It is 708, his honor, the mayor
for seeing Corey Mason is with us.
And thanks for joining us this morning.
Want to pull that closer?
Yeah, good one here.
Every word you want to say this morning.
Thank you for joining us.
I know you're a busy guy and you got a
schlep in here when I ask and it was very nice.
I'm glad to do it.
Happy to do it.
Yes.
Okay.
So where are we staying in the city?
We're seeing what are the good things
we're seeing.
We're seeing what are the good things
we're seeing.
We're seeing what are the good things
going on today.
What are we working on?
Let's get all that out of the way
before we get to my list here.
Sure.
Before I forget what I wrote, sure.
No, absolutely.
Yeah.
So what's going on that's good
about the city ever seen right now?
Yeah.
So I mean, we have a couple of
developments coming up that are pretty
exciting.
So it'll come up at the next council
meeting hopefully if we get a
quorum to meet.
But we've got an expansion of the
hotel in the downtown hotel
Vernon.
They want to put in a spa and then
they've bought some land on the river
and what is it doing?
It's doing well.
It's doing well.
It's doing well.
Yeah.
It always takes a little bit of time
for them to ramp up.
I mean, the new is going to take a
couple of years to get the,
you know, enough people leasing out
ahead of time and booking
weddings and stuff.
But they've been, they've been
pleased with it.
And if people haven't been to the
rooftop bar to check out the view
of the downtown.
I mean, the weather's nicer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, it's, it's open year round.
They have a nice like wall of glass
doors that open and close.
You can still enjoy it in the
winter months, but it's really
nice.
Somebody asked me if I stayed there
yet.
And I said, no, I live six blocks
away from it.
No, I haven't stayed there yet.
But yes, I do want to have dinner
today.
It's, I mean, it's a great view.
You can, it's just, you know, you
can look over one shoulder and see
the wind point lighthouse.
Look over the other shoulder and
see the SCJ research tower.
It's a great view of the lake in
the river.
So it's really added a lot toward
downtown.
They're doing well and want to
expand.
So we're excited about that.
The breakwater over on lake,
which is our newest market rate
housing development down south
town, which opened.
You're just at the end of last
October is already half full.
So we're excited to see the
occupancy going on there.
So that occupancy is half full.
How many rooms are in there?
How many apartments
rather?
It's over 200.
I don't know.
I would, I would be guessing
if I told you the exact number.
But it's, it's over 200,
220, someone around there.
I mean, we're building it.
You were in here.
And I said, I got two levels.
Are they going to put a third?
They put a third.
Are they going to put a fourth?
They put a fourth.
Every time you came in,
where you were adding a level.
It's going up and up.
So yeah.
And that's also got some
spectacular views of the harbor.
And they've got a great
community room there.
And they managed to build it in such
a way where almost all the rooms
have a lake view might be out of
the side of the building.
Instead of,
they've been,
not surprisingly, you know,
it seems as though the
the apartments with the lake views
filled up first.
You ever get complaints when
you build something that
close to the lake,
where some other people say,
you just block my view.
You know,
there's some people who would,
there's always the risk of when
you do some development.
Somebody will say,
boy, rather, you didn't.
Right.
But we are a landlock
community.
There is a real housing shortage
that exists here in the city
and regionally.
And so, you know,
moving forward,
it means that buildings will
probably be more dense and taller
than they were before.
But it was, you know,
long ago, a place where they
stood out.
But it was, you know,
a place where,
you know,
a place where,
a place where,
you know,
a place where,
you know,
a place where they
stood, you know,
coal piles when they
would come in off of the
lake.
So, you know, the city
spent a good bit of time
before even I came in as
mayor cleaning the site out
and getting it ready
for redevelopment.
So, are we energies
building there?
It was.
Yeah.
So, first,
and so, we energies sold the
building of the city.
Oh, gosh, must be 12,
15 years ago now.
And, you know,
Eric Havdy was the developer
on it and stuck with it and
was, you know, glad to have
him down here to cut the
ribbon on it.
And it was great.
So, we talked about
blocking views.
Yeah.
Rod Lancer, he was the
comptroller for the city
of Milwaukee.
He also started
summer fest.
He was the first
director of summer fest.
He took my parents
and I had a tour.
He was putting together
tours of Milwaukee and
it brought us to the
skinny little house.
It was called the
Spite House.
And what happened was he
didn't get along with his
neighbor.
So, he built a home.
He bought a little plot
of land built of building
a little tiny building
just to block his view.
