Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.
• File this one under “Yeah, we know people can be concerned about different things at once, and maybe this headline is a little unfair, but still”: On Thursday, California-based dockless scooter share company Bird dropped an email on its Milwaukee riders, asking them to scoot on over to next Tuesday’s Common Council meeting and demand the council reconsider a ban on the illegal vehicles. “Help Save Bird in Milwaukee!” Bird pleaded to a city currently grappling with racial injustice, slain police officers, and shitty baseball fans. Bird was founded by a former Uber and Lyft executive in 2017, and was valued at $2 billion in 2018, and yet still had the stones to continue:
We need your help. The Milwaukee Common Council could ban Bird entirely from the city this Tuesday.
The Milwaukee Common Council is considering banning Bird from the entire city. Taking away this new, innovative transportation option will hurt Riders. Whether you rely on Bird to help you get around town, to get to work, or to explore local businesses in your neighborhood, let’s tell the Council that we want them to say, “NO,” to the proposed ban.
Please join us Tuesday, July 31 at 8:15 a.m. at Milwaukee City Hall to show your support for access to shared-use electric scooters. We will meet at the corner of Wells and Market streets and then head into the Common Council Chambers together.
In another plea, Bird made the dubious claim that “there are no state or local laws that prevent Bird or other scooter companies from operating,” even though the city attorney has repeatedly cited state laws that prohibit motorized scooters on Wisconsin streets and sidewalks.
Similar to its tech-bro “disruption” tactics in other cities, Bird just went ahead and deposited a ton of its scooters in Milwaukee on June 27. The city attorney subsequently issued a cease-and-desist letter and sued the scooter company. That lawsuit has been moved to federal court and is still pending.
The Common Council will take up the matter of the Bird ban—which could authorize the city to impound the vehicles—next Tuesday, because it has nothing else better to do, apparently. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• And yeah, we know everyone is riding them and everyone loves them. [OnMilwaukee]
• Just get the fuck off the sidewalk and stop hitting pedestrians with them, please. [WISN]
• Oh, and the tech bro behind Bird, Travis VanderZanden, wants to be removed from the city’s lawsuit against the company. [BizTimes]
• In other news, the Rick And Morty Rickmobile is coming to Oak & Shield Pub August 25. [Facebook]
• Nomad/Nomad Nacional/SportClub owner Mike Eitel is taking over the long-neglected restaurant in Turner Hall Ballroom. The concept for the space has yet to be finalized. [OnMilwaukee]
• Good City Brewing is moving its office and warehouse from Farwell Avenue to the Century City industrial building on the corner of N. 31st Street and W. Capitol Drive. [Urban Milwaukee]
• A digital ad for VISIT Milwaukee showed up on Breitbart and VISIT Milwaukee was not pleased. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• The dude who owns Milwaukee ESPN Radio now owns WTMJ-AM and WKTI-FM, too. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• New horse stables! [Urban Milwaukee]
• New bobbleheads! [OnMilwaukee]
• Have a great weekend, Milwaukee!