The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association is conducting a review and considering a recall of 3rd District Ald. Mike D’Amato, who is often criticized for being against students.

Members of the association held organizing sessions Sunday and Monday for students who were interested in considering a recall of D’Amato.

The SA would not sponsor the recall — their job is to see what the students want and increase awareness, said Samantha Prahl, SA chief of staff.

Frustrations for students

One of the more common frustrations is the street sweep that occurs the first and third Friday of every month from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

UWM requested that it be switched from Wednesday to Friday to reduce conflicts with students since Friday is typically a quieter day on campus, D’Amato said.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on outreach to let people know this is happening and ultimate success would be cleaning the street without a single ticket or towing,” D’Amato said. “In fact, $70,000 has been spent on signs, ads and mailings to help increase visibility and awareness of the sweep.”

Three-student law

Another student complaint concerns the three-student law, which says that only three non-related students can live in an apartment together.

“I will not allow landlords to take advantage of students, jam them in attics and basements to make a couple of extra bucks,” D’Amato said.

Prahl said D’Amato proposed a rezoning of UWM to make it illegal for students to live within 400 feet of each other.

“(This) would drive students out of this neighborhood,” Prahl said. “No court in our entire country will uphold segregation, and this is segregating people.”

Because apartments are near school property, taxes drive up rent, forcing students to pay more and creating the need for more roommates to share the cost. The housing situation at UWM is far from adequate and UWM students can use as much protection and help as they can get whether it is from SA or their alderman, Prahl said.

Getting too loud

Noise violations are another common grievance among UWM students who live on or around campus.

“Neighbors call in for noise and police officers have to give tickets, regardless of proof,” Prahl said.

D’Amato called for a more adult relationship between students and their neighbors, advising that students should meet their neighbors and give out their phone numbers so that neighbors can call them if they are being too noisy, before they call the police.

“Five hundred tickets were issued in the past three years, and fewer than 1 percent of them were thrown out of court,” D’Amato said. “There may be some mistakes by police, but those are few and far between.”

But Prahl said the number of tickets issued is far larger.

“To our knowledge there are far more than 500 noise citations in the past years and as many as 300 in the first week of school,” she said. “Reductions in price could also explain why so few citations are thrown out. These directly affect students’ pocketbooks. They are going to take the bargain.”

Housing also a problem

D’Amato said he is not opposed to the university using Columbia-St. Mary’s for purposes other than student housing.

D’Amato proposes to build off-campus housing to stay true to UWM’s image as an “urban university.”

Both the Kenilworth Building, which will be open in fall, and the proposed Riverwest housing just west of the river would be off campus but have direct shuttles running to and from UWM.

“I believe they short-change students when they don’t provide different housing options and the SA has been absent,” D’Amato said.

Student Association members said that off-campus housing would be extremely inconvenient for students who would not be able to enjoy the accommodations Sandburg Hall offers.

A commuter goal

D’Amato said the No. 1 goal for his term is to get the Milwaukee Connector, similar to the light rail system in Portland, Ore., built, he said. This system would be the answer to the UWM transportation problem by providing clean, efficient transportation and moving people faster, D’Amato said.

D’Amato is striving for great quality development of the East Side, as well as solutions to students’ problems with transportation, he said.

Working together

“To make decisions there should be four parts: the university, neighbors, officials and students,” Prahl said. “With Ald. D’Amato, this isn’t happening. We could all band together and we can make a change.”

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