And it's still there and
it's for a tour as the
Spite House because he
built it for Spite.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is not the Spite
apartment building.
No, it's not.
And I was saying, you
know, what's lining up
behind it is a parking lot.
And, you know, and what's
nice that I really
appreciate what they did is
they also created some of
the land next to it to create
sort of some green space to
go through.
So, it really helps connect
Main Street.
If you go down, you know,
Sixth Street there to,
or not Sixth Street.
Sorry.
Third Street there to connect
with, to better connect with
the, the Marina and the
the waterfront there.
So they, they have created
an easement for some public
space to improve access
that didn't exist there at
all.
So I think it's, it's a good
improvement.
But anytime you do some
development, people will say,
gee, I remember when this used
to be Farmfield.
See, I remember when there
was nothing here.
And, you know, I, I get that
missing.
I remember when the giant
dinosaurs were rolling there.
It's a, right.
Do you, I asked people this
government and elsewhere?
But I asked, we have one of
the candidates in here for the
fifth district, Jen Strogens
and the other day asked them,
do you know how long those
white lines are in the road
when you're traveling in the
fighter lines, the dotted white
lines?
Do you know how long they are
each one?
Oh, I know, I know.
Take a guess.
What would you think?
How would you feed?
Five feet.
See, I would have thought
two or three feet.
And I measured it.
It's 12 and a half feet.
And we had somebody in here
from the,
from the building department
of the road to construction.
And you see, they're all
built at 12 and a half
feet.
It does not look like
12 and a half feet.
It doesn't.
So I waited till main street
was empty, no cars.
And I went out there and I
measured it.
It was 12 and a half feet.
I was shocked.
Wow.
I thought it was like two or
three feet.
Everybody does.
Yeah.
And then you see this.
Okay.
So that's what's good with the
city we're seeing.
We're doing fine.
Yeah.
Money, okay.
We're doing okay.
We're not broke or anything.
There's a lot of money that
belongs to companies.
They're not not going to be
sold down with the federal
government right now and I
will just say is they're
talking about freezing
Is that I that's what's
going to ask.
Is this affecting you at
all of the city?
but there's just,
I think everybody is waiting.
I mean, they really talk about
doing the Medicaid cuts
that they're talking about.
That'll have real impacts to
our public health department
if they're really talking about
limiting federal funds.
Even people don't,
I mean, just take a
transit department.
For example, that's 80%
federally funded.
I mean, the estimates are
somewhere between 30 and 35%
of the city's budget is
federally funded, either
directly from the federal
government or through the
state that hands out federal
funds.
So that makes it a real
challenge on how to proceed.
So, you know, we're certainly
looking closely at
Senator Baldwin will be here
tomorrow, actually, to talk
about her concerns about
potential cuts to Medicaid.
So that's real.
But for the 2025 budget that
passed last fall, we are fully
funded.
We've got things in place.
The community center
health clinic has broken
ground and, you know,
it's beginning to be built.
So we are moving forward on
our priorities and we'll
continue to do so.
But, you know, there's
certainly a lot of people
happening in Washington
right now where cities
across the country are
really watching for, like,
what does this mean moving
forward?
That's scary.
It is.
It is.
And I feel bad for people
that are dependent on
programs.
Yeah.
That they have no control
over now.
That's right.
And, you know,
you put these programs
and affect people
depend on them.
They set their lives
and order based on these
programs.
Yeah.
And then you snatch them
away.
Yeah.
And not everybody's that
savvy where they know how
to get around.
They're stuck.
Yeah.
And I think we have a lot of
unfeeling people in Washington
who just don't care about
people's feelings.
I think if you're removed
enough from needing those
services, you might just
think, oh, there must be
a lot of ways.
Yeah, I've got a couple
of million in the bank.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anybody, everybody should
take their millions
and go by their own
insurance.
Well, the idea that we're
going to have billionaires
decide that the way we're going
to pay for a big tax break
for more millionaires
and billionaires
is by cutting age
and from Medicaid
or Medicare
or Social Security
or some of the other programs
that people rely on.
I just,
I think people voted last fall
because they were upset
about inflation
and the high cost
of groceries and wanted
something fix.
I don't think people
were signing up
for having billionaires
take away their benefits
to pay for more tax breaks
for really rich people.
I don't think people
are going to have
eggs decided.
Oh, my.
More than you think.
I mean, I think people
were really frustrated.
They put so much stock
in the price of eggs.
Did you see what I
paid for a dozen eggs?
I want them out.
I will also say this
about government.
Because, I mean,
you know, the city deals
with the federal government
all the time.
