Buresh Campaign Caught In An Egregious Lie

A few weeks ago, I pointed out how Bill Buresh, the candidate challenging Marina Dimitrijevic for her seat representing the 4th District on the Milwaukee County Board, was using some dirty politics in his effort to unseat her:

But Buresh's campaign may have started to implode on Tuesday.

A person named Jason Auerbach issued a press release alleging some serious ethical, and possibly criminal, misdeeds that Dimitrijevic had done regarding campaign financing and a PAC. But as I was reading through it, I started to wonder about its veracity. in the release, Auerbach included this accusation:

Citizens for Marina Dimitrijevic, did knowingly accept $989.46 in campaign contributions from a registered lobbyist and agent representing "Milwaukee County Behavioral Healthcare Consortium Inc, and affiliates". While in the process of creating, and seeking the passage of a wellness plan called "Step UP" or as 2012 Milwaukee County Budget item 1C006. This budget item 1C006 was later vetoed for adding $434,663.00 to the tax levy. Marina Dimitrijevic then filed false and misleading information about these contributions on her January 31, 2012 filed campaign finance report. The companies belonging to Karl Rajani and Milwaukee County Behavioral Healthcare Consortium Inc and affiliates would have directly benefited from this wellness program.

That doesn't make any sense. The consortium mentioned wouldn't benefit from the wellness program, had it passed. Nor does Auerbach provide any proof that it would have outside of his accusation.

At the time, Buresh tried to distance himself from the accusations.

Also at the time, I questioned why Aaron Rodriguez hadn't advised him that it's not smart to lie to a blogger. That question still remains in place.

Buresh sent out this mailer today to the people in the fourth district:

As you can see, it shows a cartoon of someone, presumably Dimitrijevic, that is buried in a pile of papers, each representing a supposed issue. Prominently displayed in the center of the pile is one that reads "campaign finance violation?" It seems that Buresh is embracing the allegations after all.

That presents yet another problem for Buresh. The allegation is a lie.

I have recently received an email from Karl Rajani, the individual who Auerbach, and now Buresh, are accusing of making illegal campaign donations to Dimitrijevic in some sort of pay-for-play scheme. The email, which was sent to the same people Auerbach emailed, is duplicated here with Mr. Rajani's expressed permission:

Dear Mr. Auerbach: 

I have received from one of my County Supervisor friends a copy of your e-mail (reproduced below) pertaining to the above subject. Point #4 of your e-mail states as follows:

4. That Citizens for Marina Dimitrijevic, specifically Marina Dimitrijevic did knowingly accept $989.46 in campaign contributions from a registered lobbyist and agent representing "Milwaukee County Behavioral Healthcare Consortium Inc, and affiliates". While in the process of creating, and seeking the passage of a wellness plan called "Step UP" or as 2012 Milwaukee County Budget item 1C006.

Mr. Auerbach, although your e-mail does not mention “Karl Rajani”, your Press Release of March 6, 2012 makes clear that you are in fact referring to me as the “registered lobbyist and agent”. Please be advised that the allegations contained in the foregoing point #4 are categorically false. Here are the facts:

1. I have made a single contribution, in the amount of $494.73, to “Citizens for Marina Dimitrijevic”. The contribution was made on September 28, 2011.
2. My significant other, Patricia M. Faulhaber, RN, MSN, with whom I maintain a joint checking account, has also made her own contribution – in her own name and under her own signature - to “Citizens for Marina Dimitrijevic” in the amount of $494.73, on the same date.
3. I have never lobbied Supervisor Dimitrijevic with respect to the “Step UP” program. In fact, I don’t even know what this program is; and, frankly, I don’t have the time to look it up.
4. Whereas I have attended fundraisers for Supervisor Dimitrijevic, I have never discussed any business with her. Except for attending these fundraisers, I have never met with her or discussed any business with her in her office or anywhere else. In fact, I have never met her anywhere except at various fundraisers; and except one on occasion when I testified in an open, public forum before a County Board Committee that she was a member of.
5. Ms. Faulhaber and I made the foregoing contributions as private citizens exercising our right to participate in the political process; and because we strongly believe in the candidacy of Supervisor Dimitrijevic. We believe she is an exceptional public servant.

I am including D.A. Chisholm and Assistant D.A. Altenburg in this e-mail, since you have filed a complaint in this matter with the District Attorney’s office. Ms. Faulhaber and I are prepared to provide the DA’s office whatever documents and information they make require from us.

Mr. Auerbach, I hope this addresses your concerns with respect to point #4. Please do not reply to this e-mail, as I have other, more important matters to attend to. I am sure that if there is merit to the allegations that you made against me, the DA’s office will take up your case, as they should.

