Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, who is also a Democrat running to be Wisconsin governor, hits road with Milwaukee Brewers for fatherhood initiative

Source(click to read of Paper):
Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, who is also a Democrat running to be Wisconsin governor, hits road with Milwaukee Brewers for fatherhood initiative

OK, so Barrett isn't really taking the day off. He's using the trip to promote the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, a program designed to keep at-risk fathers involved in their children's lives.

Additional information
These links will open in a new window:
♦ The P-C's politics special section
♦ Brewers news in The P-C's baseball section
♦ Sign up for news, weather and sports text alerts.
Barrett, Brewers executives, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball coach Rob Jeter and a group of 50 fathers and their kids will fly to Minneapolis, talk fatherhood and responsibility during a breakfast with players Rickie Weeks and LaTroy Hawkins, then attend the Brewers-Twins game.

Barrett is bringing one of his children and will speak about his own family experiences. But he doesn't want the conversation to be one-sided.

"It's not a big, speech-giving thing," Barrett said Friday. "It's more about talking as a group together."

Barrett, a Democrat running for governor, made national news last summer when he was attacked leaving the Wisconsin State Fair. Authorities said he intervened in an argument and was hit with a metal object by a man who recently reached a plea agreement.

Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers' executive vice president of business operations, said Barrett's involvement in today's trip amid his responsibilities as mayor and campaign for governor shows his commitment to the fatherhood initiative.

"It shows that the mayor takes the program pretty seriously," Schlesinger said.

Schlesinger said Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford also will make the trip, and the company's Frontier Airlines subsidiary is donating the charter flight. Schlesinger said children will receive $1,000 savings bonds from M&I bank and the Brewers' community foundation.

Weeks said he is looking forward to the event, and credits his father's support for his success.

"He was always there," Weeks said. "It means a lot. I really don't know how it feels to not have your father around."