The Way I See It!

Randy,

    Could you get K mart to improve their product.  Make it look less blue-light special and more up beat.  Then the discussion of a "place to shop in Cudahy"  will change. K-Mart is here and they do sell things like Wal-mart. If it closes we will have another large empty store.

It is very likely Wal-Mart or not the Cudahy K-Mart in the next few years will close.  I was a manager for 11 years with K-Mart and the two stores always on the close list is Cudahy and Greenfield (27th).  Yet they still stand, and yes still on the list.

The local managers have very little to say in the item selection.  That is all done at Troy Michigan by the buyers.

When I first started with them in 1986, the stores have much say.  I know longer have many friends at corp, most have left.  I still have powerful friends in the region and district, but they don’t control the items.

Believe me or not, but Wal-Mart is needed in Cudahy.  Small store or Not!  The land on Pennsylvania and Layton doesn’t look like it will be a Wal-Mart.  maybe that will quite that talk.

Do I want a bigger Wal-Mart, YES.  I just don’t see us getting a bigger store.  I have even asked the Wal-Mart reps to think about enlarging it.  That doesn’t mean we don’t put up a fight for a bigger store.  Watch my Sunday/Monday post called “Size Does Matter” lots of Wal-Mart and Wave stuff next week.

True be told (which is what I say) I don’t think it would upset of city folks if K-Mart doesn’t make it and they move out.  That would be good land to build condos.  That seems like everyone’s answer.  

Randy,

     Did you try to talk to the folks at K-Mart?  I wonder if the mayor or any of the Alderman have done that.  It wold be sad to have a large building like K-mart go dark.  The housing market and Condo market are flat.  And the world's largest dollar store is not a good thing.  I hope we can keep K-mart open.  I hope K-Mart wants to help themselves if they do not want a Wal-mart.  

Even if the Mayor would talk to Debbie, the store manager, (Worked with her at the old K-Mart in Brookfeild, where I met my wife – she was one of my employees at the time) she could not confirm nor deny it.  It would come from corporate to close the store.  I am sure IF the Mayor stopped by or someone else in government, I don’t know maybe Mr. Smith, and asked off the record, she would tell them the same thing or what the word is always on the street.

Does anyone know someone who works there to ask what the employees hear?  Anyone’s mom work there?

I don’t think the Mayor would stop and talk to them.  He is too busy to talk about a possible rumor and make sure.  

I have told him the Roadrunner Dawes is looking to leave, which pays good wages and he hasn’t talked to them if.  He told me it was just rumors that they are looking at leaving.  

I feel that sometime this Summer I will do a post called Slipped Away to go with Slipping Away that I already did.  One thing in life I like is to be right.  Just like I caught the error on the Cudahynow story on how much it was already spent on cleaning up the Iceport land.  I tell you people, a digital recorder goes a long way.  Makes the post of minutes look like liver.

Ask Chantel if it is a rumor about Roadrunner moving.  She talked to them.  At the time, they were looking about moving in a ten-mile radius from here in the next few years.  At the time, it was just the terminal to combined both the north and south terminals.  Now this part is a guess, that soon the Corp will move after the lease in the building is up.  The pervious owners of Roadrunner own the Corp building.

We do not have a pro-business Mayor; at the moment I don’t know how to define him, just as he doesn’t know my angle or reason.  

I do know he has two years left to have something define him.  I know a few Joes (Wink wink) who would make a good Mayor otherwise.  We all have the voting power in the end to make change if we don’t like what we see.

If you think about it the mayor and other city leaders should do what they can to keep and promote the business we have.  This and keeping the city safe will help to bring business in.  

It was even one of the Mayor’s campaign promises.  I personally don’t think many in the city like the trucks anyways.  Some just think Cudahy will be the land of Condos.  All I hear about is Condos.  

It is nice to say we need to be very picky and leave store fronts open.  The harsh reality is that may not be best for the city.  People see open store fronts and you know perception is reality.  There are Good places we can find, if only we look for them or have the right people looking.  It starts by telling people what you are looking for.  Just telling people “We can do better” doesn’t cut it.  We need direction not wishy washy, I know better when I see it!  We need a leader who can say, this is what we need or I was thinking something like this.  Specifics people.  That is my biggest problem with the NO crowd, they never want to stick their necks out with a real solution.  They take the easy way out, "Something better"!

We can do better will always be there.  A better deal may, scratch that, will always be around the corner.  Just like when my parents looked to buy a computer, they just kept waiting that a better deal will come.  It ended up they just dealt without until finally I gave them a reason (I stopped emailing all of their friends for them) to bit the bullet.  

As someone else said before, don’t just jump at the first shinny thing, but do jump at something.

