Business Improvement District Board #5 (westown Area) - Regular Meeting

Afternoon, everyone. I say good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Welcome to the community and economic development committee. I'm the chairman, Alderman Russell Stanford the second. To my right is the chairwoman, Alderman Zanmaripa. To my father's left is chairwoman Dimitriovich, and to her right is Alderman Deandre Jackson. And on the big board, we have Alderman Mark Chambers, and our staff assistant is miss Linda Elmer. We're excited today to announce our tech hub initiative, and let me begin with number one, two five zero zero six six zero substitute resolution designating Milwaukee's first innovation district. Thank you to the leadership of our president, mister Perez.

I'd like to start by commending him on this vision, establishing Milwaukee's first innovation district in Walker's Point is an importance is an important step toward positioning our city as a hub for creativity, entrepreneurship, and technology. And hopefully, in the ability to expand and bring out the city, we can move to the 15th Automatic District next or possibly Bayview or the 7th.

All all of them.

Of them. Yes. Yes, sir. So with that, you guys may introduce yourself, I will turn over the floor to our president. Mister president?

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Mr. Chair and all the committee members. With your permission, I'd like to if you want everyone to introduce themselves now.

I would love to.

I'll start. Steve Glenn, Chief Milwaukee Officer at Experience Milwaukee, which is a media company and also operates the Wantable Cafe, a coworking space in the heart of where this innovation district will kick off.

Excellent.

Hello everyone. Adia Johnson, CEO and Founder of the Milky Way Tech Hub, one of the leading tech hubs in the Midwest realizing a vision that the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin is the next big tech destination.

Excellent. Blanca Gonzales, Executive Director for IC Stars. We are very excited to be here. Workforce Development Internship Technology Program.

Excellent.

You all know him. I'm Joe Patchel. I'm the Executive Director of the Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition, regional nonprofit membership driven organization out to grow our tech powered economy in a Bayview residence. Good to

see you all. Hi. Wonderful. You just got points.

I would like to just kick things off by reading a portion of the proposed resolution. And Steve's queued up to talk about the why right after that. So this resolution designates a portion of Walker's Point neighborhood and surrounding areas as a Milwaukee Innovation District, whereas innovation districts are emerging neighborhoods characterized by new models of entrepreneurship, research, design, technology development and collaboration between public and private sectors and whereas designating an innovation district in the city of Milwaukee represents a critical first step towards building a dynamic twenty first century urban economy. Yes. So, committee members and chair, that's it.

That's the purpose. Okay. And with that, I will turn it over to Steve who helped us arrive to get to this point of this legislation.

Yes. Thanks President Perez. So I'll take you back in time a little bit A few months ago in June with about twenty four hours of notice, we had learned that Google's Chief of Staff for their DeepMind AI Research Lab was going to be in Milwaukee over a weekend. And so we put one post, one call out to the tech community and on a Saturday morning at eight a. M, 120 plus people showed up.

And this was the day before Father's Day. So even a busier weekend and we we get only certain amount of warm Saturdays in the summer. And so afterwards it really inspired some conversation around what do we have going on here in this cafe space. This happened at the Wantable Cafe. And what do we have going on in this community? And so I'll get to what that answer is. But first, let's just talk about why this is important, right? And really, even though

sorry,

I'm operating like 10 different things here. Even though this idea is fresh, it's got a great vibe in this neighborhood, I found an article from twenty fifteen, March seventeen that says all roads lead to Walker's Point. The city's former warehouse district is the new hub for tech and innovation. The city success stories that could further legitimize an important piece of the local economy. So this has been sitting here in front of our eyes for a very long time.

And thanks to the team here, we're going to put this together.

What year was that article?

2015 in the Milwaukee Magazine.

Interesting.

So since Luke's Google's Chief of Staff for AI, his visit, we've hosted 43 tech events in the last three months in our space. And as we were doing that and began to take inventory of what's happening in the neighborhood, we looked at other cities to see how this plays out in specifically in peer cities across The U. S. And so I have a couple of examples on the screen. And let me just tell you a little bit about each of these areas.

Chattanooga, Tennessee population 191,000. The enterprise center is the organization that sits at every table to obtain the full picture of their region's needs and capabilities and helps move their community forward to an advanced future. St. Louis, 279,000 population. St.

Louis actually has several innovation districts. One of them the center of one of them is Cortex, which has transformed the former brownfield land into a successful and dynamic hub of innovation and creativity. Tulsa, Oklahoma, population 415,000. So far none of them have surpassed Milwaukee's population. Tulsa's Innovation District prefers to the city's overall effort to create a high-tech innovation driven economic ecosystem primarily driven by their Tulsa Innovation Labs.

We don't have to even look this far to see what other areas are doing. We can look to the South to Kenosha and their innovation neighborhood, population 99,000. What they're doing down there is defining and delivering a regional destination around innovation and technology and talent development. And so as we look to Walker's Point, the opportunity is now. And I'm going to scroll so you can see the density we have in this neighborhood.

What we're talking about and what's been proposed already exists. It has been largely community driven. And with the legitimacy and the attention and the boost we can get from the city will help bring everyone who are part of these organizations and others we probably will uncover in the process can be part of this movement. So again, urgency, yes. We have companies that are on that list, but we also have companies outside of the region who want in from as far away as Atlanta who want to participate in what's happening.

So with that, I'll pass it over to President Perez.

Thank you, Steve. Mr. Chair and committee members, as you can see from the framework, we're starting this with the recognition of the council designating Walker's Point as a first innovation district and we're here to support, not to control this process. I mean, the synergy that's happened all on its own doesn't need any any help that way but we do want to be supportive especially when it comes to our side of the aisle clearing out any barriers, streamlining process, helping with zoning, infrastructure permitting. We want to make sure there's collaboration.

There are several city departments that already have some designated person to innovation or policy of innovation. We want to make sure they're engaged as an entire city working with the Innovation District and how to work with other parts of the city. We hope to get a lot of place making, invest in public space, safety, signage, connectivity. We want to strengthen Markers Point as a magnet for talent ideas. Very important that we do a lot of scalability, develop clear criteria so that as we do other departments or other districts throughout the city that we have a criteria to help engage in other districts to meet.

And most importantly, some of the goals and outcomes that we all hope for the city and in our districts is economic growth. We want to make sure there's talent development coming out of our efforts. And most importantly, we want to put Milwaukee in the map with national visibility to attract the talent, the companies. And I said this morning that we want to pay just as much attention to the startups and to the talent as much as we do the Fortune 500 companies that want to come to our city.

