Brookfield United Citizens (BUC)

One of Alderman Berg's proudest accomplishments in the last few years was made before he was elected alderman. That is his co-founding and operation of the Brookfield United Citizens (BUC) along with Rick Steinberg. This page is based on a handout given out at meetings that explains the mission and accomplishments of BUC. Citizen Berg attended every meeting and became well informed about topics facing Brookfield, long before becoming Alderman Berg.

The real beauty of these meetings was that they provided a forum outside of the control of the city government or private industry. BUC believes this independence brought out many details not otherwise revealed in public.

Mission

Brookfield United Citizens (BUC) is dedicated to providing timely information on real estate development and other public issues to the citizens of Brookfield and to aid in organizing and supporting neighborhood groups to respond to specific issues of interest to them.

How BUC Can Help You

Explain how to organize a group to focus on a specific topic. This is typically a neighborhood concerned about a proposed development in their area.

Help you to form a plan to have undesirable parts of the proposed development modified as needed. There are many more options than calling the mayor or just giving up.

Past Meetings

Date	Topic
14 May 98	Greenfield Avenue Expansion – Presentation by Wisconsin DOT Presentation by Scott Berg on the proposed 11 story hotel on (Storm) Blue Mound Golf Range. Click for a history of my involvement in changing a proposed 11 story hotel into a project everyone could live with.
23 June 98	Address by Rick Steinberg on legal basis for city’s regulation of development. Distribution of questionnaires on proposed development of Jefford’s Motor Property on Blue Mound Road. The prospective developer had solicited BUC’s aid in canvassing citizens as to what sort of development would be acceptable.
20 July 98	Presentation by Elaine Kraut on her proposal for a Sendik’s store at Capitol Drive & Brookfield Road. BUC was able to place Mrs. Kraut in direct contact with neighborhood residents concerned about that development.
30 Sep 98	John Kalupa spoke about his fight to keep his Mobil station open on the corner of Calhoun Road and North Avenue. BUC provided the first opportunity for the public to hear the details of the project in a forum not managed by the city or the developer.
30 Nov 98	Mike Hahn of SEWRPC made a presentation describing the flooding in Brookfield in the previous two years. His presentation was the same information used by the city and its various task forces in creating flood control policy. Nancy Gloe made a brief presentation on the environmental activist movement in Brookfield.
25 Jan 99	Home Depot presented its proposal for the new store at the corner of Capitol Drive and 124 Street. Since that is in Wauwatosa, Brookfield had no formal control of the project. BUC provided this forum where the city had no official basis for a presentation. Waukesha County supervisor Sandy Wolff described the role of the county government, the "invisible layer" that provides significant services to Brookfield residents. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on this meeting
22 Feb 99	Dan Finley spoke about his goals if elected to a new term as Waukesha County Executive.
22 Mar 99	Mark Madsen spoke about his goals if elected to a term as Waukesha County Executive. Ralph Ramirez and Bill Domina, candidates for Waukesha County Circuit Court, stated their goals if elected. There was a brief announcement concerning the formation of a new group of residents opposing Greenfield Avenue expansion.
26 Apr 99	Dean Marquart and other city officials spoke about Brookfield’s preparation for the Y2K event. BUC believes this was the only public forum held in Brookfield on that topic.
24 May 99	Sue Hefty of the Wilson Center for the Arts described the proposed center. BUC provided a forum for the very active opposition to the placement of the center in Mitchell Park to state their views.
27 Sep 99	Brookfield Police Chief Bob Jacobs described the duties of the police force and some of the challenges they face in a growing city. Chrisopher Blackburn, co-chairman on the Underwood Creek & Dousman Ditch Flooding Task Force summarized the findings of their study.
25 Oct 99	Anne Schwartz of the Waukesha Freeman told about her role as a journalist covering Brookfield. Representatives of the Wisconsin DOT updated their proposal of May, 1998 on the Greenfield Avenue expansion project.
22 Nov 99	Dan Ertl, Brookfield City Planner, presented the proposed 2020 master plan.
19 Jan 00	Matt Gibson spoke about the Elmbrook School District. The two main topics were: Proposed construction of new elementary schools. School security.

First BUC Meeting, May 14, 1998

The remarkable thing about this meeting is that we got such a great turnout when the last night of "Seinfeld" was on TV.

Y2K Preparedness, April 26, 1999

It seems almost silly now, but there were people in the audience who were honestly terrified that Y2K was going to be a disaster of epic proportions.