Feature What We Learned in Our Public Safety Erik Brooks, Mayor, City of South Milwaukee James Madlom, Partner, COO, Mueller Communications Natalie Verette, Senior Account Executive, Mueller Communications

Editor’s Note: Something unusual happened on Tuesday, November 7: Voters were asked and approved a request to increase municipal spending. Electors in the City of South Milwaukee voted two-to-one to approve an increase in the property tax levy to sustain the city’s paramedic program and allow South Milwaukee to add two new police officers. Spending referenda are allowed under Wisconsin’s levy limit laws, but traditionally few communities have used this tool. What are the lessons that can be learned from this case study? Here is what Mayor Erik Brooks and two leaders from Mueller Communications, South Milwaukee’s partner on this work, told us.

Get Help, from the Start frequently could frustrate voters and undermine the credibility Know that you don’t know it all, and that you can benefit from of elected officials. others’ experience – and their help. In South Milwaukee, we To prevent voter fatigue, we took the time to do a recognized early on that we could benefit from the support of comprehensive internal review of our community’s needs for a third party, and we purposely chose a public relations firm, the next several years. Through this process we determined as we approached the referendum as a communication and that hiring additional police officers would help to address education campaign from day one. The city chose Mueller a growing demand for officer time due to increases in crime Communications, a well-respected and connected local public and drug-related incidents including burglaries, thefts, and relations firm that had previously worked with a local school heroin overdoses. district on a successful referendum education campaign. This helped in two key ways. It was also important to ask for a reasonable amount of money that would meet the needs of our community for the • First, they offered us an honest, impartial view of the funding foreseeable future. The council made the decision to pursue a problems facing us and potential solutions. They challenged public safety referendum that increased annual property taxes us to present the information in a simple, understandable way by $52 per year ($35 going toward paramedics and $17 going that would resonate with residents, reminding us that not toward police) for every $100,000 of property value. everyone is an expert in city budgeting. Start Early, and Educate Over Time • Mueller Communications also provided another set of It is important to remember the general public has limited hands to help with the day-to-day work necessary to knowledge of the budget decisions facing municipal leaders. educate the public and get a question on the . From The South Milwaukee Common Council discussed the coordinating the survey and mailings, to consulting our paramedic funding challenge for several years and made budget website content, Mueller was invaluable in taking tasks off decisions to maintain service. This deep knowledge led us to the plates of city staff. consider a referendum, and while we felt paramedic funding You Get One Chance was a clear and compelling community need, we had to take a South Milwaukee was facing a critical, immediate need to step back to effectively educate the community and take voters fund paramedic services. Early on, leadership identified a through the process, and gauge community interest. referendum as a potential solution to the immediate challenge. One year before the referendum vote, the council We were also cognizant that holding too commissioned an options assessment to outline the budget challenges facing the City, as well as the potential funding

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PARAMEDIC POLICE SERVICES FUNDING CHALLENGE CHALLENGE

The City’s paramedic service, which is provided by Over the past 20 years, the South Milwaukee Police PARAMEDICthe fire department, has been a major asset for the Department’s staffingPOLICE level has decreased, despiteSERVICES community, enabling rapid-response for residents a greater demand for officer time due to increases in facing emergencies and medical issues. The City must crime and drug-related incidents including burglaries, FUNDINGtake actionCHALLENGE this year to secure alternative funding thefts and heroin overdoses.CHALLENGE that will preserve high-quality paramedic service. South Milwaukee is well below the local and national average for the number of officers based on population. The City’s paramedic SOUTH MILWAUKEEPARAMEDIC Over the past 20POLICE years, the SERVICES South Milwaukee Police PARAMEDIC/ALS REVENUE SOURCES service, which is FUNDING CHALLENGEDepartment’s staffingCHALLENGE level has decreased, despite a greater $1,800,000 NUMBER OF OFFICERS PER 1,000 POPULATION provided by the fire The City’s paramedic service, which is provided by demand forOver officer the past 20 time years, thedue South to increases Milwaukee Police in crime and the fire department, has been a major asset for the Department’s staffing level has decreased, despite $1,600,000 drug-related incidents including burglaries, thefts and department, has community, enabling rapid-response for residents a greater demand for officer time due to increases in been a major asset facing emergencies and medical issues. The City mustheroin overdoses.crime and drug-related incidents including burglaries, $1,400,000 take action this year to secure alternative funding thefts and heroin overdoses. for the community, that will preserve high-quality paramedic service. South Milwaukee is well below the local and national $1,200,000 South Milwaukee is well below the local and national enabling rapid- average foraverage the for number the number of of officers officers based based on population. on population. SOUTH MILWAUKEE response for residents $1,000,000 PARAMEDIC/ALS REVENUE SOURCES National Average 2.0 facing emergencies NUMBER OF OFFICERS PER 1,000 POPULATION $800,000 $1,800,000 and medical issues. South Milwaukee has fewer officers per The City must take $600,000 $1,600,000 person than every action this year to other municipality in $400,000 Milwaukee County, secure alternative $1,400,000 except one. funding that will $200,000 $1,200,000 preserve high-quality

