June 13, 2008

State Leaders Discuss Kenosha's Future
Capital for the Day; Governor Doyle, state Cabinet visit Kenosha

By Joe Potente
The Kenosha News

Gov. Jim Doyle says he has come to know how things get done in Kenosha. “I've learned this from Kenosha, the politicians — it works best when people know each other and work together,” Doyle said. “That's the way you've always done it here.” Doyle sought to foster these personal connections Thursday, bringing numerous members of his cabinet to Kenosha County as part of the state's ongoing “Capital for the Day” series. It is a chance for local citizens, government and business leaders to make sure their voices are heard by state government, Doyle said.

The governor kicked off the day with a speech at a Kenosha Area Business Alliance-sponsored breakfast at Carthage College. The cabinet secretaries, along with Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and First Lady Jessica Doyle, then spent the balance of the day

meeting with local groups and touring area facilities.

Doyle said the Kenosha area and its legislative delegation have a strong history of working with the state on business development, most recently on packages involving shipping products company Uline, Abbott Laboratories, Chrysler, Affiliated Foods Midwest and Gordon Food Service.

“We have done a lot of very, very good work together, and I look forward to continuing to do that with you in the coming years,” Doyle said.

Doyle said that work can serve as a good example for Janesville and Rock County, where a General Motors assembly plant is slated to close, leaving behind more than 2,000 high-wage manufacturing jobs.

“I think as Janesville looks to the future, they can draw some very good lessons from what has happened in Kenosha,” Doyle said.

The governor assured the crowd of political and business leaders that he and Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi are committed to rebuilding Interstate 94 between Milwaukee and the Illinois state line — a $1.9 billion plan that has recently garnered scrutiny from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. The proposal involves expanding the roadway to four lanes in each direction throughout Kenosha, Racine and southern Milwaukee counties.

Doyle said he also remains in favor of developing the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line, which was stalled in the past year's state budget negotiations. Doyle said he hopes this fall's election will bring about the victories of more lawmakers who believe in a balanced transportation policy.

“We all understand, and Frank certainly does, that this isn't just about roads,” Doyle said. “And the KRM is very high on our priority list.”

The governor recognized a local business fixture and two local figures soon to leave state government.

Delicatessen owner Ralph Tenuta, a Carthage trustee and a co-founder of the American State Bank, received a proclamation from Doyle.

The governor also saluted University of Wisconsin-Parkside Chancellor Jack Keating, set to retire in August, whom Doyle said “put his heart and soul into Parkside.”

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, who was elected Kenosha County executive Tuesday, was a key ally in the Legislature, the governor said.

“I just want to say that he has been as strong of a partner for me as there could be, time after time after time,” Doyle said.

Kreuser, who introduced Doyle at the breakfast, plans to leave the Assembly at the end of the current term in January. After running unopposed in Tuesday's special election, he will be sworn into the county executive's office Wednesday.

The county executive-elect promised the governor that he and new Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman will have plenty of Kenosha-specific demands on their lists for Doyle's cabinet secretaries to handle.

Those secretaries — more than 15 in all — visited a vast array of locations while in Kenosha, while Doyle's schedule forced him to return to Madison after the Carthage breakfast.

Lawton held a roundtable meeting at the Kenosha Public Museum with members of the Arts and Humanities Association of Kenosha before heading to a women's business luncheon at Kemper Center. In the afternoon, she held a press conference regarding the Energy Star School Challenge at Prairie Lane Elementary School and took a tour of the Heide farm in Somers, which generates its power from wind and solar energy.

Jessica Doyle was to discuss mentoring projects with UW - Parkside students, and the Wisconsin Covenant program with students at the Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha and Wilmot High School.

The governor noted that his cabinet has a distinct Kenosha flavor.

That, he said, comes from former County Executive John Collins, the current deputy secretary of Financial Institutions, and Kenosha native Tim Mahone, the director of Doyle's Milwaukee office.

Mahone, Doyle said, reminds him if an hour goes by in which he doesn't think of Kenosha.

“You all think you're important in Kenosha, but we have kind of a rivalry for who the real king of Kenosha is in this administration,” Doyle said.