Thursday, May 30, 2013

Abele Cannot Even Announce New Parks Director Without Flubbing The Job

Milwaukee County Executive Emperor Chris Walker Romney Abele has Abele announced his new Parks Director, John Dargle.  The announcement comes more than nine months after fired the award-winning and very popular Sue Black.  Abele has yet to offer a rationale for the sudden dismissal of Black.

But true to the nature of Abele's reign, this move is surrounded by questions and controversy.

Dargle is supposed to come with quite the resume, including winning the "Gold Medal" for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.  It should be noted that Black won the same honor in 2009.  It should also be noted that the award was  awarded based on a video and an essay written by one of then County Executive Scott Walker's aides.

At the time of her firing, Abele's administration was dismissive of Black's achievement.  It is more than a bit ironic that this is now one of their bragging points for the incoming nominee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out another article which reports that Dargle suddenly departed his old job two months ago "to pursue other personal interests."  It would be nice to know what those interests were, since just two months later, he is taking the job in Milwaukee.  The taxpayers have a right to know that their money is being invested in someone who will be on the job for more than a few months - like most of Abele's staffers.

And speaking of pay, there has been no mention in Abele's press release or any of the news articles on what Dargle's salary will be.  This is important as well to make sure that he is being fair in his pay scales.  We can't afford any more lawsuits due to Abele's discriminatory practices.

(I have sent an open records request regarding Dargle's salary to Abele's office, but have yet to receive even an acknowledgement of it's receipt.  What are they doing? I get better response from my county supervisor, that's for sure.)

The formal announcement is being held at Kosciuszko Park, which is in Supervisor Peggy Romo West's district, but  Abele didn't bother to invite her, despite all of the time and hard work she has dedicated to the park.  It is not known if the snub is due to his disrespect for the Board or his misogyny.

I also wonder if Dargle is aware that Abele is planning on spinning off the parks into its own quasi-public/private district.  That might not mean long for Dargle's career with Milwaukee County.

Also interesting is that Abele apologist Dan Cody was involved in the choosing of Dargle, at least per Cody's bragging.  Odd thing is, Cody did not mention this in his press release as president of the Park People.  This raises the question of whether Cody was involved as a representative of the Park People or on some other level.

Nor has this been the first time that Abele and Cody have blurred their lines.  It has been reported that Cody was lobbying for the Usurpation Bill, but Cody is not listed as a lobbyist per the state records.  On who's behalf was he lobbying?

With the upcoming shifting of power into the county executive's hands, it would be nice to have one that can do the job with transparency and efficiency.  Abele is failing horribly in both of those areas.

1 comment:

  1. Who was the Walker flack who wrote the essay?

    ReplyDelete