Primary candidates vying to represent Milwaukee’s District 7 discussed how they would tackle the district’s economic challenges, including fostering homeownership, managing absentee landlords and licensing businesses, during a Feb. 3 forum.
The forum, at Embassy Center MKE, 3725 N. Sherman Blvd., was organized by Corridor Neighborhoods Collaborative and moderated by Jaquelyn Rice, vice president of the Sherman Park Community Association board, and Keith Parris, radio host for WNOV.
Audience members filled the room and wrote questions on notecards to be answered during the forum.
District 7 includes Roosevelt Grove, Sunset Heights, Grasslyn Manor, St. Joseph’s, Sherman Park, Lincoln Creek, Wahl Park and Amani
Working for the people in District 7 was a common theme addressed by the four candidates looking to take over the Common Council seat occupied by Ald. Khalif Rainey, who is not seeking re-election.
Promoting homeownership
Having different experiences supporting homeownership, the candidates discussed how they would promote it in District 7.
Randy Jones, who serves on the city’s Safety and Civic Commission and is the founder of Staying on Track Inc., said he worked with Common Ground on a project to keep homeowners in the district. The organization restored and sold 91 foreclosed properties in Sherman Park.
“Homeowners in your district solve a lot of your public safety problems, trash problems,” Jones said.
Kenneth Hughes, a business owner and pastor, said he has a track record of rehabilitating houses and selling them to homeowner occupants with his company, Harvest Housing and Development, including in District 7.
Jessica Currie said her nonprofit, Missionary Currie for Women and Children Inc., provides financial literacy education and has a program with Acts Housing that helps first-time homeowners get grants.
DiAndre Jackson, a former Master Lock employee who is active in United Auto Workers Local 469 and union councils, said he has been a homeowner since he was 18.
Jackson acknowledged the history of redlining in Milwaukee’s central city. Redlining is a systematic and discriminatory practice used to deny mortgages and other financial services to residents in specific neighborhoods with predominantly Black or minority populations.
Jackson said he would promote homeownership information at community meetings.
Getting a handle on absentee landlords
When asked about holding absentee landlords accountable for their properties, Jackson expanded on the idea, saying he would pursue a four-or-five-pronged approach to invest more in people and provide education on financial literacy, credit and access to banking.
“It’s not a one bullet, one question fits all. We all have to work together,” Jackson said.
Hughes pledged to contact all vacant and nuisance property owners in his first 60 days in office and give them a deadline to come up with a plan of correction.
“You’ve got to stay on them to make sure that neighborhoods don’t deteriorate with people who don’t have a vested interest,” he said.
Jones said the timeline for out-of-town owners to update their properties needs to be changed.
Working to service women at her nonprofit, Currie said many families are quickly evicted and do not have enough time to find a new place, increasing homelessness.
She said she believes in “just putting something in order so the investors can’t come in and slap evictions on everybody when they are not even doing their part. We need to be slapping them with evictions.”
Closer scrutiny of licensing
The candidates were asked how they would approach licensing for liquor stores, taverns, corner stores and other businesses in the district, as the Common Council approves those applications.
Jones said that when he ran for alderperson in2016, he proposed looking at liquor licenses closely because store owners don’t live in or give back to the district.
“I would look closely to make sure if you’re not giving back to that community, I don’t even need to hear your case,” he said.
Hughes said he would invite every business owner in the district to meetings by business type to lay out his expectations.
“I’m not for sale,” he said. “That’s why my campaign is self-financed. That’s why I’m giving back $10,000 of my salary every year that I’m in office to facilitate growth and build that district.”
Currie suggested creating competition for stores with owners outside of the district by providing resources for district residents interested in starting a small business.
Jackson said store owners have to convince community members they deserve a license because he will vote with them.
“You got to talk to the people. You got to go invest in the community. I’m not going to do it for you,” he said.
When to vote
The primary election is on Tuesday, Feb. 20 with early voting running until Feb. 17. Two candidates will move on to the general election on April 2.
Check out video of forum
A full video of the forum is available on Sherman Park Community Association’s Facebook page.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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