Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Bucks President Offers Big Visions of Success On and Off the Court

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 4, 2015
Post category:Milwaukee Race & Law Speakers at Marquette Sports & Law

With new design plans for the Milwaukee Bucks arena to be unveiled in the next several days, Peter Feigin, president of the professional basketball franchise, exuded nothing but enthusiasm during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program Wednesday about the future of the team and what its impact will be not only in Milwaukee and statewide but across the globe.

“Awesome,” he said. “This is going to be miraculous.” But that will come to pass only with hard work, not only on the basketball court but throughout every aspect of what the does, Feigin told a large audience in the Appellate Courtroom of Eckstein Hall.

Milwaukee? Feigin said the team wants to do all it can to connect with the city, including connecting its players with the youth of the city and increasing its philanthropic work focused on youth, wellness, and education. And the new arena and the team’s operations as a whole will mean several thousand full-time jobs in the city.

Wisconsin? The Bucks want to be “Wisconsin’s team” in the way the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Brewers have become Wisconsin’s teams in their sports.

BIDS as a Superior Innovation Tool

Post author:Carolyn Garski
Post published:November 1, 2015
Post category:Milwaukee Political Processes & Rhetoric Public Tax Law

Cities, which were previously facing population decreases due to urban sprawl, are now facing an urban resurgence or revitalization. Millennials and retirees have found a home in many of the urban centers of America. In 2010, 83.7% of people in the United States and Puerto Rico lived in metropolitan area and a 10.8% growth in metropolitan areas from 2000-2010.[1] However, with a large number of people living in the suburbs in previous decades, cities have not updated their neighborhoods to fit the needs and desires of its new residents. One of the tools to meet this need is a Business Improvement District (BID)

Business Improvement Districts are areas inside a municipality created for the purpose of developing, redeveloping, or maintaining a business area.[2] New Orleans was the first city in the United States to implement a BID, and it saw great success. [3] There are now more than 1,200 BIDs nationally. In 1984, Wisconsin created its BID statute. [4] There currently 34 active BIDs within the city of Milwaukee. [5]

One of the unique aspects of a BID is that it requires that one business owner in this area to come forward with a petition for the BID.[6] The planning commission designs its special assessment method and the implementation of the collected funds. If the owners of at least 40% of land value inside the BID raise an objection, it is vetoed. If the landowners do not veto the plan, then it then goes through the city legislative process and the mayor can approve it. The BID members have to renew the BID on an annual basis, unless there is an outstanding debt.

America’s Public Libraries Are Important, Changing Pillars, Conference Speakers Say

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:October 30, 2015
Post category:Milwaukee Public Speakers at Marquette

Wayne Wiegand is a prominent expert on public libraries who titled his book, published this fall, Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library.

How big a part of our lives are libraries? Wiegand summed up key themes of his book by telling a conference at Marquette Law School on Thursday that libraries “are much more important than we previously thought they were.” They are vital parts of boosting the lives of millions of people and of America as a whole.

Those were key themes also of the packed-house, half-day conference, titled The Future of the American Public Library, in the Appellate Courtroom of Eckstein Hall. Leading figures on the past and future of public libraries in America and in Milwaukee specifically described the past, present, and future of these often low-profile but central pillars of American life.

The conference had an underlying tone similar to a pep rally for libraries. Many in the audience were themselves librarians who applauded the depiction of libraries as places that adopt to and serve important community needs — inspiring young people, providing valuable information to everyone from job seekers to the curious, bringing together neighborhoods, and sometimes providing warm, reassuring places to those who need them.