And we want

to do this with an equity lens because if we're not intentional about it, it won't happen.

I

do just want to talk about a little bit about there was a great article that really did a lot of the framework for us on the legislative side.

Okay.

But I want to tell you what it's not, right? What the district is and it's not a tech hub, but tech hub exists within it. It's not cutting edge housing development, but it seeks to encourage sustainability across the built environment. It's not a science park, but larger businesses can thrive here just as as the small startups can. Finally, they are not simply a space or boundary, but a magnet where social capital can be exchanged.

And innovation districts are inclusive to all those things, and that's what makes them special and unique. Our role or my role in this process is not only clearing barriers to development, whether it's zoning code, building code licensing or what have you, but it's mindfully assisting in building out this new concept without watering it down yet refraining, making it so complex and rigid that innovation districts are impossible to replicate. And let me be clear, I'd like to see these developed in neighborhoods all across the city. As I've learned more about innovation districts, I've come across one definition in particularly that seems to be spot on. Innovation districts redefine how we think about economic development by fostering collaboration, focusing on emerging technologies, integrating urban living with cutting edge research and industry.

There are places where imagination meets strategy, allowing for the convergence of people, ideas and resources that drive sustainable growth. That's why we're here today. With that, I'll pass it over to Steve again. Okay.

And with that, I'm so like I cannot tell you how like awesome that is to hear that this conversation had started not too long ago. I am going to pass it to Blanca from IC Stars to just give a little bit of additional context of why what's happening literally on the ground here and why it's important.

Yes.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. A true four fourteen Southsider born and raised, I'm very excited personally and professionally to be part of this project. I'm excited to share how IC Stars is contributing to the innovation and growth in this Walkers Point area. At IC Stars, our mission is to identify and develop untapped talent in our communities and place those who are resilient, driven, and ready to make a change in impact in technology.

So through our intensive training program, we don't just teach the technical skills. We build leadership so that these young technologists can go into their communities that they were raised from and make change also. Our office is right down the street in the Walkers Point area and being part of this district means that we're surrounded by our tech family. And so this neighborhood reflects what we stand for right now. Innovation, partnership, and opportunity.

A great example of this innovation is the action that we have in partnership with Molson Coors, Northwestern Mutual. From the very beginning, companies like Molson Coors have been a strong champion of our work in placing their talent where right now they house over eight of our interns, our alumni, excuse me, And these are positions in AI, BI, project management. And if I mess it up, I'm sorry. But because of public partners like Molson Coors, our residents are not only learning, but they're also contributing directly to companies that shape Milwaukee's economy. So as Walker Point grows in this innovation district, we're proud to say that IC Stars and our partnership are helping drive that change.

Excellent. Yaka, have you had any conversations with Harley Davidson or Aurora or Potawatomi?

Yes, yes, and yes. We've had conversations with them. Absolutely.

Are they interested?

I think those conversations are still in play but more introductions probably need to be had. Okay.

Thank you. All right.

Which is exactly what the Innovation District will do as well. And underscore that the companies, I think, that have been mentioned in whole here are not in Walkers Point, yet they are participating within Walkers Point, which is great. So to close this out, I'm going to pass it over to Joe Peschel on the end on as representative of a tech hub here, why this is important and what it means to his organization.

Well, yes, thank you for listening to this. It's an exciting And I'll just start by saying that for the last fifteen years, I've dedicated my career to helping grow the tech startup and innovation ecosystem here in Southeast Wisconsin. So it's really exciting to see this momentum that is real right here, right now and find ways to capture it and amplify it. And that's what we're talking about right here. So the Walkie Tech Hub Coalition, we are a membership driven regional nonprofit looking to grow our tech powered economy.

We do that by shining a spotlight on the people and the organizations doing great work. We help talents upscale and grow and we help businesses grow. So they can hire that talent and now we have more stories to tell. Things work out pretty well right there. Our 140 plus members of all different sectors, different sizes, software, hardware, engineering, manufacturing, you name it, across our region, we work together. Our job is to listen to their needs. Our job is to source interesting ideas and opportunities to bring back to them. And our job is to amplify the great work that is being done here. And so the people that you see up here, we are just a few of those folks doing some really fantastic work across our community. So there is energy, there is momentum here.

That's why I'm so excited about this proposal and really thrilled to explore and see what's next.

Thanks, Joe. And finally, Nadiyah Johnson from Milky Way Tech Hub. And also, I'm not even going say because I know you're going to say what today is, what today kicks off. So you go.

Thanks, Steve. Happy Wisconsin Tech Month, everybody. I could not think of a better way to spend my time on the very first day of Wisconsin Tech Month. Again, I am Nadiyah Johnson, CEO and Founder of Milky Way Tech Hub. And as I mentioned, we are one of the leading tech hubs in the Midwest and for a good reason, because we focus on community. There are three main pillars that we prioritize and that's STEM education and workforce, entrepreneurship and community. We've been around for roughly eight years come this November which is hard to believe. We've made tremendous impact. Every single month we reach about 10,000 of our community members and so much impact made throughout every single month. But the month of October, this is where we truly shine.

And I mention that because just this morning, we rallied a number of our community members around all of the things that we've got going on. But we got a chance to sort of float the idea of the Innovation District. And man, can I tell you these folks were excited? They walked up to me after the program and said this is exactly what we've been looking for. This is what we need, right?

Of course we have our headquarters in the Sherman Park area and I'm looking forward to seeing how we might scale this there. But the reality is that Milky Way Tech Hub, we have programming throughout the entire state of Wisconsin and we're always pointing back to the work that we're doing here in the city of Milwaukee. But it's good to have a home. And that's what I see this innovation district being, a home for our founders, a home for our students, a home for our engineers. And just as Steve said earlier, it exists.

Right? But what we need is cross sectional collaboration. We need to lock arms, and this is the way to do it. So I'm so excited and grateful to be a part of this opportunity to be along for the journey to solidify, crystallize, making the city of Milwaukee a tech destination for the country and doing so, starting off with this model. What excites me the most is the scalability of this. Right? Listen, the very final week of Wisconsin Tech Month is dedicated to the Midwest, thanks to Blanca's help last year. We piloted and this year we're crystallizing that. And it's because Detroit and Chicago and our surrounding tech hubs are looking at what we're doing with Wisconsin Tech Month and the community that we're building with Milky Way Tech Hub and they're saying how can we become involved and I would love to point them to Walker's Point. Thank you.

