THE SUMMERFEST FOLLIES

STEVEN J. KORRIS

ilwaukee “The money that Mayor John you would pay for MNorquist rent is simply money does not like what he that would not go cannot control, and back into infrastruc- he never liked ture," said William Summerfest. As a Drew, who as city state Senator, he development com- introduced a bill that missioner helped to would have opened write the festival its financial reports to lease that Maier the public. He resent- signed in 1985. "The ed the policies of his grounds require con- predecessor, Mayor stant renewal, new Henry Maier, who buildings, upgrades, promoted and protect- and stages. If you ed Summerfest, and don't do that, your after replacing Maier place rapidly falls he chose an opposite apart." course. The old lease set a low rent, but it required First he tried to entice the Walt Disney a compromise that added Milwaukee's mayor Company to develop a theme park on and other politicians to the Milwaukee World Summerfest's grounds. When that idea Festival Board, which runs the annual 11-day flopped, he ran a surprise slate of candidates in festival. Drew did not anticipate the trouble an effort to take over the board that runs the that the compromise would cause, but over festival. When that tactic failed, he dragged the time he has realized that it was a time bomb. board through four years of hostile lease nego- Retired Wisconsin AFL-CIO president tiations with the festival's landlord, the Board John Schmitt, who signed the lease as presi- of Harbor Commissioners. dent of the festival board, said, "There was no His approach was almost literally back- problem until Norquist, who, for reasons wards. Summerfest pulls a mighty tide of dol- known to him, decided to stick his nose into lars into the regional economy, while the har- Summerfest.” bor commissioners lose money every year on Summerfest sprang from the mind of their nearly dead port operation, yet Norquist Mayor Maier on a German tour in 1961, as he pushed for rent increase that would perpetuate the port's inefficiency and put the festival at Steven J. Korris is a freelance journalist. risk.

Wisconsin Interest 43 walked the raucous streets of Munich during and partly due to the pride in the community. Oktoberfest. He could have drunk the beer and Nobody wants to see the festival flop." let it go at that, but instead he made up his The board unveiled a smiling sun logo, but mind that Milwaukee would put on an equally the 1970 Summerfest opened under clouds that grand celebration. lingered for five days. When the sun burst He helped to set up a private World through on the sixth day, masses swarmed to Festival Board, which spent three years in the lakefront, according to The Summerfest planning and endured three years of delays. Success Story, 1968-89, by William C. Carey. On November 24, 1967, the board announced Additional ticket booths were set up, several that it would sponsor nine days of entertain- more portable toilets were rushed to the ment the following July. They named their grounds, and more security was added near event Summerfest. the main stage area. They forgot one thing. To the surprise of Summerfest caught on at once, and the the board, Black musicians did not want to excitement nearly boiled over. More than sign contracts with an all-white organization. 100,000 young fans showed up for a Sly and When board members resisted integration, sec- the Family Stone concert, and they turned retary George Watts resigned. Properly rowdy when the show did not start on time. shamed, the board made room for WAWA As police in riot helmets began making arrests, Radio general manager O. C. White and city O. C. White took the microphone and pleaded schoolteacher Bennie Graham. that the group would not appear until the crowd settled down. The fans cooled off and Summerfest opened on July 20, 1968, to the the show went on. thunder of aerial bombs. Visitors crowded into the Arena for the National Folk Festival, and When the music stopped, the bookkeepers swirled among dozens of activities all over the tallied the accounts and declared a surplus of city. One night, high winds on the lakefront $136,476. Summerfest had turned the corner. It toppled a Youth Fest tent with 2,800 inside, posted a surplus of about $48,000 in 1971, and and sixty suffered minor injuries. came out about $31,000 ahead in 1972. In 1969, uncommon heat spoiled the fun, Still, rampant abuse of alcohol and other and rain completely washed out the last day. drugs kept the festival teetering on the brink of When the bookkeepers finished their work, chaos. On July 21, 1973, fans waiting for the they found a debt of $164,000. rock group Humble Pie went berserk. "All hell broke loose," Carey wrote, "when youths start- Maier would not give up. He asked hotel ed throwing bottles and cans, tore down tents, owner Ben Marcus for help, and they recruited ripped up beer stands, vandalized parts of the a 12-man rescue squad from business, labor main stage, stole more than 50 half barrels of and the professions. Midland National Bank beer, broke into food buildings and scattered loaned Summerfest $150,000, without collater- supplies." Roaming youths set bonfires and al, and festival board members elected bank fueled them with chairs and fences. Some president John H. Kelly as their president. climbed the towers of a tram ride. Others Together, Maier and Kelly visited executives invaded the circus area and beat two carnival of Milwaukee's big companies. They laid out a workers who tried to keep them from swing- plan to bring the scattered events to the lake- ing on trapezes. Police cleared the grounds front, charge an admission fee, and shower cor- with clubs and tear gas. The mob injured seven porate sponsors with publicity and free tickets. officers and two security guards. The executives paid $335,000 for sponsorships. The riot forced the World Festival Board to Kelly told reporters that, “There is no reluctance reinvent Summerfest as a family event for to contribute, partly due to the new approach 1974. First, the board declared that visitors

