This Sunday, Nov. 11th is Veterans Day which honors our country’s armed service veterans. Prior to 1954, this holiday was known as "Armistice Day" to memorialize the end of combat in World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. The armistice notably went into effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. "Armistice Day" was changed to "Veterans Day" in 1954, after World War II and the Korean War, which made this holiday a time to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans. Brookfield has been home to veterans who have served in all of this nation’s wars. Of particular note is…
The reconstruction of Bluemound Road is now substantially complete with the final touches being made this month. Those touches include activation of the permanent traffic signals and removal of the temporary ones; syncing the traffic signal timing; cleaning up the medians; and painting the pavement markings. Bluemound Road is a state highway, as are Capitol Drive and Greenfield Avenue. As such, the reconstruction of Bluemound was done by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, with the City of Brookfield cooperating on the improvement of key intersections. The disruption caused by this …
At 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday, September 12th, a member of the Air National Guard picked me up at City Hall for an Orientation Flight with the 128th Air Refueling Wing. The 128th is headquartered on the east side of Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. The purpose of these Orientation Flights is to educate civic leaders and employers about the Wisconsin Air National Guard, and there were about 15 of us from around Wisconsin who received a flight briefing at 8 a.m. We then boarded a Boeing 707 Stratotanker which was first flown in 1958 but which has been very well-maintained and regularly …
Mayor Steve Ponto's remarks for the city's National Police Week Ceremony: In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a Presidential Proclamation that set aside May 15th as National Police Officers Memorial Day and the week which includes May 15th as National Police Week. It is a time of honoring, remembering and healing. See story, photos from Waukesha County Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Ceremony There is liberty in law. However, if we are to be truly free, there must be law enforcement. Today, we thank those who protect us through law enforcement, and we remember those who made the …
Editor's Note: These are the Mayor's comments Thursday to D.A.R.E. graduates at Brookfield Elementary School:________________________________________ Good morning to all of you. I’m delighted to be with you this morning and to have this opportunity to speak to you briefly. I want to sincerely congratulate each of you students on successfully completing the D.A.R.E. program. As you know, D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. The D.A.R.E. program began in Los Angeles in 1983 — some 29 years ago — and is now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation’s school districts and more…
In September of 2009, the Islamic Foundation of Greater Milwaukee purchased a lot on Pheasant Drive in Brookfield. In October of 2010, the Foundation purchased an adjoining lot. Pheasant Drive intersects Calhoun Road on its western end and dead ends several blocks to the east. The land is zoned “industrial.” Last fall, representatives of the Foundation met with me and other City officials to discuss the possibility of building a mosque on these two lots. Buildings for religious use are conditional uses that may be permitted in any zoning district. In discussing the Foundation’s ideas, we …
I became an Alderman in April of 1998. At that time, Jim Garvens had already been an Alderman for 7 years. At the time of his passing, Jim had served the City of Brookfield as an Alderman for almost 21 years, substantially longer than anyone on the current Common Council. Jim was initially appointed as an Alderman for the 5th District in 1991. Former Mayor Kate Bloomberg — who I understand is also a member of this Church — was instrumental in recruiting Jim to serve as an Alderman. In 1992, the Aldermanic District boundaries shifted — as a result of re-districting following the 1990 census — …
Milwaukee 7 is a regional, cooperative economic development organization for the seven counties in Southeastern Wisconsin. Recently, I attended a Milwaukee 7 meeting in Racine. During the meeting, six “wins” for the organization in the preceding four months were highlighted. I was very pleased that two of the six “wins” for the seven-county area were in the City of Brookfield. The first win was the decision of Thomas Magnete USA LLC, a subsidiary of Thomas Magnete GmbH in Herdorf, Germany, to locate their production facility for North America in Brookfield. Thomas Magnete USA is a …
These are challenging economic times for most of us individually and for Brookfield as a city. Still, it is important to recognize that Brookfield’s fundamental economic strength and the city government’s long-standing fiscal responsibility are serving us well. Brookfield is fortunate to have a very strong tax base. In fact, Brookfield, which has a population of about 38,000, has the third highest equalized property valuation in the State of Wisconsin. “Equalized value” is the estimate by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue of the full value of the real property in a municipality. The …
Largely due to declining enrollment and budget constraints imposed by the State government, the Elmbrook School District finds itself in a difficult fiscal position. I have watched closely as the School Board has debated ways of dealing with its fiscal issues. I firmly believe that the continuing excellence of the Elmbrook School System is vital to assuring Brookfield's position as a premier community. When people evaluate a community to decide whether to make it their home, the foremost consideration for most of them is the quality of education in the community. Because of this, I have …
In these challenging economic times, governments at all levels are focused on economic development. States and cities are increasingly aggressive in recruiting businesses to their jurisdictions. Governor Walker has emphasized that “Wisconsin is Open for Business.” The City of Brookfield has long emphasized the importance of its business sector. One of the chief reasons for Brookfield’s success is that it has a large commercial property tax base which has enabled us to have a relatively low property tax rate. In effect, the large commercial sector in our City is helping us maintain lower …
Last month, a small group of us from Brookfield went to Seligenstadt, Germany for a week to participate in our Sister City’s Geleitsfest celebration. This celebration occurs once every four years and dates back to the Middle Ages. Some Brookfield high school students were in Seligenstadt at the same time and we all spent one day together visiting nearby Wiesbaden, which is the capitol of the German State of Hessen. Our group toured the Hessen Parliament and visited the Hessen State Chancellery (the State executive offices). We all met with Hessen Minister of State Michael Boddenberg, who is …
The League of Wisconsin Municipalities recently produced a two-page list of state budget items and proposed state legislation which would preempt or limit municipal powers. What is particularly disappointing is most of these proposals are being sponsored by Republican state legislators. The Republican Party, in its platforms and resolutions, has long advocated more local control and less centralized power. In fact the first principle on the Wisconsin Republican Party’s website includes: “. . . the most effective government is government closest to the people.” Studies support this contention…
Brookfield Patch is off to a great start! I congratulate all of those involved and, particularly, editor Lisa Sink. This is my first column which I intend to be a monthly feature of Brookfield Patch. If you’re reading this, it’s likely you are computer savvy and get much of your news from the internet. Accordingly, I want to use this first column to call attention to our City website: www.ci.brookfield.wi.us. The City has had a website since 1999. Like most things involving technology and the internet, our website has changed and developed rapidly, and continues to do so. In 2010, there …