Awesome. If you want to drop the mic now, I'll pay for it. Go for it. I think with that, a huge thank you across the room and we'd open up for questions if you like.

Sure. Steve, yeah. I mean all the women, Demetrius Ambrose, you have the floor.

Okay. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.

Yes.

And thank you for being here. Thank you to everybody for your leadership because you've all been working on this for so long, it seems simultaneously. So to bring it together is really encouraging. First and foremost, I'd like to be added as a cosponsor, Mr. Chair.

Absolutely.

And I'm sure there's other cosponsors before me that will make the motion. I'm going to hold off on that. But I do have a question for Ms. Johnson. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about your connection with the youth in the schools because I know that you do some really groundbreaking work with the youth in STEM because all of this is critical and we want to get the jobs now.

But one thing that Nadeia has shown me is we also want to make sure that when the jobs of tomorrow come to Milwaukee, our youth are getting the training that they need. And I did learn that from you to be ready. In fact, that's how these international companies decide where they want to come. So can you talk a little bit about the work that you do with our schools and I believe Milwaukee Public Schools as well, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for placing emphasis on this. It is so important for us to acknowledge that our youth clearly is our future, right? And if we're looking to grow Milwaukee as a tech destination in the next five, ten years, well we've to focus in on our youth and their desire and appetite to stay here, but also to get involved in the technology industry. And so Milky Way Tech Hub, as I mentioned, one of our primary pillars of STEM education and workforce.

And we go into schools, charter schools, public schools, and sometimes even home schools, wherever we can to spread the good word of technology and how impactful it is to everyone's day to day but how in fact it will continue to impact how we navigate society. So that programming looks like four to six weeks curriculum touching on anywhere from the basics of software development to artificial intelligence, emerging technology, and typically it ends with a culminating event in partnership with one of our corporate members. A lot of our programming is fueled through our corporate membership. And it really helps to place emphasis that their ideas matter. What they're able to come up with in four to six weeks are important.

And we put some dollars behind that and help them to realize that, okay, maybe we can breathe life into this idea using technology. Why am I sharing this out? Because typically what we like to see is that these individuals don't just have four to six weeks with us and that's it, but we like to connect them with our corporate members. So I have a quick story to share. Once we had a eight week program over the summer and one of our corporate members, Northwestern Mutual, reached out to us and said, hey, you won't believe this, but we finally got one of your students to apply and we're seeing not just one, I think it was about three students come across their table with their resumes and they were so elated to see that the pipeline does in fact work.

So what I'm excited to see is how we can further infuse this into the Walkers Point District and understand how we can start to embed this programming, maybe not just even for the youth but also for the adults.

And

using partnerships like we have with IC Stars as a foundation to build upon to see how can we continue this work of education.

Thank you so much, mister chair.

Well, thank you. So, if one wanted to join the tech community, you know, you like technology, how would one create an opportunity in this tech hub business wise?

Well, first, the resolution will have to be approved. So we have it. Yes, sir. Yes. And then we can move on with that.

Yes, sir.

Luckily, the infrastructure is in place. And so one missing piece though is perhaps a central sort of platform where people who are new to or starting something or whatever it may be, reskilling, upskilling, change skilling can go to figure out and see where those resources are. And I think we again, all of this stuff is out there. We need to get more organized as a team. And I think this is if you look across the table over here, this is an amazing first step Mhmm. Of a team coming together to say, it's time we move this forward.

Yes. Honor Perez mentioned some roadblocks that cities might provide in order to make this the most efficient and effective tech hub. How are those other cities promoting their tech innovation districts?

In a number of ways, they are with their local government, they are crafting a unified message that goes to market to the world on what tech and innovation means in that area and how you engage. What that also does and Nadiya said this, it crystallizes that across the community. We all now have a common vision and we have shared values to how we pursue that common vision. I think that's the most powerful first step we can make.

Excellent. Okay. Let's open it up. Questions or comments by the committee? You guys got any questions?

I have comments. Sure. Mr. Chair.

Alderwoman.

I just wanna thank president Perez. I you know, I called me to tell me he was working on this, and I know how I know how, proud he is of the Walker's Point community that he has pulled together this amazing team to come before us and make this presentation today does not surprise me. I want to thank you all for your commitment to our city. And I want to thank you, President Perez, and the team for really being you're setting the bar here because as much as the city has taken the first step, we also need the state of Wisconsin, the state legislature to continue to support and invest in in tech, in our startups, in venture capital. And I know it's been rough in Wisconsin.

I remember being in the legislature and seeing how other states support these industries. And we are way far behind. So you are really taking the lead and setting the bar high for us and now we need everybody else to follow your lead. So thank you all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You. So and just to mention, piggyback on a couple of things that were said. Look, we're in communication, with folks like VISTA Milwaukee. They've been abreast of what we're doing, where we're going, thinking about this messaging. Want to I mean, lot of communities do this mapping and tell you where things are. We want to take that to another level and show how people are working together, not just tell you where people are and what they do. We really want to show people how we work together. So, I appreciate you saying that because, you know, we do want to we do want to brag to the state about what we're doing here and how to help us.

So I'm thinking about, you know, my community and just people that are underrepresented and understanding the importance of the future, particularly around technology. So how can we be more inclusive for opportunities, jobs, just information on how to be to understand and learn tech in in the central city. There was a lot of businesses over there at Walker's Point, which which made it conducive to form this this particular initiative. But some areas, they don't have any type of technology hub like wannabe. But do we have wind energies or they may have proposal for a data center, but nothing tech focused or tech based other than just the Internet.

So I just wanna know how we how we wanna get started, but schools is one way to get the the message out, but what is the other ways to present inclusion and equity in the community?

Yeah. I think, you know, and that's a great question. Thank you for asking that. I think by supporting, right, our programs is going to be number one. Us being able to market, right? And give an appetite to those that are in middle schools but also the parents, right? So IC Stars, schools are a great opportunity for us to recruit in, but we're not necessarily always looking for the student 18. We're looking for those. We have an idea to really be able to champion that area. We're looking for those parents to be able to offer them, right?

Not a job, but a career, right? We want these companies in Milwaukee to be able to employ the people here in Milwaukee so that we reinvest here, where we create homeowners that really care about our economy, right? And that our economies excuse me, our companies will mirror exactly what our community looks like.

