For Alderman Dmitrievish as Vice Chair.

Also joining us is Alderman Robert Ballman.

Alderman Russell Stamper the second, Alder Person Jocasa Samaripa, Alder Woman Malayle Cogs will be joining us shortly virtually.

Alderman Scott Spiker and DeAndre Jackson as committee members.

We are also joined by our older woman Pratt and Alder Woman Taylor.

So welcome.

And uh we have with us Dra Melendez, who's our staff assistant is approximately 136 p.m.

on Monday, April 6th.

And want to jump right into our first file.

Number one, file 240920.

It's a substitute resolution relating to the designation of designation of Milwaukee as a certified sensory city.

Today at the table joining us, we have uh Clifton Crump, Policy and Admission Direct Director for the Office of the President.

We also have uh Molly King and Visit Milwaukee with us.

And uh just to put the file into perspective as the lead sponsor, this file outlines uh prospective partnership between the city of Milwaukee, Visit Milwaukee, many of its partners under that umbrella, culture city, and you'll hear from some of these entities today that are already trained and utilizing the Culture City platform.

Uh Culture City describes its organization as the world's leading nonprofit on sensory accessibility and acceptance.

It further states on its website that one out of every four individuals have sensory need or invisible disability, that these are individuals with PTSD autism, dementia, strokes, just to name a few.

Sensory needs are common medical condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding information that comes in through the census.

So in line with existing council council legislation, such as the innovation district, where we seek to be creative in both the built and human environments.

This file seeks to embolden Milwaukee as a visitor destination as well as a place of permanent residents that pushing the envelope for inclusiveness.

With that, I'll turn it over to the team that's in front of us, spear-heading efforts on this project so far.

And I think I'd like to start with you, Mr.

Crump.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President uh Clifton Crump Policy and Administration Director for the Office of President Perez.

Uh committee members, thank you for hearing this item.

Um this uh process or program started off with a simple search for myself.

Uh my son Austin is autistic, he is 20 years old.

And one day I started to think about um where he and I will retire to.

Uh I started doing searches on autism-friendly cities and states uh in this country, and quickly I found out that um certain states have stepped up and offered more in cities, and some don't.

Um so when I'm doing these searches, um, often uh Mesa Arizona would come up during my search.

So I chose to look into it a little bit deeper, and Mesa, Arizona, they tout themselves as being the search the first autism certified city.

So I'm like, well, what is that about?

So I'm looking into it, and essentially they partnered with the credentialing agency and they trained various entities such as hotels, recreation facilities, uh restaurants to be more inclusive.

So if I or my son went into a restaurant and he starts to STEM, they would recognize that he's on the spectrum, that he's not just being uh that it's these aren't uh behaviors that are threatening at all, but that's how he communicates to the world through his through his senses.

So I uh thought about I looked into it further and saw that as one of the partnering organizations uh visit mesa, which be with which would be akin to visit Milwaukee, uh, was a partner in Arizona.

So myself being a visit Milwaukee board member, I began to think about if we could do something similar here.

So I uh brought the concept back to President Perez and he embraced it.

Uh we then went to the mayor's office and talked to him.

Uh he was enthusiastically supportive.

Uh and then we took the concepts uh to DER at the time uh Harper Donahue was here, so that would tell you that we've been working on this for quite some time, uh probably a little over a year now.

Um Molly uh King has been kind of leading the charge as well as Tony Snow Rodriguez, just in terms of doing different modeling and and reaching out to different organizations that offer such certifications.

But again, it was a search to find out how can we make you know Milwaukee better or on the same like a scale or or tier as some of our other cities and Mesa is a good comparable 550,000 people, uh very similar in a lot of ways.

Uh, but again, as people like myself, uh in my mid-50s look to retire.

Um, where am I gonna live?

Where is my autistic son going to live?

Um, why not Milwaukee?

Why not put Milwaukee on the map as best we can?

Um, and I think myself personally, I think there's a moral obligation to make sure that we're doing all we can, and as you'll hear later in the discussion, there's also some economic reasons uh that are tangible for doing this as well in terms of tourism and and things of that nature.

So with that, I will turn it on.

No, uh, I appreciate before we go to the other leaders.

I wanted to point out that uh Alderman Jackson is a co-sponsor, and I wanted to provide an opportunity for Alderman Chambers, who's also another co-sponsor if we wanted to kick off the discussion and then recognize that Alderman, all the Roman Moore's joined us as well.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um thank you, Clifton, for um speaking of your testimony, and you know, we all have family family members that are close to us that have been impacted by you know this thing, and I think that should have been done sooner.

A lot sooner, um, because a lot of people, even in the adult lives, are being diagnosed with you know, being on the spectrum.

And um, you know, uh so I think this is a great start.

I think we need to go further, and uh you know, you know, um I think Ms.

King and and uh you know Mr.

Snell is gonna go on to more detail about it.

But uh thank you for bringing it up, Mr.

President.

Bring this a great opportunity, and Armin Jackson um for talking about something that we should be in the forefront of of leading and just making sure that we are inclusive uh to the entire community uh from all different walks of life.

So thank you.

No appreciate it.

Thank you.

Uh with that, uh I want to turn over to Molly, then Tony, and we can continue we'll have questions when we're done with the presentation.

So thank you.

Well, thank you again for having giving us this opportunity to be here.

I think as uh echo um Alderman Chambers, it's a timely and well needed um initiative.

Just for the record, my name is Molly King, City of Milwaukee benefits director.

Um again, this is an important step forward um for Milwaukee, and I think it's reflexible with the shared commitment by Mayor Johnson and President Perez to work collaboratively to make this move this initiative ahead.

Um and it's especially for me meaningful that we're having this discussion during autism acceptance month.

It's a time that calls for us to not just be aware, but take action and focus on what could we do to move this forward.

Um at its core, this initiative is about making employee feel more uh feel an ability to recognize and support individuals who have these sensory needs.

That could be a colleague or someone we're serving within the community.

That is what we do, right?

And so because of um, because of when we are, I believe when we are a workforce who equip and give our members a tools, we become a society where we're very much more inclusive and more responsive to everyone, not just a selective group.

That said, does anyone can see the presentation?

Um, this is just an agenda we'll be going through, uh addressing just about all these items listed from internal, external, economic um perspective, and so forth.

So as a president alluded earlier too, you know, when we talk about sensory inclusion, we're really talking about making every day, everyday space easier to navigate for people who experience the world differently.

That includes people with an invisible disability and that things like what we're talking about here, autism, PTSD, dementia, um, anyone from ADHD.

It could just be a spectrum of different kind of conditions.

Things that we can't see, right?

But it deeply impact how someone experiences space.

And this isn't a small group, as alluded to by President Perez, it's one in four Americans uh live with a disability, and a significant portion of those are invisible disabilities.

For many, something simple as a bright light, a loud noise, a crowded room can be overwhelming.

So it is really important about moving the way these barriers, the one that we don't even notice are there.

There are barriers that we just don't notice are there.

That can make it completely uh determine whether someone can participate in something or not.

And so again, we're talking about partnership we're mateworking with is Culture City, and who is Culture City?

Again, just to echo a national nonprofit organization that helps community like ours become sensory inclusive in a practical real world way.

There's already a certified over 1,500 venues around the country from airports to stadium.

And like this weekend we were at the zoo with my son, and you know, where those there are a lot of noise, there are like air headphones there for individual kids that may be experiencing that.

So we have it, our partners here in the city has been doing it.

It's our time to step up and support them.

Is my what we've been talking about.

So what makes this program more effective is it's not just a label, right?

It's a training, it's tools and it's accountability.

Staff can train on how to recognize sensory overload and how to respond to about to it.

Facilities are equipped with things like sensory bags, noise canceling headphones, phage tools, and cue, like visual cue cards, also.

It's a simple ideas, small adjustment that could make a big difference in what happens here.

And from our staffing perspective, this is about confidence.

A lot of people, a lot of employees want to help others, right?

But they just don't know how, always know how to what to do and what to say, how to react to things.

This training gives them a practical tool, so they not just guessing at the moment of what to do, it also builds empathy.

Let me repeat that.

This builds empathy.

Understanding what someone might be experiencing instead of interpreting behaviors.

And internally, it enforces that we're a workplace that values inclusion, not just externally, but for our own team internally, whether it's our bosses, whether it's our peers, whether it's just about anyone we work with, we could engage in Iraq, because we don't know what we're what they're going through experiencing.

So this can have a real impact on morale and retention, in my opinion, when it comes to the employees.

And for a resident, it's about access, plain and simple.

Just having access and is important.

There are families right in here in Milwaukee who avoid public events space because they're not sure how their their loved ones will be received.

