Alderman Bohl, I respectfully request that you support Alderman Bauman’s compromise budget amendment to increase funding of the Housing Infrastructure Preservation Fund and further request that you do so without implementing a $50,000 cap per property. I spoke at the budget hearing a couple of weeks ago in the evening, but I am unable to take time off work this particular Tuesday morning for the zoning committee hearing.

I am a 21-year resident of the historic Concordia neighborhood. We have fought many battles over the years against all sorts of criminal activity and because of our hard work, we now have a stable area in which many people have chosen to raise their families. But we can’t rest. We need more, not fewer, law-abiding tenants and homeowners to work with us on our ongoing efforts to stabilize the area. When one of our houses is lost to demolition, it leaves us with a gaping hole on the street that will likely never be built on again, and we have lost the opportunity for another family to join our efforts to make the Concordia area a dynamic and diverse inner city neighborhood.

The Housing Infrastructure Preservation Fund rehabbed a small house across the street from me and just last month it sold to two teachers. We now have two more neighbors committed to the health and well being of this street and the surrounding area. Unfortunately it does cost more to rehab a home in an historic neighborhood, but this is a long-term investment which in the end delivers far more than just solid housing stock. It helps bring new tax-paying citizens into the city who will help make this area, which is so near to Marquette and downtown, a vital, thriving neighborhood. Please allocate the necessary dollars, without a cap, so that the Housing Infrastructure Preservation Fund can continue the important work that it does in Concordia and other historic Milwaukee neighborhoods. Thank you.

Eileen Hanley
945 North 29^th Street
(414) 933-5303