Yes. That's excellent. So on a basic level, go ahead.

I'd just like to add to that. The impetus behind Milky Way Tech Hub, why we started, is to address the lack of representation in the technology industry. And I think why our model works really well is because we are deeply embedded and entrenched in community and we have a good understanding of the things that they're navigating, right? You mentioned today how do we prioritize inclusion? And I think that it's understanding the entire person.

And I'll point at, dare I say it, the pandemic in 2020, right? There were a lot of folks that were like, let's pass out laptops, let's pass out laptops. We understood that even if we pass out laptops, there was a number of our community members who did not have Internet access, right? And so being able to see the community holistically and solve for their individual barriers I think is going to be critically important. And what's required in that instance then is making sure that you're connected with community led organizations like Milky Way Tech Hub which is why I think the answer to your question is, you know, already being put into stone here is that, you know, we see these community led organizations, the IC Stars and Milky Way Tech Hub already doing the work, making sure that we're plugging My Way Out.

And I have to mention My Way Out. We awarded them earlier today where this is a nonprofit that goes inside of the correctional facility with Milky Way Check Hub. And we educate them and get them ready for the future of work, right? Artificial intelligence, equipping them with all sorts of digital acumen. These are the sort of organizations that we will be pulling in because we are doing the work already, making sure that this platform that's being built is prioritizing community led organizations. It's one the reasons why I'm glad to be here.

Excellent.

And to add another dimension onto that, we must be able to change systems by which hiring and education work. And so our partnership with Higher Education Regional Alliance to address building up new micro credentials to work with our employers to redefine what it means to have certain credentials on a resume or now do badging and just change the way that those systems work can create greater access and a greater broadening of the definition of tech jobs as well. So now we have people that are learnable. We have people that are getting these micro credentials. We have folks that are really advancing their skill sets on demands of employers and getting jobs in the immediate short term that grow into careers in the long term.

And you referenced parents. This is just an observation. So during the COVID time frame, children were at home. Mhmm. And it took two to three weeks to get your laptop. Mhmm. But when the laptops came in, parents didn't know how to I

case.

The ability to perform and and host school through the computer was difficult for parents and for for children. Is that kind of one of the goals to just on the basic level on how to operate a laptop?

I think we'll

Microsoft Yeah. Sell and submit assignments on IC. Anybody got

I was counting it really personal here.

Chair,

I mean Just

recently, Urban League just kicked off a partnership with AT and T where they have a lab exactly doing that for adults, like just starting with the basics. And those are folks that are going to be part of the ecosystem as parents and resources are available. They're in, right? We've to make sure they're connected. We've to make sure they're engaged. And they can see more parents engage, more people engage, and our young people are going to are going to model what they see around them. So.

Yeah. So, we're to get the message as we refer em to this to this opportunity. Yes.

I was just going to just add to that is that I think what what the pandemic, you know, taught us is that we can never be unprepared. Right. Again, right? And so, where we see, right, that internet is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity and so that is the basic technical, you know, skills, the, you know, bridging that digital divide. That is what we want to do. And I want to probably say that IC Stars was in homes helping parents be able to know how to navigate their laptop at that time. That is a need that we needed to do and to address at

that point. How did they know about you? Sir? How did they know about you?

You know, we found them.

Oh, really?

And it was all because of like community, you know, communication. That's truly the way that we were able to go out there grassroots. Yeah.

Yeah. Boots on the ground.

This is this is a

table of full of people that do not wait to be found. Yeah. We go out and find the things.

Will be something to find the rest of the city, Steve. Absolutely.

I agree.

I agree.

So just for my my personal question. What's the basic thing that children should know? Is it coding nowadays? Like, what's the basic robotics? What's the basic thing our children should know? Third grade and beyond.

I think you're going to get five or six different answers here.

Yeah. Alright. Just a, you know, just real basic.

Yeah. I'm the home. Critical thinking.

Okay.

That's very, very basic, but critical thinking.

Yeah. In relation to technology or just being able to think critically?

So to add to that, would say, you know, coding for sure is what we have been pushing for years, right? And coding helps to build critical thinking skills to Joe's point. Obviously though we are in a rapidly developing AI movement, right? And so we are making sure that we're positioning our youth to be able to adapt and adjust and pivot where necessary in future work as it moves so quickly. And I believe that is why Joe was saying fundamentally

And critical I'll add to what Nadiya just said, which is vibe coding. It's coding for people who don't know a darn thing about coding but use AI platforms to build concepts that they can then pitch in their organization or to sponsors or to community to see and visualize, feel, interact with an idea. And we've been running vibe coding sort of therapy sessions at the cafe, which helps people who haven't been around tech, their entire restaurant owners, distillery owners coming in and now building apps.

Wow. So, Mishai, is there a conference this month or

is there

a technology? Yes. So again, it's Wisconsin Tech Month. Today was

the kickoff. Tomorrow, we got a nice little happy hour party. But throughout the entire month of Wisconsin or excuse me, the month of October, I encourage you all to go to wytechmonth.com. We've got about a 100 plus events on the calendar, tons of different resources that's touching on emerging technology, artificial intelligence, live coding, and a lot that I'd like to place emphasis on are being hosted in the Walkers Point area.

Where where are gonna be? It's all over?

All over. Gotta

check the website.

Alright. We'll go ahead and check my.

We'll We'll be there. So we have full sponsorship at the committee except Jackson, where are you?

He's on. He's on. No more. He's been at it.

Alright. My my bad. My bad. Alright. So all the women, division, we have the entire council unanimously sponsoring this Thank you. Initiative under the leadership of the president Perez. So let's round of applause for that. Yeah. Thank you. Congratulations.

Round of applause for Milwaukee.

Yeah. Happy tech And Alderman Jackson moves for approval. Hearing no objections. So ordered. Thank you so much. Great presentation. We look forward to seeing you in the technology community. Okay. Yeah. Have a great day. Thank Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Alright. Alright. It's dream team.

Mister James.

Super dream.

Alright.

Okay. That has been adopted. Let's move on to number two. Quick recess. Was picture time.

People wanna take pictures. Let me get a quick five minute recess. Thank you. Many thank you all for your patience. Let's get started with number two.

250839. Nomination of Adida El Hajar as the third district representative to the Milwaukee Youth Council. Jim O.

Good afternoon, mister chairman and members. Ostenski, city clerk. It is a pleasure to be with you.

