I’m endorsing Nik Kovac for Milwaukee 3rd District Alderman, along with Jennifer Morales and many of my other supporters. Here are just some of the reasons why:
- Nik Kovac is a leader, challenging Mike D’Amato when he was expected to run for re-election. Conversely, Patrick Flaherty told me he last year that he would only run if D’Amato stepped down.
- Nik is progressive. He’s thoughtful on big issues and I’m excited about his ability to bring a new way of thinking to politics in Milwaukee. We’re not going to solve our problems with the same kind of thinking that got us into trouble. Nik will bring us new solutions.
- Nik doesn’t waste money on massive mailings, and he promises the same wise use of our tax dollars.
- Nik has run a clean, positive campaign.
- Nik’s campaign is fueled by the people, not big money or political insiders
- Nik Kovac is smart, honest and trustworthy.
- Nik is educated and involved on local issues. He’s the only candidate that I’ve seen at neighborhood meetings, city planning meetings, development hearings, student groups, environmental meetings. He’s involved in Urban Agriculture, Food Policy, Milwaukee River Preservation, Historic Preservation, Riverwest Neighborhood Association, etc.
- Nik is Local. He was born and raised on the East Side, and he lives in Riverwest. Unlike his opponent, he’s involved in his neighborhood association, his block club, his church and volunteers teaching chess to high school students.
- Nik cares about all of Milwaukee. He attends Community Brainstormers meetings at St. Matthew’s Church on 9th and Chambers because he cares about all the problems in the city, including segregation, economic development and public education.
- Nik has committed to local campaign finance reform, which we desperately need to ensure that aldermanic races can’t be bought by the highest bidder. Votes should come because a candidate is participating in a broad range of community concerns, not just because they can afford to pour tens of thousands of dollars into a mail-blitz campaign.
- Nik is endorsed by the people: environmentalists, artists, teachers, business owners, bicyclists, LGBT community members, and those who believe that local power should remain in the hands of the people.
Please join me in supporting Nik Kovac for Milwaukee’s East Side, Riverwest and Brady St. Alderman, and vote on Tuesday, April 1. Find out where you vote here
30 Mar 2008 | 8:05 pm | 3rd District | No comments yet - Add your comments
I am endorsing Nik Kovac for 3rd District Alder.
I have gotten to know Nik this past year. I have seen him (and all the other candidates) in forums, I have seen him out doing doors, I have seen him in community meetings. That he and I were able to become friends during a competition speaks volumes to Nik’s ability to “play well with others.”
Nik Is a Leader
Nik Kovac has the leadership skills and the guts it takes to challenge an incumbent who negatively affects our community. He has run a clean campaign. He has not taken potshots—unsubstantiated or otherwise—at the other candidates. Nik got his votes because he did doors for 6 months, and then he did them again (and not because he had money pouring in from a political machine). He got votes because he met people, he cares about people and he educated himself on local issues. Nik got votes because he’s smart, progressive and trustworthy and people are talking about him.
Nik Is Local
In the last 7 months, I’ve seen Nik reach out to or get involved with local organizations that mean a lot to my community—the Milwaukee River Work Group, Riverwest Neighborhood Association, Milwaukee Food Policy Council, and the Milwaukee Urban Agriculture Network. He’s spoken up and gotten involved in expressing concern on Milwaukee’s racial and economic segregation, on Milwaukee’s political history, on the Historic Preservation Commission. He understands and has gotten involved in a zoning battle, attended to development concerns, goes to his block club meeting and got involved in the Safety Committee of RNA.
I have not seen Patrick Flaherty one time during this campaign at any organized meeting of neighbors that wasn’t specifically related to the campaign.
Nik Is Progressive
Nik is progressive, intelligent, and his journalist training allows him to see all sides of a story. Continue reading ‘Why I Am Endorsing Nik Kovac’
26 Feb 2008 | 10:19 am | 3rd District | No comments yet - Add your comments
The Milwaukee River has become a huge issue in this race, and almost all the candidates talk about it.
Mandel Group has been floating the idea of more dorms, retail, and hotel space on the river at the Hometown site at North Ave.
The Milwaukee River Work Group (MRWG), is pushing for protections of the river’s banks, bluffs, water quality and viewshed.
If you want a basic overview of the work of the MRWG, check out my response below to the question in the Riverwest Currents on dealing with the Hometown Site owned by Mandel.
Public Trust, Zoning and Development
Cities need development to thrive—not just housing, but economic, organizational, environmental and cultural development in balance. Too much development in one area causes taxes to skyrocket. Too little foreordains blight. Cities and local governments must foster a deeper sense of “public trust” in order to be effective. Zoning, as a public asset, is part of that trust. If we want sustainable development, then we can’t allow ourselves to be held hostage to developers or to equate development merely with fast-buck condo/dorm/hotel building. In this vein, I support development that goes hand in hand with public trust. Continue reading ‘The Milwaukee River and upcoming development (more dorms?)’
17 Feb 2008 | 9:35 am | Water, Development, Environmental Sustainability, 3rd District | No comments yet - Add your comments
I spoke to a constituent a couple of days ago about the driveway of a new development in his neighborhood. The effect of that driveway was to make street parking less available (therefore netting no new parkings spaces), and the destruction of a 75 year-old Maple tree.
An irony when we are considering the potential effects of the Emerald Ash Borer on the city’s trees, and the overall need for a greater tree canopy in the city.
We need a stronger city plan to ensure the health of our urban forest, You can get a free tree from Greening Milwaukee
Trees
- Provide shade in the summer
- increase our property values
- Reduce our energy bills
- Help block harmful ultraviolet rays
- Increase our ability to concentrate
- Absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, cleaning the air we breathe
- Reduce our reliance on air conditioners
- Reduce water runoff that lead to sewer overflows (green is always better than concrete or asphalt)
- Provide a home for birds and other wildlife
and make us all happier.
P.S. We need city trees on Holton St.
28 Dec 2007 | 4:14 pm | Environmental Sustainability | No comments yet - Add your comments
Here’s an incredibly inspiring video of Majora Carter on Greening the Ghetto. A bit long but worth it. This is an empowering story of a community that organized to effect big environmental and development changes. She talks about finding commonalities and bridging divides between different communities, from her two worlds. “I have come from so far, to meet you like this. Please don’t waste me. By working together, we can become one of those small, rapidly growing groups of individuals, who actually have the audacity and courage to believe that we actually can change the world. We might have come to this conference from very, very different stations in life, but believe me, we all share one incredibly powerful thing—we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
17 Sep 2007 | 5:10 pm | Environmental Sustainability | Read 1 comment - Add your comments
