"We will not take testimony from politicians:" GOP lawmaker plans inner-city hearings on crime
MILWAUKEE -- A Republican state lawmaker has scheduled six committee hearings in urban areas across Wisconsin, vowing to shut out politicians from testifying as he allows inner-city residents to discuss the crime in their neighborhoods with legislators.
State Rep. Bob Gannon
Rep. Bob Gannon said the Assembly's Committee on Urban Revitalization, which he chairs, will visit Milwaukee on June 1. Critics questioned the ability of lawmakers to grasp the urban crime problem with one four-hour hearing in the central city.
The Legislature is grappling with how to address the crime problem in Milwaukee, where homicides and carjackings have spiked in 2015 and 2016. Gannon said he wants to have the hearings before endorsing any plan, even as one bipartisan effort pushed by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has stalled in Madison.
"We will not take testimony from politicians," said Gannon, R-West Bend, of his hearings. "They're allowed to speak freely to the media. I want to hear from the people truly impacted by these guns, from this crime, by this joblessness."
The committee will hold hearings in Green Bay and Wausau in March, followed by Oshkosh in April, Racine in May, and Milwaukee and Beloit in June.
Barrett on Sunday told reporters that Milwaukee police had seized more than 300 guns on the city's streets in 2017, averaging seven per day. He said Milwaukee has a problem with illegal guns, and is calling on the Legislature to pass restrictions.
A bipartisan bill put forward by four Milwaukee-area lawmakers -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- has stalled because of concerns from GOP members. The legislation would make it a felony for a person convicted of three misdemeanors in the past five years to possess a gun. People could also be charged with a felony for buying a gun and giving it to someone who was not legally allowed to possess one, such as a convicted felon.
Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, one of the bill's sponsors, said fellow GOP lawmakers were concerned that people with three misdemeanors would be blocked from getting a hunting license.
"We need to separate those people from the really hardcore offenders," said Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin.
State Rep. Bob Gannon
Sen. Alberta Darling, another of the bill's sponsors, said the mayor needed to put as much pressure on local district attorneys to stop pleading felony cases to misdemeanors. Darling, R-River Hills, criticized Barrett for holding his news conference as lawmakers work out the bill.
Gannon, who says he carries a concealed weapon most places, declined to say whether he supported Barrett's preferred legislation. He has been a frequent critic of the mayor, blaming Milwaukee city officials in early 2016 for the "murder and mayhem" on city streets.
"I don’t expect people to want to give Bob a hug," Gannon said of his upcoming hearings. "I’m not looking for hugs. I’m looking for an opportunity to lift people out of poverty. And the best way out of poverty is to have safe streets, so jobs will follow."
Gannon said Barrett had yet to propose any policy changes directly to him. Patrick Curley, the mayor's chief of staff, took a swipe at Gannon in response.
“Rep. Gannon, along with his Republican colleagues, was invited to a meeting held in the mayor’s office right after the Sherman Park disturbance in August and to a Milwaukee Police Department briefing in December," Curley said in an emailed statement. "Although Rep. Gannon did not attend either, the mayor looks forward to the Urban Revitalization Committee’s June 1 Milwaukee hearing.”
Gannon said the mayor's meetings would've required him to "drop everything" to be at Barrett's "beck and call."