Yes,

sir. As the sheet in front of you that I provided will indicate we are in full recruitment mode for the youth council. As you can see, our numbers are in we're in good shape, all equal. There is a vacancy indicated and it is in italics, it means that we have an individual hopefully online. We just have to make sure that we share that with the local council member and have a conversation. However, that is not the conversation today. Today it is Aida El Hajar who is in Alderman Brower's 3rd District. He has approved of this. Just briefly about her, she is a junior and among other things, she is a Latin scholar. So obviously she's excellent.

But I might be biased. But in addition, she is a national honor student. Awesome. She is on her student government. Excellent. And as a sophomore, she digitally illustrated a book that is called, several years. So we're to have her. She's already attended a meeting to get her feet wet, but I'm happy to present her to you today.

Oh my gosh. Sounds dynamic.

Yes.

Looking forward to meeting hers. You've done an excellent job of finding these dynamic youth. We have so much talent in this city and I like to make sure we highlight them because we do hear about the challenges but this is something that positive and definitely outweighs the challenges. So, job. Again, Jim, do we have any comments on this? Alright. We have two moves of approval. Alderman Jackson and Alderman Zama Zama Repa. So with that, they move approval hearing objections to order. Good job, Jim. Thank you so much.

Thank you all.

Tell her we said I look forward to meeting her. Alright?

Sure will.

Number 3250842. Appointment of David Breedy to the business improvement edition number eight by the mayor. Sixth automatic district. David? Sir. Brady, how are doing today? Good. How are doing, sir? Excellent. Excellent. Thank you for coming down. No problem. This is an appointment for you, mister Brady. So let's see here. Let us know your relation to the area and why you would like to serve. Absolutely. So I

work for BMO Harris Bank. There's obviously one right up the street, but frequent the area quite a bit. Who's that?

Next door.

Right next door. Right right

at the street. But

really just moved here ten years ago. Okay. Family has kinda grown and gotten out of the house and have gotten more involved, and I just like what you're doing in that area. That's right. Bringing it back. I've always been passionate about helping community, helping people, and seems like the right place to be to help. Going out there for spin classes quite regularly, go down to visit, and just passionate about giving back and finding a way to bring back some of the history that is in that area.

Awesome, ma'am. Excellent. Thank you for your willingness to serve. More than qualified. Do we have any questions for mister Murray? Hearing none, order of miss Amaripa moves for your confirmation hearing. Objections are ordered. Thank you so much. Thank you. We'll see you in the community. Alright? Have a good one. Number 425-0916. Appointment of Maria Burke to the business improvement district number four by the mayor. Miss Burke, are you available?

I am.

Hi, miss Burke. Hello. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Please let us know your relation to the bid and why you would like to serve.

Absolutely. I have worked for the Milwaukee Public Library for more than a decade. Decade. And the last four years of those, I've been the branch manager at the Mitchell Street branch, is two blocks down from the headquarters of Bid Number 4.

Okay.

In these last four years, I've had a chance to attend a number of board meetings and work closely with the current board on various community projects, including they've done a lot of work that helps the library start to develop pedestrian alley that serves as an outdoor library space.

And

they've helped me tremendously and I would love to do a lot to give back and to work with other members of the community to make the Mitchell Street area as great as we know it can be.

Excellent. Sounds excellent. All right. Do we have any comments or questions by the committee?

I'll vote for it,

Mr. Chairman.

All right. Alderman Zammarripa moves for your approval. Hearing no objection. So ordered. Thank you, Ms. Burke. Have a great day.

Thank you.

Number 525-0923. This is an appointment of Leticia Cruz to the business improvement district number four by the mayor. Miss Cruz, are you available?

I am available. Good afternoon.

Hey. Thank you, miss Cruz, for attending. This is an appointment for you. Please let us know your relation to the area and why you would like to serve.

Absolutely. Thank you. So my name is Leticia Cruz. I work for Associated Bank, which is literally right next door to the bid.

Okay.

So I've been with the company since 2012. Have known Nancy since that long. And just really wanna you know, as as the banking community in a CRA environment, we just really wanna get out there and help the underserved, help get to know the neighbors, help with business financing, lending, and anything else that, you know, people are looking forward to help them continue to succeed.

I know they like the sound of that, miss Cruz. Mhmm. Money and funding opportunity. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Alderman Mark Chambers moves for your confirmation hearing no objections to order. Thank you.

Thank you.

Have a good day. Number 6250918, reappointment of Dan Deidler, Die Didier to the business improvement district number four by the mayor. His attendance is perfect. No need to show up. Order woman, Demetri Abbott moves for confirmation hearing no objection. So ordered number 7250919 appointment of Kelsey Otero to the business improvement district number ten by the mayor. Miss Kelsey Otero, are you available? Yes. Good afternoon. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Please let us know your relationship to the area and why you would like to serve on this bid.

I'm an employee in the area that this bid serves. I work at Marquette University.

And Okay.

In my role at Marquette, I have worked very closely with Near Westside Partners leadership on a number of commercial corridor development and small business initiatives Perfect. And have worked with the bid for a a number of years now.

Awesome. Awesome. Is the complete? Do they think

the the first the first phase of this is complete. That was one of the projects that I helped to lead. Yeah. So we have all of the renderings that were unveiled and we actually this is the second Sherette now that we've done because the first one was incredibly successful. And so we just did the second one for 35th Street, and now we're moving into planning mode for specific plans for each of the sites that were presented in the last charrette.

Well, I know it was well attended. It was a lot of energy and excitement in the air. So we have high hopes for you, and thank you so much for your leadership for that. With that, Alderman Jackson moves for your confirmation hearing objections to order. Thank you so much.

Thanks.

Have a wonderful day. Alright. Next, we have number eight. This is 250920. We're appointment of Therese Carrolta, the visit from District Number 3032 by the mayor. Miss Therese is doing an excellent job. She has perfect attendance. She's in my district. With that, older woman, Demetrievich, moves for confirmation. Hearing no objection, So order. Number 9250921, reappointment of cooler cool beer, Syrah, to the business business improvement edition number 32 by the mayor. They also miss, Syrah also has perfect attendance. No need to show up with that. Alderwoman Zama Repa moves for confirmation. Hearing no objection, so order.