Very truly yours,

Karl Rajani

This email was sent out two days ago, and not only have neither Buresh or Auerback apologized for their false accusations, they have doubled down on the hopes that the voters will not catch on to their dishonesty until it's too late.

Marina Dimitrijevic vs.
Bill "Empty Chair" Buresh

Perhaps that is why Buresh refuses to go to debates against Dimitrijevic. He's afraid that is own misconduct will catch up to him and he'll have to answer to the voters for it.

I would fully expect that Buresh openly apologize to Supervisor Dimitrijevic for his slander and libel.

Likewise, I would expect the same from Aaron Rodriguez and El Conquistador, Rodriguez' employer, who have repeated the false accusations. Perhaps they should consider their own liability in printing his libelous allegations.

Buresh, Ortiz Show Real Conviction

As it should be in any given election season, communities are having debates between candidates for any contested race, to give the voters a chance to know who each candidate is and what they stand for.  This allows the voter to make an informed decision at the voting booth.

Or so the theory goes.  Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way.

Sometimes, there will be a candidate like Scott Walker, who appears to be simply unable to tell the truth and routinely misinforms the voters about who he is and what or who he stands for, i.e. union busting.

Sometimes, there will be candidates like Bill Buresh and Sylvia Ortiz, who are are running against incumbent Milwaukee County Supervisors Marina Dimitrijevic and Peggy Romo West, respectively.

Unfortunately, Buresh and Ortiz would rather play dirty politics and snipe at the opponents from the bushes, using deception and misdirection rather than talking about the issues.  Case in point is an upcoming debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, in which Buresh is a no show:

Because Bill Buresh, who is running for the Milwaukee County Board District 4 seat, has elected not to participate and because there is no challenger for Milwaukee County Board District 14 seat, the incumbents will share the stage during the portion of the forum featuring the local county board races. 

So why would a serious candidate turn down the opportunity to make their case and win some votes?

The unethical Aaron Rodriguez slips up and tells us the real reason:

Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic took issue with opponent Bill Buresh declining participation in a County Candidate Forum.  On her Facebook page, Dimitrijevic wrote: 

"Just found out that my opponent has also declined to participate in the Candidate Forum sponsored by neighborhood groups serving the south side on March 20th. Seems there was a claim that some how these neighborhood associations are biased. Layton Blvd. West Neighbors, Voces de La Frontera, and the Southside Organizing Committee cannot make candidate endorsements as they are non-profits." 

Although Dimitrijevic is correct, Buresh didn't claim that these associations endorse candidates.  Sylvia Ortiz, candidate for the 12th district, declined the forum as well citing that all but one of the board members of the Southside Organizing Committee had either contributed or supported her opponent.  Buresh and Ortiz declined the forum because the host and sponsors support their opponents.  In the interest of transparency, Marina Dimitrijevic and Peggy West should have just hosted the forum themselves.

In other words, they refused to attend because they didn't want to hear from or answer questions of people that weren't necessarily in line with their candidacy.  That's some real conviction in their positions!

However, this does raise a serious question that all the voters in those two districts need to consider: Do they want a supervisor who will represent all the people in the district or one that will only work with the people that agree with them?

I think we've seen enough of the latter kind of "leadership" with Scott Walker and we all know how well that's not working out for anyone.

Furthermore, I would just add that even though I don't live in either of those districts, and have disagreed with both Dimitrijevic and Romo West on a fair number of issues, they have always listened and had a dialogue with me.  They never took their ball and went home, refusing to discuss the issues, like Ortiz and Buresh are doing.

Dirty Politics In District Four

Supervisor Marina
Dimitrijevic

In Milwaukee County's Supervisory District 4, there is a race between incumbent Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic and her challenger, Bill Buresh.

Dimitrijevic is a tireless, progressive dynamo that, by all appearances, has a big future ahead of her.  She has been repeatedly voted the "best supervisor" in the county and made the cover of Wisconsin Woman.  She has, for the most part, served Milwaukee County well, and has introduced such things as a sustainability program known as Green Print, which not only helped the environment, but saved the taxpayers a bundle.  She also introduced a new level of transparency to Milwaukee County government by making both the legislative process and campaign financing more accessible to the public. On top of all this, and most importantly, she is very open and accessible to her constituents, having held more than 125 town hall meetings at which she tells her constituents about what's going on as well as listens to their concerns.

