is an issue today. While some city leaders firmly believe the answer to SB 548's creation lies with several Milwaukee legislators, I believe the answer lies some 120 miles north of Milwaukee, in the Green Bay metro area. That's where these bills have also been receiving a decent amount of press coverage, with both Democrats and Republicans supporting it.
I hope that we are looking at all potential solutions that will motivate those Democratic and Republican legislators in NE Wisconsin to back away from the bill as it currently stands.
