That’s the headline of a report on UrbanMilwaukee.com.

Noise continues to be an issue at Franklin’s Ballpark Commons. And based on this website article, little if any progress has been made.

Urban Milwaukee reports:

“Milwaukee County Parks is  having trouble studying noise at a sports complex in Franklin that has plagued neighbors for years. The county parks department has now been charged with performing a sound study. As parks worked to find someone to perform the study, it looked at available sound data from measurements taken by the City of Franklin, but has been unable to analyze the data ‘due to both the large volume of data and lack of specific technical expertise,’ according to a report from the department.”

Oh, this is a beauty. The masterminds at Milwaukee County, apparently not smarter than 5^th graders, are unable to figure out what the hell they’re doing. So they react the way government does. They blame someone else, in this instance, Franklin.

This isn’t surprising since our own Einsteins on the Franklin Common Council scoffed at suggestions by both Mayor Steve Olson and ROC Ventures owner Mike Zimmerman to resolve the sound dispute by using industry experts. Instead our council made the foolish decision to seek government assistance, which amounts to no help at all. Naturally the county bureaucrats are clueless.

Reminded me almost instantly of an interview done in the late 1970’s by legendary big bandleader Woody Herman, a Milwaukee native. Herman expressed frustration with some of his audience members who preferred he play onstage his recordings from the 30’s and 40’s rather than his more contemporary charts. Taking a shot, Herman said they wouldn’t know good music from their electric shavers. And some Franklin aldermen expected the county to come through?

Another thought I have is why is Urban Milwaukee so interested? In Franklin.

When I was at WHEDA one of the projects I worked on that we funded was a national award-winning multifamily development that provides supportive services that benefit individuals with mental illness who are at risk for experiencing homelessness, police encounters, and emergency hospitalizations. The success rate at turning these folks around has been impressive.

Highland Commons, just across the city of Milwaukee border in West Allis got national press. But when I pitched the story to Urban Milwaukee the reaction I got was lukewarm because, after all, this was West Allis.

But neighbor complaints in Franklin? That has Urban Milwaukee jumping. Seems the right person whispered in the right ear.

Read the article. I frequently visit this liberal site because it does, to their credit cover a lot, and at times does a fair amount of good work when they’re not so biased. But…

Sounds like they have a predetermined template on this issue, going so far as to suggest Franklin intentionally designed Ballpark Commons so that no complaints could ever be enforced. This is not award-winning journalism, even though Franklin detractors (i.e. certain Franklin aldermen) might use it as ammo to rip a top Franklin corporate citizen.

Ballpark Commons has proven it was a super idea and is successful. Franklin can continue to grow, as long as we don’t become our own worst enemy.