Goals for this year

As we continue to gear up for 2010, I wanted to share a few of the initiatives I’ll be pursuing throughout the year.

Newsletters

Starting this week, volunteers and I will be delivering the first of two newsletters into the district by hand. By skipping the post office and dropping off the updates personally, we’ll be saving over $6,000 for the year. This is on top of the monthly email newsletter and this column that help citizens keep up with what’s going on around the county.

Aerotropolis

I will be introducing legislation to further advance economic development around the Mitchell Airport. If successful, Milwaukee County will join other municipalities to form a nonprofit organization that will be able to better market the unique opportunities provided by Milwaukee’s low-cost airport, low traffic, and low shipping costs. Milwaukee has a great opportunity to show off our stark contrast to Chicago’s higher cost of doing business combined with its long shipping delays by road and air.

If we can work successfully together as a region, the surge of new airlines fighting to get market dominance at Mitchell Airport will only be a precursor to companies moving to take advantage of our growing shipping industry.

Community Gardens

If legislation I’m introducing this month passes, Milwaukee County will be adding a strip of community gardens on the east side of Sixth Street and south of Howard. This land has been vacant and unused for two decades so we’re going to try to put it to use. The Garden District Neighborhood Association has agreed to work on the first plots this summer. If successful, we will expand the project and invite other groups to put more land to good use.

Do you have other projects you’d like to see pursued in 2010? Please give me a call at 278-4252 or send me an email at chris.larson@milwcnty.com.

Chris Larson is supervisor of Milwaukee County’s 14th District, which encompasses southern parts of Bay View, the airport, and other parts of Milwaukee’s southeast side. He can be reached at chris.larson@milwcnty.com or (414) 278-4252.

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