Welcome

I am honored and thankful to have served as your Mayor these past three years. As voters you have provided me an opportunity to address challenging issues affecting the lives of thousands of people.  From introducing and managing balanced budgets, fighting crime, improving our educational system and investing in jobs, my team and I have tackled the tough issues facing families in our community.

Only a few short months ago our City dealt with one of the greatest catastrophes in Wisconsin history.  News broke on the evening of July 5th of a serious fire at the Patrick Cudahy plant. I was relaxing with my family at the time when I received the call. It's the sort of news that no one ever wants to hear.

I'm proud to say that in that time of crisis, the people of Cudahy responded to the challenge. The Patrick Cudahy fire erupted to become the largest fire in Wisconsin history and threaten the livelihood of many residents, workers, and employees.

Through the efforts of our Fire Chief, Police Chief, and many dedicated city workers and volunteers, Cudahy coordinated what is today a model response to community disaster. In the weeks and months that would follow we worked together to help rebuild the Patrick Cudahy plant and keep these important jobs in our community. Over 1800 jobs that might have been lost due to this disaster were saved. Today, Patrick Cudahy is once again operating at near full strength.

As you know, our problems aren't all behind us. Our country and our community is facing one of the worst economic recessions ever. It's time to pull together and continuing working toward solutions that will build our community. That's why I'm asking you to help me continue serving you as Mayor.

Over the last three years you've seen my approach to dealing with real problems. I believe in building a good team, listening to you the voters and taking a common sense approach to dealing with challenges head-on.

Cudahy has a rich history and cultural tradition. That's why I've invested in a façade grant program for helping such places as the historic Majestic Theatre to help reclaim architectural prominence. The Majestic is just the first of 20 similar projects to come.

As one of the founding members of the South Shore Economic Advancement Consortium, the City of Cudahy has partnered with the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, and the cities of St. Francis and South Milwaukee to help provide entrepreneurs training and technical assistance. We're working to strengthen our local non-profit organizations by providing leadership training and connecting folks in need to employment and social services.

I believe Cudahy is a great place to raise a family, and that's why we're investing over $1.2 million dollars into renovating blighted properties. These same properties will then be sold to owner occupied residents.

As a proud parent, I want to make sure our schools and neighborhoods are safe. We've already added to our Police department and coordinated with the School District to maintain an onsite school resource officer. During my next term, we're going to continue to strengthen the police and our emergency response teams to ensure your quality of life.

I know that times are tough, that we've all been forced to cut back. But I want you to know, my team and I are working on these challenges every day. We're working with folks like you to find solutions.  We're going to do this by cutting wasteful spending and continuing to maintain a balanced budget.

I believe in Cudahy. I believe in our residents, and I believe in the potential we hold. I believe we can be faithful to our history and tradition, without selling out to special interests and cronyism. I believe we can create new jobs, while working to expand the employment of our local manufacturers. I believe we can keep our community safe and ensure our children receive the best education possible.

I believe we can do all these things together.

In the coming weeks, I'm going to meeting with you, listening to your ideas, and formulating our agenda for the next term. I invite you to help me, because together, we can win this fight, build a strong economy and show everyone we're still proud to be from Cudahy.

                                                        Sincerely,

                                                         Mayor Ryan P.  McCue