And, you know, I'm not
somebody to say that
the way everything works
in government is perfect.
There is more bureaucracy
than you like there to be
sometimes.
There's more, you know,
hoops to jump through
in me as somebody who
partners with the state
and all the time.
We bring resources here.
There's a lot of work
that goes into that.
And you often think,
well, there's got to be
an easier way to do this.
I mean, you know, we'll use
one out of five federal
dollars from the housing
and urban development just
to comply with all the rules.
Right?
And much rather put that money
into home repairs
and some other programs.
I've been, you know,
filling out pipe paperwork
for a bureaucrat in Chicago
or Washington DC.
So I think we should acknowledge
the piece of it that's true
is could government work
better?
Could it be more efficient?
Yes.
But that doesn't mean you take
away people's health care
benefits or their social
security or the things that
people rely on to be healthy
and have some dignity
in their old age.
They have no money to deal
with. That's right.
That's right, you know,
I'm very fortunate I can deal
with it.
A lot of people can't deal
with it, yeah.
W. J. N.
Whoa.
He's not, what?
Just what I opened the
microphone.
He's under the mayor of
Racine.
He had Corey Mesa
who istill here talking
about a variety of topics.
His one, one of our listeners
wants me to bring up.
Kid, which is, it's money
for repairs for your homes.
And his question was, why is
his neighborhood not in it?
Everybody else's neighborhoods
are in it.
Well, it's not everybody else's
neighborhood, but there are five
what are called neighborhood
tax increment districts that
we have set up for people in
those neighborhoods to do home
repairs to get their homes up
to code or to do some
improvement to their home.
Those five districts roughly
run between one of the
neighborhoods.
One of them runs between
Gould and Melvin.
If you live over in that area,
another one sort of on the
south side historic district
to 23 and that runs between
12th and and decoven and as far
east as center street.
So if you're in that neighborhood,
there's another one in the west
Racine area sort of if you're
if you're between victory
and Linderman and
Washington and Ohio that
that qualifies for some space.
And what do they get?
What are they looking for?
Oh, it's a great question.
Yeah.
So what do you get?
So you can get up to a $10,000
home repair loan.
It's a loan.
It's a forgivable loan.
You got to stay in the house.
But you've got to match.
If you want to do an
improvement, it's a one-to-one
match.
If you want to, you know,
if you're lower income and you
need to repair like you need a
new roof or something like that.
But what we found is a lot of
these neighborhoods as we've
seen houses falling to
disrepair, you'll run into a
homeowner who might be on a
fixed income and say,
look, I'd love to repair the
roof or put on, you know, new
steps on the porch.
But I just can't afford it.
And so what we were finding is
it was a good way to reinvest
in the neighborhood that helps
maintain property values and
stabilize the neighborhood.
And helps, you know, people be
able to stay in their homes
longer than they otherwise might.
It's been a very popular
program.
The other kids are around the
Springs Creek corridor,
basically from 38 to
spring.
If you're in one of those
areas, you can go to our city
of Racine Housing Repair
program.
And those are the $1
forgivable loans.
We also have forgivable
loans for everywhere else.
But those are income
qualified spaces.
So you have to make less than
80% area median income to
qualify there.
So we do have loans and
grants for just about everywhere.
It might not qualify for
everybody, but for just about
everybody.
If you need help with either a
low interest loan or a
forgivable loan slash grant to
do some home repairs, we want
to invest in you and in the
home that you own and live
in to help stabilize the
neighborhood and help people
out with their home repairs.
How do you decide which
neighborhood to get these
grants?
It's a great question.
So state law dictates how you
create what are called tax
increment districts, right?
And so, and the way that
works, people say, well,
well, you're raising my taxes
then.
We're not.
What we're basically saying is
in these districts that we
create as the home values go
up instead of putting those
taxes into the city for revenue.
Instead, we put it towards
these home repair programs.
And you do that for the course
of 20 some years of the life
of the kid, and you can
really reinvest in those
properties and make that happen.
So we're basically taking the
new value on the properties,
the additional value on those
properties and reinvesting it
into the neighborhoods.
You create them at least half
the area has to be blighted
to qualify for a neighborhood
tax increment district.
But then the other part of it
has to be doing well enough
that the area is still increasing
in value, right?
So there's sort of a very,
we couldn't just pick anywhere
to do a neighborhood improvement
did.
There are some areas that are not
increasing in value, and that's
a different set of problems.
But kids wouldn't work there
because there would be no new
revenue to capture.
