Annual Christmas greeting from City of Milwaukee

My annual Christmas greeting from Wayne F. Whittow, City Treasurer of Milwaukee, arrived today. It's public record available to anyone on the City of Milwaukee web site, so it's no secret that my bill this year is $5,442.32. All for the privilege of living in my condo. I try to remember the benefits of living on the Lower East Side of Milwaukee: only 2.7 miles to work, I can walk to at least 30 restaurants and to the movies at the Oriental Theatre, and I'm only two blocks from Lake Michigan and my favorite running route. Plus I live in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Wisconsin. I think I would go crazy if I had to live in Brookfield where almost everyone is white, straight, and Republican. Shudder the thought.

I do wish that the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) had higher academic quality; if that were the case I wouldn't mind paying my tax bill. I'm a proponent of public education and am proud to say that I went to public schools K-12. (I did earn my B.A. and M.A. degrees at private universities.) MPS needs more dedicated and capable teachers such as my friend Brad who teaches middle school English. Unfortunately, the political leaders here lack the will to do anything serious about improving academic quality across the board in MPS.

In any event, I'll mail in my full payment tomorrow. I hope they use it well.