44 Spring 2001 could no longer bring bottles or cans into the exported more wheat than any other port on festival. Next, it signed Gladys Knight and the earth, according to The Quest for Milwaukee's Pips, Johnny Cash, Helen Reddy, Charlie Pride Port Policy, a dissertation that University of and Sha Na Na. Workers paved the dirt walks Wisconsin-Milwaukee historian Mackie Gilbert and planted grass, flowers and trees. The Westbrook wrote in 1965. changes paid off, barely, and Summerfest "When railroads came to the West, howev- closed with a surplus of $4,695. er, their owners chose Chicago as their hub, But the cleaner and quieter festival soon leaving Milwaukee 100 miles from the main- captured the public's heart. Attendance stayed line. The first railroads built out of Milwaukee above 500,000 a year, and the annual surplus ended in Chicago," Westbrook wrote, "and grew. In 1979, under the leadership of board every mile of track they added merely president John Schmitt, Summerfest made strengthened Chicago's commerce." $423,034, bringing its cash balance to Milwaukee also lost trade to Duluth, which $1,101,385. This result so pleased board mem- was as close to the East by water, and closer to bers that they discarded a tradition of rotating wheat-growing regions. Manufacturers and the presidency and start- merchants thought they ed a tradition of electing could reverse the swift Schmitt. Looking for decline of harbor com- ways to invest the hefty Unfortunately, [the merce, with help from balance in continued local taxpayers. In 1881, growth, he decided that a Summerfest Board] had they called for construc- big amphitheater would tion of a new harbor, attract the best possible put their success in the extending beyond the shows. He convinced his small area already in use. members, and they hands of an The U.S. Army Corps of announced in 1983 that organization with an Engineers rejected a series they would build it. of outer harbor proposals, but in 1910, the engineers They had spoken too unbroken record of reversed their stance. soon, however, for their lease on the grounds failure. Milwaukee's leader- would run out within two ship took this occasion to years. They could not initiate a decade of agita- secure a long-term loan tion favoring fanciful and without a long-term lease, so they would have ill-conceived attempts to recapture the city's to make a deal with their landlord, the Board past greatness, Westbrook wrote. The mayor of Harbor Commissioners. Unfortunately, they set up a Board of Harbor Commissioners, the had put their success in the hands of an orga- Common Council approved a plan, voters nization with an unbroken record of failure. passed a bond issue, and workers built an outer harbor. Unfortunately this was a begin- In the midst of the greatest trading oppor- ning which should have been made in 1881, he tunities the world has known, the port is virtu- wrote, for by 1920, Milwaukee's ship had ally dead as a passageway for raw materials already sailed. and manufactured goods. Milwaukee ranks 26th on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes in Traffic did not increase at all. In a 1952 commerce, between Marblehead, Ohio, and book, The Port of Milwaukee, University of Alpena, Michigan. (See table.) Its meager traf- Chicago geographer Edward Hamming wrote fic consists mostly of inbound shipments of that commerce had remained remarkably sta- salt and coal. At its origin, the harbor held ble at about seven million tons a year since great promise. After the Civil War, Milwaukee 1910. He ranked Milwaukee 16th among Great

