Number
161163
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
160266
Sponsor
THE CHAIR
Title
Resolution authorizing the transfer of funds from the Capital Improvements-Advance Planning Fund to a subaccount for the preparation of the MKE United Greater Downtown Action Agenda (f/k/a Downtown Action Agenda), in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 12th and 15th Aldermanic Districts.
Analysis
This resolution transfers $50,000 in funds from the 2017 Capital Improvements-Advance Planning Fund account into a subaccount for the MKE United Greater Downtown Action Agenda.
Body
Whereas, The City of Milwaukee (“City”), the Greater Milwaukee Committee, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Milwaukee Urban League have come together to lead an effort to create the MKE United Greater Downtown Action Agenda (“Action Agenda”) for the greater downtown area, including the immediately adjacent neighborhoods of the Historic Third Ward, Walkers Point, Walker Square, Harambee, Bronzeville, Brewers Hill, Lindsay Heights, the Lower East Side and the Near West Side; and
Whereas, Downtown is the heart and “gateway to the city” and is still the largest employment and cultural center in the City and region; and
Whereas, The immediately adjacent neighborhoods are the “gateway to downtown” and can strengthen their well-being as safe, affordable, inclusive and culturally authentic places to live, work, play and make; and
Whereas, The project will bolster civic capacity by fostering a community-wide dialogue to create a shared vision and Action Agenda for Greater Downtown that leverages downtown development and vitality to fuel growth and development of adjacent neighborhoods; and
Whereas, The Action Agenda will be a nine to twelve-month process addressing land use, neighborhood and real estate development, open space and public realm, transportation and infrastructure, inclusive economic growth and development and civic engagement; and
Whereas, The Action Agenda will leverage existing planning and implementation efforts to create a new, shared vision for the “Greater Downtown” that will accelerate implementation, establish necessary integration and coordination across neighborhoods and create cross-sector partnerships that will aid in more effective implementation; and
Whereas, The Action Agenda will create a meaningful civic engagement process that builds a mechanism to see how input was recorded and used to help shape the Action Agenda, hosts open house forums to provide more public access into the process and give residents, workers and visitors opportunities to see our progress and provide input and grow a local constituency of community members to convene, engage, advocate and implement; and
Whereas, The Action Agenda will create a shared vision that outlines tangible and feasible targets, actions, timelines and metrics for inclusive growth that can benefit all Milwaukeeans and designs a civic engagement process that repairs trust, builds cross-sector working relationships and partnerships and builds a well-informed and long-standing constituency for planning and implementation; and
Whereas, Since launching the Action Agenda, over 600 stakeholders have been engaged through focus groups, happy hour events, surveys and stakeholder interviews; and
Whereas, This input has been used to inform transformative direction relating to neighborhood development, housing, mobility, economic growth and employment; and
Whereas, The Action Agenda will create an implementation playbook, with actionable items over the next ten years, including early actions, near-term and long-term actions and will outline specific assignments that government and the business, community, philanthropic and institutional sectors can reasonably commit to accomplish; and
Whereas, The current unencumbered balance in the Capital Improvements-Advance Planning Fund cannot be expended unless it is transferred to a specific subaccount; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the City Comptroller is directed to transfer the amount of $50,000 from the Capital Improvements-Advance Planning Fund Account No. UR01217000A to the Downtown Plan Subaccount No. UR01280134 to be used by the Department of City Development (“DCD”) for the development of the Action Agenda; and, be it
Further Resolved, That DCD is directed to enter into such agreements or memorandum of understanding, as necessary, for completion of the Action Agenda.
Drafter
DCD:Vanessa.Koster:vlk
12/13/16/A
Technical correction -- James R. Owczarski -- January 10, 2017