Is that okay? If you send me an automated response, I am going to take that as a "yes".

Dear Scott Walker,

I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more. I attended the annual meeting for my neighborhood association. I live in Washington Heights. Actually, you did not live very far from me when you were in Wauwatosa. You probably already know that it is pretty much the best place to live in Southeastern Wisconsin, probably the whole state, maybe the country, and quite possibly the world. :) Let's just say I am extremely fond of my neighborhood. Mayor Barrett lives in my neighborhood and had the opportunity to stop in and speak at the meeting tonight. He brought up some really good points. I am going to list them and we will see if we can address them all tonight. If not, I may need to email you again in the future. Is that okay? If you send me an automated response, I am going to take that as a "yes". Here is the list:

1. You are removing the funding for the recycling programs, while keeping the law in place.

2. You decreased funding for city roads by 15%, while increasing county and interstate funding.

3. You talk about the need for shared sacrifice, while exempting public safety workers.

4. You lift residency requirements for public safety workers, while maintaining the requirement for other public workers.

I am going to start at the bottom and work my way up because I like to mix it up like that. First of all, the lifting of city residency is directly targeted at the city of Milwaukee. How can I saw that? It is the only city with residency requirements. These requirements have been in place since 1938; people accept jobs with the city knowing full well that they will move to the city. If people do not want to live in the city, there are plenty of other places to work. It is like to people who complain about union dues; find a job without a union then. I get sidetracked. Mayor Barrett reflected on the city residency requirement and whether or not it was truly detrimental to the city and residents. He said that Milwaukee Police Department attracted 3,500 applicants and the Milwaukee Fire Department Barrett did acknowledge that we saw a surge in firefighters voluntarily leaving the city last year...two (2). You read that correctly, there was a surge of 2 firefighters choosing to leave. Mayor Barrett did not clarify if both of the firefighters left because of the residency requirement or not, though, so let's not jump to conclusions and start citing this data. The last thing we would want to do is run to the press shouting about how lifting the residency requirement will allow the city to retain more of its workforce. So after Mayor Barrett announced the surge of two, many people laughed. He declared that he was serious and this was higher than average. In 11 years, 18 Milwaukee Firefighters voluntarily left the MFD. My question to you is: Why lift a residency requirement that has nothing to do with you? What are the benefits to the community? What are the benefits to safety? Weren't you just the one who was telling people to basically mind their own business? I think you should mind your own business. Who do you think you are? Why do you think you are the one to change a residency requirement that has been working for over 70 years? What do you have against Milwaukee? Do you harbor animosity from your university days? Did you want to live in Milwaukee, but had to settle for Wauwatosa? Help me out here; I am just trying to gain some insight. I am sure we can work through these feelings, so you can feel at peace. Until we do work through things, I recommend you keep your nose where it belongs, in Madison. That is if you can find time to actually be there. You have been on quite the tour lately. Who knows, you may even get some work done. I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more.

Sincerely,

Carrie

"I decided to get into public service for its nobility in helping my fellow man."~~~Daniel Boehnen

P.S. I guess we will have to talk about the other points on the list tomorrow night. I OPPOSE senate bill 22 and so much more.