Alderman, City of Franklin, 2004 to present

• Providing leadership to the 2 billion dollar development efforts along the 27th Street Corridor as Chairman of the 27th St. Corridor Steering Committee as a joint venture with the City of Oak Creek.

• Leading the City's fight to prevent placement of Sexually Violent Persons in our community.  Developed a ten point plan to provide maximum legal municipal protection against such a forced placement that may be initiated by the State of Wisconsin, Circuit Court Judges and/or the State Supreme Court.  Working with Citizens for a Safe Wisconsin (formerly Franklin) to change State statutes to protect our community from sex predators.  Working with numerous communities in southeastern Wisconsin to enact effective sex offender residency ordinances.  Also working with the Franklin Police Department, City Attorney and Technology Commission to provide extensive information on Sex Offenders currently in our community.

• Worked to successfully change the method of funding paramedic service throughout the county.  Franklin now has a second paramedic ambulance as a result of the change in rules and funding.

• Authored and passed legislation requiring that all Board of Appeals members be appointed by alderman and mayor and that no member may be an elected official.  The Board of Appeals hears and adjudicates challenges to property value assessments.  Recent practice had aldermen appointing themselves setting up potential conflicts of interest.

• Initiated an assessment of the financial impact of benefits extended under prior contracts to city retiree's.  The study will include health insurance benefits, accrued vacation and other contractual benefits that are not currently planned for in today's budgeting cycle.

• Sponsored the "Big Box" ordinance restricting retail structures in most areas of the city to less than 125,000 square feet, protecting the quality of life for our residential neighborhoods.

 

Alderman, City of Franklin, 1998 to 2001

-       Provided significant leadership in an effort to provide long term planning for zoning, economic development and budgeting. Efforts resulted in a complete review and re-write of the city zoning Comprehensive Master Plan and the development of 'Franklin First,' a comprehensive city wide economic development plan.

-       Provided significant leadership in the change of the staff organization resulting in the implementation of a Cabinet form of government. Re-organization resulted in the management of the staff returning to the Mayor rather than resting with the Business Administrator.

-       Authored legislation to recover municipal costs and streamline approval processes for extra-ordinary events being held in the city. Ordinance provides for staff review of events to insure health and safety of participants and assurances of adequate facilities and safety staffing. This ordinance recovers typically about $40,000 annually in costs to the taxpayers through fees to applicants.

-       Established a practice of neighborhood meetings with developers prior to Plan Commission or public hearings. This practice resulted in good relations between developers and residents for commercial and residential projects. During my terms in office, all proposals in my district were either approved or denied without contentious public hearings.  These meetings provided the citizens with information prior to reading about it in the newspaper, allowed them input into development within their neighborhoods and gave them control of the procedures.

-       Negotiated cable television franchise agreement containing revenue definitions that are more encompassing than the suburban coalition resulting in an additional $10,000 in fee revenue for the city.

-  Initiated and consulted on legislation to limit the placement of communication towers in our community to protect the property values of our residents and businesses. 

-       Provided significant leadership to build $9.0 million Police and Courts building replacing temporary facilities in use since 1972 when the population was 11,000 and there were 21 officers and staff. Building was completed under budget and occupied earlier than scheduled and will serve the needs of the community for more than 40 years and is designed to be the only police facility needed.

-       Passed re-zoning and Industrial Development Revenue Bonds for construction of a state of the art, world class Indian Community School on more than 80 acres of land previously zoned for residential purposes. Re-zoning promised to be contentious due to traffic, tax and racial issues. All were allayed with public meetings prior to official meetings, individual meetings with the neighbors, meetings with planning and zoning commissioners and aldermen and an effective media campaign.

-       Instituted a newsletter to the district constituents to inform them in advance of issues facing the district and city.  Click here to read three of these newsletters.  Requires

-       Re-structured operating methods for the Finance Committee to provide better financial management and oversight and more effective and long term budgeting.

-       Served as aldermanic representative to: Economic Development Commission, Fair Commission, Finance Committee, Facilities Needs Committee, Economic Development Oversight Committee (chair), St. Martin's Planning Committee

 

Economic Development Commission, Franklin, Wisconsin. Member, Chairman, 1992 to 2002

-     Initiated and managed the development of a city wide economic development market study defining market trends, land use, zoning and market feasibility followed by the formation of an implementation plan outlining zoning, covenants, economic feasibility, preliminary engineering studies and Tax Incremental Financing and funding options. The plan defines approximately $1 billion in commercial, retail and industrial development.

-   Completed sale of parcels in the Franklin Industrial Park, retiring the Tax Increment Financing eleven years early.

-       Changed the focus of the Commission from exclusive land sales in the Industrial Park to non-residential development city wide.

-       Instituted regular joint meetings with the Plan Commission to better coordinate development proposals and communication between the bodies.

-       Contracted for a Market Study to determine better demographics of the Franklin market and the desires of the residents of the city resulting in a better focus for the Economic Development Commission and Plan commission in placement and types of businesses and services.

-       Led a series of joint meetings with the Plan Commission, Common Council, Community Development Authority, Franklin Public School District Board and city staff to consolidate all available data on the city including population demographics, housing information, zoning information, growth statistics and trends resulting in better decision making by the various bodies.

-       Established a marketing and advertising program to define an image of the city. Program was a mix of funding sources including city funding and a matching program with local businesses.

-       Initiated discussions with Milwaukee County and the Franklin Fire Department for a land exchange to build a fire station on S. 60th Street and Franklin Drive.

Other Public Affairs

Franklin Public Schools Facilities Needs Committee 1995

Member of citizen group appointed by the School Board to study the long term facilities needs of the district and recommend a plan to accomplish these needs. Plan included projecting enrollment, city growth, emerging educational trends, assessment of existing facilities, evaluation of options, contracting architects, evaluation of architectural submissions and estimates, developing a comprehensive report and recommendation as well as public engagement and public hearings for referendum on the final $13 million plan.

City of Franklin Impact Fee Task Force, 2001 

Appointed to serve on this task force to review current impact fee, city services, costs and any possible revision of the fee. 

 

Feel Free To E-MAIL me.  steve@steveolson.us

Click here to read Steve's biography.

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