Calls for city to own a portion of team

One group of Milwaukee residents say if taxpayers are going to fork out $250 million than the city should own a portion of the bucks.

On Saturday a handful of Milwaukee community leaders gathered to advocate against a Bucks arena deal. 

The group included Steve Adams from SEWRPC, James Macon, president transit local 998 and Sheeri Bond, executive director of Jabez transportation. 

At their informal press conference held outside the East Library they announced their plans to lobby against a Bucks arena with local and state elected officials. 

"We need to leverage...leverage...our assets. Don't just give it away," Mary Glass said. 

Don't be mistaken. While these people are protesting the arena deal on the table, they still consider themselves Bucks fans. 

Instead, they say they want to see a deal giving Milwaukee a better return for its public investment. 

"If the city of Milwaukee wants to invest in the Bucks, then we should have some personal stake. They should give a percentage of the ownership to the city of milwaukee. And then the bucks ownership could buy out the interest for the City of Milwaukee," Andrew Shaw, who is running in District 4 said. 

Protesters argue that if the city had a shared interest in the team, leaders could use that money to fix the city's crumbling infrastructure, invest in education, and public safety, among other things. 

"It makes no sense to underwrite a project for an arena an extravagant arena for entertainment and laughter when we have burning in our neighborhoods literally burning in our neighborhoods," said Glass.