There are other areas that have
no real blight in them at all.
So there would be no
justification to do it.
So you kind of have to
sort of a Goldilocks approach
to it.
You know, the porch can't be
too hot.
The porch can't be too cold.
It has to be just right.
So we've identified these
neighborhoods that have some
housing challenges, but are
still increasing in value, helped
stabilize those neighborhoods,
and really helps community
members reinvest in those homes.
See, I can never be mayor.
I can never be anybody in
government because I don't know
these things.
And I understand you're
explaining it, but I could
never tell somebody,
no, you're not getting money.
Well, again, that's like
I can't be under jury.
You can't send someone to
the gas chamber.
I could never do it.
Well, you have identified one
of the most challenging parts
about being a mayor.
You know, you'd love to say
yes to everybody all the time.
Anyway, you could, right?
You want to help as many people
as you can for as long as you
can.
But you don't always have all
the resources or all the
authority to do all the things
that you like to do for everybody.
But we, you know, these
programs are going to put about
four to five million dollars
a year back into home repairs
in the community for decades
to come.
And we think that's going to
help stabilize those neighborhoods.
And again, if you don't live
in one of those districts,
but you need help with a home
repair loan or a grant, we do
have some for everybody else
under some other programs.
So if you're interested, I
encourage people to give my
office a call, two, six, two,
six, three, six, nine, one, one,
one.
And we can put you in the
folks in touch with the
folks in the development
office and see how we might
be able to help you out.
You know, my mother gave me
advice from my daughter was
born.
She said, I did this with you
and your brother.
You can't say no every single
time.
You eventually you're going to
have to break down even
though you don't want to.
You've got to say yes every
once in a while because of
that child.
Here's no every single time
they're just going to give up.
Yeah.
And you've got to say yes
sometimes.
And that's.
Well, last year over 200
homeowners got to hear yes.
I'm doing some home repair
grants.
So we're excited about the
opportunity.
That creates is on air the
mayor for St.
Cory Mason is here.
We haven't for a few more
minutes.
Uh, we've got a clock a drop
dead time from to get out.
So, I'm going to stick to
that.
His honor is here the mayor
for St.
Cory Mason.
What they're talking about the
elections coming up April
1st.
There's a lot of things on the
belt.
There's referendums on the
ballot.
And people were not going to
might do it.
You know about that referendum.
Yeah, but I want to know.
Here's what I want.
Do I vote yes or no to get that
to happen?
And that's the trouble with
some of the referendums.
Yeah.
Both of them.
You do.
Yes.
So I want to talk a little bit
about the fire department referendum.
So we have a federal grant that
ends in the year ahead that
funds nine of our firefighters.
Right.
And so we've had it for a few
years.
The grant ends.
We really need to maintain
those nine firefighters.
If we don't have those nine
firefighters, it makes
response times take longer.
And it's relatively cheap.
Right.
It's about $30 a year for
every $100,000 value of your
home.
So for most people, it's, you
know, three or four bucks a
month that it might impact their
taxes to make sure that we've
got good and safe response
times from the fire department.
The fire department does a
great job.
Their calls for service have gone
up.
So we're getting more and more
calls in a given year.
We really need those nine
firefighters to stay in place.
So if you want to make sure that
we can get here house timely.
If if a loved one needs an
ambulance or God forbid, there's
a fire that we need to deal with.
And that's what I want to do.
I want to talk to you.
I want to talk to you.
I want to talk to you.
I want to talk to you.
Yes.
The fire department.
If you want the fire
fired.
Vote yes.
OK.
What else?
You know, the other
references?
There's the school referendum as
well.
And so that's the add resources to
the school district, you know,
for whatever reason the state is
not done.
It's fair share of sending enough
resources back to school
districts like receiving that
they have needs.
And so the school districts
essentially saying, they need
more resources just to maintain
the level of staffing and education
that they have now.
So another important measure.
If you care about the public
schools and making sure our kids
have a chance to get a decent
education and bounce back from
from the COVID and everything else.
We really need we really need to
invest in those schools.
So if you believe in those things
and want our kids to have successful
public schools.
And frankly, you know, as we're
trying to get people to live and
receive and or stay and
receive how people feel about
those schools really matters.
That's what a lot of families
look at before they decide to
live somewhere.
They will tell me what the
schools are like.
You know, when I sold real
estate for a short time.
Two questions.
What's the house made out of?
And how are the schools?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's important thing.
If we want to keep people
here, we want to recruit families
to want to live here.
You really got to invest in public
schools.
Okay.