Wisconsin Interest 45 GREAT LAKES COMMERCE, 1998 — PORTS WITH MORE THAN 2,000,000 TONS Port Thousands of tons 1. Duluth-Superior 42,443 2. Chicago 25,958 3. Detroit 19,454 4. Cleveland 17,865 5. Ashtabula, Ohio 15,602 6. Indiana Harbor 14,910 7. Lorain, Ohio 14,166 8. Toledo, Ohio 13,229 9. Two Harbors, Minnesota 13,223 10. Presque Isle, Michigan 10,483 11. Calcite, Michigan 9,389 12. Stoneport, Michigan 9,114 13. Gary, Indiana 9,083 14. Burns Waterway Harbor, Indiana 9,006 15. Taconite Harbor, Minnesota 8,761 16. Escanaba, Michigan 8,530 17. Conneaut, Ohio 7,786 18. Saginaw, Michigan 5,609 19. St. Clair, Michigan 5,533 20. Port Inland, Michigan 5,489 21. Silver Bay, Minnesota 5,182 22. Sandusky, Ohio 4,334 23. Marine City, Michigan 4,252 24. Port Dolomite, Michigan 4,095 25. Marblehead, Ohio 3,975 26. Milwaukee 3,108 27. Alpena, Michigan 3,078 28. Fairport, Ohio 2,880 29. Green Bay 2,353 30. Buffalo, New York 2,341

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

46 Spring 2001 Lakes ports, and first in exports of heavy revert to the state if not used for navigation machinery and equipment. He admired the and they asked the city attorney to back them variety of commerce, which included grain, up. Deputy city attorney Harry Slater building materials, coal, petroleum, car ferries, answered that the city could use it for other a luxury liner, and Nash automobiles made in purposes, but only on a temporary basis. Kenosha. On the other hand, he found only This gave Kelly and Maier a leg to stand one industrial concern on the harbor, and no on, and they swiftly killed the import center shipyard or dry dock in the city. plan. The commissioners meekly gave Westbrook, 13 years later, found com- Summerfest a year's extension, at $1. They did merce diminishing in volume and variety. the same for 1972, but Maier wanted a lasting Summarizing 55 years in a sentence, he wrote arrangement. If the law would not allow a per- that, "The harbor commission's failure since manent festival, the law would have to change. 1910 to formulate realistic policies based on In 1973, the Wisconsin legislature gave him the accurate research has nullified most of its own freedom he wanted. efforts and propelled the city on a fruitless The commissioners and the Summerfest course to commercial lassitude. " board soon signed their first two-year lease. A Commissioners com- few months later, they pounded the error, tore it up and signed for spending millions to get five years at low rent, ready for European trade with an option for five that they believed would When genuine more years. Summerfest move through the new St. president Sydney Kohl Lawrence Seaway. In a opportunity knocked at announced that the board 1967 Ford Foundation would spend up to $1 study, Eric Schenker last, the commissioners million on permanent wrote that, “In the long stages and seats, dining run, it seems quite obvi- tried to chase it off the areas, landscaping and ous that the port's growth plumbing. Seefeldt, prospects depend on its property. according to Carey, con- ability to utilize the St. ceded that Summerfest Lawrence Seaway.” He was here to stay. The port was right, because the director's sour attitude Seaway fizzled, and the did not improve, for port did not grow. Summerfest continued to thrive and the port continued to wither. Commerce dropped When genuine opportunity knocked at below five million tons in 1974, and plunged to last, the commissioners tried to chase it off the 3,500,000 tons in 1975. A ship full of cement property. In 1970, after the first successful plunged, too. The E. M. Ford sank in the har- Summerfest, they arranged to lease the festival bor on Christmas Eve, 1979, in a mishap for grounds to a company that wanted to build an which the city would pay millions in damages. import center for foreign cars. According to Carey, port director John Seefeldt suggested In 1982, commissioners asked maritime that Summerfest search for an alternate site. economist Nat Simat to recommend changes that could reverse their fortunes. He stunned Commissioners asserted that only they them by declaring that commerce could triple could plan the future of the harbor. The city in ten years, if they would disband. He urged had received the land from the state of them to take the initiative in creating a region- Wisconsin in the 1930s, and state law required al harbor board. "The port is a valuable region- that it be used for harbor purposes. al asset that must be managed as a business, Commissioners insisted that the land would

