Team Olson looks past April 4th, faces Council reality
Right down to the wire, Mayor Steve Olson has been fairly successful at dodging The Rock developer's Ballpark Commons project. This includes not electing to participate in a candidate forum with challenger Basil Ryan.
The dialogue on Franklin Facebook Groups, which mainly consist of Olson supporters or those who dare to post anything, has shifted from aldermanic attacks to addressing the future of Franklin. In particular, since FT's post on Thursday regarding the 3-member land board governing non-parkland in the county, Olson has come out in favor of Ballpark Commons stating "The plan is now in the hands of Milwaukee County."
This brings the desire of keeping tabs on Olson’s nominee, a confirmed appointment to that 3-member land board, full circle given a portion of the development is on county property that's not parkland. Recall the 3-member land board has been granted decision-making powers of sales related to non-parkland parcels owned by the county. Franklin has a significant amount of County land which could reshape our community if developed, but I digress.
The significance of the tactical shift gives the appearance that Mayor Olson is maybe quietly acknowledging the Council may not shift all that much. If he doesn’t learn to work with the Council he could find himself in a worse position for supporting his expensive projects.
The aldermanic race that has been mostly silent is the unopposed District 6. Fair Commissioner, John Nelson is running unopposed as current Alderwoman Susanne Mayer stepped aside. It’s not typical to see a one-term alderman but Mayer had her share of pounding from Olson and his not-so-friendly supporters.
Nelson's Council vote is up in the air and could become very pivotal. Nelson has strong support from Alderman Steve Taylor, former Mayor Tom Taylor and State Representative Ken Skowronski. The lack of Nelson criticism from the Olson camp, however, is allowing some wiggle room to pull Nelson into the mayor’s camp if re-elected.
With an Olson re-election, it could mean the Council and Mayor may have several encounters, such as:
How will Olson's nomination to the Milwaukee County land sales board handle the Ballpark Commons development if the developer wants to purchase non-parkland from the county to make it happen, and how will the Council and/or Olson handle the repercussions of his YES or NO vote if the vote is 2-1.
Olson will be reappointing commissioners, one being Dave Pautz to the Parks Commission, who must believe yelling at the Council and reporting erroneous project data equals to a shoo-in. Will the Council see having openly hostile Commissioners being in the best interests of the City?
What will happen with Olson's big kahuna - the warehouse park he wants at the Milwaukee/Racine County Line? There are many approvals that still need to happen, and while the Council has been open to listening, will Olson's tactics during this campaign sour the Council?
Olson would need 4 votes or a 3-3-tie breaker on the Council to pass legislation or funding. He has two locked up with his campaign's Treasurer, Mark Dandrea of the 1st District and Mike Barber of the 5th District was supported by Olson allies when he ran against former Alderman Doug Schmidt. Dan Mayer of the 2nd bounces back and forth too much to be considered a solid lock. Nelson’s vote becomes fairly important to Olson at this point, especially if Pete Kosovich can’t muster the votes to overcome Steve Taylor in the 4th. Ultimately, though, if Basil Ryan is elected mayor, all assumptions are off and FT will be reassessing.
UPDATE 4/2/17 @ 5:34pm: It was brought to FT's attention that Mr. Nelson serves on more than one committee. In addition to the Fair Commission, Nelson is the Vice Chairman of the Fire & Police Commission, per the city website.