Thank you. Number 10250928. This is appointment of Todd Reeden to the business improvement edition number 43 by the mayor. Is to be placed on file. Alderman Jackson moves to place this on file. Hearing no objection. So order number 11250929, reappointment of Roberto Montemero to the business improvement district number forty three by the mayor. He also has perfect attendance. No need to show up. With that, older woman Demetriovich moves for confirmation. Here are no no objections. So order. Number 12250930 reappointment of Patel Patel to the Business Improvement District Number 43 by the mayor. They also have perfect attendance. No need to show up.

Alderman Jackson moves for confirmation. Hearing no objections. So order number 13250932. Reappointment of Jeffrey Steering to the Business Improvement District Number 4243 by the mayor. He also has perfect attendance. No need to show. Alderman Chambers moved for confirmation hearing no objection. So order number 14250665 resolution of transferring the remaining funds allocated of girls day at City Hall from the Milwaukee Excellence Fund to Brownsville week. This is to be held at the call of the chair. Okay. Okua, did you have any comments?

No. Thank you, chair. That's what we were, just waiting to chime in to ask for to be held again.

Oh, sure. No problem. Alderwoman Zamarepa moves to hold and set the call to share hearing. No objections. So order number fifteen two five zero nine one five substitute resolution relating to the city of Milwaukee's participation in the swimmable cities alliance sponsored by Alderman Brigalis. I did see Alderman Brigalis in the crowd. He's not here. He'll probably get right back to us. We'll hold this until he gets back. Alderman Jackson was to hold us until Alderman Brigalis comes back. Number 16250908. Resolution establishing a friendly exchange relationship between the city of Milwaukee and in France. Please come on up, miss Amy. We had a excellent discussion earlier about this relationship. As you know, I'm also the chairman of the sister cities committee.

We welcome this friendly relationship. Miss Amy can provide some comments, and then I will do the sponsorship.

Hi. Hi. I I did have a presentation, but I don't need to do it if it's not necessary.

It's unnecessary. We did you did an excellent job at committee today. Sure. They're pretty much on board with sister cities.

I don't know if you guys have any questions with our

new friendly relationship. The outcome was same goals as a actual citizen city, but we're gonna build it up over a year of friendship, and their delegation is coming to Milwaukee from the twenty seventh to the twenty ninth. We're gonna have a big celebration, do some introductions,

the impetus for this connection is that the Joan Of Arc Chapel on Marquette University campus was originally built in Cha Siron in the 1400s and transferred brick by brick from France to Milwaukee.

To Milwaukee. And also prior to 1820, Milwaukee or Wisconsin was called We Wisconsin.

Wisconsin. That's right. Wisconsin. First first map makers in Wisconsin were French.

So Yes.

And the first mayor was

First mayor was a French Canadian, Solomon Juneau. So Alright. We've got a lot of French connections in Wisconsin and Milwaukee.

Alright. So Mercy Bekou.

Let's see.

And with that, Alderman Jackson moves for adoption. Hearing objection, so ordered. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Alright. I appreciate you coming down. And with last but not the is Peter back? Okay. Alright. Mister director deputy director of Mayhem, good to see you. Number 17250877 subs okay. We'll get them right back. Substitute resolution relative to the allocation of the community development, black grant coronavirus funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Development Grants Administration sponsored by me. Mister Maham, how are you today?

I am well. And Steven Mahan, deputy director of department administration. I am joined by

Vanessa Carmona Lewis. Good afternoon.

Associate director for the Community Development Grants Administration. Alright.

Well, that black and gold looks good on you. Thank you, sir. Alright. Alright. Please let us know the impetus of this funding and how it will be allocated.

So, long, long ago, we all addressed COVID.

Yes, sir.

And the federal government brought subsidy to be able to address that in many ways and one of them was that there was a CDBG CV grant which is CDB community development block grant COVID. Those dollars have now started to sunset. We scraped the barrel literally and we pulled of all the the grants which was this grant originally was about 9,000,000. Over the years. Now, we scraped $8.50 back.

A $108,150,000. That those dollars can now only be used for homelessness. So, what we're suggesting is that these dollars come back and we administer them through a litany of projects but mainly what we deal with every time we get in and around November through February, which is our cold season. Yes. And that we address it.

All of you here at the table have had your issues in your district with folks that are been on the street regardless if it's now or even worse when it's winter. We have a lot of friends in the system through our continuum of care, but this is something that's going be ongoing no matter what. So to not be a burden on any other source, we would ask to reflect this with these dollars. Last year, it was about $700,000 but that we had other partners. So we're just going to move this here. This is and I'm going to let Vanessa kind of give you a little bit more detail on how we'll be reporting. But this is the intent and purpose of these funds. Gotcha.

Yes, there will be another file that we bring forth. It will be a communication file that we can present at the cycle just giving more details on the plan for the funding.

Sure. I think Mario's preparing like our statistics and our data was happening in Milwaukee, but I did read, not particularly Wisconsin, but in the country, there's an uptick in youth, homelessness. Mhmm. Yes. Offhand, do you know how it's affecting Milwaukee?

I mean, we're seeing an increase just in in general. I think definitely youth, also large families and elderly.

Yeah, but like 12, 13, 14, like how are you? Like where are you? Like where

are you? Those large families consist of that population too. So if you're talking about a family, I can tell you that. So we stood up with the Red Cross at Marshall High School, the flood victims. Mhmm. A lot of large families. The last two remaining families had eight and nine members to them. To your point, a lot of stair stepping around 10 to 14 years of age, these youth. So yes, when you talk about homelessness, it's not just individual home youth that are couch hopping is what they call it, you know, that are homeless and they bounce around. You're also talking about larger families where you're seeing that population that you're speaking of.

Yeah. But how do you find them? How do you like, where are they?

We have a lot of outreach, but a lot of these youth are, you know, they attend school.

There's a

big there's a big population in MPS that actually has a division that deals with homeless youth. So, there's there's some outreach that's happening with them but in most part, what we see is the families, the large families that are all displaced. Sure. Sure. Yes.

Alright, let me open up to the committee. Questions by the committee, Alderman DeMitch Reverend Alderman Jackson.

Thank you so much mister chair. Thank you the department for meeting with me yesterday on this. It's always nice to be able to ask questions and get the answers on some of this detailed information because this is over $800,000 I just want to kind of get on the record. So you mentioned it's going to come back with a communication file about how you allocated it and spent it in the next month or so. Okay. Because that was important to me. And I also understand that a large portion of this is going for warming shelters. Roughly like roughly how much was it? I thought it was between 400 and $500,000

Yeah. We are filling gaps with our partners. So we have a number of partners that are involved. But yes, this is really the cleanest funds to be able to do that type of work also.

