As conversation continues about a proposed new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks, a grassroots group would like the owners to invest $30 million in the city's struggling neighborhoods in exchange for public funding for a basketball venue.
Under the deal leaders have crafted, the public could contribute $250 million for a new arena.
Members of Common Ground made their case at City Hall on Wednesday. Several, including Jennifer O'Hear, objected to the fact that the public has been excluded from all talks so far.
“Now we know that our mayor, our governor, and our county executive have been in negotiations with Milwaukee Bucks owners and their lobbyists to develop a plan to get public money to build their arena. Were any of you there? No? None of you were there? Neither were we. These negotiations have been behind closed doors. They happened in private,” O'Hear said.
One of Common Ground's goals is to improve Milwaukee neighborhoods, particularly to restored blighted and foreclosed properties. Bucks' co-owner Wesley Edens is part of Nationstar Mortgages, a company that owns dilapidated properties in town.
Keisha Krumm says Milwaukee needs to make demands in exchange for arena funding.
"When we say vote no until quid pro quo, our solution to that is that Nationstar puts up $30 million to fix up their housing crisis in our city. Now we know that the Bucks have us over a barrel and we know that that doesn’t mean that we can’t get something meaningful. Something real. Something that’s not token,” Krumm said.
Common Ground calls its next step Cyber Action. It's encouraging people to contact their elected leaders before final decisions are made.
