The U.S. Secret Service will give an update on the security measures that will be in place for the 2024 Republican National Convention.
We expect to receive an updated look at the comprehensive public safety map after talks to expand the security perimeter around Fiserv Forum.
TMJ4's Sydni Eure spoke with Todd Sneed, the owner of a business on the fringe of the zone that has been released so far. Sneed shared this update is something he has been looking forward to.
"We’ve attend a couple of the meetings already," said Todd Sneed, Owner of Wolf's Dry Cleaning. "Anything they put up publicly through the MMAC (Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce) or the Visit Milwaukee, we’ve been on top of that. But now, just finalizing the last month and getting to know where we can go and what we can and can’t get to is going to be essential for us.”
A map was released by Mayor Cavalier Johnson in February that shows the areas in downtown Milwaukee that are most likely to be impacted by security plans during July's Republican National Convention.
You can view the map below:
Sneed said the current zone is already making an impact them.
"I've heard that from a number of people who say we're just going to steer clear of Milwaukee," said Sneed. "I understand that it's going to be hard to get access to drive around the city but it's going to be unique. It's a once in a lifetime event and I hope people take advantage of it and at least come down and see."
Sneed said Wolf's Dry Cleaning is a delivery service that does 95% of all the hotel business in the city of Milwaukee and Waukesha. The biggest concern right now is the logistics of getting vehicles in and out of the restricted zones to fulfill orders.
"Some of the businesses that are in that red zone might have to be a shuttle type service that we can coordinate getting deliveries in or deliveries coming out to us and loading up their vehicles and taking it in to those zones," said Sneed.
Despite any additional restrictions that come about, Sneed said he is looking forward to the opportunity for more business as people flood in for the convention.
"We’re fortunate to have this business come in," said Sneed. "We missed the DNC (Democratic National Convention). That was a tough one for our team. We were all looking forward to it. That was during COVID. So, that was one thing that really would have helped us on the financial end of it. This one will be good. We’re looking forward to it but there are just a couple questions about just the overall logistics of getting access to our business downtown.”
"We’re confident we can handle it," said Sneed. "We’re ready to work a long week but we’re just excited that we’re going to have this opportunity in front of us.”
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