Waukesha mayor given time to recruit painting volunteers

Waukesha - The bare walls at city hall will stay bare awhile longer.

The Building and Grounds Committee agreed Monday to give Mayor Jeff Scrima the chance to recruit volunteers to paint the hallways as he said he intended to do.

Ald. Roger Patton initially wanted the committee to hire a painter to finish the job Scrima started when he had all the artwork - mostly historic pictures of the city - removed two months ago. The faded walls and bare hooks have prompted some complaints about its appearance.

"Maybe there will be a snowstorm of volunteers," Patton said Tuesday.

Ald. Eric Payne, committee chairman, said Tuesday that the committee is asking the mayor to complete the job in 30 days. In addition, he said, the Public Art Committee wants to re-hang the works in a different arrangement. Payne's committee had no objections.

Soon after taking office in April, Scrima had his office and reception area painted at a cost of about $4,000 from the general maintenance budget. Contractors quoted a price of $23,000 for most of the public areas of city hall including the mayor's area, Public Works Director Fred Abadi said. He didn't want to deplete the maintenance budget in case of more pressing needs later in the year, but he said the city would buy the paint sooner if Scrima lined up volunteers as he proposed.

Payne said Scrima told him he had the volunteers and process lined up.

"If he can do it without costing the taxpayers very much money, more power to him," Payne said Tuesday.