Village Spillage

.. two teens were "collecting money" for a Children's Hospital fund raiser.  They were asking for money to buy books for children that were too sick to go home for Christmas.  The cost of each set of books was $55.  They "posed" as the children of a neighborhood woman who was a nurse at Children's.  They also said that their dad was a cop and they all lived in the neighborhood.  They name dropped many of the people on our street and concocted a story that most of my neighbors had donated. They even showed me a few of the checks.  In spite of their familiar "pitch" something just didn't feel right and I turned them away.  (My Neighbor) felt it was probably a scam and contacted the police.  She was right .. and the girls were arrested.
 
Now the bad news.  Apparently these girls were arrested the day before in Whitefish Bay.  They are dropped off with a dozen other teens out of a van and they "work" the neighborhoods.  Most likely they are not even Wisconsin residents. Since their crime is a misdemeanor, they are free to continue deceiving people AND they keep the money they have collected!  If you were one of the generous people that fell victim to this ploy, CANCEL YOUR CHECK IMMEDIATELY!   

1. As always, ask every solicitor for their permit.  As I wrote before, besides RESIDENT children (example: Girl Scouts) everyone selling something, or asking for money NEEDS A PERMIT.  Don't be fooled by some kid from Milwaukee who says because he's under 18, he doesn't need a permit.  That's untrue.  RESIDENT children do not need permits.  All others do.
   
   
2. Hello, Whitefish Bay police?  I hope they are reading today.  Chief Jacobs called me over a month ago, asking my ideas on how to communicate with WFB residents.  I offered many suggestions, from updating the WFB village website with news, starting a crime email bulletin, to writing a guest blog here, to opening their own blog (as Greenfield has done) .. including .. just send me information, I'll post it right here.
   

This scam story is a PERFECT example of the need for timely crime news.  How did I find out about this?  Not through the WFB police.  Not through the media.  I found out because someone in MENOMONEE FALLS, who gets CRIME BULLETIN EMAILS from their police department sent it to a friend who forwarded it on.

That's just not the way it's supposed to happen, guys.  

Let's not let another month slip by without doing something.   Our village website HAS the capability to manage email lists, as you can sign up to have meeting agendas emailed to you the moment they are posted.  The infrastructure is there already.  You've just got to use the technology the residents of Whitefish Bay have already bought for you to use.

Halloween Update:

Traffic was down a bit yesterday.  Last year, I counted 600 pieces of candy .. this year, I bought 600, had about 100 remaining, so maybe 500 kids stopped by.

I had a number of people tell me they'd read the blog from last year, about my desire to bring Halloween back to its traditional day, October 31st, when the rest of the United States find the time to celebrate it safely.  A few asked me why I didn't launch another campaign this year.

My answer is this .. Last year, I did collect 80 email addresses of people who signed up with GHOST-PAC (Getting Halloween on Spooky Thirtyfirst Political Action Committee.)  My original plan was to rally the masses, have them contact the Trustees, get this thing changed.

But over the past year, as I've attended a few Trustee meetings and gathered a better understanding of how things work in the Bay .. I realized there's no way in freaking hell that would have worked.  The Trustees would have gotten a bunch of emails, asking for the change, and they would have hemmed and hawed about how afraid they'd be if anyone complained about removing it from the anti-traditional Sunday date.  

The Trustees would have worried about the noisy residents who would have told them tales of woe, how they're at work until late, how the boogy-man preys on young children only after sunset, the existence of WFB vampires, how their kid is allergic to darkness and how this would be unfair because it's not the same.

The Trustees would have created a Halloween Investigation Board (HIB), staffed with Trustees, police department representatives, Health department representatives, and a few citizens, carefully balanced between pro-tradition folk and anti-tradtionalists.  The end goal of HIB would be to craft an advisory voter referendum on Halloween to be on the ballot by 2012, that would need to be ratified by 2/3rds majority of the Trustees, plus the approval of the Wisconsin legislature and Governor.

But what the heck, my angry mob:  Let's try this next year.  Halloween will be on a Saturday in 2009, Sunday on 2010.   Contact the Trustees and tell them for the next two years, let's rejoin the rest of the United States, and Trick or Treat on the traditional date and time, October 31st, when it gets dark .. just like those unsafe hell-raisers in Waukesha, Brookfield, Big Bend, Cedarburg, Racine, Sheboygan, Waterford, Elm Grove, Dousman, and Menomonee Falls, not to mention .. Cleveland, St. Paul, Des Moines, Boston, Phoenix .. Chicago, Detroit, Bismark .. well, you get the idea .. everyone else.