Just it truly is easier to keep businesses that already call Cudahy home then recruit someone to move here.  You have to have the city people push for that.  Our Alderpersons work part time, but we have a full time Mayor and soon an Economic person to do that we thing.  Until then it falls on the Mayor’s shoulders.  Maybe someone other then me should ask him what he is working on doing about it until then.  If that means requesting info, then it does.  I think he (the mayor) thinks all I do is pick on the Mayor or the city.  That is not true.  If he would do something and do what he promised I could not be happier.  I think he can do the job very well, I do think he lost his way and needs a tug.

All the things either positive or negative I bring to light are for the betterment of Cudahy and to have a government that is open, honest and communicates to the people.  It is not enough to just make calls and be present at meetings, the Mayor is missing a large audience by not getting it in writing.  I know he can type and post because he just used the public forum for  Cudahy's Board of Review Seeking Members By Mayor Ryan McCue CudahyNOW.com user Posted: April 23, 2008.

He can use it for so much more.  He doesn’t even have to post/comment on my blogs I am fine with that.  

Randy, from reading many of your blogs, it looks to me that you are auditioning for the Mayor’s job. Pointing out what he does wrong and how you would do things.

If I didn’t know better and I stumbled across your blog I would think you were the Mayor. Are you trying to unseat the Mayor? Why are you so insistent that the Mayor do things your way? We each have our own way. Give him some time.  

I am not trying to get the Mayor’s job!  That could border on paranoia if you let it.  If I didn’t have my own business and a two year old, I might throw my hat in the ring.  I know I could do great things.  I am the type of person who excels at whatever I put my mind to.  I just don’t have the time to be Mayor.  As I said before if you cannot throw all of yourself in, you cannot do the best job.  I would not want to play Mayor, which if I didn’t pour all of me into is what I would be doing.

I am not a person who would let the title go to my head.  See how easy just making a comment, makes it sound like I am trying out for the job.

I am just trying to do the right thing.

How much time should we let the Mayor have?  He got his free one year, first timers pass.  It is time to start working on the campaign promises.  We all need to know what the goals are in writing.  I am hoping that the Alderpersons take serious the report card questions and then once all of your questions are in for the Mayor, I will send them to him.

We need accountability, and that starts with knowing the goals, promises and stats.

It is more then just if we get this Wal-Mart and Wave Center.  It is about standing up, making a statement, and doing something.  Inaction has consequences as well.

Are we getting what we were advertised and paid for or was it bait and switch.  Ask yourself that honestly.  Yes, we all have our own way of doing things, but the key is doing!  

Where are we on the K9?  We still need a police dog.  Chantel did a nice story on it, but what is the outcome?  Even if the info is, I am still pouring over the numbers and info coming in, crunching the numbers, we would know more then we otherwise would.

I could call the Mayor or Mark Otto or Joseph Mikolajczak to find out, but why?  We should be given status updates.  And before someone blogs that would be a waste of time and money, I say this – We most like expend more time and more calling each person back that has the same question, then if one typed up post came out.  The government does work for us!

When you email the Mayor, demand he email you back!  If you ask a question, and get the answer to how to make clean water dirty, ask the question and demand a real answer.  Make them accountable.  Most of the time, you will force their hand or get the answer, “I cannot comment on that!”  Don’t take whatever mumbo gumbo that comes out of their mouths if it didn’t answer the question.  Push them to answer the question!

Over 500 of you people visit my blog daily.  We are starving for information.  We do live in the information day of age.  I get the feeling the Mayor thinks it is the 1960’s in more way then one.

Someone had just emailed me (people are up at all hours, not just when city hall is open, imagine that)

Wow...

"As the rest of the U.S. enters a recession, Cudahy continues in a depression.  We don't need the Wal-Mart, because people in a depression cannot afford to shop."

That was cold.

Yes, it is harsh and if we don’t try and turn the ship around soon, it will happen.

People what do you call a city with declining population/student enrollment, losing jobs, pushing out other companies who want in, anti-business, and crime on the rise?

The ship is taking on water, but it doesn’t have to sink.  Turn on the bilge pumps and with all of us helping to bail the water, and some of us correcting the sail and plugging the holes we can make it.

It will take all of us working together with a leader who can lead by example and can articulate the course of action.

Various US States Apparently in Recession

news.yahoo.com/.../state_finances;_ylt=AnmXPDKTVIwePxyI1IcmKQiyBhIF

So it isn’t that far of a leap that some cities are in a depression!

Why are you so ready to bail out with $12 million the same exact developer that give Cudahy its "Iceport", tied up the property from any possibility of someone else developing for over 6 years and sued the city fo $6 million?