And so, in fact, you say over 70% of families with has a m uh with members who has autism say they feel excluded in their community events.

This changes that.

This gives them an opportunity to be welcome, feel um valued and included.

It sends a message that our city is a space, a place where everyone is welcome, not just in theory, but in practice.

And when people feel included, they participate more, more in events, more in programs, and more for me, extremely important and timely civic life.

Elections, voting, serving.

And so our slides seem to stop moving.

Sorry, the slide seems to not want to move.

Yeah.

All right.

Can you see the screen again?

Yep.

Okay.

So you know, we have uh visit Milwaukee, we have advocate groups as this car here to do them online.

Um this is also have a very strong economic case to be had here.

The disability community represents over a hundred and seventy-five billion dollars in disposable income in the United States.

Let me say that again.

Disability community represents over 175 billion dollars in the United States.

And these families don't travel alone.

It's not one person who's traveling, they travel as a group.

So just imagine even the broader economic um opportunities that are with this.

Um cities that are prioritizing accessibilities are increasingly becoming more preferred destinations.

They give Milwaukee a chance to stand out, not just as a great place to visit, but it's a welcoming one.

And that translates directly into hotel stay, dining, local spending.

I'm not gonna run it right in your parade, Tony, but just I guess give you some ideas, and Tony will expound further on that.

Okay.

And so this is just a general roadmap of what this looks like.

Um the good news is it's very doable, right?

It's a very doable project.

It starts with identifying key locations, places where residents and visitors can interact most, are interacting most, city hall.

Committee member uh like rules like this, license and so forth.

Um then staff, the second step is staff gets trained up and putting tools in place.

So it's a 30 to 45 minute virtual training that we give all of our staff.

Our goal is to have just about all of Milwaukee and the City of Milwaukee employee train as much as we can.

Culture City provides an ongoing ongoing support, so there isn't something we're figuring out on our own.

We're not on our own hair at all.

They help us give us a roadmap how to make this a successful program.

And ultimately, this is about long-term commitment, embedding inclusion into how we operate as a city.

Because at the end of the day, um this isn't about just a program, it's about making Milwaukee uh w work better for everyone for more people that visit to live here, who lives here and who we served.

Um here I just want to give a picture of what a glimpse of what 2.0 we call it, I called it, because we have not yet identified this phase.

Um Pfizer Forum has two of these sensory rooms, and um our Baird Center has three sensory rooms, and this is a concept of what it looks like.

When people feel overwhelmed and things like that, um this is an area where they can go separate themselves, but there are sensory bags that um nice canceling hat phones and things like that.

I just want to read um just what a you know, a slide that we put together very thoughtfully, put together this slide, and Milwaukee is a city for everyone.

By partnering with Culture City, we believe that the city of Milwaukee takes a bold step forward, a future where everyone, residents, employee, and visitors is seen, supported, and included, regardless of invisible disability or sensory needs.

And so that is what uh presentation that I have had put together in collaboration with the team.

And we have our friend here from Viz of Milwaukee and our equal rights member also, Tony Schnell.

Tony, I'll just punch it over to you.

Thank you, Molly, and good afternoon, Mr.

President, and members of the committee.

Good afternoon.

I'm Tony Snell Rodriguez, and uh I'm with Visit Milwaukee, and I I do also chair the city's uh Equal Rights Commission, so I I'm doubly um supportive.

Uh and we're here in strong support, the Visit Milwaukee uh for becoming a sensory inclusive city.

First, I want to thank um President Perez, uh, Glifton Crump, Molly, Mayor's Office leadership, and collaboration in bringing this initiative forward.

Um this is a meaningful step for our community, and we appreciate the partnership.

And it's also been an educational experience, too, and I appreciate that part.

At its core, this is about making Milwaukee work for everyone.

Sensory needs impact one in four individuals, as we know.

That includes our residents, our workforce, and our visitors.

Importantly, when someone travels as part of a group, which most people do, the presence of even one individual with a sensory sensitivity or disability, whether visible or not, shapes the experience for the entire party.

As a result, the number of travelers impacted by sensory needs is far greater than it may first appear.

We also know uh that it's it's not a small or niche population, it's worldwide.

Uh there are neurodivergent people worldwide, and we're talking about maybe 15% of the entire world population.

Um, and that's a lot of people, live with such conditions as PTSD, dementia, or traumatic brain injuries that affect how they experience environments.

Travelers with disabilities and their families take tens of millions of trips, tens of millions of trips each year, and spend more than 100 billion dollars.

That's collectively, families, annually in the United States alone.

This is both a community impact issue and significant economic opportunity, as I think Clifton alluded to.

Um the bottom line is this.

Travelers and event attendees are more aware of their accessibility needs than ever before.

That means our city and our industry need to meet the moment and stay committed to being inclusive for all.

This is also one of the fastest growing segments in travel.

Travelers with special needs take more than 30 million trips each year.

At the same time, there is a uh a clear gap.

Research shows that 87% of parents with autistic children are not currently taking family vacations.

But 93% say they would be more likely to travel if autism certified options were available.

That's huge.

That tells us that there is both unmet need and real opportunity.

What Culture City brings is practical and proven through training led by medical and neurodivergent professionals, along with tools like sensory kits, signage, and real-time support.

It equips staff and spaces to respond effectively when someone is experiencing sensory overload.

Milwaukee already has strong leaders, like many of you in this space.

And then we also have our partners out there like American Family Field, Pfizer Forum, Discovery World, the Mitchell Domes, the Baird Center, and more joining us and already doing the work.

This initiative allows us to scale those efforts into a coordinated citywide approach, creating a more consistent and welcoming experience wherever someone goes.

From a destination perspective, visitors do not experience just one venue or one building.

They experience Milwaukee.

This effort helps ensure that experience is inclusive, accessible, and aligned with who we are as a city.

Visit Milwaukee is already uh ready to support this adoption, connect partners and help move this forward.

This is our opportunity to lead together and make Milwaukee truly truly work for everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh I know we have a couple um supporters and uh folks that actually are doing the work that we want to take any questions on before we we hear from them briefly.

Yes.

Uh Alderman Stamper?

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

President.

So you know how we have uh the city mandated ADHD that you have to do ADHD for all buildings or licenses or uh business.

Do we envision something like that for this?

ADA ADN ADC.

We're talking about compliance, ADA compliance.

Now you have to be sensory compliant.

And so we uh if I mean is that okay?

Please feel less uh necessary, Clifton.

Um we the resolution is asking that give us the authority to execute this.

Okay, and our goal is to have every department uh participate in this training.

Frankly, my desire, and I think I speak for all of us here in the administration to have everyone, every one of our um department staff.

Uh if we can get a hundred percent uh achievement, that would be great.

Um that is our ultimate goal.

Yeah.

So uh Mr.

President is a co-sponsor, please.

Sure.

I like to uh I don't remember how we did our program where you got an A if you were a clean establishment.

We need to put some type of sensory inclusion disability at least to get started.

So our partners and other establishments that that have uh a ready uh steady flow of customers or business from people that would welcome uh this type of population.

So uh I'd like for us to develop something like that in the meantime.

I think this is important.

Um I'm happy to see this.

So yeah, and you know, those are my thoughts.

And it was phasing it.

I mean, we thought about all the front facing employees, whether you're in licensing right and you come in with your family, and you have to wait for your application to be called and uh having everyone in in those spaces where you're paying water bill.

Yeah, you know, the these front facing those were our priorities in phasing this out and that uh people would be trained.

Um can someone talk a little bit about the the kits and the bags that come with and um you know those were going to be made available in these spaces.

We'd like with with time we want to get the fire and police ready to go, and to give everyone the way we're thinking about this way down the road, our lobbying team uh led also has a mission to figure out how we can work with the state to have license plates identified so when someone's pulled over that first responders know that someone in the car may have uh an issue or could be an issue and how to be prepared for things like that.

So that's how far we're talking about that.

Yeah.

And uh in the sensory bag, good question.

The sensory bag includes, you know, we're a nice um canceling headphone.

It includes cute things that will that someone who is experiencing this can calm that individual, move them away, kind of distract them from that.

That's why two point we call it two point zero is recognizing space within different facilities, yeah.

Important facilities, City Hall, for example, uh, what where we can create that space, that venue where people could go to that child can go to that individual who's come here for whatever reason, for license, I use license, or you know, whatever a committee can go to if they're feeling overwhelmed or whatever is impacting them at that time.

There the bag itself is um some cue cards, there is uh the the head, there is some fidgets and so forth.

But I don't know if our partners at Culture City was able to join us.

Are you in line by any chance?

And and Alder Ms.

Temper along the point with the restaurants is the reason we have Tony here with our hospitality tourism.

