MADISON: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Saturday he has okayed plans for a major refurbishment of Milwaukee's lakefront Hoan Bridge. The project is scheduled to take three years and cost as much as $350 million.

Built in the 1970s, the Hoan Bridge was named after Daniel Webster Hoan (1889-1966). Hoan was the second socialist mayor of Milwaukee, and his 24 years in office is generally considered to be the longest continuous socialist administration in U.S. history.

Before his time as mayor, Hoan served as Milwaukee City Attorney. Prior to this, as a lawyer, he drafted a workmen's compensation act as well as a brief on its constitutionality. This led to then-Gov. Davidson setting up a committee that led to Wisconsin being the first state to pass a workmen's compensation law.

As city attorney Hoan also took on the railroads public utilities, according to "History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume 2" by Josiah Seymour Currey", "In this way local improvements approximating fifteen million dollars in value were wrested from the companies."

Hoan also defeated an attempt by the common council that would have saddled the city with an expensive privately owned streetlight system, paving the way for the modern publicly owned system in place today.

According to "History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume 2", as Mayor, "the labor policy of his administration began with the drafting of the eight hour law and the minimum wage ordinance continues to stand out as a real accomplishment."

"Organized labor is consulted on all questions in which it is interested and is fairly represented in the various commissions of the city government. Mayor Hoan has not hesitated to state his stand without compromise. His reply to the local association of commerce when they requested him to invite the King of Belgium to this city was, 'I stand for the man who works. To hell with kings'." -- "History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume 2", Josiah Seymour Currey.

According to the Milwaukee County Historical Society, after being reelected six times, Hoan was defeated in 1940, and left the Socialist party and became a Democrat, running unsuccessfully for governor in 1944 and 1946 and for Congress in 1948.

Hoan emphasized his Socialist party alliance, but he was more interested in improving services and government, so-called “sewer socialism”, than political theory.  Hoan forged an enviable record, eliminating graft, improving the city’s health and safety, supporting harbor improvement and reducing debt.  Hoan supported governmentally subscribed housing, municipal marketing of foodstuffs to combat profiteering during the depression, a minimum wage for city employees and the right to strike. -- Milwaukee County Historical Society.

It's clear that Daniel Webster Hoan was quite a different type of leader than Scott K. Walker, the former Milwaukee County Executive and now Wisconsin governor who okayed the refurbishing of the bridge named in Hoan's honor.

Perhaps something more fitting needs to be named for Hoan rather than what was once called "the bridge to nowhere." Hoan's socialist tenure as Milwaukee Mayor was a time of prosperity and labor peace. The same cannot be said of either Walker's time as Milwaukee County Executive or now as governor.