City of Milwaukee - File #: 180127

• File #: 180127
• Version: 1
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Passed
• File created: 4/17/2018
• In control: COMMON COUNCIL
• Final action: 5/8/2018
• Effective date: 8/23/2018
• Title: A substitute ordinance renaming North 4th Street from West St. Paul Avenue to West Capitol Drive Vel R. Phillips Avenue.
• Sponsors: COMMON COUNCIL
• Indexes: STREETS

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
5/24/2018	1	CITY CLERK	PUBLISHED
5/17/2018	1	MAYOR	SIGNED
5/8/2018	1	COMMON COUNCIL	PASSED; Minutes note: Ald. Coggs asked that all Council members be sponsors of this ordinance. There were no objections.	Pass	14:0
5/4/2018	1	CITY CLERK	Sponsor added; Minutes note: Ald. Witkowski
4/25/2018	1	PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE	RECOMMENDED FOR PASSAGE; Minutes note: Ald. Coggs Ald. Rainey Ald. Stamper Ald. Lewis Pres. Hamilton Deshea Agee - Executive Director Historic King Dr BID Keith Bailey - DCD Alds. Murphy, Donovan, and Borkowski were added as cosponsors.	Pass	5:0
4/17/2018	0	COMMON COUNCIL	ASSIGNED TO

Number

180127

Version

SUBSTITUTE 1

Reference

Sponsor

ALD. COGGS, BAUMAN, HAMILTON, KOVAC, JOHNSON, RAINEY, STAMPER, LEWIS, PEREZ, MURPHY, DONOVAN, BORKOWSKI, WITKOWSKI, BOHL AND ZIELINSKI

Title

A substitute ordinance renaming North 4^th Street from West St. Paul Avenue to West Capitol Drive Vel R. Phillips Avenue.

Analysis

This ordinance renames 4^th Street from West St. Paul Avenue to West Capitol Drive Vel R. Phillips Avenue.

Body

Whereas, Vel R. Phillips was a spirited and distinguished political leader and fighter who served the community with unparalleled distinction and excellence; and

Whereas, Vel R. Phillips was born on February 18, 1924 on the South Side of Milwaukee, attended Howard University for her undergraduate degree and then went to the University of Wisconsin Law School, from which she was the first African-American woman to graduate; and

Whereas, In 1956, Vel R. Phillips became the first woman and the first African-American to be elected as a member of the Milwaukee Common Council, on which she served until 1971, and was an advocate for the African-American community and women, and instrumental in outlawing housing discrimination; and

Whereas, Continuing throughout her career to exhibit a fearless, pioneering spirit, Vel R. Phillips was also appointed a judge in Milwaukee County Children’s Court in 1971, becoming the first female judge in Milwaukee and the first African-American judge in Wisconsin, and was elected as Wisconsin’s first non-white Secretary of State in 1978; and

Whereas, Vel R. Phillips was always a leader in the African-American community and an advocate for women throughout Wisconsin, playing an active role in the NAACP and the civil rights movement, and was also the highest-ranking woman to win a state office in Wisconsin in the 20th century and the first African-American to be elected as a member of a political party’s national committee when she was elected to the Democratic National Committee; and

Whereas, Through her foundation, Vel R. Phillips continued her work to better her community, with a mission “to serve as an economic hand of justice that seeks to eliminate invisible barriers between disadvantaged people and their goals, clearing the path for educational, occupational, social and political parity”; and

Whereas, By changing the name of 4^th Street from West St. Paul Avenue, to West Capitol Drive to Vel R. Phillips Avenue, the City can recognize Vel R. Phillips’ historic contributions to Milwaukee; and

Whereas, The significance of 4^th Street to Vel R. Phillips includes the following:

1.                     She attended elementary school on 4^th Street at the former Garfield Avenue

Elementary School.

2.                     Her family attended and she was married at St. Mark A.M.E. Church while it was on 4^th Street.

3.                     4^th Street was part of the 6^th Aldermanic District she represented.

4.                     4^th Street runs parallel to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, symbolic of her connection and collaboration with Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement.

now, therefore

The Mayor and Common Council of the City of Milwaukee do ordain as follows:

Part 1.  North 4^th Street from West St. Paul Avenue to West Capitol Drive is renamed Vel R. Phillips Avenue.

LRB

APPROVED AS TO FORM

____________________________

Legislative Reference Bureau

Date:  ______________________

Attorney

IT IS OUR OPINION THAT THE ORDINANCE

IS LEGAL AND ENFORCEABLE

____________________________

Office of the City Attorney

Date:  ______________________

Requestor

Drafter

LRB171200-1

Teodros W. Medhin

4/23/2018