paramedic service. $1,000,0002009 2018 2027 MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION AND LEARN MORE National Average 2.0 While city funding has stayed relatively consistent, REFERENDUM INFORMATION OPEN HOUSE $800,000 Thursday, October 12 (5–7 p.m. at City Hall) county funding has declined and will continue to Monday, October 30 (5–7 p.m. at City Hall) South Milwaukee has decrease, leading to a growing budget shortfall starting in 2018 that will double by 2027. fewer officers per $600,000 person than every other municipality in

Local Property$400,000 Taxes Fund Balance Milwaukee County, VOTE except one. Milwaukee County Funding Budget Shortfall $200,000 VOTE NOVEMBER 7 Fees for Services (ex: ambulance transport) ABSENTEE : October 23–November 3 (in person at City Hall) Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Friday 7:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. 2009 2018 2027 MAKE AN INFORMED Deadline to requestDECISION an AND LEARN MORE by mail: November 2, 4:00 p.m. While city funding has stayed relatively consistent, REFERENDUM INFORMATION OPEN HOUSE solutions. The options assessment was used as the basis to and save taxpayerThursday, October dollars. 12 (5–7 We p.m. used at City press Hall) coverage and social county funding has declined and will continue to Monday, October 30 (5–7 p.m. at City Hall) create a community survey, which soliciteddecrease, leading opinionsCITY OFto aSOUTH growing from MILWAUKEE budget shortfall2017 PUBLICmedia SAFETY to REFERENDUM promote the options assessment and direct residents starting in 2018 that will double by 2027. South Milwaukee residents but also servedwww.smwi.org/2017-referendum as an educational [email protected] read it on the414.768.8051 city website, recognizing that we would also tool that was mailed to all residents inLocal May Property of Taxes2017, six Fund Balanceneed to simplify the information for many people who didn’t months before the referendum vote. An online version was also want to takeVOTE that deep of a dive into data. Milwaukee County Funding Budget Shortfall VOTE NOVEMBER 7 offered. The survey results were presentedFees for Servicesat a council meeting (ex: ambulance transport) ABSENTEE VOTING: October 23–November 3 Act on Survey(in person Feedback at City Hall) in July, and aldermen voted in August to proceed with the Monday–Thursday 7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. referendum less than two months later. Going to referendumFriday 7:30 a.m.–5:00 was never p.m. a foregone conclusion. While Deadline to request an absentee ballot we were not boundby mail: November by the 2,survey 4:00 p.m. results, we pledged to take Once the referendum was scheduled we implemented an them seriously and act accordingly, including potentially not education campaign over the course of three months consisting CITY OF SOUTH MILWAUKEEmoving 2017 forward PUBLIC SAFETY on the REFERENDUM referendum. Response was strong of direct mail, social media, a detailed website, and a series of – more than 1,350 responded for a response rate of 14%, www.smwi.org/2017-referendum [email protected] 414.768.8051 public meetings. considered very high by experts, even though respondents were Do Your Homework, and Show Your Work not necessarily reflective of our population (43% of respondents were 65 years or older). Results indicated strong support for Take the time to develop detailed resource materials for a referendum, as 60% of respondents said they would support the public and establish a narrative that demonstrates the paying higher property taxes to maintain existing fire and EMS; municipality did its due diligence before deciding to hold a 64% said they would support doing the same to add two new referendum. For South Milwaukee, the options assessment police offers. This compares to 24% support for outsourcing explained the complexities of paramedic service and funding. EMS services and 41% support for making other budget cuts We developed charts and graphs to complement the and service reductions to maintain fire and EMS services. In descriptions and show the impact of each potential solution on other words, residents spoke loudly and clearly. service levels and response times. The options assessment also documented the steps the City had already taken to cut costs ▶ p.6 The Municipality | January 2018 5 Feature

