12/30/2025
An Open Letter to Schmitt Park Residents - December 29, 2025
Neighbors,
Since December 2023, when Schmitt Park residents first learned of Brown County’s approval to donate approximately 3.5 acres of public land to Veterans 1st of NEW, Inc., both the Schmitt Park Neighborhood Association (SPNA) and the Schmitt Park United Residents (SPUR) Team have been actively engaged in understanding the purpose and implications of this development.
From the outset, our focus has been straightforward: whether the project fulfills its stated public purpose, and whether the historic Poor Farm and Asylum burial sites are adequately protected. In March 2024, we shared our initial findings directly with neighborhood residents so everyone had the same information as the process moved forward. Continued advocacy led to additional archaeological study—an important step, though ultimately incomplete, as the County did not enforce its own requirement for a complete study.
More serious concerns emerged only after the final land conveyance on August 15, 2025, when it became clear that key safeguards, oversight provisions, and enforceable conditions were omitted from the agreement. What began as a good-faith inquiry and historic preservation advocacy escalated into fundamental questions of governance and accountability.
Schmitt Park is a neighborhood of primarily single-family homeowners who collectively contribute millions each year in property taxes to the County, City, and School District. As tax bills rise, residents are understandably anxious. Against that backdrop, it is challenging to reconcile the continued public support—free land, redevelopment funds, and additional ARPA grants—being extended to an organization that was expected, from the outset, to demonstrate financial sufficiency.
Let us be clear: Schmitt Park residents welcome veterans. We support veterans facing homelessness, mental health challenges, and substance-use disorders. Compassion, however, does not excuse the absence of safeguards. Serving the most vulnerable requires accountability, verified funding, and enforceable standards.
Not one tiny home has been completed, yet public funding continues to be requested. Financial projections rely on anticipated federal HUD funding that residents have not been able to confirm independently. Admission criteria appear exclusionary relative to the stated mission, and core safeguards remain unresolved—even as development activity proceeds.
At this point, many residents feel that the imbalance of resources between government entities and ordinary citizens has left them with little meaningful ability to influence decisions, regardless of facts or documentation. That perception is deeply corrosive to public trust.
What residents are asking for now is not reassurance, but accountability: a pause in further public funding, independent verification of claimed federal revenue sources, restoration of basic safeguards, and transparent re-engagement with the neighborhood before irreversible decisions proceed. These concerns have reached a point where a formal external oversight review is now underway, underscoring their seriousness. Anything less signals that public input no longer matters—and that is not a message any responsible public institution should be willing to send.
Respectfully,
Hans Christensen
President, Schmitt Park Neighborhood Association, Inc.
Board of Directors Chair, Schmitt Park United Residents (SPUR) Team
Schmitt Park residents are welcome to message Hans Christensen directly via private message with questions or concerns.