That as we get more partners involved, we can figure out a way for these locations to be identified so they can be a priority for those that uh for those families.

And just before I move on, I wanted to say our judg gentlemen from Discovery, they already implement this.

So if you want to speak a little bit about this, it'd be great.

Yeah, well how do we how do the establishers know that they are sensory aware?

Right.

I so uh culture city does provide some city.

Can you identify yourself for the record, sir?

Absolutely.

Thank you.

My name is Casey Clapper.

Um I'm here on behalf of Discovery World, um, and I serve as their human resources manager.

Um so as as far as um identification, Culture City has provided us with signage.

Um so you know, being one of the world's leading sensory advocacy organizations, um, you know, their their logo and their signage is known.

Um and so when someone walks in the door, they can see right there that Discovery World is um culture city certified.

Um and so they kind of know that standardized approach of of what those organizations offer.

Um also there's mapping in an app.

So those individuals as well who want to find a space, it's online.

Okay, there's a mapping in each city and wherever they go, so they can look and do that research very easily.

Uh and know who organizes that culture city.

Yeah.

So we're Milwaukee's a culture city.

Not yet, just waiting here before you ask.

Start of it.

And okay, um, older woman more than Oliverless.

Um just for the um just a few quick questions.

Um, Molly, will the trainings be done annually?

This is a good thing.

Or is it just a one-time thing?

Yes, this is an annual training 30 to 45 and virtual.

So every one of us will have a login, so you can't do it collectively.

So let's go in and uh complete the training.

Well, our goal is to have us ready to get all as much employee as possible within the next 90 days after adoption of this at April 21st common council is our goal so that we can be completely uh launched and certified as a culture city inclusive city.

It's about a 35 minute virtual training.

Got it.

And is there a cost associated with this by any chance?

Yes, I did um, and I apologize if you didn't get a copy.

There's a fiscal impact statement in the the file, and then it shows that and it's again when we look at this, myself, Clifton Umsit Tony, uh President Perez and administration, and we look at it is both in a feasibility.

Is this doable?

Is it are we putting ourselves up to doing something that is not impactful or sustainable?

And the second lens was is it fiscally prudent?

And so when we did look at this, and again, this is not the only vendor we looked at.

We did look at several different um survey different um opportunities or vendors out there, but what we did like about what resonated with us was culture city, they charge us one dollar for per department.

So it's like five hundred dollars per department, so to get trained up um annually.

This is amazing.

So very doable.

Yeah, um, thank you.

Thank you all so much, and just to the sponsors um for pulling this together in addition to um the partners.

Um when I hosted um the very well attended youth resource fair, I have a cousin that has an autistic son.

And she said, Charlotte, are there gonna be any organizations here?

And again, because it wasn't a first thought, you know, I try I just I didn't try hard enough, you know, with the time frame that I had, but it was something that was on my radar.

And so I hope that as we you know have these sort of discussions when we're having events, whether the alders or whether departments are having events, that they're some sort of you know, checklist or rubric or something that says, hey, if you want to um be inclusive, these are some of the things that you may want to think about.

I would have loved to have had something like that, I will for next year because it's something that's important to me because I want to make sure that you know, in my case, every young person, you know, had an opportunity to um to you know be a part of organizations, and again, knowing who are those organizations, right?

A lot of organizations don't have the capacity or the staff to be able to have that broad array, but if people knew it know in advance um or can tailor programming or we just know who those organizations are, that would be super super you know helpful.

Um and Tony, that um that metric that you said about 87% of parents.

Oh my gosh, wow, that don't travel just because they're not spaces, that is an absolutely untapped market that we can as a city just be able to connect with to say, no, come here, come to Milwaukee, we got what you need, right?

Um so I'm excited about the what is to come.

Um, Mr.

President, please add me as a co-signer.

Okay, I appreciate those comments because yeah, the folks can choose where to have their venue based on their certification.

So you do you want to say something?

Yeah, I just wanted to say that's a really good point.

Uh all the more you make, because one of the important things that we've recognized, and uh, Tony and I were doing some radar searching.

Um, while we have great partners, who's started this chart already, right?

And we have discover Discovery War, we have a bunch of folks who's been doing it.

It's our turn to step up as a city and as leaders to join forces.

What's impressive though, we will be the first city of Wisconsin to be culture city, a century inclusive city.

So this is a really I think this is a momentum things.

Uh Oliver Burgelis.

Thank you very much.

And uh you kind of uh touched on what I wanted to ask about, but is visit um able or ready to include this designation in their partner listings.

So as soon as um we wanted to kind of dovetail with the city, so we set uh a strong example.

Uh visit Milwaukee will then also take the training and we're gonna implement this as soon as it passes with the city so that we work together.

And then making that announcement, and then our partners will be given all of the information.

We'll roll that out.

I think this is completely this is great because we see that Milwaukee, a lot of places in Milwaukee are already doing this.

So now we're amplifying it, we're making it official, uh, we're making sure that the public has ready access to know where they can go uh and what spaces are a lot more accessible.

Um accessibility to government is uh always important for people sitting at this table on both sides of the table.

Uh businesses will follow.

We know that's gonna happen.

Uh and it's great to see that Milwaukee's taking the lead in southeastern Wisconsin.

Uh Southeastern Wisconsin will be a leader in all of Wisconsin on this.

So, Mr.

President, please add me also as a co-sponsor.

Okay, thank you.

Uh Alderman Taylor.

Thank you so much.

Um so I want to say thank you as well.

So after teaching for 20 years, in addition to my teaching license, also new special education as well.

Uh and so um whereas we did all these things that you mentioned, we had the sensory areas in our classroom sensory stations, we used the headphones, you know, we really worked with our students from grade school all the way up to high school, and um I guess it just didn't dawn on me that the city didn't do it as a whole.

So I'm really glad to know that we're moving forward in that direction.

I also want to put a plug in for District 9.

Because we have Evolve Church, who also has sensory rooms.

So if we have signage so that they can let the public know that they have those rooms.

I mean, I know they do when they come in, but just so people know overall, uh, I think that would be great.

Um so I think I I really appreciate the fact that they're very conscientious about that.

So that was one of the things that excited me about them being in our district.

Um and then also um I worked with uh Wisconsin Early Autism Project.

Um and so I don't know if you guys have them as a partner, um, but it was great working with that organization over a few years.

Uh so that's just one to just put that out there as well.

But I appreciate the work that you guys are doing right now.

Thank you.

Oh, and could you please add me as a co-speaker?

Yes, ma'am.

So be it.

Uh President Perriss.

Alderman Stanford.

Yeah, um looking at what constitutes a sensory room.

Like how if I want if we want to make one up in the city, what what would we need?

Money.

Who uh to say, but don't show off this.

But check it out.

All right, check it out.

Is this a special paint?

He actually, interestingly, that's culture city will help facilitate design to room.

I think it has to be calming, noise.

Um, you know.

Yeah, I mean it's it it wouldn't we just have to location above everything, but it's it's um it's just more or less a quiet space uh for persons to go if they become overwhelmed.

Um so it it it probably the it will be harder to find the location than it would to um the for the cost of so this art isn't special towards no, it just says uh um essentially it asked for the art to be created by uh someone that has autism.

Gotcha.

So it could be a school, it could be many of the partnerships that exist just for that artwork.

Gotcha, gotcha.

Yeah, and I'll just give a shout out.

I I mean in my district alone, I mean we can all do an in-reach and find uh everyone providing a service to school.

I have islands, islands of brilliance, I have ignite, which which is a child development for uh young people.

So they're in our they're in our communities, we just have to connect with them.

Yeah.

Anyone else?

Yeah, what is the sign look like?

Like how will we know what is the I just took what I was at the zoo and I just took it what the sign is basically if you look at the presentation, um this little sign on the logo is what it you will see.

What's interesting with the zoo, which I was there on Saturday and just happens to notice it, they had uh to have a website, they have a QR code to tell you where to go to find that because over in the room where there's the animals were making noise and have a head canceling uh uh headphone and with a specific area for you and your child to get it.

I don't have a picture um of that, but I'm happy to we'll send it to you.

Yeah, send it out.

It's a basically it's a hit, I think, with a head with headphones on, and it says Culture City.

So you can put it on your entry door.

Um and then again, like it was mentioned earlier.

Um it'll kind of tell you where to pick up your headphones if there's a QR code, but then you can also, when you go to the website, it'll tell you if it's a participating organization, and then you can call in advance as well.

So uh I would just say this with people with disabilities as we looked at it from travelers and people uh who are visiting, they do the research ahead of time.

