Barrett skips bike to work ride for White House State Dinner

Posted by Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel on June 6, 2011

Mayor Tom Barrett will be a no-show Tuesday morning for his annual bike ride to City Hall, part of the Bike to Work Week events in Milwaukee.

His excuse: a trip to the White House and a state dinner with President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The visit and dinner plans were announced in April.

Barrett will be a guest at the fourth state dinner hosted by Obama, and the first devoted to a European leader. The White House said it's a sign of the close working relationship Obama and Merkel have forged in two and a half years.

Ride organizers from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin graciously accepted the "unable to attend" note from the mayor.

"We can't blame him for jumping at that opportunity instead of our ride!" the group noted on its Bike to Work web page.

Instead of Barrett, the group ride from N. 51st St. and W. Washington Blvd. will be led by Milwaukee's Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator Dave Schlabowske, City Engineer Jeff Polenske and many other power commuters. The start time is 7:30 a.m.

In keeping with the formal overtones, the officials and those joining them are encouraged to show off their best power suit, pant suit or three-piece suit for the trip to the Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway.

Check out the Bike Fed site for more Bike to Work events, including the Bike to the Brewers game on Thursday.

Mayor Barrett won't repeat this scene from the 2010 Bike to Work ride.
Photo by Tom Held

32 Comments for "Barrett skips bike to work ride for White House State Dinner"

So what Al Mcguire , has been skipping Al's run for years before he left us.

Now Barack is Buying! , why not go... oh wait the taxpayers are being stuck with the bill :(
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BVModerate Jun 06, 2011 5:01 PM
Is he paying for this dinner out of Obamas stash money? "I don't know where he got it but he's givin it away!!"
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CG realist Jun 06, 2011 5:05 PM
i like how the conservatives pretend to be concerned with the taxpayer cost of a trip to the white house for a mayor of a city commonly referred to as the 'Berlin of the West' to meet the German Chancellor, all while whole heartedly supporting fake democratic candidates in recall elections to force primary voting races...cuz those are all privately funded you know.

Let's see the Polti-fact numbers, which are cheaper to the Wisconsin taxpayer? Tom Barret's trip to Washington D.C.? Or one, two, or three, primary recall elections? (provided any of the recall campaigns against democrats pass muster).
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RvrwstBrewFan Jun 06, 2011 5:10 PM
The truth is Tom failed to get the license on his bike renewed. In a effort to avoid a Weiner type scandal he called his buddy Obama to bail him out of the jam by begging for a seat at the state dinner. Tom will be seated at the childrens table and be served a mac-n-cheese with hotdogs in it. I demand Dan Bice fully investigate this.
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Uncle Rico Jun 06, 2011 5:23 PM
Does he get the t-shirt too?

"Forced to run for governor (losing to Scott Walker) and all I got was a lousy dinner and this T-shirt!"
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jimtherepublican Jun 06, 2011 5:27 PM
Jim, don't forget he was at the white house for the superbowl. How many more invites does he get for running against his will?
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Uncle Rico Jun 06, 2011 5:29 PM
I would have made an interesting ride to work:-) D.C. is more than a five minute bike ride.
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anothercomment Jun 06, 2011 5:58 PM
He should at least strap his bike to a county bus to make it look like they are being used. His police body guard can remove it at city hall.
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MikeV Jun 06, 2011 6:40 PM
Hey Tom,

Gosh, lots of biking stories of late. Lace up your running shoes. :)
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Hill Runner Jun 06, 2011 7:04 PM
Hey, how come the Stanley Cup playoff's aren't on channel 4...what a crock...minute to win it...not Canucks....great sports department..can't you guys get that game on 4???Help....Barret riding a bike is nothing compared to the WORLD championship going on....come on man...
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raetheranter Jun 06, 2011 7:52 PM
i like how you stay on topic. I also like that you think that WTMJ has any authority over what NBC decides to air.
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RvrwstBrewFan Jun 06, 2011 8:53 PM
Would prefer to see Obama and the German Chancellor coming to Milwaukee for a visit and dinner to show some real german hospitality. I'd take my kids to that historical moment, as I did my niece many years ago when Clinton and Helmut Kohl vistited.
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StephPurvis Jun 06, 2011 10:07 PM
I'm sure the idea to dress up was Schlabowske's. The anti-bicycle comments are
lovely representations of opinions of the intellectually weak tainted by AM talk
radio. Keep it coming!
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Michael J Horne Jun 06, 2011 11:14 PM
Beginning to think there's some brown nosing going on here for a job in the Obama administration.
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Mytakeis Jun 07, 2011 9:01 AM