And I do want to move approval and mention because I think we just have to talk about these things more of we currently on 6th in Rosedale by mine and President Perez's district have a large group of individuals who are unhoused living in different structures outdoors. So the more that we can get the money on the streets, we just have a lot of challenges. And so it's important to talk about when and where and not just drive by and be disappointed about it, but talk about the people. Because I will say I get complaints about tents when I really wish that we'd be talking about the people that are in the tents and the people that need the help. And some of this money hopefully ideally would help people get in the warming shelter.

And if you don't mind me mentioning what you told me was that we're going to look as a city to use some of those warming shelters as an additional point of contact to then further refer folks into other resources which I think is so important.

And thank you so much for saying that, Alderman. You have actually put what you've had a warming center in your district and part of that is that you're going to have wraparound services. We just don't house. We try to see not temporarily house but we try to see if we can get folks the low hanging issue individuals into housing. And then also long term try to keep track of them that way that we can get them services like mental health.

There's just there's just such a litany of reasons why someone is homeless and even more so now is the instability of getting rental property. You get you could, you know, you could be evicted and but four, it almost takes a housing navigator to get you get housing because you can't just jump over to the next landlord because that landlord might own all the property on the block. So, it's just it's just but for a lot of issues why people are homeless. But yes, when we do come back next cycle, we will be letting you also know some of the services that could be provided and this is this is a citywide issue. So, we we would love to have input on things like, you know, identifying.

We did take a trip over to Rosedale which is is you know, you you did not exaggerate. So, it is. Well, yeah.

If you know where Umos is, by the Target on Chase, it's ends behind there by the river. We had some displaced people after the floods as well as when Wistat closed the parking rides. So, we have a bunch of people that that have a lot of needs.

What I was glad to see was that there was outreach folks there already.

Similar to what I have on thirteenth, believe.

Little little bit more organized. Really? Yeah. But the the the the visit was that they were outreach people already working with that population, and they they know it's a known factor, but similar to where you are also. So former

Jackson. Mhmm.

Thank you, mister chairman. Thank you. In your community, what you do. Thank you for working with the new warmer shelter that may be coming online this year.

That'd be

great off a thirty day from Berlin. That'd be amazing. And does any of these funds provide meals as far as Saint Benz? Does it go down there rabbit hole at all? What do you need is funding?

Saint Benz is one our biggest partners. Without Saint Benz, I it would be a huge hole. Yeah. So, yeah, the on the table feeding Saint Benz and yes, this money, food also is provided for anyone at the know, it's, you know, within within reason, it is, and we just make sure that there's some dignity to it also.

I just know it wasn't the last time I read it. It wasn't a it didn't say it per se. It just said, warming shelves. It was like, those are meals provided. Know that part.

So we

have partners that work with that to make sure nobody's in there and that that we're not promoting that. Oh. Yeah. Hey,

Vanessa. When you get a chance, can you give me the the list of warming houses? I think you give us right before the winter. Yeah. But I like to promote it as well.

Yeah, absolutely.

And which ones are 20 fourseven? Opening?

I mean, they're all gonna be open between the hours of seven to seven.

Okay, okay. So they open up at seven?

Yeah, they open up

at night just to help out folks so that they're

Do have leave in the morning?

For most of them, you do have to leave in the morning, but we are doing kind of some wraparound services as Steve had mentioned, trying to get folks connected to whatever that next step is in their journey. If they're new to shelter, then we're going to try to get them kind of rapidly attached to some more permanent housing or some other services.

Yeah.

And if they've been seen before, then there'll be some different services that are offered.

Yeah.

So, Steve, when you start just dispersing the money, you're going to meet with everybody and see what they're giving them opportunity to apply and provide some type of proposal or you're just gonna do it based off experience.

It's a it's a Relationship. Experiences. Has with this. This is it is, you know, we're talking about a population that it might be street homeless. So, you have to have background. You know, Alderman Jackson brought up a new, it's not really new. They they right during COVID, they actually were one of our warming rooms but they're coming back. We're so happy to see him coming back because they deal directly with families and so. Yeah, but they downtown, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

Would. No. No. You wouldn't know it. It it's they're very discreet.

Over there off State Street.

Yeah. Yeah. That's that's same.

Two locations.

Hold on.

No, this is new. This is this is a whole another's they they actually went they actually went away for a little while. They're back. We're very happy to have them back because they run great shop and they have a lot of backing and volunteers.

Come check them out. Okay. Excellent. Excellent. Alright. Well, thank you for, oh, I'm sorry. Hold on. Zama Ripa.

I just want to thanks Vanessa. I know you mentioned that you're going to come forward next cycle perhaps with a communication file. I'm happy to co sponsor this along with the chair Sure. Today. But as you put together the presentation, if we can go over any demographics as well. I know the chair brought up youth homelessness. I'd be interested in particular as well at looking at the rates of LGBTQ plus youth homelessness. I often hear that the disparities are far greater in that community. But any data like that, if you're able to put that together in time for the communication file, that would be much appreciated. But thank you for your work here.

Yeah, because I want to like, we're already I want to I'm concerned about Anything

that was tracked, we'll be bringing it back. And if there's we're missing something, then that could be something added to what we're doing this year.

How much do we rely on the schools reporting abscesses? A lot of data come from them?

Not this not in this realm of of of emergency shelter but we work MPS as part of the continuum of care. So, we do get that type of information. Okay. And we'll gladly share that the next piece of.

You think there's something to probably to discuss at the emerging youth council? Is this related?

It's always something to talk about.

This is

yeah. Anybody it's more people talking about it, the more aware it'll be because it's a reality.

I'll talk to you about that. Alderman Zemper even moves for adoption here in to order. Thank you, guys. Have a great day. Alderman Jackson moves for reconsideration of Alderman Burgales' file, two five zero nine one five, substitute resolution relating to the city of Milwaukee's participation in the Swimmable Cities Alliance. How you guys doing? I said, how you guys doing? Great. Good morning. Alright. Alright. Let us know about this opportunity, and let's have a discussion.

Thank you very much, mister chair. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to come back. You guys hit the gas pedal on your meeting and didn't realize how didn't realize were.

Got at a rapid pace after the

That's okay. After the first meeting.