And and what's helpful is that we have this research out there so that they can they can do it before they commit to traveling here or anywhere else, but then they'll also look at the different cities and we'll we'll rise to the top, and then that's where they'll take a look even closer before they make their decision to come here.

Okay.

Um the person Samaripa.

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

President.

Just wanted to thank you and Cliff Dencrump for spearheading this initiative and uh wanted um to ask for permission to be added as a co-sponsor.

Thank you very much.

We will do that.

Thank you.

Um I we I don't I know that the Krista Beals been on the board and she's with the Mitchell Park Domes.

I know that she wanted um to say something, so please identify yourself for the record and provide your testimony.

Thank you.

Thank you to the chair and to the committee.

I am Krista B.L.

Dietpenbach, CEO of Milwaukee Domes Alliance.

Um that's the Mitchell Park Domes.

And we are a Culture City um site.

I did want to just add, in addition to everything that was already shared.

I think one thing that is wonderful, as um Tony was mentioning people who are planning their trips and are doing research, um, the Culture City website actually not only does it identify which sites are part of its network, but also gives helpful photos so that you can see what does the entryway look like, um, where would I go for the kids, who do I need to speak with?

So you're really coming in prepared, which I think is just another beautiful um aspect of the work that they're doing and why we had um pursued them as a partner.

So the Mitchell Park Domes has been a partner of Culture City for um quite a few years, and um we do have the kits as were described, and in addition to that, um as many of you may know, um we are going through a um reconstruction project where we will be um what we're seeing as reimagining the Mitchell Park domes, so we're doing a lot more with our amenities and we're adding um some really important services, and one of those will be in this area of sensory inclusion.

So we are adding a sensory room um to the domes.

Now that will be um in a few years after we finish construction, um, but uh that will be in partnership with Culture City as well, um, so that we make sure that we're um able to serve that that important population to the best of our ability.

Okay, thank you.

I also would note that um uh as Tony mentioned, Equal Rights Commission has a letter of support in in the file, and uh we'll welcome any and all additional support as we lead to council day and moving forward to um just just move this initiative forward.

Any questions or concerns before we move on?

Discovery World.

Did you okay?

Did you want to say more than what you said?

Uh yes, please.

Um so uh again, uh thank you all um for having me today.

My name is uh Casey, and I am the human resources manager here at Discovery World.

Um so on behalf of our organization, um, we wish to encourage the council to consider partnering with Culture City um to create a more inclusive community.

Um our partnership with Culture City has been an important step in strengthening our commitment to inclusive guest-centered experiences.

We have partnered with Culture City proudly since 2022.

Um, after receiving staff requests for additional training to better serve the nearly one in four Americans who experience a sensory processing disability.

Culture City quickly became the next step uh for our organization, um offering practical, well-designed resources that support both our guests and our staff.

Their team worked close closely with us to understand our museum environment, identify designated spaces for quiet zones and headphone zones, developed a customized social story to help guests prepare in advance of their visit, and also provided the uh aforementioned sensory bags equipped with tools like the noise canceling headphones, fidget items, and visual supports.

Um equally impactful was Culture City's sensory inclusivity training, a concise yet powerful training program that gives staff direct insight into how individuals with disabilities experience the world.

The training equips our team with effective communication strategies, helps them recognize when a guest may need support and shows how to properly use the tools available on site.

By meeting the training benchmarks, Discovery World has earned and maintained its certification as a sensory inclusive organization, um, which we recertify annually.

Um we strongly encourage other organizations to consider a partnership with Culture City.

It is a meaningful and achievable way to create more welcoming spaces and take an active role in building a more inclusive community across Milwaukee.

Um I also just want to note that we are also uh a 100% um across um our staff and our recurring volunteers as well.

So um I believe the standard was about 50 percent.

Um, but we took the extra step that all of our staff, whether you are a public-facing staff member or not, um we want everyone to have that level of of uh training and expertise.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Anyone else?

Move adoption.

Okay, with that said, uh the motion is for adoption.

Any objections to that motion for item number one, file two four zero nine two zero.

Hearing none so ordered, thank you so much.

Thank you all for being here.

Appreciate your hard work.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you guys.

Item number two, file two five one uh two five two five one six six one.

Communication from the Milwaukee Health Department and the Department of City Development regarding access to fresh food.

This is authored or sponsored by uh Alderman Stamper, Pratt, Jackson, Chambers, and Cox.

Uh would Alderman Stamper as the lead you do you or Alderwoman Pratt want to start off or go right to the departments?

Sure, this let's let's get the discussion going.

You did you want to say something on Pratt?

We are we all we all are um uh President President, thank you for this opportunity.

Uh I'll I'll begin by thanking my colleagues and the community for all the support, the voices, the partnerships, and everybody coming together once we start hearing of all of the grocery stores leaving the community.

Uh it was a tragedy, and uh it had become an uh adversity.

So with every seed of an adversary, there is an equivalent benefits, and that is us coming together, putting together programs, initiatives, and things we can do as a council to address the food desert and apartheid and the grocery stores leaving our community.

So uh I'm happy about and impressed by the amount of partnership and how people came together, found money, and also uh ideas and initiatives to to address what we can and bring grocery stores back to our community and support the ones that want to be here and offer incentives for those who can uh bring fresh food and also prescription to pharmacy to our neighborhoods.

So with that, um uh Bratton Jackson and I and other colleagues have put together uh some things that we can do as the city, ordinances, resolutions, and today we're gonna begin uh with this first one, 25161.

But uh I did write down some comments I like to say.

Today we are taking a clear and necessary step towards uh step forward in how we respond to food access in the city of Milwaukee.

What we are seeing across our neighborhoods is not isolated, it's systematic.

When grocery stores close without warning, when residents are left without access to fresh, healthy food, that is not just an inconvenience, it is a public health issue.

These resolutions recognize food apartheid for what it is, establish accountability for closures, and require a better coordination and communication from our departments.

This is about dignity, transparency, and making sure every resident, no matter their zip code, has access to fresh food.

So with that, uh I'll let my colleagues to give some open remarks, then we can get started.

Okay.

Um this a lot of this effort was born out of the closure of grocery stores for me, specifically, uh, the pick and save in nearby Glendale closing and uh all these on Sherman closing and the how it devastated those neighborhoods after it happened, um, and what we can do to um to keep the grocery stores we have, to maintain the grocery stores we have and make sure that they're offering fresh food um to neighbors and to residents, as well as uh good service.

Um they are not only there to conduct business, but they are very much a part of our neighborhoods, very much a part of our community, um, and they have a responsibility and they have to be accountable.

Um, and that is what our efforts are towards uh making them accountable and making sure that they understand the responsibility they have to residents.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just want to thank my colleagues for trusting and believing my crazy ideas.

Yes I think early on I talked to a veteran who lives on Sherman Boulevard his weekend was started was to go up 91st in Appleton used to go to Walgreens get his medicine then go to the 92nd in uh Lisbon uh Sherman and I could I mean uh century and I could just see how he went in a circle around the city to get back home but with that Walgreens closing um I think when I talked to him last he has to go over to like Brown DeRona because the one on fifty first doesn't have a drive through so grocery stores closing and with uh our access to medicine as well uh we just gotta get creative I think outside the box and I just thank my colleagues for believing in me so thank you.

For sure for sure thank you.

Um thank you Automat Stanford and all McPratt and Ottawa Jackson for your leadership um I'll take this a step further for me you know it actually started when we lost the Walmart in the district on Silver Spring um and I found out via uh email um you know where it caused it and luckily we had uh a Century food at the time that was open and then that subsequently closed so um we got hit with the double em luckily um the the century is going to be re-imaged and repurposed into another grocery store called one city supermarket um that will be opening up soon this month um there are some still some kinks that are coming out um far as accepting you know snap and things for the federal government um so that's what's holding up the the grand opening on that one so but um you know this isn't this is necessary because we are as orders on the north side are severely impacted compared to our counterparts on the other side on the south side um you know for some reason you know they want to label theft as um one of the re uh the one of the main reasons um and you know we get that with Walgreens as well too and and you know sometimes you have to call um you know call the BS out as I'd like to thank the reporters from the Journal Sandle for doing just that um because it puts their feet to the fire uh to actually come in with some valid ideas.

Um one thing we got lucky um out of the re as you know in our district with the one city they were being proactive um with you know some of the concerns that they were facing um and they was able to tackle it was able to work with the community partners in the nearby neighborhoods um far as Havenwoods and the choice neighborhood initiative and so on and so forth to try to keep a finger on the posts and now that you know we did that we were able to do a quick turnaround fires open it up so um hopefully with this um with this five these files that are taken out um in the the funding that would be available with these files um we could be more proactive as opposed to reactive and uh thank you all for your leadership on this thank you thank you I knew I don't okay maybe she's not there anymore I think Carl McCoggs was on for a minute but that's fine.

