Assembly Committee Kicks Off Hearings On Urban Revitalization

Members of a state Assembly committee in charge of urban revitalization kicked off a series of meetings this week to gather public input about what Wisconsin can do to improve inner cities.

The first hearing was Thursday in Green Bay.

Committee chair Rep. Bob Gannon, R-West Bend, compared the format of the meetings to the TV show “Shark Tank,” where residents can, “come in and tell us their concerns.”

Gannon said the committee has no preconceived notions and wants to hear from residents, police, religious groups, landlords and service providers.

A handful of people turned up for the Green Bay event, including Paul Van Handel, a community police officer.

He said drug dealing and abuse are a big drain on the community along with untreated mental illness and homelessness.

Van Handel said it is something the department put a price tag on a few years ago. “They’re chronically homeless … and it came out in 2013 to $754,000 and most of that was ER time and hospitals, labs, scans.”

Also testifying at the Thursday hearing was retired Catholic priest Ken De Groot, who spent 27 years working at an outreach program, Casa Alba Melanie.

“There’s a lot of extreme terror and a lot of extreme fear in the hearts of so many of those, especially during this climate we’re in now,” De Groot told the committee members.

He urged members to do what they can to make Wisconsin more welcoming to immigrants and to let undocumented people get driver’s licenses.

Another public hearing is scheduled for Friday in Wausau. The committee also plans to hold hearings later this year in Racine, Beloit, Oshkosh and Milwaukee.