Monday, May 20, 2013

A Sobering Look At Chris Abele

As I've been sifting through the tens of thousands of pages of emails and other documents regarding Chris Abele and his usurpation and corruption of power, which have been recently released I have found many alarming things.

For example, look at this single email from Abele to his Chief of Staff, Amber Moreen, who came from his private charity group, the Argosy, at a highly elevated pay rate:

Click to embiggen

The email exchange is in regards to what to do with Frank Bau and another labor relations staffer while they were waiting for authorization to fill those slots.

Kimberly Walker, Abele's top lawyer in Corp Counsel, again oversteps her position and starts offering ways around the law.  Abele, as evidenced in the email, is all for it.

There is an obvious cause of concern in that this is the second time we've see Walker again overstepping her position as serving the public in order to serve the CEO, as if she was still in the private sector.

What's even more alarming though is what Abele reveals about himself.

First he admits that he has "a hard time not responsding and wanting to know what's going on all the time."

In other words, he feels and obsessive/compulsive urge to micromanage everyone and everything.  In layman's terms, he's a control freak.  He has no faith in his underlings, even though he is paying them outrageously exorbitant amounts of money to do their jobs.

And if something would not go the way he wants it to, he flies off the handle.  I could point to any of the people that Abele has suddenly fired without reason or warning.  but obviously the most glaring example is the very fact that he launched this whole power grab against the County Board when they dared to stand up for the taxpayers and for those receiving services from the County.

A good comparison would be the way Mitt Romney responded when he realized
they were losing the presidential election to Barack Obama.  Romney went into piques of rage, even going to the point of putting a gag at times on his running mate, Paul Ryan.

Given the fact that he cannot control the unions, he will be attacking them soon enough.  I would expect Abele to start privatizing everything he can, even though the cost to the taxpayers and to those depending on the services are going to go through the roof.

The other alarming thing about Abele's email is his quaint quip about the "even slightly drunk me."

It's disturbing to thing that such a control freak would not be in complete control of even himself.

Has he made decisions related to the county while intoxicated?  He apparently must have, given the context of this email.  Then being such an egomaniac, even if and when he realizes he screwed up, he won't admit it but pursues his folly to the end.

And now they have given him an unhealthy and inappropriate amount of power, effectively destroying representative government and a balance of powers:
Provisions that kick in immediately include shrinking the board's role in land sales, labor negotiations and contracts. The county executive can hire as many people as he wants for his office without interference. 
The executive also gets sole authority over the county fish hatchery, child support department, operation of the Milwaukee Public Museum, harbor facilities and any work relief program. Abele will have the sole power to create any new county department. He'll have primary oversight of minority contracting, which has been under the County Board. 
A provision in the bill assigning one county lobbyist to the county executive and one to the board is already spawning differences. Abele said he gets to hire and supervise both lobbyists, though one would work with the board. Dimitrijevic said she understood that the two-person lobbying unit would be independent, with one lobbyist working with the board and the other with Abele. 
The board's budget will drop from this year's $6.6 million to a maximum of $1.1 million starting next year, likely forcing a significant reduction in the 38-person board staff. However, several staff jobs now assigned to the board would be transferred to the county clerk and county comptroller. Four policy analyst jobs would go to the comptroller to create an independent service department that could be tapped by both the board and the county executive. The board currently has seven research analyst positions, though three are vacant.
The gentle reader should take a moment and think of all the things that terrified them about a Romney presidency, about what would happen letting a uber-rich, out of touch, corporate puppet having that much power, where only Congress would stand in his way.  Now realize that Milwaukee County is about to face a similar situation, albeit on a smaller scale, but also without a legislative body to keep his greed and corruption in check.

2 comments:

  1. Find a qualified Dem candidate the next time PLS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Solid find, arguably solid analysis.

    ReplyDelete