Um floor is yours to please identify yourself for the record.

Matt Regick Department of City Development and I'm joined here by Dominique Kayet Oates, Deputy Commissioner of Policy Innovation and Equity with the Health Department.

So we're here to you know really talk about some of the things that our respective departments and the office of the the mayor have been able to do in the past um to you know sort of advance this issue but also looking you know towards the future and how um this administration can help to center food justice issues and help to be sure that all Milwaukeeans have access to fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh food in general so start a little bit um on behalf of the Department of City Development we really try to make as as much as possible of collaboration really be the key of how we can bolster economic security through all industries um it throughout the city of Milwaukee and fresh food access is definitely a a big part of that we want to work you know with the common council and with alders on how exactly you know fresh food access needs to be addressed in your communities particularly because each neighborhood it really varies what the needs are and how we can be of assistance but we we definitely focus on collaboration from that perspective but also with regards to the business and the neighborhood improvement districts which we are also the liaisons to we're working with um near west side partners on some of their efforts to try to see how they want to you know position fresh food in their neighborhoods we're working with you know Metcalf Park Community Bridges and the Food Justice Collective to be sure that um you know see how we can both support them and also as needed get out of the way and help them to you know bolster self sufficiency as well as from a neighborhood perspective so um you know I one of the base one of the biggest tools that we have at our disposal in the Department of City Development is the commercial revitalization grants program and that we've used in the past to help start up new grocery stores fill vacant spaces um

We're working with you know Metcalf Park Community Bridges and the Food Justice Collective to be sure that you know see how we can both support them and also as needed get out of the way and help them to you know bolster self-sufficiency as well from a neighborhood perspective.

So you know, I one of the base one of the biggest tools that we have at our disposal in the Department of City Development is the commercial revitalization grants program, and that we've used in the past to help start up new grocery stores, fill vacant spaces, um, and that is something that we plan to utilize as well, but we do want to be sure that we are plugged into the ideas for both grocery stores and pharmacies that you all have been working on too.

So we just wanted to you know really emphasize collaboration and you know be of service as much as we can to you and your communities.

And I'll turn it over to Dominique to talk a little bit about the health department and some of the uh collaboratives that we're having with the mayor's office and how we can keep this issue moving forward.

Thank you.

Yes, um, it is collaboration is also a big effort of the City Milwaukee Health Department.

Um as you know, we have our community health assessment that looks at the issues within the city, and out of that we develop our community health improvement plan, which is our chip and is the um what has allowed us to develop MKELAB.

So since 2023, um we have developed action teams, and one of those action teams is our built environment uh that focuses on food security.

So through that we've continued to build partnerships um and stay um active with the community um and hosting quarterly meetings in which the community convenes to help us move forward with uh goals and initiatives to address the needs.

Um in addition to that, we've have the fresh food um access funds in which we've supported Feeding America to continue their efforts with the market match of SNAP uh benefits that are utilized uh within the farmers market.

So what that is is it allows um someone who is using uh SNAP at a farmers market to essentially double their uh money when purchasing fresh foods.

Um and another effort that we want to speak to that shows what can come out of collaboration, um especially collaboration to this extent, is and with the determination that we have and is we all witness at the um between October and November when SNAP benefits were at risk of being cut due to the government shutdown within a month's time, together with the county and other partners like Feeding America, we were able to raise over $90,000 and over nine um hundred pounds um uh of uh 9,000 pounds of food.

So it just goes to show that when we come together, you know, many hands make light work and we can get this done.

Um with the mayor's initiative, we are um addressing the grocery store closures, and so far uh we have developed three working groups.

Um those working groups will be focused on economic development, uh a needs assessment to uh understand what the residents are experiencing, as well as um alternative models.

And so we look forward to having answers and ideas in just broader knowledge within 90 days.

Within the working groups, um it is um the Milwaukee Health Department, our health strategy, uh data and evaluation, we have um DCD and remind me of some other members of the Department of Administration as well, um, and uh on the DCD side, we're both from the economic development looking at grants and how incentives could happen, but also the data side and the planning office looking at you know, mapping and strategies like that.

So we're really focusing right now on it being a city government sort of led initiative, but obviously um looking to you know see how we can broaden those perspectives going forward.

What does that mean?

Who else we can bring to the table?

Um there's an invitation out for people to participate or I think we're we're open to if there's you know any anyone who wants to collaborate, we want to you know see you know who we can work with and who can bring perspectives to the table that can help us.

Yeah.

So are there are the grocery stores at the table?

We're we've had some discussions with them and will continue to stay um involved with uh grocery operators to be sure that you know their perspectives are and those of their customers are you know informing whatever steps we have.

Okay, hold on to Snapper?

Yeah, who's leading that group?

Because I'd like to invite you to the food network uh group that meets on a regular basis for the last six months.

So they have all the insight and the planning that may be beneficial to the city government perspective.

So who's leading that group?

Because I'd like to invite you to their to their next meeting.

Yeah, and it's it's really uh an initiative of the mayor's office.

So I would definitely uh there we go side of the government.

Yes, but is there a point person?

Uh good afternoon, uh Amber Danius, counsel liaison to Mayor Johnson.

Um this is what we're calling a map go, so it's really just a focus effort to um when the mayor's identified an issue that he wants to have um particular attention paid to, uh, this is what we're talking about.

So we're considering, like you said, we have a set we have three different work groups um and needs assessment, so looking over the data that's already there to figure out um you know what stories there are, what truths we need to address, um, economic development strategy, which is what Matt had already touched on, and then alternative models.

And so one of the things that the mayor and the council members that I've heard from uh were curious and hearing about were different models that would uh meet the today's need, you know, looking at um you know uh vans, mobile vans and it etc.

Studying those models.

So this is just a focused work group to and it's an internal work group.

Yeah.

Yeah, so I'd like to when you're ready, expand it open to the community, and you let me know when you guys are ready, okay.

Uh so the fresh food fund is about a hundred thousand in there, correct?

Um you know how much we have spent since the inception and have the new desert areas been established because I know they were outdated and uh between the central city neighborhoods there's been more since we first did this initiative.

So uh where are we in updating the desert and um how much money has been spent since the inception and uh with the new influx of funds that the council is going to support, uh will it be used differently or can we tailor around some of the initiatives that we want to do?

Yes, thank you for that question.

So far, um, as mentioned, we're allotting the hundred thousand dollars to uh feeding America to continue with the um market match so that way we do not see that program dissolve.

Um the additional funds we are and we have been having conversations with different um alders so that way we can make sure that we are um including the voice of of the alders and the residents that they serve.

Um did that answer all of your questions.

Yes, you can do that and let us know the updated map when you want to be ready.

Yes, uh apologies.

Thank you for um that.

So yes, we do have an updated map.

Um I can provide a map to to the um committee, and it is um it's a map that shows um the different grocery stores that we have within the city, grocery stores that have closed, there's um definitions and design designations as uh if it's a smaller grocery store, um a niche grocery store, a super store, super center, and um it also shows um we can look at things like districts, uh we can look at the radius at which um it impacts uh we have um especially for member uh for community members who um have limited access of transportation um and then in addition to that there are a lot of maps actually being developed right now by various partners, and we are in communication with those partners to make sure that um efforts aren't being duplicated and that what we the questions that we are seeking are gonna be answered uh through mapping.

So and the purpose of fresh food fund not only to produce fresh food and promote grocery stores to provide first food, but it is to address those desert areas.

So anybody access to the fund should be in that mapped area.

Okay.

How does your internal um your process figure out how residents who live in food deserts don't maybe patronize someone nearby and want to go way across town to get their food?

How does your process get at people in neighborhoods to figure out some of these issues?

And prescriptions and drug and with far and with pharmacies as well, because we know yeah, that's definitely a similar issue.

But um, with regards to that, that's you know part of what we are at you know, really the beginning of this data, you know, analysis, you know, phase here.

We're trying to pull the this information together, and I think that's gonna be something that you know we have seen as well of you know how you know which where customers go and how we can you know help in you know as much as possible work with existing patterns of that consumers have to be able to you know not reinvent the wheel, make sure that you know where people are already going for groceries, they continue to feel comfortable going to and that we have them available.

Yeah I I guess I'll be even more specific which one of all those departments is actually talking to people about what they're doing and where they're going.

That's something that we're trying to figure out in terms of how how we're going to you know reach specifically the customers on that.

I don't know that that is particularly been established right now but it is definitely something that we're looking at in the in the near future.

Okay.

Yeah I was just yeah I was gonna add that um I think it's important that like we may look at a map and it may look like there's a grocery store somewhere.

