ELECTION 2017: The winners

With the results in, let's talk about who gained, and who lost turf, in Franklin's political mess that we call the Spring, 2017 Elections.

WINNERS

Steve Olson – Mayor Olson retains his seat despite creating some unhappy neighborhoods by his previous decisions. Apathetic voters resulted in only a 25% voter turnout deciding the fate of Franklin. Olson may have retained his seat but his campaign supporters in the process slammed many of those he will need votes from to get his proposals passed. With the exception of rude comments at Council meetings, Olson has always been a master at finding people to do his dirty work while he smiles and hands out back pats.

Basil Ryan – While the Mayoral challenger didn’t win, his candidacy came closer than many expected. Ryan faced a significant uphill battle against Mayor Olson, but took on the lack of progress related to economic development during Olson's first 3 years and hunkered down. It proved to be a hot issue but not enough to overcome the incumbent mayor. It remains unknown if the results would have changed had Basil been able to present his case to the public or gained better social media access. Olson declined a candidate forum invitation and Ryan's campaign started late on social media forums. Team Olson formed a support base on several Franklin Facebook groups that propagated Olson content for weeks. When Ryan come on, his attempts were met with individuals flagging his Facebook account as spam, triggering the social media giant to shut his account down until he could verify his identity. Despite the Facebook "O Patrol", Ryan pulled off a respectable number of votes, turning off any previous perceived Olson landslide to a difference of less than 10%. Ryan's recall stigma was seemingly overcome as he took on the false information to clear his name, and this could open more political doors for Ryan in the future.

Steve Taylor - The Franklin Alderman and County Supervisor has had his fair share of hate mail from Team Olson, and each time Taylor comes up for re-election the same people feel like they got him. Taylor effectively proves them wrong again with his re-election as the 4th District representative. The final 2-weeks of curbing the Olson political machine supporting Taylor’s opponent shows Taylor can tackle political attacks perhaps more effectively and discreetly than Olson’s camp.

Kristen Wilhelm - The Common Council President ran unopposed for re-election, but between Olson supporters on social media and his bud the Baleful Blogger, you'd think she had numerous opponents. She held her own through the onslaught of blog posts and Facebook comments on community groups. Olson’s own inaccuracies sparked a backlash towards Wilhelm when he announced a poster unhappy with Olson’s tactics was her “companion”, followed by more flubs spewed from Olson supporters and the Baleful Blogger (BB). However, Wilhelm still pulled in a 97% election result.

Ballpark Commons - One of the largest projects in Franklin, including preliminary Council approvals for a TIF District, received little-to-no recognition throughout the campaigns. However, that changed last minute when FT covered the project’s silence and how key people nominated by or connected with Mayor Olson will play a role in the project moving forward or not. Suddenly, the "downtown" project received some fanfare when Olson replied he supported it. FT plans to keep tabs as Ballpark Commons clears its remaining hurdles. Mayor Olson stated, "It's in the hands of Milwaukee County", without mentioning the hands of his nominee to the county land board.

Olson's Warehouse Park Project - FT read this term being used by Council President Wilhelm with regards to Mayor Olson's desire for a business park along 27th Street at the Milwaukee/Racine County Line. It's a good term to use because unless there is better access provided by the State DOT and with some "unique" business types currently present around the proposed site, the new business park will likely consist of speculative industrial buildings - warehouses – with much less appeal than Franklin’s current Business Park. Olson's re-election means a continued push for the warehouse park, which benefits the Oak Creek-Franklin School District. The day before the election, the Council gave Olson his requested consultant, Ruekert Mielke, who will work to change the flood zone into developable land. The Council hesitation to move forward (versus close the TID and provide the required tax relief to residents) has been reversed, primarily by Alderman Taylor's new line up on an interested developer that could add momentum behind Olson’s desired plans.