Wisconsin Interest 47 without political pressure," Simat wrote. "The On the last hectic day, the festival board current city agency form of port administra- cracked. In return for easy rent, at two percent tion is inappropriate; because the city cannot of net income, the board agreed to dissolve. A afford to subsidize the port and it will be only new board would take over, with seats for the a matter of time before the city begins to see mayor, the Common Council president, the the port as a financial liability." The commis- comptroller, an alderman picked by the Council sioners ignored every word. president, two department commissioners, a cit- izen picked by the Council president, and the They listened more closely when the Milwaukee County Executive. These eight Summerfest board announced its amphitheater would elect 13 other board members. plan in 1983. If the festival could afford that, they figured, it could afford to solve the port's The politicians had the good sense to bring problems. The commissioners recommended a along most of the old board, and when the 30-year lease, at $464,000 a year. new board assembled, the members elected Schmitt to continue as president. The 24,000- Maier again knocked them back into line. seat amphitheater, named for Ben Marcus, Within a month, he signed a Common Council lived up to Schmitt's expectations, and measure directing the commissioners to rene- Summerfest ran more smoothly as ever. gotiate the old lease and extend it at $1 a year. To boost the $12 million amphitheater project, After Maier ended his 28-year reign, the he directed development commissioner Drew lease continued to produce the results he want- to arrange for the city to issue tax-exempt ed. Attendance climbed 30 percent in ten industrial revenue bonds. years, from 671,412 in 1986 to 873,235 in 1996. Maier's generous guardianship infuriated As the festival continued to grow, board some Council members. According to Carey, members began planning a new round of capi- they were leading a drive to open all tal improvements. Once again, they would Summerfest records to the public, protesting need a long-term loan. Once again, they would the board's lack of accountability and that no need a long-term lease. This mayor, however, elected officials served on the 20-member exec- would not cooperate. utive board. Carey did not name the snipers, First, he went looking for a tenant more to but he identified the state senator who intro- his liking. After meeting Walt Disney duced a bill that would have compelled the Company chairman Michael Eisner, Norquist board to open its records — John Norquist. sent him a fawning letter on December 18, The future mayor and the Council critics 1996. "Frankly, we'd like you to consider merg- may have wanted to see the records, but they ing your design expertise with Milwaukee's did not need to see them. The city would not traditional urban strengths by letting us help spend a penny on the project. There was no you locate a Disney entertainment property direct subsidy by the city, Drew said in a here," he wrote. recent interview. It was a federal government To convey his eagerness to please, tax break. Indeed, members of Congress had Norquist sent Eisner a Harley-Davidson grown weary of giving up revenue every time motorcycle jacket. "It would give me great a city issued tax-exempt bonds. They passed a pleasure for you to wear a Harley jacket while law that set a limit on the volume of industrial taking a first-hand look at Milwaukee with revenue bonds, effective January 1, 1986. Lease me," he wrote. Eisner sent it back with a state- negotiations, which had stalled for two and a ment of company policy and a gentle admoni- half years, suddenly turned urgent. If the tion that, "Being a government official, I trust Summerfest board and the harbor commission- you will understand." Thus it came to pass that ers did not agree by the end of 1985, the the private ethics of Hollywood surpassed the amphitheater plan would fall apart. public ethics of Milwaukee.

