MILWAUKEE – While there’s no magic number that quantifies whether or not a city is “world-class”, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson remains adamant the city can reach a population of one million people.
That was one message of growth the mayor included in his 2024 State of the City address from the Western Building Products facility on the city’s northwest side, under the umbrella title of “Growing Milwaukee”.
“I am a huge proponent of growth. I call the effort ‘Growing Milwaukee'” Mayor Johnson said Monday. “I want our city to attract new jobs and new residents. I want Milwaukee’s story of innovation and opportunity to be known across the country.”
Mayor Johnson highlighted strides in public safety, including a nine percent drop in what the FBI labels Part 1 crimes, and a 25 percent decrease in both non-fatal shootings and carjackings.
In that same vein, the mayor announced the city is seeking 75 million dollars in federal money to support safety plans for the upcoming Republican National Convention. “Just yesterday, Senator Tammy Baldwin informed me of a major step forward when that funding was included in pending legislation. I encourage Congress to finalize that safety money.”
Johnson said these funds have been allocated to host cities since 2004 in the wake of September 11th. But given cost increases and inflation over the past four years, the ask this year is a bit more than years past. “With the need to make sure we keep up with the increase in cost, we asked the federal government to increase the security grant amount. It appears we’re in a position to receive some of that. That’s not a slam dunk just yet…it’s pending legislation.” Johnson said after the speech.
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Keeping with the theme of growth, Johnson also highlighted efforts to move forward forty-five traffic calming projects, build 50 miles of protected bike lanes in the city, and add transparency to the process of lead service line replacement. A new website allows people to track the lead pipe replacement work, and the mayor remained confident the city can replace its entire lead service lines in the next ten years.
In terms of items that need work, Johnson said he’s closely following the situation with the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, which for the last year has been under review by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and has been mandated to hire an outside agency to run its multi-million-dollar Housing Choice Voucher division. “The Authority has faced some very real challenges over the past several years navigating the pandemic and managing through very significant budget challenges,” said Johnson. “I am keeping a close eye on the agency…They are headed in the right direction, and I have confidence in the agency’s leadership.”
Stay tuned to WTMJ for more reaction and analysis from the mayor’s speech.
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