(You may notice I don't have links to some of those cities' ToT time listings.  Why?  Because Trick or Treating isn't scheduled.  It's like Christmas.  It happens when it happens, on October 31st.)

Make sure you read:

1. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
   
2. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   
3. WFB Picks New Trustee 
4. Grim Silver Spring Prediction .. a Local Merchant's thoughts..
5. Bits & Pieces (New Engineer, Leaf Collection, Crime .. Fire)

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

Sorry I haven't written in a while.   Sometimes the blogging well goes dry.  Here's a few bits:

SUNDAY - LAST CHANCE TO BUY BREAD AT GREAT HARVEST

As previously reported .. Rodd Hall, the owner of Great Harvest, closed up his retail shop in early October.  However, he is keeping his annual commitment to let the kids of Richards hold a fund raiser for the Hunger Task Force.

The bakery will open from 9am - 2pm, with kids helping out, staffing the cash register, the works.  A musical tribute for Hall will be going on from 11am to noon.  

This is a great event.   Get down there, support your local merchants, buy some bread, raise some dough for Hunger Task Force.  Seriously.  I mean it.

iPIC iTroubled

The iPic movie theater at Bayshore is going down the tubes.   It never paid rent to Bayshore, and the lease was terminated last month.  Looks like Bayshore is allowing them to continue operations under some other agreement.  

But .. iPic has bigger problems, as they owe $3m to the company that constructed the movie/bowling complex.

This does not surprise me.  Previously, I'd written about the preposterous $15/ticket price, which gets you unnecessary valet parking, assigned seating, and some popcorn.  Anyone surprised that formula didn't work?  Shocking.   

This is a reminder:  GO TO THE FOX-BAY.  It's GREAT. Support WFB businesses.  They will need every ticket sold in this economy.

School Referendum Postponed

News came out of the school board that because the economy is down, they will not go ahead with a $14-41M referendum on the April 2009 ballot, and perhaps move it to November 2009.

One could guess that if the economy isn't much better in 6 months (probable) that the referendum would be moved back again.

I find this to send mixed signals .. if you need capital improvements, you need capital improvements.  Looks like we can put them off for 6 months.  Probably 12 months.   I'm not saying I support or don't support the idea of the referendum .. it's just that moving it back undercuts the argument that they are actually needed.

Berkeley’s Café

Berkeley's has a grand opening ribbon cutting this Thursday.  That's great news for Silver Spring.

Where is the local leadership???  What about our 2 new Trustees??  Have you heard from them? ..  This has a bearing on all of us. (Property values, hello people!)  .. I think its time the people take over this issue and start telling the village to get out of the way...they are the friggin problem.  Maybe someone can find wherever Katie Pritchard is hiding and get her leadership on this issue.  Keep on this Kevin!

1. Silver Spring is being torn up to replace sewers, roads, curbs and sidewalks.  By the start of next summer, Silver Spring's physical status will be vastly improved.
2. A Business Improvement District has recently been created and staffed.
3. A "recruiter" has been contracted to find new businesses to move into the many vacancies.
   

1. WFB Officials who were in power from, say, 2001 to 2006.  In 2001, the Bayshore expansion was announced.  That was the moment we all should have been looking to the future, planning for tougher times for area merchants.  After 2006, with a steady drumbeat of business closures, the current crop of Trustees started taking Streetscaping, BIDs, and recruiting seriously.  Could they have acted more quickly?  Certainly.  But they ARE acting now.
   
   
2. Ourselves.  While mostly drowned-out in the past two years, Whitefish Bay has a segment of vocal long-timers who want to party like it's 1959.  They are resistant to change, whether that be new development, or tearing down what's old and familiar.  A great example of this was in 2006, when "The Bay" was proposed, and met with extreme derision.  Honest to god, people actually voiced their opinion by BOOING.  It's one thing to not like a development and want it changed in some respects .. but to yell out "boo"?  Childish and embarrassing for Whitefish Bay.  -- Imagine if a shorter version of The Bay, with the proposed ground level retail complex, had been built.  New Land Enterprises would have spent lots of time recruiting new restaurants and businesses to their new digs, which would have had a very positive effect on all of Silver Spring.
   

1. Find a way to help the current businesses stay afloat, especially while SS is under construction and the economy is stressed.  I don't know how else to say it, but the Trustees must meet with business owners, and examine every ordinance and eliminate all business un-friendly codes.  The obvious example is to strike the $164 violation for sandwich board signs.
   
   
2. Start with the subject: How can we be 100 times more aggressive in finding new businesses to move to Whitefish Bay?  Years ago, Shorewood hosted a "conference" of sorts, inviting local leaders, business owners, developers, and landlords, asking them the question:  How can we get you to move here?  Let's follow Shorewood's, very successful, path.
   

