Milwaukee residents can choose to call it "soda," "pop" or even "soda pop," but they may soon have only one choice when it comes to soft drinks in city buildings.

The Common Council passed a unanimous resolution Tuesday to look into sponsoring certain product brands exclusively in city-owned buildings in exchange for a fee.

Corporate sponsorship of the city's soft drink vending machines has been the most talked about possibility. If the city accepted PepsiCo's bid for exclusive sale in city establishments, for example, Coke-lovers in the building would have to settle for a PepsiCo product.

But, according to 5th District Alderman Jim Bohl, this is a minor price to pay for the additional revenue such a contract would likely yield.

"We already have vending machines in every floor in every department of every building," said Bohl, who sponsored the measure. "We can either continue making no money off of them, or we can go to exclusive rights and generate what I would presume to be hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Alderman Joe Dudzik, of the 11th District, a resolution cosponsor, said revenue generated from an exclusive rights deal would be a welcome ease to budget strains.

Revenue generated from a sponsorship measure would likely be funneled into the city's general fund, according to Dudzik.

Despite the potential financial benefits, the proposal has been criticized as a possible stifle on competition.

Mayor Tom Barrett expressed his concerns in the Feb. 19 issue of the Journal Sentinel.

"We're America; competition is good," Barrett said regarding the measure. "I like competition in the market."

But, according to Bohl, a corporate sponsorship would still reflect a competitive marketplace.

"Pepsi, Coke, 7-Up … they're all allowed to bid on the contract," he said. "That's competition to me."

Even so, a measure to give exclusive rights to a company would restrict citizens' freedom of choice, according to Janet Boles, professor of political science.

"The main question is 'would the revenue generated outweigh the restraint on free choice,'" Boles said.

Other cities — including San Diego and Houston — have signed multimillion dollar soft drink sponsorship deals.

And corporate exclusive rights deals would not be limited to beverages in Milwaukee, according to Bohl.

Although this is the first time corporate sponsorship is being considered for the city of Milwaukee, the practice is common at other levels of government.

Milwaukee County already offers advertisement sponsorship on its buses and bus shelters. Other county operations, including the Milwaukee County Zoo and its parks system, have similar deals, according to Bohl.

But Boles said corporate sponsorship could set an unhealthy precedent.

"Does someone get the exclusive rights to market condoms in the city's bathrooms or women's sanitary products?" she asked. "How far does this go?"

The Department of Administration will conduct a study to determine the expectations and guidelines for a corporate sponsorship deal and the Common Council will make a final decision on the issue in six months, Bohl said.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 24 2005.