I mean I have places like that in my district but because of the history of that store or because of neighborhood feelings about the owner or whatever it may be it it the people don't go to that store.

So while it may appear that food is readily available somewhere it it it may not be because it is not you'll see how pe the patterns that people in neighborhoods um choose because of the store that's closest to them and especially now that a lot of people's um EBT is being cut there a lot if you are going to have a store in your neighborhood and I'm telling you this is happening in my district where the gross where a gallon of milk costs eight dollars maybe when you got six hundred dollars for EBT you may have been willing to buy that eight dollar gallon of milk but now that you only get three hundred dollars you are going to go somewhere else you know and so that's what's happening to to some of the stores I think it's really important that um you're talking with the residents to see what what why they're doing why they're going where they're going um and with store owners about what they need to do um to uh couldn't be bringing people back into their stores although that's what Mr on that point uh that needs to be part of the study because bless you are stores taking advantage of the leaving of grocery stores so now they're gonna upcharge they they stuff because they know the competition is leaving is that what's happening market demand yeah they've been doing eight dollars oh sorry auto and mobile that's ridiculous so we need to fight for who's doing that well listen we got guys in bodegas that are going to aldies buying milk for two twenty five coming back to the neighborhood and selling it for five six bucks yeah whoa yeah I forgot about that thank you really quick thank you so much Mr.

Chair um I think just my sentiments are we just really need to um think about how we do government differently a lot of times we get to the table right and say we know the issues right we'll get our departments they're the smartest in the bunch and and we pull together all this information and then we say come on in community we've done the work for you just rubber stamp this for us right so I'll urge you all as we are thinking about you know and especially what Alderwoman Pratt said like yeah on paper it may look like this but once you start talking to residents it might be something completely different.

So I just encourage you all to pull in I know that we have the the best and the brightest you know in these you know in these departments but to always think about centering community first and what that looks like and it's typically getting them at the table from the beginning you know not when the train has already left the station and we want them to jump on right um but that we center them here and we have some folks um from community that are in this room and make the same they they they share about the same thing like bring us in we want to have we want to share that input so a lot of the mistakes that could be made aren't made um because typically that's what happens right you know you made the decisions and you know you then bring community in and a lot of the mistakes have been made I just implore us to start doing things a lot differently than what we've always been doing.

Thank you so much Mr.

Chair.

Okay thank you Mr President and I'll be brief um I do got to give special thank the former Khalifraimian this leadership with the fresh the fresh food grants that he that they was created um you know that that was um huge that was a a huge need because as Ottawa Jackson mentioned like he don't have a grocery store in his district and you know to access that um you know it's really appreciate the leadership and all the jacket leadership to continue moving forward.

Y'all asked a lot of the questions I was going to ask initially um but I want to go back one thing about this hundred thousand dollars for feeding America um the mark the market match um if that the mobile truck that would go to and from like the neighborhoods that was going on and and I'm asked another question following that um how do they navigate the locations to Autumn Stappers point um far as doing it if you yeah so the that is not related to the mobile grocery store.

Um this is the market that would be hosted at Fondy, and um so it's the it's a farmers market, so then when you would go, you would be giving um a voucher um to double your snap benefits.

Okay.

But we are gonna be looking at uh mobile um grocery stores as an alternative and to research and see um exactly what the benefits and of that um initiative are, um, as well as how it's you know what that model has done for other cities.

And the full and the full hundred thousand dollars from the fresh for the fresh food access that we put year to year goes to that for just that.

Um it is for one year, yes.

We we've been going on.

I mean, I got I've been elected since 2022, and I know we continuously put a hundred thousand dollars in year after year within the budget.

So does that go to that?

Because I I'm I guess what I'm trying to figure out is that how does it how does it touch citywide?

So, but I know it I know they do the match, but like how does that impact citywide when there are multiple deserts?

Um, you know, so I I guess I would implore uh moving forward, especially with this increasing funding, potentially focusing on other you know, grocers maybe like a century or or you know, even one city supermarket or anything like that to put some money into that pot to help make their broker grow their business and moving forward, not just slipping on the finding market.

I love the finding market, I go there myself, but again, like people don't know what they don't know.

And I knew that until that century was open, we had a gap, you know, we had a gap for a year and a half, you know.

So um until you know things moving forward.

So I'm just wanted to just employ you, and hopefully I can be coming up in the focus groups or anything like that.

So thank you.

Hold on, Miss Snapford.

Yeah, so I'd like to call ums uh Melanie McCurry.

Oh, I'm sorry.

My bad.

Um Taylor, you want to talk before long before you can go see y'all.

I was on colour, Miss Curtis to give us some insight.

I want I want her to give us some insight on the food network and all the all of the work they've been doing with the mobile market, the community fridges, and the far and uh the farmers, I mean the um Okay.

Food, the food shelter, the food shelter stuff.

So uh you can you can go shoot.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Uh so I just wanted to mention that so I have uh so uh as Alderman Chambers was mentioning that um we did have a big food gap and we have food gaps all over.

Um and it's very difficult to hold on to the the grocery stores that we do have.

So I'm very fortunate to hold on to the pick and save that we have, but it's a struggle.

Um it's a struggle because um, as he mentioned earlier about that, it seems that the theft is the reason why um people want to say that we lose those grocery stores.

Um but I think it's a little more than that.

Um but it it has been a struggle, it's constant meeting, it's constant changing things.

Uh and and I just implore many of the business owners to really look at um how their stores are set up, how you know, um security cameras, um security personnel, I mean, and cameras and and different things like that, um, so we can curve some of those uh activities of theft.

Uh uh and so that's that's been part of the struggle, but it's also been part of because of those constant meetings and constant changing things that we've been able to hold on to the pick and save so far.

But it only goes so far.

We still it it can only serve so many, and we still have a large gap.

Um I'm glad that Alderman Ch uh Chambers is able to hold on to that what was once century because it it did fill the gap.

But one of the things that was the issue with that was freshness because you I don't know if you guys remember, but I walked through that store and almost everything in there had an expiration date.

So that was one of the things that we just have to really stay on top of that it is quality.

Cause all the grocery stores we can put in place, but if they don't bring quality, then that's gonna be a whole nother issue as well.

So um, so while I I have two grocery stores save a lot and pick and save, it's still and and that took a lot of work as well, because I had to change ownership, had to grain bring in quality managers.

Um so all those things are things that we really need to look at um to to make sure that we have not only grocery stores but quality grocery stores, and so I need a few more.

Two is not gonna cut it for the entire district, but um, but those are some of the things that um that I noticed that went wrong with our grocery stores.

Yeah.

So yeah, Matt, I want you to understand that part of this discussion is it's okay to say if you haven't been working on or you don't know about it or know you haven't done it, because part of this discussion is us coming together and working towards everything that needs to be done.

And what we're hearing loud and clear is the center lived experiences of people just because there's a dot on a map, doesn't mean that is you know grocery store that people are gonna feel comfortable going to.

Yeah, but we gotta look into what they're saying.

That's that's crucial.

Exactly.

Mr.

Curtis, thank you for being a leader in the community partition of the 15th automatic district.

We love you over there.

You've been a uh staunch leader for the residents, so uh from a residence perspective and leadership on this grocery store initiative.

Uh we like and welcome your comments.

Happy Monday, everybody.

Hey, hey, yeah.

I'm Melody McCurtis.

I'm a resident in the 15th, and I work in the 15th.

Um, thank y'all all for being here around this uh issue that's if it's not impacting your neighborhood or your district right now, it will eventually impact your district.

Um, this is not something that's just tailored to Milwaukee.

This is a national trend with all of the cuts that's coming down as far as Snap, Medicaid, farmers.

We are experiencing the domino effects.

So we just need to name that, right?

Uh the next thing, too, is I just want to highlight the community.

If it had not been for the community specifically, Metcalf Park, I don't think none of us would be here right now talking about this issue because they sound alarm nine months ago.

And our neighborhood has no grocery store, no pharmacy, no clinic.

Because all of them did the same thing.

Our clinic closed with one month notice.

Our pharmacy and grocery store did the same thing.

So we here now.

What we've been able to see is the community has a lot of solutions that's been working with no resources.

Most of the time, they've just been out there hitting the payment, doing it, right?

Doing assessments at the door, knocking on the door, asking folks, did you even know your store closing?

Because they didn't even have signs to say they was closing, right?

What are you gonna do if you don't have this grocery store?

How are you gonna get groceries?

How's that gonna impact your life?

So, not just creating an assessment, but working with the community to then be the folks that go and ask their neighbors the real to really get the real conditions.

This little store over here ain't a grocery store because all they sell is tobacco and chips.

That's not a grocery store.

Right, right?

