Work starts to remodel UW building
Josh Schoemann’s listening session last week was not supposed to be a press conference, but I asked two questions that made it seem like one. The first was a softball: “Are you running for lieutenant governor?
I got a fast and emphatic answer: “No.” Without elaboration.
Josh Schoemann
His answer was a little surprising. Our county executive had thrown his hat in the ring early for the Republican nomination for governor, but quickly exited when Tom Tiffany, the Republican congressman from northern Wisconsin, entered the race. Tiffany’s big edge in fund raising in the GOP surely had a lot to do with Schoemann’s decision.
He could have helped Tiffany, who is not well known in the southern parts of Wisconsin. Schoemann has a medium-high profile, having appeared often on WTMJ radio.
Like Tiffany, Schoemann fully supports President Trump. They were 100% compatible on that MAGA score.
The Washington County’s executive’s biggest issue over the last two years has been what to do with the 80-acre closed campus of UW-Milwaukee at Washington County. He created two task forces to find a solution. Both came up with answers that didn’t make it to home plate.
The recommendation of first task force was to consolidate the UW campus with the two-year West Bend campus of Moraine Park Technical College. Schoemann took the county board’s unanimous endorsement for a pilot of that concept to Madison, and he got it through both houses of the legislature.
At the listening session, the county exec blamed “partisan politics” for a subsequent veto by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. He was probably right on. Schoemann’s well-known Republican ambitions probably led to Evers opposition.
What other reason could Evers, known as the “education governor,” have had? Evers never gave his rationale. The technical college system, for some non-public reason, fought the consolidation.
Schoemann noted that Marathon County had adopted the Washington County concept.
The second task force recommended a “Smart Start Academy” in conjunction with the five surrounding K-12 districts. High school students would have used it to pile up inexpensive college credits.
Schoemann disregarded his own task force and cut a deal to sell most of the UWM assets to the small Ozaukee Christian School (OCS) for $3 million. How has that shaken out?
The City of West Bend sold its 26% ownership to the county for $1.3 million. The Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation is in line to take over 60 vacant acres (of 80 total) for permanent preservation. A suit on behalf of donors to the campus for $1.2 million for public education is working its way through the local court system. A large bill for electrical system upgrades has been incurred. A $2 million state subsidy for transition from the campus has been held back, probably for Evers-influenced political reasons as well. Schoemann called the hold-back by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. more “gamesmanship.”
Long and short, the deal doesn’t look a win for the county and its residents, except for the preservation of 60 acres of beautiful Kettle Moraine topography.
Schoemann revealed at the session that OCS (recently renamed FaithRidge Christian School) has started to remodel the building for its purposes. The county is proceeding on the assumption that the deal will close when the school makes its final payment.
P.S. Three Republican political unknowns have filed nomination papers to run alongside Tiffany for lieutenant governor. Their primary election is Aug. 11.
P.P.S. Sara Godlewski, former state treasurer and now secretary of state, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. She will be the running mate for the winner among seven Democratic candidates for governor Aug. 11.
