Group discontinues Milwaukee streetcar petition

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Opponents of the Milwaukee streetcar project have reportedly discontinued their push for a referendum that would seek to make any additional changes to the streetcar project subject to a popular vote.

On Thursday, the Journal Sentinel reported that a group called Stop the Milwaukee Streetcar, which was spearheading the opposition to the project, advised in an email that they were no longer pushing the referendum drive. A spokesperson for Stop the Milwaukee Streetcar and Alderman Bob Donovan, a mayoral candidate who opposes the streetcar and was seen as closely affiliated with the anti-streetcar group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The opponents were already in for an uphill battle. Their new petition acknowledged they could no longer stop the part of the project that is already underway. Forced to change tactics, they were instead looking to put up obstacles to expansions, modifications and additions.

On Feb. 10, Milwaukee’s Common Council approved the construction of a $124 million, 2.1-mile streetcar route that will connect the city’s central business district to its Intermodal Station and nearby neighborhoods. City officials have also applied for a federal grant that would provide $14.2 million for an additional line that is to extend to Milwaukee’s lakefront.

While much of that was happening, the project’s opponents were trying to gather enough signatures to put the project to a referendum. That first effort failed.

In July, the city received proposals from various companies that are seeking to build the cars. Milwaukee officials now say they will be ready to select a general contractor for the construction of the streetcar line as early as late winter or next spring.

The downtown streetcar is to be a starter system connecting parts of the city’s downtown to the Third Ward, the Lower East Side and the lakefront. City leaders have discussed using extensions to bring the system to even more neighborhoods, including the north side, Walker’s Point, the near-west side and the east side of Milwaukee.

Those possible expansions — following the failed attempt to put the basic project to a popular vote — are what opponents said they were taking aim at. A new drive by the group called Stop the Milwaukee Streetcar was announced in early July.

“Our new petition campaign to force a public referendum on streetcar expansion begins tomorrow and runs through Labor Day!” read a July 9 Facebook message posted by group. “The new petition’s proposed direct legislation is different from the earlier petition.”

According to the petition’s text, the newly proposed referendum would not have affected streetcar-related authorizations that were made before July 1. Chris Kliesmet, head of the anti-streetcar group Citizens for Responsible Government, said he hired a lawyer to write the petition’s language and learned that a referendum cannot be used to undo previous legislation. But Kliesmet said that, other than helping to prepare the petition, he was not involved in the referendum drive and did not know its status.

The new referendum, like the initial attempt, faced challenges in getting off the ground. In addition to restricting opposition to expansions and modifications, the streetcar opponents–to be considered–would have had to meet the requirement that felled their previous attempt: gathering a minimum number of signatures from registered voters in Milwaukee.

City Clerk Jim Owczarski estimated that about 31,260 signatures will be needed this time around. Arriving at a hard-and-fast figure is difficult, though, in part because of the somewhat complicated formula used to set the requirement.

Wisconsin law states that a referendum cannot be started unless the petitioners gather signatures from a number of registered voters that is at least equal to 15 percent of the total votes cast within the city for governor during the most recent general election. Once the correct number has been obtained, the signatures must be delivered to the city clerk within 60 days of the official start of a referendum campaign.

Were the new petition drive to reach that point, officials would then try to verify that the signatures had indeed come from registered voters living in Milwaukee. At roughly the same time, the city attorney would be asked to decide if the referendum concerned a matter that was “appropriate for direct legislation.”

In the absence of the referendum drive, the city’s Joint Committee on Downtown Streetcar Implementation will convene Sept. 11 to discuss the project’s progress, including possible additions and modifications. Follow @MatthewTaub1