The Recombobulation Area

The Recombobulation Area is an award-winning weekly opinion column by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

One of the biggest stories in Wisconsin right now is the battle over redistricting. Maps that will be in place for the next decade are now being discussed and debated in the Wisconsin state legislature. 

In my most recent column, I wrote about the new maps being proposed by state Republicans, which takes one of the worst gerrymanders in the country and pushes it even further to the extreme. Those maps were the topic of discussion at a public hearing at the state capitol last week, where not one member of the public stepped forward to speak and voice support for those maps. Not one person. 

But many people showed up to testify against those maps over the course of a nine-hour hearing. One of those people is Sachin Chheda, director of the Fair Elections Project. He joins us at The Recombobulation Area to discuss the public hearing, what’s next for the redistricting process, the coming court fight over new maps, the People’s Maps Commission, how these maps impact every piece of public policy in Wisconsin, and how to get involved.

There’s a lot of wild news stories going on in Wisconsin right now, and while those stories might last a news cycle, these maps will last 10 years. It’s really important that people not let this get lost in the shuffle.

“If you at all are affected by what your government does, you’re going to want to care about gerrymandering and stopping these rigged maps that are proposed by Republicans,” said Chheda.

Committee votes are coming this week and floor votes are coming next week on these maps, so go to fairmapswi.com or fairelectionsproject.org to find ways to get involved in this work and the fight for a fair playing field in Wisconsin.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes the award-winning column, The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The Daily Beast, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area newsletter here and follow us on Facebook at @therecombobulationarea.

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a weekly opinion column by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

Disclaimer for listeners: There are some keyboard sounds in the early part of this podcast that might be distracting. Honestly, I just made the silly mistake of putting my recorder too close to the keyboard. The sounds don’t last the whole episode (I figured it out soon enough), so if you get annoyed, just hit that 30-second skip button a few times. Apologies for the error.

The Milwaukee County Office on African American Affairs is still very new. It wasn’t until 2017 that this office became a reality.

Milwaukee is home to some of the most startling racial disparities of any place in the country, so the mission of this office is vital, and its existence was long overdue.

Now, this office’s mission of initiating a “long-term effort to improve the condition of Milwaukee’s African American community” is reverberating throughout county government. Milwaukee County has since become the first jurisdiction in the United States to declare racism as a public health crisis. Milwaukee’s new County Executive, David Crowley — the first Black man elected to serve in the role — has made achieving racial equity a top goal of his new administration.

In July, Crowley appointed Jeff Roman to lead the department.

“Jeff Roman is an organizer and a mobilizer,” Crowley said in the press release announcing his nomination. “With Jeff at the helm of the Office on African American Affairs, I’m certain we can bring together our communities and institutions to achieve health and racial equity for all.”

Roman previously worked as a commissioner and chair of the Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission, and has also worked in leadership roles with Urban Roots Milwaukee, Milwaukee County Brighter Futures and Milwaukee Minority Male Achievement Program, and the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute. His nomination was later approved by the County Board.

The Milwaukee County Office on African American Affairs (OAAA) is currently holding a series of virtual open house meetings to talk about what’s next for the office under Roman’s leadership.

Before this week’s meeting, Roman sat down with The Recombobulation Area to talk about his background, the work that brought him on the path to this role, what’s next for the OAAA, and much more.

“We are all a part of the solution,” Roman said during our conversation. “We are all responsible and need to all be held accountable for making the Milwaukee that we want to see today, tomorrow and in the future. And the burden of doing that work can’t fall on certain communities or certain people. We all play a role.”

Learn more about Roman and the work the OAAA is doing at county.milwaukee.gov/OAAA.

Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s also written for The Daily Beast, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area newsletter here and follow us on Facebook at @therecombobulationarea.

Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe

The Recombobulation Area is a weekly column by veteran Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. Learn more about it here.

David Crowley is a state representative from Milwaukee, representing the Assembly District 17, which includes several neighborhoods in the city of Milwaukee’s west and northwest side, such as Uptown, Enderis Park and Capitol Heights.

Chris Abele’s unexpected decision to step down from his role leading the state’s largest county has upended the spring election, making the Milwaukee County Executive campaign the race to watch in local politics. The Feb. 18 primary is just around the corner, and the two candidates with the most votes will advance to the April 7 general election.

To preview the race, The Recombobulation Area interviewed the top three candidates — County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb, State Senator Chris Larson, and State Representative David Crowley. You can read the extended Q&A with answers from all three candidates here.

The Recombobulation Area interviewed the three candidates. The interviews were all conducted separately, all by phone, largely asking the same questions, Q&A style. These were all recorded, and paying subscribers (such as yourself!) will have access to all three interviews. 

Thank you for reading The Recombobulation Area and supporting independent journalism.

Subscribe to The Recombobulation Area newsletter here and follow us on Facebook at @therecombobulationarea.

Follow Dan on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.therecombobulationarea.com/subscribe