An overlooked detail in the pending Bucks arena deal is the state takeover of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, which is owned by Milwaukee County, a plan pushed by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and facing skepticism from county supervisors.

But the supervisors’ heightened scrutiny and pointed questions about the proposed takeover may mean nothing, since Abele’s Republican allies in the state Legislature may insert the plan into the state budget or propose it as a stand-alone bill, overriding local approval of the proposal.

Although Abele hasn’t spoken about the deal in public, his top aide Teig Whaley-Smith told Milwaukee County board committees that Abele is actively advocating for the state takeover, as well as the bad debt funding plan to underwrite $80 million of the $500 million Bucks arena and the $1 sale of nine acres of Park East land.

Whaley-Smith provided no written details about the Marcus Center takeover in his two appearances before county supervisors, who have been cut out of all negotiations with the state and the Bucks owners over the arena plan.

Abele backs a merger of Milwaukee entities that oversee a number of publicly owned cultural assets Downtown. The state-authorized Wisconsin Center District, long helmed by attorney Franklyn Gimbel, which oversees the convention center, the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and the Milwaukee Theatre, would be combined with the state-authorized Bradley Center District, which operates the BMO Harris Bradley Center, and the Marcus Center, which is operated by the nonprofit Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Inc. but whose facility is owned by the county. The new Bucks arena would also be overseen by the new consolidated “superboard.”

“We are advocating in Madison for the consolidation of the districts,” Whaley-Smith admitted in the June 16 hearing of the Parks, Energy and Environment Committee. “We are advocating for better debt collection practices to come up with a $4 million county contribution that was detailed in meetings last week. We are absolutely advocating for those things and hope that they are in the final state legislation.”

Part of the plan is to oust current Wisconsin Center District board members and replace them with new appointees. The Wisconsin Center District would also be required to issue $93 million in bonds to finance the new arena.

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Whaley-Smith said that consolidation of the cultural assets would increase “synergy” and reduce competition among the theaters for performances.

He also argued that there’s little that the county can do to reject or modify the plan, since the county is an arm of the state and must do as the Legislature says.

“We are not like a city with home rule,” Whaley-Smith said. “We are here for the administrative convenience, essentially, for the state.”

County Would Keep Debt

Supervisors pushed back against Whaley-Smith’s testimony in two hearings on the Marcus Center last week.

At one point, Supervisor Willie Johnson Jr., co-chair of the Finance, Personnel and Audit Committee, pointedly asked Whaley-Smith who owns the Marcus Center.

“Milwaukee County owns the physical asset,” Whaley-Smith admitted.

Johnson said he had “a big problem” with Abele not sharing information about the Marcus Center takeover with the board, the press or the public, since it’s a publicly owned facility.

“There is no king here,” Johnson said.

Supervisor Patricia Jursik said the Abele administration has dragged its heels on finalizing a long-term lease with the Marcus Center, which she implied was hurting its ability to raise private funds for its operations. She said that at a recent Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performance, Concertmaster Frank Almond went on stage to “beg for money” for its musicians. She said she apologized to him for the lack of public support for the symphony.

“Government should be supporting the arts and culture in Milwaukee County,” Jursik said. “We can support the Bucks, but you make Frank Almond go out and schlep for, ask for money so the [Abele’s family] Argosy Foundation can match it? Am I angry? Absolutely.”

She said Wisconsin Center District Board Chair Franklyn Gimbel and Marcus Center President Paul Matthews hadn’t been consulted about Abele’s plans for their two entities.

Supervisor Jason Haas asked Whaley-Smith about the debt incurred by the county to support the Marcus Center’s facilities.

“I’m sensing that the county executive is, frankly, comfortable with giving away a county asset to the state,” Haas said.

Haas finally pressed Whaley-Smith into answering his question about the debt. Whaley-Smith said the proposed agreement wouldn’t transfer the debt to the revamped Wisconsin Center District.

“That debt is Milwaukee County’s,” Whaley-Smith said. “We will have to work through that issue. I don’t think there is any intent on our part to walk away from a county commitment to the Marcus Center.”

He said the 2016 budget would include funding for the Marcus Center.

After Whaley-Smith’s testimony, the committee heard testimony on additional funding for the Marcus Center. Prior to that agenda item, finance committee co-chair Theo Lipscomb chastised an absent Abele for failing to appear before five board hearings to explain his plans for the Bucks arena and related development.

“I thought people needed to know what’s being proposed, what’s being negotiated secretly before continuing to be asked to put more money into an asset that may be stolen from us in the middle of the night,” Lipscomb said.