All actions have consequences, but not all have price tags.
Unfortunately, for three supervisors, their actions a year ago have a financial cost that can be calculated: approximately $300,000.
There is a historic channel in McKinley Marina owned by Milwaukee County Parks, bounded on three sides by concrete walls, and it is falling apart. The piece of infrastructure called the McKinley Flushing Channel acts as both a sea wall and a retaining wall for nearby McKinley Park. It’s a popular fishing spot, and the Milwaukee Yacht Club, which is investing $4.5 million in the public marina’s docks, uses the channel for dry-dock access.
Four years ago, Parks determined that it needed to rebuild the channel walls. The project was designed and the department sought construction funding in the 2023 budget. But supervisors cannibalized the funding during the budget process to spread small amounts of money around projects in their districts. Later, another supervisor convinced his colleagues to stall the project, questioning both its design and its cost.
In September this year, the board advanced the project, finally releasing funding for it. But having dithered on the decision for a year, it’s now $300,000 more expensive than it was a year ago; and it hasn’t even gone out to bid yet.
Supervisors Deanna Alexander and Ryan Clancy worked together to siphon funding from the project during the 2023 budget process. The supervisors led an effort at the eleventh hour to carve up a handful of projects vetted and assembled by the board’s budget committee in order to spread money around their districts and others. Supervisors moved what was left of the channel project funding into an account and requested a menu of cheaper options, including the possibility of filling the channel in.