They got a lot of space because they they they bind in bulk, but they buying stuff that ain't feeding the needs of the community, right?

We got folks who can't get baby formula or milk, and then they driving all the way around, and none of the stores have it.

So it's bigger than just a loss of a store.

This is impacting jobs, right?

When folks are transferred to another store way outside of their their means, right?

Where now they have to pay for Uber, all of those different things.

So this is a domino effect.

The theft narrative I just met with uh the century on 92nd and Lisbon, they need to be real, these stores, they cannot keep up with the pricing.

That's the bottom line.

Farmers, cuts.

The whole Lisbon is shut down for construction.

You're not gonna have foot traffic.

So if we're not dealing with what is really happening, if we're not saying what is really happening, and we're just going with the buzzword that has worked, but shout out to April from the journal Sentinel that did that investigation, but that was community saying somebody needs to investigate because we can't keep being to blame for every little thing, and we know this store was their highest earning store, and we know it wasn't clean, we know the food was expired.

We know we paid our money, went home, and the stuff was having fungus on it because they don't value our community.

So that's another thing, too.

So I don't want to keep dumping money to stores who are not coming with a value set.

And the value is I'm spending my money nine times out of ten, because it was another report in black and brown neighborhoods.

Our cost is higher than the suburban stores.

So I'm paying more for garbage.

It's unacceptable, right?

That's right.

This thing started with community, the middle gotta be community, the end gotta be community.

Otherwise, no store is successful.

When we talk about alternatives, we need to look at specialty stores.

Like back in the day when you had walkable communities where this was the butcher, this was the fruit stand, right?

We got one space, everybody buying in bulk, storing together to help with the cost.

We gotta be creative.

This is the time to be creative.

It's a whole bunch of space and opportunity to be creative.

The Food Justice Collective's been convening for nine months.

I can say they track record community power fridges.

Working with um uh hunger, hunger task force to bring the mobile market, even that market is not meeting the needs because the pricing is still high.

Because they're getting it from pick and save.

It's 25% off, but it's still high.

Because pick and save is not pick and save.

Biggly wiggly is the number two highest grocery store in the state of Wisconsin.

So 25% off already the high is not a deal.

So y'all gotta talk to community, not just talk to them, they gotta be in the room.

We can't just create a solution without talking to community.

That's just like a store saying, I'm gonna build a store right here, and ain't nowhere to park right there.

Yeah, ain't no houses over there.

You you you you buy none of land, and you think you're gonna make a profit?

Yeah.

But you didn't think high enough to do an assessment before you came.

So we gotta look.

This is not a one-size fits all.

We gotta name the problem, which is food apartheid.

All of these stores cut their losses because they see what's coming down the pipeline.

If they was making 85% of profits off of food stamp, and food stamps is at risk of being cut.

Why would this business stay in this neighborhood?

We have to name it for what it is.

So that's where I'm at.

You got any specific questions.

But that was to the point of we have to connect with the people that's already done the work.

And I will say, Matt has been at almost every food justice collective meeting.

Matt, you have respect.

But I need the mayor to talk to the order people because the all the order folks, even outside of Russell, have been coming to meetings, calling me, saying, What can we do?

I need the mayor to do the same thing.

I don't need this to be, I'm gonna work with the corporate stores in this group, and then we gonna just work with the community.

We have to meet each other have and figure it out because it's like 40 different plans happening at the same time.

And all of them is gonna miss community and is gonna miss the business owners.

Mr.

Chair.

All right.

Thank you.

Mr.

Chair, just quickly, um, I want to turn the point.

Um thank you, and much appreciated.

We respect your work.

You know, the mayor's office app certainly does.

Um, but I did want to say that the mayor's been working on this issue for quite some time.

Um, and we've been working with um Alderman Pratt, Alderman Stamper, um, and it's been some months that we've been meeting with different business owners, grocers, um, etc.

to come up with a plan.

Um, and he did direct DCD pretty early on to come up with the plan.

Um, and for the past few months, um, it's been reviewed by several different council members.

So we've been working in collaboration with them, um, listening to their feedback and then trying to figure out what that looks like to have a more community-centered informed approach.

I think the working group needs to have community own it.

Well, that's that's the point of what we say.

I think they hear that loud and clear.

I forgot, Matt, you did used to attend the meeting.

So you already kind of got the connection there, so you can make it official.

Yeah, thank you.

Anyone else?

Okay, this just this is just the communication file, correct?

This is it.

So, what this is gonna do is uh branch over to CED on Thursday where we add some funds to the to the network and expect that uh updated Matt.

So uh can I be clear?

So this is a communication file.

This is from the health department at the permanent city development regarding access to fresh food, which means what that you have these working groups set up and when you're gonna report back to the community.

What what are the outcomes that we can all measure three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now?

Whatever the case may be.

Yeah, I believe we have um a deadline of 90 days to be able to come forward with um direction of you know what what tools we might be able to implement and what um we might be able to bring to the table there.

So that's definitely our our next measurable deadline.

Okay, and then and then we're gonna see some of that in the following resolutions.

Correct?

Yes.

Okay, Mr.

Chair.

Uh all of them more.

Can you just add me as a co-sponsor?

Okay.

Well to the communication?

Yes.

All right.

Are we gonna we're gonna hold this to the call of chair then?

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay, all right.

I miss the chair.

I I would like to be added as well to both.

All the women tailor, also another co-sponsor.

Anyone else before we close this up?

Okay.

Sorry.

Well, you ain't gonna be here next time.

Okay, um, with that said, all the ultimate stamper moves that we hold to the call call of the chair item number file item number two, file two five one six six one, hearing no chicken so ordered.

Moving on to item three, file two five one six six two resolution declaring food apartheid a public health emergency and directing coordinated city action.

Hold on to Stamper.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh, I like what this resolution says, so I'll just reiterate it.

Uh resolution declaring food apartheid a public health emergency and directing coordinated city action.

The resolution declares food apartheid a public health emergency within the city of Milwaukee and directs the Milwaukee Health Department to treat the elimination of food apartheid as a core public health objective.

Other city departments are directed to collaborate with the Milwaukee Health Department in Milwaukee County to address the issue.

The Milwaukee Health Department is directed to report back to the Commonwealth Council also within 90 days to communicate the set of efforts intended to eliminate food apartheid in the city of Milwaukee.

This is a declaration so we can let everybody know that uh the city of Milwaukee is in a uh struggle and uh needs to be labeled what it is apartheid so we can attract as much interest as possible, raise some funds and address the issue of uh fresh food in our community and pharmacies in our community.

So I wanted to align along with the Milwaukee County and uh have one big initiative as we work together to address this this issue.

Okay, I'll never say right there.

Any comments, questions?

Uh Alder Member Gilles?

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um thank you to the sponsors.

Uh I also asked to be added as a co-sponsor.

Retail is changing.

Food deserts are not happening just in Milwaukee, they're all over the country.

Right.

Um because how people buy groceries and how people feed their families is changing.

I want to make sure that uh we're leaving no stone unturned that we have every opportunity to ensure fresh fruits and vegetables and a healthy community in every zip code in our community.

Uh that said if there are city ordinances that are standing in the way of expanding smaller scale retail, we have to take a close look at those.

Um, and we will.

So uh please add me as a co-sponsor.

Um thank you uh to Alderman Stamper uh and Alderman Pratt for your leadership uh on this issue.

Okay, yeah, thank you.

And uh recognize Auderwoman Pratt, Ottawman Jackson, Alderman Chambers Jr., Auto Woman Cause Alderman Bauman and Alder Woman Moore.

So I know we have uh other orders at the table, but I just want to recognize those.

Uh I'll I'll be at it as a co-sponsor.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

All right.

Uh anyone else before we move forward on the Mr.

Chair.

Uh all the person summoned was also at as a co-sponsor.

Anything else before we move on?

Thank you very much.

Okay, with that said, then Alderwoman Pratt would move adoption of uh item three, file two five one six six two.

Are there any objections to that?

Did you get did you add more on myself?

What just to be sure what uh more and um all the woman tailor to co-sponsorship?

Some uh President Pratt, somebody else will have to move to you said auto woman prior.

I'm not on the committee.

Pardon me?

You say auto woman prior moves to Oh, yeah, that's right.

I'll happily move adoption.

Uh all the all the person summaripa will we'll move adoption of item three, file two five one six six two hearing no objections to order.

Just a natural.

Yeah.

I get it.

Okay, um moving on to item number four, file two five one six seven six.

I understand that there is a substitute.

Yeah, Alderman Pride is a sponsor.

She she can begin.

Here it is.

We need to make sure that we're gonna be able to do that.

The uh I'll move the subject.

