Bobby Pantuso 5th District Alderman-Wauwatosa WI

I had the pleasure this morning of touring Pilgrim Lutheran School on 68th and Center with Dick Laab and Ald. Joel Tilleson. Next fall Pilgrim Lutheran School which closed in 2008 will reopen as Concordia University Pilgrim Campus, a voucher school. Dick is overseeing the transformation of turning an 80 year old building into a modern urban school.

I did not know what the extent of the renovations would be but as it turns out the initial investment through grants, gifts, and loans is 1.3million dollars. I light up when anyone is willing to invest in the 5th district but the fact that they are putting this towards and education facility is even more exciting. The new design for the layout of the building is logical and aesthetically pleasing. It is hard to bring an old building into modern day compliance yet they seem to have managed this task with ease. 

I know that this new school will be a great East Tosa neighbor, an easy fit since it has only been 4 years since the previous school closed. Dick has assured me that they are more than willing to work with neighbors to solve any problems that may arise.

Look for a grand (re)opening in August.  I can’t wait.

I live on Lefeber. My friends, neighbors, and constituents on 72nd street and several other streets in East Tosa have had some basement flooding problems from time to time. I know this because:

A.     I read the news

B.     I have walked/driven around the neighborhood and wondered why their were huge piles of garbage in front of their houses after the flooding two years ago.

C.     I am generally aware of my surroundings

My basement does not flood, we checked into it before we bought our house. Why should I care if my neighbors basement does?:

A.     I am a good human being.

B.     It effects the quality of my neighborhood

C.     It has direct effect on my property value

D.    It has a direct effect on my property insurance rate

E.     I am a good human being

It is going to cost money to fix the sewer problems that have effected East Tosa for the last 30 or so years. I will share in this burden with my fellow taxpayers and I will be inconvenienced by the equipment, noise, and road closures that will occur when the construction to repair the sewers finally happens. But I will roll with it when it does.

Tuesday elections are pretty important. I am not going to tell you who I think you should vote for (with one exception) but I do think you should get out and vote. Tuesday brings with it a presidential primary, a mayoral election, some judicial and aldermanic races, county supervisor seats, and a ballot referendum.

Let me tell you what I think; I think if you live in the 15th County Supervisor district you should vote for Dan Cody. Dan is the BEST choice for the board because he will bring with him fresh ideas and new leadership. Something that the County Board desperately needs. Along with that I believe Dan is someone we can work with in Wauwatosa as the City and County have a very symbiotic relationship. Going forward as we explore shared services these relationships with be imperative.

I also think you should vote NO on the referendum to reduce the size of the Common Council. Our council functions quite well and the citizens of Wauwatosa are well represented. Why would you fix a system that IS NOT broken.

I won’t go any further than that. I strongly encourage you to read up on all the candidates on the ballot Tuesday before making your choices. You owe it to them. You owe it to yourself.

The economy is getting better. I can tell. Know how? The North Avenue indicator. This is the the gauge I use as an East Tosan to tell how well things are going. In January I told you about a new business that was opening up on North Ave, Ly Financial. We have a few more now. First and foremost Rocket Baby Bakery is opening soon. Look for a soft opening any minute now and a grand opening on April 21st. North Avenue Grill will be opening soon too. This is where Daymaker was. Looking forward to this because my friend Jon Anne Willow is one of the owners and it is a block from my house. We also have Signature Sweets a cakery opening right next to that. On the far east end the former Blockbuster building is becoming an O'Reilly Auto Parts. Building owner Dan Cohen will be investing quite a bit into reusing the building, repaving the parking lot, and upgrading the landscaping. There are also a few more developments that I will be able to talk about in a few weeks.
    Another great sign for East Tosa is the amount of money people are spending on their own house. On any day notice the trucks parked by people's houses for remodeling companies, window companies, insulation, and on and on. More permits are being pulled and if I put my realtor hat on I will tell you that house prices in East Tosa are holding steady and the homes that are for sale are moving.
     So what does this mean? It means that people are investing in East Tosa because they believe in it. I hope that people are buying local as well and keeping East Tosa dolllars in East Tosa which benefits us all. Hang tight East Tosans you now live in the trendy part of town.

Very rarely am I ever impressed. I say that because yesterday I actually was. I had the honor of visiting two new Wauwatosa businesses on their first day of operations. The first new business is Ly Financial at 7217 W. North Ave in East Tosa. I was invited for their grand opening, ribbon cutting and a small reception. When I got there I was stunned, amazed, and impressed to find acting Mayor Meaux present for the event. The reason I was impressed is because this was totally unexpected. Mayor Meaux is a place holder until the election in April. He’s basically there to make sure nobody pillages Tosa in the interim power vacuum. That he took time out of his Saturday morning for this is to be commended and I hope his successor takes note.
    My second stop for the day was at Turkeypants Playground. TP is an indoor playground located 10930 W. Potter Road. It is filling a much needed void in Tosa for indoor playgrounds. I am surprised in this climate there aren’t more of them. Turkey Pants was originally going to be in the village but it didn’t work out. I’m hoping they are wildly successful and open a 2nd location in East Tosa.
    Good day to be a new business owner in Tosa, with much more to come in the near future!

This is always a very interesting time in local politics. December 1st is the first day you can gather signatures to get on the ballot. You have until 5pm on January 3rd to submit them along with some other paperwork. In the middle of December current office holders must file their declaration of non-candidacy. In the middle of all of this we have 2 major holidays, vacations, parties, kids school concerts, and on and on. Needless to say it gets a little crazy.

Adding to that the mayor is moving on to a new job and is therefore not running for reelection. Only a few current aldermen have announced they are running, and at the state level we have more recall elections.

I read a comment by a prominent blogger on Wauwatosa Now who simply said. “I’m making popcorn”. I love it because he’s right, this will all be very interesting to watch.

