Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus works to advance the principles of limited government, free markets and individual liberty within the Republican Party.

What’s the deal with Milwaukee?

By Aaron - June 10, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Filed under Issues , Property rights , States , Wisconsin

Reading my home-town newspaper always gets my blood boiling. I’m from Milwaukee, Wisconsin — where the only thing more ridiculous than abuses by local law enforcement is the ineptitude of local politicians. (Not surprisingly, they’re almost exclusively Democrat Party members.)

Last September, I blogged about how the city of Milwaukee was going to confiscate a disabled man’s home for not paying a parking ticket from 2004.

That wasn’t good enough for city bureaucrats: now, according to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the city is planning to take the land of a family who dreamed of building a restaurant. “It’s been our livelihood and I have turned down two promotions at my job because this was my future with my family,” the land owner, Rafael Cetina, told the local newspaper.

If the land confiscation goes through via eminent domain, it will dash the dreams of Cetina, whose family bought the land in 2002 with visions of building a restaurant and club that would serve spicy Mayan flavors paying tribute to his heritage on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Why is the Cetina family land being confiscated?  To expand a fruit stand.

You heard right.

But it gets worse:  the family that owns and operates Pete’s Fruit Market would be empowered by the city to expand the fruit market.  Pete Tsitiridis, owner of the fruit market, and his family made $2,000 in campaign contributions last year to Milwaukee Alderman Jim Witkowiak, the mover-and-shaker in the city’s plans to take the land from the Cetina family.

On Tuesday, the city’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee, chaired by Witkowiak, voted to approve the land acquisition. The ultimate decision will rest with the Common Council.

The Cetinas bought the first parcel in 2002 and spent $200,000 on everything from steel framing to lighting fixtures to eventually build the restaurant and club. He is now weeks away from losing the land to the city.

The Cetina family property has no violations against it, and they put up the fence to abide by city ordinances.

Nonetheless, Assistant City Attorney Gregg Hagopian said the site’s location and the fact it has remained vacant for years is an issue.  “It is vacant land that is impeding business growth and expansion and is unused or underutilized,” Hagopian said.

Please contact Milwaukee Common Council members and encourage them to save the Cetina family’s justly-aquired property.

The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.
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  • Don

    The most amazing thing overlooked is how Milwaukee utterly disregards its own statutes that were passed to protect people from the Kelo decision. The new statute provides that unblighted property cannot be acquired by eminent domain under any circumstances if it is later to be sold or leased to a private entity. 32.03(6)(b).

    What happened to “Green” Milwaukee? How is well maintained vacant land blighted? It is ludicrous to suggest that vacant land (urban open space) is detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare. Why is their a new standard that property owners must develop their property or it will be taken away? Please contact the council members to stop this nonsense.

  • women4justice

    I have to say… that i find it ironic that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal would mock and criticize the Tsiders(sp?) family(owners of Pete’s Market) for freedom of speech. Giving a campaign contribution is in the very essence is freedom of speech. Here we have a journalists exercising his freedom of speech criticizing someone else’s freedom of speech! What Bigots the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal has employed there. Seems to me like the Milwaukee journal Sentinal is on a witch hunt! How about the countless others, Gwen Moore, Governor Doyle, Pedro Colon, Mayor Barret…… who all receive campaign contributions!. Witkowiak has done nothing wrong…. This area does not need more clubs….. we need food for the people who live in this partial residential area, one of the most density places in the city of Milwaukee. I applaud witkowiak for his decision…….His courage has prevented a man who has spent years getting his act together from holding the community hostage… If he cant get it together now, what does this tell us about how he will act and respond to the community once he has his club in a mostly residential area… If he can’t get his act together now… im sure he wouldn’t do a good job later. By the way Witkowiak has never, never, gone unopposed. This is the most sought after aldermatic district in the City. It is also the district with the most businesses in it.

  • Brad

    There is no stipulation to owning land that you have to do anything to it. It is not in the contract when you purchase. The city has absolutely no authority here. I hope women4justice is going to pay the legal fees for the city as this works it’s way up to the supreme court. I will call the EPA about the oil spill on your land and see how you feel about abusive government then. that would be all it took to make your life miserable. Perhaps Pete’s market shoud up their offer, supply and demand, Pete’s wants the land, the Cetinas own it, everybody has their price. The city and alderman Dimwitkowiac are setting themselves up for a hefty legal struglle and lawsuit. There is an online petition from the Libertarian Party in Milwaukee County: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/nolandgrab/
    Please sign it if you are from Milwaukee. I plan to follow up with a paper petition.

  • Brad

    By the way, there are just too many wrong things said by women4justice to really even find her credible. Justice? perhaps you should look the word up and then take it out of your handle since you are obviously for injustice.

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