Make sure you read:

1. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
   
2. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   
3. WFB Picks New Trustee 
4. Grim Silver Spring Prediction .. a Local Merchant's thoughts..
5. Bits & Pieces (New Engineer, Leaf Collection, Crime .. Fire)

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

Ouch.  Got this email today from Rodd Hall, the owner of Great Harvest:

October 1, 2008

 To My Great Friends and Customers,

I have made the very difficult decision to close the Great Harvest bread store in Whitefish Bay, effective today.

We'll be open for business just one more time, for the Richards School 3^rd Grade "Baker For A Day" event, Sunday October 26, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., to benefit the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee. I hope to see you then!

Finding conscientious and loyal employees has always been a challenging part of running this store. Over the past year it has become so difficult that it has just plain worn me out.

You know the people who work here have always been the best! I couldn't possibly be more proud of them. The problem is that I can no longer find enough of "the best" people to be able to offer you the kind of service you and I expect from Great Harvest.

As an eternal optimist, I've been fighting this decision for a long time, believing things would improve. The last straw was the recent last-minute decision by the Village of Whitefish Bay to close Silver Spring Drive during its reconstruction, a reversal of their long-standing promise to keep Silver Spring open in both directions throughout the project. I know from experience that this would be bad for an already suffering business district at any time; it will be devastating since it's happening during the holiday shopping season.

I'm going back to my first "bakery love", the reason I opened this store 18 years ago ... baking great bread. I'll still be baking, just not running a retail bread store.

So all is not lost. You will still be able to buy Great Harvest bread at the Pick ‘N Save stores at 4145 N Oakland in Shorewood and at 11300 N Port Washington Rd in Mequon.

I hope to add other stores to this list. If you can't buy Great Harvest bread at your favorite grocery store, please talk to the store manager and give them my phone number.

I'd love to talk with you in more detail about the store closing if you want. Please phone the bakery at (414) 963-9690 and leave me a voicemail with your name and number. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. And if you know anyone who might be interested in running a great retail bread store, please have them give me a call.

Thanks for 18 wonderful years! I'll miss you.

Warmest regards,

 

 

Ouch.  Didn't see this one coming, even after reading this from Rodd last week. Great Harvest was one of the jewels of Whitefish Bay.  Very sad day.  Silver Spring is turning into a slow-motion car accident.

Hall mentions he will continue baking .. not sure if that means he'll continue in his prime spot, or find a new kitchen.  I'll update that later.

Make sure you read:

1. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
   
2. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   
3. WFB Picks New Trustee 
4. Grim Silver Spring Prediction .. a Local Merchant's thoughts..
5. Bits & Pieces (New Engineer, Leaf Collection, Crime .. Fire)

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.

And the umpteenth store to close on Silver Spring is ... Creme Boutique.

In an email to customers, Creme owners reported:

We are very sorry to tell you that Creme Boutique will close on October 29.  We had hoped that adding Kid's Consignment to the store would help business, but the economy and other factors have made continuing impossible.
 
We will be having a store wide sale (excluding consignment clothes) starting on October 1st.

Sad.  Another small business bites the dust on Silver Spring.

Prepare for more.  We've been skirting around an "official" recession in 2008, but it's hard to believe the economy will improve any time in the next 6-12 months.   On top of that .. with the credit market crisis, it's going to be nearly impossible for any new businesses to open.

And, of course, Silver Spring is now undergoing street construction, which will eliminate parking, and frustrate the very customers that merchants are depending on.

The latest gut-punch to arrive, is that WFB officials had been telling merchants that SS would remain open in both directions, so Silver Spring sort of looked open.  In an email sent to merchants this week, that's no longer the case.  Silver Spring will be down to 1-lane Eastbound. 

Yes, construction will be suspended from Thanksgiving to Jan 1.  Raise your hand if you think that will make a difference.  What does "suspended" mean, anyhow?  I'm guessing it'll still be 1-way traffic with no parking.  How is that going to help?  UPDATE:  Trustee Fehring has commented below .. the contractor is required to close up all trenches, put down temporary asphalt.  Sounds like 2 way traffic plus parking.  Great to hear.

November and December are the two most important months for the local merchants, many who are just skating by.  The timing of this construction will push a few over the edge.

SHOP LOCAL!

Make sure you read:

1. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
   
2. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS
   
3. WFB Picks New Trustee 
4. Grim Silver Spring Prediction .. a Local Merchant's thoughts..
5. Bits & Pieces (New Engineer, Leaf Collection, Crime .. Fire)

 Don't want to keep checking for news on this blog?  Have it delivered to your inbox, so you won't miss anything.  Free.  Click here.