With these results and clear feedback, the South Milwaukee campaign all the more important. One common question Common Council voted in August to put a referendum was, “How can we be sure the money will be used to actually question on the November 7 ballot. fund public safety?” With that in mind, we created dedicated funds for the referendum dollars, and we promoted that fact Speak Plainly and Clearly heavily in communications materials. After you’ve developed comprehensive resource materials, take the time to establish concise and consistent messages Advocacy Matters that will help the public understand the basics of the issue. The city can only educate around the referendum. It cannot Municipal officials should use those key messages to guide advocate. Others, however, can, and they did in South their conversations with constituents when explaining the Milwaukee. A third-party advocacy group formed prior to referendum. We synthesized the information from the options the election, led by the state and local firefighters union. The assessment into a two-page fact sheet that covered all of the group delivered, entirely independent of the city, a get-out- key messages. Also remember that repetition is crucial – voters the-vote effort that included direct mail pieces, door-to-door need to hear the same messages over and over in order for the canvassing, phone banking, and social media activation. The information to resonate. We did two direct mail pieces educating advocacy work was likely a significant contributing factor to voters on the campaign, one about a month ahead of the vote, the more than 28% in a special election, much and the second a week out: Both pieces included the same key higher than initial projections, and the final 2-to-1 “yes” vote. messages presented with slightly different visual layouts. An organized opposition group never formed. Bring the Message to the Voters – and Provide a Voice About the authors: for the Community Provide a wide range of opportunities for residents to get Erik Brooks, Mayor, City of South Milwaukee was first elected educated on the referendum, ask questions, and provide mayor in April of 2014, and was re-elected in April of 2017. He feedback. In addition to hosting our own information also served as a South Milwaukee alderman from 2009 to 2014. sessions, the mayor and city administrator spoke to a variety Erik, a Marquette University graduate, is married with two of community groups including the chamber of commerce, children, ages 10 and 13. Contact Erik at [email protected] the lions club, and the local school board. We also used the James Madlom, Partner, Chief Operating Officer at mayor’s blog and social media to share information in addition Mueller Communications, manages a variety of client teams to creating a dedicated phone number and email address for responsible for developing and implementing community residents to direct questions. relations and public affairs strategies, internal employee It’s also important to follow a social media protocol and only communications programs, crisis preparation, and marketing respond to direct questions about the referendum on channels communications efforts for clients ranging from Fortune 500 managed by the municipality. If you deem a response companies to government agencies and nonprofits. James necessary, do your best to reference online informational earned both his bachelor’s degree and law degree, magna cum resources for people to learn the facts. Engaging in online laude, from Marquette University. He lives in Whitefish Bay conversations is not a productive use of time or an effective with his wife and three children. Contact James at way to share information. [email protected] Get the Details Right Natalie Verette, Senior Account Executive at Mueller Communications, leads client teams to execute various The state is very prescriptive on requirements for the communications and public affairs strategies as well as referendum – from key dates in the election process to what community and public awareness campaigns. She has elected officials are allowed to say in discussing the issue experience in serving clients across a variety of industries to how the question is worded on the ballot. Encourage including municipalities, nonprofits, school districts, and your clerk’s office to connect early in the process with local corporations. Prior to joining the firm, Natalie spent eight and state elections officials to get clear on expectations years as the chief of staff for a representative in the and requirements. The ballot language requirements were Wisconsin State Assembly. She is a graduate of Fordham especially frustrating. Until changes passed in the latest University in New York City. Natalie is a Wauwatosa native biennial budget, state law did not allow the city to state and now resides in Saint Francis. Contact Natalie at specifically what the referendum would fund. We feared this [email protected] would create confusion for voters, making the education

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