West Allis alderwoman wants investigation into development deal, sexism at City Hall
CBS 58-- A West Allis alderwoman says she’s filing a formal complaint about how the city handled a development deal.
Alderwoman Cathi Probst (District 2) says the city agreed to raze a blighted building in her district, then went behind her back and made a deal with the county to have the building sold for redevelopment instead.
The building in question is the former Expert Auto Care at 71st Street and National Avenue. Probst says it’s been abandoned for eight years and there’s been a raze order on it since 2013.
Probst claims the city’s development department told her they were working to get the deal down with the county, who had to sign off. Now she’s alleging that didn’t happen. That the development department went against the plan, and struck a deal with the county for the building to be sold, and renovated.
Part of Probst’s complaint is that this happened because of a pattern of sexism at city hall.
“I believe that I have been thwarted on more than one occasion unfortunately because in the good ol’ boys club, I don’t get to play,” Probst said. “And that hurts every single person in the second district. My representation has been thwarted, it’s been challenged and that’s horribly inappropriate.”
Probst wants an outside investigation in to the allegations.
West Allis Mayor Dan Devine told CBS 58 Monday evening he says he’ll give a formal response Tuesday, once he’s looked at the allegations. He says he has not seen a formal complaint filed yet, but it is standard practice that if one is filed there is an outside investigation.