So the answer, if you want to
invest in the public school referendum
is yes.
Is yes.
And the reason Mary and I were
talking about this off the
year.
Sometimes they're written in such
a way where if you answer yes,
well, then you meant no.
If you know, then you meant yes.
And that's why I get so confused
on these.
And I'm sitting there reading
these things.
Like I didn't get out of grammar
school.
And I'm looking at every word
just to make sure I got over.
Then I get done.
And my wife says to me, well,
you didn't vote yes.
Did you?
That means you voted no.
Right?
So, man, we'll say they're worded
in a clunky sort of way.
State statutes requires that the
city and the school district
write them that way.
It's written in the laws.
How must be clunky?
Almost.
Almost.
No, it's actually the language
you have to use is actually the
verb you just actually listed in
the statute.
So we have to sort of copy and
paste that and then insert the
numbers as they may need to appear.
But it does create a challenge.
The other thing I guess we'll say
about the fire referendum.
Well, if we vote for this,
are you guys going to spend it
on something else?
No.
By resolution, it can only be
spent on maintaining those
positions and making sure that
we've got a good fire department
that can respond to emergency calls
when people need it.
Okay.
And finally this morning,
Stuart J. Wattles in our news was
talking about the meeting last
night.
He didn't have a quorum.
Yeah.
The thing was over in 30 seconds.
The meeting.
What's that all about?
What's going on there?
Because I don't understand it.
And I heard Stuart explain it.
And I still don't understand it.
And I went to college and I don't
understand it.
Right.
Right.
So the way the state law works for
any city council to meet two thirds
of the elected officials have to be
there to have quorum.
There's other committees or, you
know, nonprofit boards who might be
on where you have to have half the
people there to have quorum.
But under state law it's two thirds.
So we have 15 members of the council
with 15 alderman who get elected
around the city.
If 10 of them aren't there, we can't
have a meeting.
So this is the second meeting in a
row where we've had enough absences
that we couldn't convene a meeting.
And so what was the meeting about?
We had a number of things.
We had a couple of developments up.
We had a number of proposals to go
through.
We had grants to apply for.
It's a normal.
Of course, we need to usually a
16 page agenda with quite a few
things on there.
There were liquor license items on
there.
There were a number of things on
there.
We need to have a meeting that we
need to do approve.
And some of them are timely.
So, you know, we need people to be
able to, look, I get some people can
get sick.
And I think that's what happened in
some cases.
I've missed meetings in the past
because I've been sick.
I'm still getting over.
You can hear my voice a little bit,
a bit of a, the neurovirus that was
going around.
Oh great.
So, that can happen.
So, that can happen.
Why?
But I will say, you know, if the
council's going to function, we do need
people to show up so that we can
conduct our business.
So why wouldn't somebody show up?
Not saying.
You're right.
They could be sick.
They could have had an emergency.
Why would they not show up?
What would be the purpose?
I think you would have to ask them.
Why?
I mean, I can't speak for the
other elders.
I just know for us to do the work.
We have to actually show up.
I mean, there was a time earlier this
the last year where they were
intentionally not showing up to
pursue an agenda that they wanted to
get done.
I hope it's not a return to some of
that.
But, you know, we need people to show
up and any show up for work to do the
work of the people.
And I think that's what we need to
do.
We need people to show up.
We need people to show up and
show up for work to do the work
of the people.
And I hope that this is the,
we're not going to see a third
meeting where we can't conduct
business because people don't
show up to do their job.
Okay.
Hey, I appreciate you coming in.
Yeah.
My pleasure.
I told you to be up.
I courted too.
And minutes to spare.
So I keep my word just to have a
seat.
It's honor the mayor for seeing
glad to see you in here.
By the way, how did you knew
office staff?
They're great.
They're great.
Yeah.
Because Ellen in the office
retired.
So we got a great new guy named
Nick Wilkin.
Shout out to Nick.
And a Coast Guard guy who's,
you know, is working to the
Milwaukee D.A.'s office before
he came to us.
He's doing a great job.
So if you call my office,
Nick's very friendly.
So shout out to Nick.
And he's been great and keeping
me on the straight narrow and,
you know, sent me the text
message really this morning.
Don't forget.
You've got to be on WRJN by
seven AM.
So I appreciate that very much.
Did he send you the picture?
Yes.
He did.
He did.
We are a little Facebook picture
of you.
Yeah.
There you go.
We send that out every day.
Thank you for coming in.
I appreciate it.
I appreciate it.
Have a great day everyone.
And I'll see you next month.