The question appears not to be if a Wal Mart is coming to Cudahy. It is do the citizens wish either a full sized Wal Mart Supercenter in Cudahy or a scaled back 2/3rds store at this site. Do the Citizens want to throw away the equivilent of over $2,000 in TID tax money per family in Cudahy, just because the present landowner's handpicked developer says we need to let Sportsite sell the land they bought from Cudahy for $1, for over $12 million now, or do the citizens wish to increase the taxable land of Cudahy by another 1%.

The answers are very easy. The question then becomes why are you pushing so hard for the needless waste of million of new tax dollars when Cudahy already has some of the highest taxes in the state? Let the city finish foreclosing on Sportsite's land, not reward Sportsites with another $12 million, because they sued us.

THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS.  

Colbalt partners have submitted their alternative request for a 30% larger big box retail store in Cudahy. Their plan is to take tax exempt City of Milwaukee land located at Layton and Penn in Cudahy and put it on the city tax roll. Their location would handle more trafic and has more surrounding CUDAHY land for the future spinoff developement. It would be much more of a draw for a larger surround area if it were full sized. IF Cudahy accepts a 30% smaller Supercenter, it would have 30% less offerings and would probably lead to about 30% (or more?) of the shoppers going to the full sized store in Franklin. Just look at the Sears appliance store in Cudahy vs Sears West Allis Store.

LETS NOT FORGET THIS IS OUR TAX MONEY OF ABOUT $2,832.32 PER FAMILY.

Above you were complaining about the waste of less than a tenth as much for Packard Plaza. (By the way the Packard Plaza did pay back every penny of the $1.5 Million)

Joe Henika

Joe you have an error - the same exact developer that give Cudahy its "Iceport", tied up the property from any possibility of someone else developing for over 6 years and sued the city for $6 million

Not the same developer Sportsites LLC was the Iceport, and Continental Properties is the current one.

We just need to have it said!

Sportsites LLC still owes the land as of today. Check the current title. Mr Kasten still controls Sportsites LLC. Mr Kasten originally also started "Iceport" which was the company to run the day to day business.  Because the city finnally told Mr. Kasten after 5 years that the city will no longer deal with him, Iceport or Sportsites LLC, Mr Kasten hand picked Continental Properties to negotiate for the sale of the property the city sold to Sportsites LLC for $1.

Continental Properties only has a contract to buy the property from Sportsites LLC for $6.6 million. The contract is also subject to the assumption that Cudahy will release our first mortgage lien, which covers the $3.54 million the city paid for the front land and the $2.855 million the city gave Sportsites LLC to buy the back parcel of land. Sportsites LLC and its creditors get the full "benifit" of the $12.9 million "sales price". Most likely Continental Properties will not be the end owner of any of the land and buildings at Cudahy Station. The normal way these types of developements are done is that there will be 4-6 brand new LLCs created, one for each building.

Because the city is not a direct party to the contract between Continental and Sportsites, the citizens of Cudahy have no way to know for sure that there is not some other benefit promised to Mr. Kasten et al, i.e. a part interest in one of the new LLCs, a developement fee, or even an out lot.

The reason that the city is negotiating with Continental, is a stepulation that "freezes" Sportsites LLC's suit against the city and the city's forclosure of the Sportsites' mortgage.

Th reason the city can not use the $6,6 Million paid by Continental for the land, as an offset against $10 million for the new MILWAUKK Wave building, is that, that money is needed to pay off the contractors that Sportsites never paid for the old rusty monument. It is this throwing of $12 plus million into the pot, just to "bail out" Sportsites LLC, that I oppose. I understand that it will take more time and a some money to finish the foreclosure. We have nearly lost another year with these current negotiations. Let get the foreclosure re-started ASAP.  

Joe Henika

That may all be true, but they are different companies.

Yes they are different companies. But remember Sportsites hired Continental to develope (sell) the Sportsites land. It is not much different than selling a property yourself "by owner" VS using a "real estate agent". The same person gets the money. In both cases Mr Kasten and his creditors get rewarded (bailed out) by over $12 mllion. The same Cudahy taxpayers get shorted the same $12 million already invested in the site.

The city of Cudahy never did a public RFP or "Request for Proposal" for this site. Normally a city would be required by law to publish ads and send out spec sheets asking many different developers to bring in different ideas and have competative bidding. There would be a public hearing before a contract would be signed. Continental Properties did not come to the city through this process. Continental Properties could only bypass this legal requirement, because they are continuimg the Sportsites LLC negotiation process, on behalf of the land owner. Let the city get its land back and then Continental Properties can compete legally with everyone else who whats to develope the land. The taxpayer of Cudahy can then save the equivilent of $2,000 per family.

"a rose by any other name still smells as sweet" and a pile of Milorganic is still a pile.

Joe Henika

Joe, Joe, Joe  A pile of manure by any other name......   well you get the point.