Uh Alderman Stamper moves that we uh move to adopt the sub the proposed substitute.

Are there any objections to that?

Hearing none so ordered.

Did you or other Alderman Pratt wanted with the Alderman Pratt?

Yeah, I'll go into it.

Okay, so uh the purpose of this is to uh make sure that we have notice before grocery stores or food peddlers close.

Um thing I've I've said since the beginning of this is that um you shouldn't wake up in a food desert.

And so what's happening is that I know the audio in my district when it closed, they emailed me, they left me a voicemail on January 9th to tell me they were closing on January 11th.

Um, which means that all those people in that neighborhood were left without a grocery store in two days.

Um they found out on the news.

Um so what this legislation does is when a uh food peddler at grocery store, so that this is a food pedal, but it would exclude uh food trucks and restaurants.

Um so they would notify the local order in writing, local order, the license division, and the mayor's office that they intend to close within 60 days.

Uh during the the first 30 days uh 30 day period, we would have the opportunity to work with them to see if we have something um in our toolbox that can help them to stay in business to stay there and work with them with community.

If they decide at the end of that 30 days that they can't stay there and that they will close, they'd then be uh asked to post that they are closing within 30 days, meaning neighbors have at least a 30-day notice and can plan accordingly um about how to best get their food.

Well, you know, and basically I have uh a whole month to to plan that.

Yep.

So that's our goal.

It's just to enforce some accountabil accountability um and to provide the opportunity for intervention um from our from our end.

Mr.

Chair.

Well, their involvement, yeah.

The the change I see is this B dash one dash C provision, is that correct?

Could somebody explain how that is intended to work and and did you intend to say sale of meals?

Yeah.

Could you explain how this is going to intend to work and who determines if the 50% threshold is met or not?

Sure.

Uh Jim Jim Cooney licensed division.

Uh what we're doing here is we're leveraging existing language uh in the administrative code, uh chapter 75 of uh agricul agriculture trade and consumer protection.

Uh broadly speaking, food establishment includes retail food establishments, which are gonna be your brick and mortars, mobile food establishments, which are gonna be food trucks and carts, and transient food establishments, which are the stands that pop up at uh festivals and fairs uh throughout the city.

Um the uh substitute uh B1C um separates transient and mobile so that they're not impacted by this.

It exempts them from the reporting requirement to city clerk uh uh mayor and everyone else, and then uh uses a further distinction in the administrative code between retail serving meals, which are restaurants, and retail not serving meals, which are grocery stores, convenience stores, um, and then specialty food retailers, things like bakeries, butcher shops, that kind of thing.

Micro markets.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, and and what's the what's the sanction for failing to provide notice?

Uh, they're far from closing.

Well, it would it it does relate to their license.

So that that is the the kind of hook that we have in them um is is the license, the underlying license for uh food uh establishments.

Um so that's part of chapter 68.

So there are punishments for that.

Um I think there's some sanctions, and then there's obviously the availability of removing or uh pulling the license.

Understanding, of course, that those people are on their way to being you know exiting the business.

Um that might not be as compelling as we want, but sanction is available.

Okay.

Any other questions?

Any other concerns?

Ms.

Rosnik.

Although Ms.

Stanford, I want to thank Audum Reprint and Community Bridges.

We we were both working on the same thing at the simultaneously.

Um started off with six months.

Otherwise Pratt was working on a two-month, and we came together with is more feasible for the way it is now.

We don't want you to leave.

So first thirty days we'll try to work with you to keep you to stay.

If we are unable to do that, then we need notice to inform the community, and that's the kiss of it.

So thank you very much.

And uh look forward to getting this out as soon as possible.

Can I be able to co-sponsor as well?

I was on the original, but I thought you were, Alderman Bauman.

Uh put you down.

Oh, okay.

I'm supposed to put the same, please.

It's in the notes.

So it's in the notes, okay.

Okay.

So sponsorship, co-sponsor.

Yes, co-sponsorship, but just wanted to also say that this completely makes sense for us to request something like this, especially for you know, entities that have been in community for decades, you know, at a time.

Um, so to just respect, I mean, we're asking that people simply respect our community, you know, especially if they're you know captured getting money from them regularly to say that you're gonna close, it's just like give us at least 30 days, right?

And so um I just want to thank the the authors and the um the co-authors of this that put this together, you know.

Please add me as a co-sponsor.

Okay, Mr.

Chair, can I just add something?

I do want to add that um because it says food pedals that it also would encompass pharmacies, which um so because they derive business from selling food as well.

So um I'll say in my district I had Walgreens close, CVS clothes, you know, right behind each other.

So um this is something that's we're impacted not just the gross people got their groceries store groceries at Walgreens.

They knew they could go in there and the gallon of milk wouldn't cost eight dollars, you know.

So um it makes all the difference.

It does, it does.

And I had the same exact story as you all brand two days before two days before Pick and Save.

Mr.

Chair.

Decided to close.

I got I got a call from them.

So I got the same thing.

Other than some of yeah, I that was my question actually.

I wanted to make sure in the eighth Aldermanic district on the near south side in the span of months we saw two Walgreens closed.

Yeah.

And I wanted to make sure that that a Walgreens would meet the definition that that we have laid out here.

Yeah, thank thanks for the opportunity to clarify there.

So um Walgreens and other pharmacies uh will carry a retail food license with the city of Milwaukee.

Um, and so we'll get notification through that menu.

They're not they're not actually technically considered food peddlers, but they are even with the sub still considered in that retail non-serving meal category, and so this would apply to them.

Okay, thank you for that clarification.

Yeah, okay, you say me in as a co-spencer.

Okay, uh Alderprints Samaripa is a co-sponsor, Alderman Moore, Taylor, Mr.

Chair, and Bergellis.

Uh Alderman Spiker.

Uh just for this item and for the preceding one, the resolution I'd asked in case anybody missed it, that we just I'll be added as sponsors for one city.

This is one issue affecting our health.

So we have to speak with one voice.

Thank you.

Okay, let the record reflect all the committee members and those attending as co-sponsors for this item.

Sure.

Mr.

Chair, one more question.

Yes.

Maybe be directed to the city attorney.

Uh would we have the authority to impose a fine on a business which failed to meet the 60-day advanced notice with the fine equal to the number of days they failed to miss the 60-day advanced advanced notice?

We don't have that kind of ramp currently built into 68.

Um, so chapter 68 um is the um is the operative chapter that we're using right now uh to lock this in.

Uh there was a previous notice um requirement.

This makes it a little bit more robust.

It doesn't add or change the penalty scheme in chapter 60.

Do we have the authority to amend chapter 65 or I I would hesitate to kind of give you a legal and enforceable review of uh a citation that ramps um based on that and and again noticing that these businesses may not survive or perpetuate um as an LLC, we would then be forced to maintain them as an open and operating going concern to then cite them.

So if they're again leaving the business, exiting that LLC might be collapsing as well.

So we as the city would then have to petition a court to keep an LLC open to then levy fine against them.

And so that might be another difficulty again if we're talking about fines or sanctions.

Okay, it's worth exploring.

It definitely is.

Maybe there's a lien waiver somewhere.

Um Mr.

Cooney?

If that's okay, thank you.

Um in reading this ordinance too, and I I I understand that the reason for the notice is so that some of the departments can work with the owner to prevent the closure.

There are some things I just want to speak real briefly to to what we'll do in licensing.

Uh, should this pass, you know, everyone is provided with a license document that is posted.

So we're gonna make sure that this part is included in the section of the ordinance we make very clear and provide um employees and everyone that might walk by that a way to get us that notification rather than waiting for the license agent or someone in corporate to notify us.

Okay, um, and then we'll be able to push that out to the other departments on this as well.

Okay, oh yeah, and to add it does have it has an employee timeline as well, so people out of a job who have to move that yeah.

That's key.

Okay.

Any other questions, concerns?

Yeah.

Yes, uh oh, I want to invite everybody as we continue this conversation and his work for community committee to start as that.

So I had to get them all on standard rules because I feel that together with the council we are working towards this initiative.

So uh based on rules, um three more files will be this Thursday at community economic development committee, and that's the programming with funding for grocery stores.

Uh the first food funding revamping, and then um uh oh, yeah, the the departments come together with a plan.

So if you want to co-sponsor something, get the C D.

Yeah, please do well.

Anyway, I would like to invite all the sort of thank you, Committee Bridges, Ms.

Bowwinkle and uh Melanie for coming out today.

Okay, so with that said, um Alderman Stamper moves passage of the substituted file.

Please no uh item four file two five one six seven six.

Are there any objections?

Hearing none, so ordered.

Thank you all for being here today.

There being no further business, this committee's adjourned.

Thank you.