There is nothing big on the horizon for the council and the mayor’s office. We held the line on taxes; development has been slow yet steady, and things keep rolling along.

I want to take a moment to thank the Mayor for her service. While we have not always seen eye-to-eye we both share a passion for service and a love for Wauwatosa. I’m sure this next adventure will be both beneficial for her family and her career. I never fault anyone who when faced with a difficult decision chooses the hard choice, I’ve done it many times myself. Good luck madam mayor.

As you have no doubt seen in the media I have been riding my skateboard to City Hall on Tuesday nights lately. But what you haven’t seen is that I have had a couple of accidents in the process. A few things have changed since I rode a skateboard 25 years ago:     

• I weigh between 210-217 pounds on any given day. I was probably 110 pounds soaking wet 25 years ago. 
• I am not as nimble as I once was….let’s just leave it at that.
  
• I now wear a helmet and wrist guards. This is mostly because my family enjoys the fact that I am not in a hospital.
• Physics…can’t prove this one but top scientists would probably back me up on this.                                                                                                                                        
  

   I wonder what 11 year old me would think of 36 year old me. I have a highly successful career, I serve on a few boards, I practice realestate on the side, I coach soccer, I am involved in the PTA, I have a beautiful wife, I have three amazing little boys, and I represent the neighborhood I grew up in on the Wauwatosa Common Council….and, in a momentary lapse of reason I thought it would be a good idea to ride a skateboard again.
    It’s human nature to be drawn to people that are similar to yourself. I had the opportunity to meet one such person this week when I had a cup of coffee at Cranky Als with Dan Cody, candidate for Milwaukee County Supervisor. I had never met Dan before but we run in some of the same circles and I had heard a lot of positive things. Turns out we have a lot in common; we both have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, we both have political careers that started by working for a neighborhoods, we both love the Brewers, we both have 3 kids, and I could go on and on.
   At the end of the day when you make your decision of who you want to represent you it should be the person you think will work the hardest.  While you will NEVER agree on everything at the end of the day you know that their decisions were heavily weighed and well thought out and they will stand behind them. That is why I am endorsing Dan Cody for Milwaukee County Supervisor.
Now if we could only get him on a skateboard…

Tuesday night the Community Development Committee will take up concealed carry in public owned buildings in Wauwatosa. Its an interesting issue and seemingly divisive however at the end of the day I have a hard time trying to figure out why it matters because it will be nearly impossible to control.

I’m not sure what to do with this one. I have gotten dozens of emails for banning concealed carry and so far only one against. My biggest problem is that I don’t think it will make a difference. I am not a gun person but I understand and respect that some people are.

 

One of my accounts at my day-job is at the Waukesha County Courthouse. In order to get into the building I have to pass through a metal detector, I have to put all my personal items into a basket for inspection, and I have to place my briefcase into an x-ray machine. If I get through I have proven that I am not carrying a weapon.

 

My question is this…without these types of controls in place what is to keep me from carrying a weapon into a building in Wauwatosa, law or not?

If you didn’t go last night, you missed out. I have been to many of Wauwatosa’s community events this year, Tosa Night Out, 4th of July Celebration,  a few Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market to name a few. I can honestly say that the East West game, or Battle of the Tosas was the best of them all.

I have a little skin in the game. I am of course a graduate of Wauwatosa East, a badge I wear with pride. I also have 3 sons that will in just a few short years attend Tosa East as well. I wear red, last night a lot of great memories came back.

I was disappointed with one thing. Where were the bands? I was a member of the Red Raider Marching Band and it was very disappointing that neither high school’s band was represented last night. Instead we were subjected to recorded pep-band music and 80’s tunes that were all too loud. I was introduced as well to “Ice Cream & Cake” if  you were there you know what I am talking about. I am truly glad that my 6-year-old cannot download songs to his iPod without MY password.

My one suggestion for next year (other than the bands) is that there be some sort of trophy, axe, hammer, or whatever that the winning team takes possession of after the game. There is nothing like a physical symbol of triumph and the glory that goes along with it. Tosa East wasn’t the only winner last night. All of Wauwatosa was as well.

I am the first to admit when I am wrong….I was wrong. About a year and a half ago when Chili’n on the Avenue was first presented to me I was skeptical. I wasn’t the only one either. Two things came to mind; 1. This will look like a cheap rip-off of Tosafest, 2. Who eats chili in July? I kept it to myself and like everything I do in life I went full Wile E. Coyote into it. The plans sounded intriguing, the buzz sounded promising, but most important, the group in charge are some of the smartest people I know. The day came and low and behold it was a resounding success. Immediately there was talk of “next year” the coattails were long and people started climbing aboard.

    I could go into a great many examples where an event was a success the first time and a colossal failure the next time around. I won’t. But that has been in the back of my mind as Chili’n 2 approached. My goal for myself this year was to step back and just show up when needed. I do a lot you see and it is bordering on too much. If I don’t start stepping back a bit I will probably end up in an insane asylum. No, really, I am not being melodramatic.

I showed up yesterday at 9am for my beer tent shift. I was paired up with someone who is a real go-getter and we got it done. Not many people buy beer between 9-11am so it was relatively painless. At 11am I checked out and checked in to my next shift, judging. Turns out I was pretty free until 2p so I had a few hours to kill. I walked the street and eventually found a great people watching spot where I overheard the following comments from passersby:

“They should shut down the street and do this every weekend”

“This is Tosa right?, this is pretty cool”

“What an awesome crowd"
 
Many people approached me as well to talk about what a great event we had going. I take no credit, I am just happy to be along for the ride.
It is safe to say next year will be even bigger and better. If one is a fluke, 2 is a proving ground, then 3 is a tradition.  Chili’n 3? You betcha.