48 Spring 2001 Next, Norquist launched a sneak attack on Board members apparently expected the the festival board. At a meeting on February plan to inspire city officials to get the lease 27, 1997, after the board's nominating commit- talks rolling. Executive director Bo Black told tee recommended candidates for four vacant the Journal-Sentinel that, "We are hoping they at-large positions, a surprise slate popped up. won't be able to help themselves. They will be Public works director Jim Kaminski nominated begging us for a lease.” Norquist fundraiser Barb Candy, businessman Norquist and his harbor commissioners Anthony Palermo, and Police Chief Arthur did not budge. The Summerfest board waited Jones. Alderman Wayne Frank nominated for two months and then formally requested Greater Milwaukee Committee president Bob lease negotiations in a letter to Norquist and Milbourne. the Common Council. The mayor and the Board president Valerie Daniels-Carter council adopted a resolution by which they called a recess, so that someone could prepare would appoint a special committee to research ballots. After 33 minutes, the meeting resumed the lease and start negotiations. For some rea- and 20 members made their choices. Two of son, however, the committee did not meet Norquist's picks got eight votes, and two got until January 14, 2000. seven. The nominating As the committee committee's candidates, inched forward, festival Mike Houser, Keith president Frank Busalacchi Mardak, Jim McKenna dropped a bomb. He and Joan Stein, prevailed. announced that In response, the Summerfest would begin mayor's aides suggested …Summerfest would looking for a new home. that they might fire begin looking for a new Maybe one of these com- Summerfest's staff. munities is willing to come "Everything is up for home. in and subsidize this thing grabs," Kaminski told the and share costs, fifty-fifty, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, he told the Journal-Sentinel. "This event could be put George Watts, who on by any number of dif- was running for mayor ferent people." Norquist's against Norquist, told the chief of staff, Bill newspaper that if elected, Christofferson, said that, he would direct the harbor commissioners to "If the city is to be a partner, it has to be a full meet the festival's needs and give it a new partner. We have to play a real role in setting lease. Speaking of Norquist, he said that, policy. If that doesn't work, we are willing to "Anything he cannot control, he seems to be look at others to run Summerfest." envious of. I will leave success alone and These comments poisoned the lease negoti- cheer." ations before they started. Summerfest's board Christofferson responded by mocking nevertheless pushed ahead with its Millennium Watts and practically accusing Summerfest of Momentum Plan, prepared by Eppstein Uhen trying to rip off the city. "Summerfest would Architects of Milwaukee and presented to the just roll right over him," he said. "Who is going public on February 25, 1999. The plan called for to look out for the taxpayers? That's supposed an indoor amphitheater with 4,000 seats, two- to be the mayor's job." story restaurants, an amusement park, a pavil- ion near the main gate, lights, benches, In May, the special committee called for restrooms, paths, kiosks and fences. the harbor commissioners to work quickly on a new lease. In June, the commissioners voted to

Wisconsin Interest 49 start negotiating. Their president, Daniel Amid smiling faces on both sides, the city Steininger, said, "We will get this lease done." and Summerfest announced in March that it Busalacchi said, "This is not rocket science. reached agreement on a 20-year lease. The Once you get the parties together and every- lease dramatically raised the festival’s annual one knows the issues, I think it would take a rent payment, from $30,000 or less to more day to do." than a $1 million a year. In turn the festival got borrowing help from the city and fewer city- Still, the talks went nowhere. In appointed board members. The city also September, Norquist repeated the rip-off backed away from plans to impose specific refrain in an interview with the Journal- ticket or beer fees on Summerfest, leaving it up Sentinel. The festival has grown and become to the festival board to decide how to find the more successful over the years, so it doesn't additional revenue. need subsidies like it used to, he said. I think it is fair for the city to defend its financial posi- But the Summerfest Board had apparently tion. He spoke pure hogwash, for the city has approved the new deal over the objections of not subsidized Summerfest. its own executive director, Bo Black. In December, the harbor commissioners Appearing on a radio show hosted by the proposed to collect a 25-cent tax on every beer, editor of this journal, Black said that the a 50-cent tax on every admission ticket, and a Summerfest Board had been pressured into $1 tax on every Marcus Amphitheater ticket. going along with the deal, believing that it had When the festival board said no, the commis- no choice but to accede to the city’s demands. sioners announced the proposal to the public, The price tag for that deal, Black warned, apparently expecting the community to would be high. Not only would it mean scaling applaud. The community did not applaud. back Summerfest’s $75 million improvement plan, she said, it would also deplete the festi- But pressure on the Summerfest Board val’s financial reserves. continued to mount. Should the festival be hit by the sort of bad Even though Norquist was widely seen as weather than plagued it early years, warned politically weakened after he confessed to an Black, Summerfest could find itself at risk. And affair with a former aide, board members without the support from City Hall that had believed that they had no choice but to give once saved the festival. the city most of what it wanted if Summerfest was to survive.

50 Spring 2001