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Politics & Government

Whitefish Bay Split in Milwaukee County Redistricting

County Supervisor Joe Rice the only board member to lose his seat. Did politics play a role?

Whitefish Bay is a village divided for the first time since 1970 under the redistricting plan adopted by the Milwaukee County Board.

While the plan will not be finalized until it is reviewed by all of the cities and villages in the county, there is little chance that there will be a substantive change, said John Jorgensen, acting corporation counsel for the county.

“I’m not sure how much latitude the county has to make changes at this point,” said Jorgensen, the county’s top lawyer.

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The adopted plan eliminates one supervisory district, the seat held by Joe Rice — a self-proclaimed conservative from Whitefish Bay — since 2004. Rice filed a complaint with Jorgensen alleging that the adoption of the redistricting measure violated the Open Meetings Law.

Jorgensen said it did not. Rice took his complaint to Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. Bill Cosh, a spokesman for Van Hollen, said his office defers to county officials on such matters but would reconsider once they receive formal notice that the matter is not being pursued.

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Rice’s seat is the only one of the 19 to have been eliminated under the plan. He asserted he was the only member of the board not consulted before the plan was introduced.

“It happened very quickly,” Rice said. “It happened in a one week period.”

Currently, Rice’s 6th Dstrict includes all of Whitefish Bay, Fox Point, River Hills and Bayside, and parts of Glendale and Milwaukee. The redistricting places Rice’s home in the district served by Gerry Broderick, who lives on the East Side of Milwaukee and has served on the board since July 2002. Shorewood will continue to be a part of Broderick’s district.

Until recently, Broderick had told many people he was not running for re-election but has changed his mind.

“I did a 180 and decided to run again,” said Broderick. “The mess in Madison reinvigorated me. I want to have some input into the process one more time.”

Rice said he has not decided whether to run against Broderick.

The northern part of Whitefish Bay will be represented by Willie Johnson Jr. of Milwaukee. That district would also include River Hills, Fox Point and Bayside, communities now represented by Rice.

Rice said he was one of Gov. Scott Walker’s few allies on the board when Walker was Milwaukee county executive. Rice stopped short of saying that he was being punished for his politics.

“I’ve gotten a significant number of contacts from people who believe that this was politically motivated,” Rice said.

Rice had wanted a far more radical restructuring of the county board.

“I wanted to start with reducing the board to nine,” Rice said. “I also proposed appointing an independent commission to do the redistricting. That would have taken it out of the hands of the politicians.”

Harold Mester, a spokesman for the Milwaukee County Board, said three county supervisors made redistricting proposals but the only one ultimately adopted was the product of the county staff. County Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo wanted 15 districts; Patricia Jursik proposed 17 and Paul Cesarz proposed nine, a plan he later withdrew. The board’s redistricting committee considered the three plans before adopting the staff plan April 21.

Rice filed a complaint saying that the board violated the Open Meetings Law when it voted. The law requires 24 hours notice of action items or, in the case of an emergency, two hours notice.

Jorgensen said the complaint does not have merit. The committee had met an hour before the board met. The board agenda noted that it would take up “committee reports” at its regular meeting and that provided sufficient notice.

“We did not know what plan the committee would approve,” Jorgensen said. “There were previous public meetings where it was made clear that the board was going to vote on April 21. If it was a secret, it was the world’s worst kept secret.”

Jorgensen said the board was required to adopt a plan by May 28. There had been pressure to cut the number of supervisors by a larger number and the board was unsure if newly elected County Executive Chris Abele would veto the measure. Abele returned the measure unsigned.

“If he had vetoed it, we would have needed more time to come up with something else,” Mester said.

Bill Cosh, a spokesman for Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, said his office could consider whether the law was violated once formally notified that the corporation counsel is not acting.     

Mester said the plan would be sent to the communities this week. The communities may make minor adjustments before returning it to the county within 60 days. The redistricting would require a final approval by Oct. 1.

Two supervisors, Lee Holloway and Lynne De Bruin, have said they will not seek re-election.

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