But but I appreciate it. For too long, our waterways in cities in general have been treated as storm water channels or industrial wastewater paths. But they're also public spaces, assets that can bring health and recreation and pride to our city. Joining the Swimovable Cities movement commits us to cleaner water, safer access, and a future where waterways, rivers, and lake access are a part of everyday life for all residents. First, equity and health.

Every neighborhood should have safe, welcoming access to water. This resolution puts us on that path. Second, quality of life and economic growth. A city known for clean, accessible waterways attracts residents, attracts visitors and investment. Instead of apologizing for our water quality, we can market Milwaukee and continue to market Milwaukee as a place where people can actually swim in our rivers and enjoy our waterways.

And accountability. This resolution directs ECO, our environmental collaboration office, to apply and report back in one hundred and twenty days. It's not symbolic. This is a measurable step forward, making sure that our priorities for safe and clean water access continue. This gives us access to an entire network of other cities that share the same priority. It's about making our community a better place for residents and also to attract new visitors who hopefully turn into more residents in the future. Eco is here to comment in as well.

Sure. Real quick. Hey, Alderman. Is besides like Michigan, where else would you see this as an important tool to making sure we need safe water? Are you talking about swimming pools as well or just water related to oceans and lakes?

Yeah, natural waterways. So Milwaukee has three rivers. You can swim in them. A lot of people don't. There are some places you probably shouldn't swim in them. But we will but this doesn't correct the industrial uses in our waterways, but it encourages policies to make our water cleaner so that people can swim in all of our waterways.

Sure. I know you can go to the beach anytime the sun is packed with people swimming, children as well. Is it safe?

Yeah, I believe it's safe. Obviously, there are days when it's not and it is marked when it's not safe. So I'm Eric Schambarger, the Environmental Sustainability Director. Alderman Berglis approached me with this resolution, I thought, well, this is perfectly consistent with our water centric city initiative and longstanding federal goals to make all of rivers and lakes in this country fishable and swimmable. And obviously, the lake itself already has beaches that are designed for swimming.

There was improvements this past year in Milwaukee County where they actually moved South Shore Beach specifically to make it more swimmable and be in an area that was less polluted. So I think we're already there when it comes to Lake Michigan. As far as swimming in the rivers, there is a massive cleanup effort going on right now. The Wisconsin or the watershed partnership to dredge the rivers over the next three years. There's a whole big combined disposal facility out by the Port Of Milwaukee where they're going to they're putting all the dredge sediments.

So we have a massive effort going on right now to clean up the rivers. And we have had some experience in Milwaukee of people recreationally swimming in the rivers under supervised circumstances, right? When there are permitted events where on days when there are water quality is expected to be good and we have lifeguards and we have under organized event situations, we have we do have some experience with that. I think I don't think we were talking about just opening up where anybody can just jump into the river whenever they want, because obviously there are some safety issues with depending on where you are, can you get out with the dock walls and all that kind of stuff. But I do think this puts us in the right path of starting to plan for this.

I think one of the big things that the boosters of this initiative point to is the Olympics and the River Seine where they allowed they were intentional about cleaning up the rivers to the point where you could swim in them again. So I think that vision is great. I think Milwaukee has got efforts underway to get us there. But again, put some caution around we've got practical planning to do to actually allow for swimming in the rivers. But I think the goal of having rivers that are clean enough to swim in and viewing them as an asset is certainly something that we support.

Sure. Do you know what cities are already part of this initiative? Is Detroit? Is Michigan part of it?

There are of cities that have already joined.

Alright. And the mayor of Sheboygan, right?

Yeah. Happy to get you that list. I'll get whenever when

you when you come back, you said ninety days? Yes. Okay.

Well, and and to be fair, credit goes to Sheboygan mayor Ryan Sorensen who brought this to us during the Wisconsin legal municipalities just a couple weeks ago. Excellent. Where Sheboygan signed on to this and he's encouraging support

throughout the Great Lakes region. Awesome. Alderman Demetri Evershed and Alderman Zambarito.

Well, thank you. I did want to move approval and before Eric mentioned it, of course, was going to mention the Seine River as well that there was a one hundred year ban that of swimming

in

that river, I believe, a ban in Paris, France that he was talking about.

Oh, yeah.

But they had a vision and at that time, it was really radical and people thought that they would never see the day that people were jumping in there. Now granted they had to have it spaced out and flagged out to do it, it's actually pretty historic. But I think it speaks to having a bold vision. I can tell you that at the county sixteen years ago when I told people we were going to move the beach, they also had that same reaction. So building a bold vision, I think, is admirable.

I think there is tourism side of this, which is amazing. Like this is on the weekend where we're going to have the lakefront marathon. So people come and they spend money and they buy a coffee and a lunch. And then just lastly, Mr. Chair, I would encourage you, maybe you're already doing it, but to be very diligent about our partnership with MMSD.

We continue to have overflows we had just a week or two ago. We can't normalize that where there was, I guess, another error and like just tons of untreated sewage goes into our waterways. We can't get to this dream if that type of stuff keeps happening. So, yes. But we've got to build it. So I do support it and I want to move approval.

Thank you. Order mister Mariba.

Thank you, mister chair. I just wanted to thank Alderman Bergalis for bringing this forward. I'm not surprised to hear that Mayor Ryan Sorensen from Sheboygan, who I know is a good friend of ours, is taking the lead on this effort. I think this makes total sense. We are the Fresh Coast. Jose's district is also at one point called the Water Technology District at Walker's Point area. So I just thank you and thank the ECO office for committing to doing this work. I also wanted to suggest perhaps working with Milwaukee Water Commons organization. They did host a swim in the Milwaukee River, but I think it was, as you said, closely monitored and the like. It was very organized.

But I remember I wanted to take part in it because I do like I I love to be near the water, but it really was it was I believe it was a race. So, I mean, there were some very athletic folks involved. I wanna say former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes participated. So I love the idea of being able to open up our waterways safely for folks, and to make Milwaukee a swimmable city. So good work, Brigalis.

Excellent. Please add me as a co sponsor, miss Lena, with your approval.

All the Same. Same.

So we have two Mhmm. Three, four, the entire unanimous committee. Chambers. Chambers of chambers. You wanted to add to the swimmable cities, alderman? It's just Adam. He's, he's on board. I'm about to adoption, hearing notes, checks, and so order. Thank you so much. I'm You all

have a

good day. That concludes community economic development committee. I appreciate everybody's attendance today. Have a wonderful, wonderful day.