That is not to say that Dimitrijevic hasn't made a few mistakes.  She made the ill-advised decision to endorse Penny Sikora, who has, to be kind, a checkered past.  She also pushed for an intrusive and punitive version of a wellness program known as Step Up (which is something which still burns me up when I think of it).

The refreshing thing is, and much to her credit, Dimitrijevic readily admits that she has made mistakes.  She has told me that she tries to learn from her mistakes and moves on.

Her opponent, Bill Buresh, has run a questionable campaign.  He has made some silly mistakes, such as misspelling Dimitrijevic's name, to more "What is he thinking?" types of mistakes, such as campaigning that the county shouldn't be paying down it's debts.  He also has a website that appears good at first glance, but if you go to move beyond the homepage, you may have problems because of a lot of insecure javascript.

Another unfathomable issue is who he associates with.  One of his campaign planks is that he feels Dimitrijevic doesn't work with enough with Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.  While Abele has done some commendable things, such as passing domestic benefits, he has also made some unfortunate choices, such as pushing for an emergency fiscal manager comptroller, which is neither needed or affordable.

Another questionable associate is one of his main supporters, Aaron Rodriguez.  Rodriguez has written some gushing pieces about Buresh, which should raise red flags.  Rodriguez is a stalwart conservative and a big fan of Scott Walker's and has some knowledge of what was happening in Walker's office which led to Walkergate, while Buresh is supposedly a Democrat (like Abele and David Clarke are supposedly Democrats).

But Buresh's campaign may have started to implode on Tuesday.

A person named Jason Auerbach issued a press release alleging some serious ethical, and possibly criminal, misdeeds that Dimitrijevic had done regarding campaign financing and a PAC.  But as I was reading through it, I started to wonder about its veracity.  in the release, Auerbach included this accusation:

Citizens for Marina Dimitrijevic, did knowingly accept $989.46 in campaign contributions from a registered lobbyist and agent representing "Milwaukee County Behavioral Healthcare Consortium Inc, and affiliates". While in the process of creating, and seeking the passage of a wellness plan called "Step UP" or as 2012 Milwaukee County Budget item 1C006. This budget item 1C006 was later vetoed for adding $434,663.00 to the tax levy. Marina Dimitrijevic then filed false and misleading information about these contributions on her January 31, 2012 filed campaign finance report. The companies belonging to Karl Rajani and Milwaukee County Behavioral Healthcare Consortium Inc and affiliates would have directly benefited from this wellness program. 

That doesn't make any sense. The consortium mentioned wouldn't benefit from the wellness program, had it passed.  Nor does Auerbach provide any proof that it would have outside of his accusation.

I emailed Buresh and asked him if he or his campaign had anything to do with this press release and if he had any comments regarding it.

He promptly replied thus:

These allegations are not of my concern and have nothing to do with my campaign's message. I want to stick with the issues.  

With that said I have no comment.

In a public Bay View-oriented chat room, thanks to a faithful friend of Cog Dis, we know that he said much the same thing:

Dear Bay View Community, 

I wanted to make it clear that me and my campaign for County Supervisor of district four had nothing to do with the earlier press release, or messages.  

My message is clear. Milwaukee County can improve and restore county services by having less money go towards debt servicing. We can once again have the best park system, and an affordable safe transit system. 

Apparently, Rodriguez never advised Buresh that it's not nice - or smart - to lie to a blogger.

Auerbach is quite affiliated and tied in with Buresh's campaign.

As seen in this nomination petition, Auerbach was collecting signatures for Buresh:

And that is only one of them.  There are at least five more pages showing he collected more than 25% of Buresh's nomination signatures by himself.

Furthermore, Auerbach can be seen carrying water for Buresh in the comment he left on this Third Coast Digest article covering the race:

Jason Auerbach says:
February 2, 2012 at 11:01 am
Its funny that when you get a democrat that wants to be financially and socially responsible he must be fake! I guess we all forget in the recent bitter partisan politics that Clinton left the country in a better financial shape then when he got in office. But I guess both Clinton and I must also be fake democrats! Btw where in this article is the mention of the fact it is non-partisan race? Milwaukee county needs some change!

Witnesses have also put Auerbach at a recent winter festival held in Bay View, wearing a placard for Buresh.

One would certainly hope that Buresh owns up to this and apologizes for lying to the people he wishes to represent.

But with all the corruption, deceit, and skulduggery we have seen in Milwaukee County government during Walker's regime, one supervisor convicted of campaign finance violations, another supervisor facing charges for bribery and third supervisor that needs to be investigated, we don't need another problematic politician in office.

Because of Dimitrijevic's overall record of making Milwaukee County a better place for all of us, overcoming the obstacles of irresponsible decisions by both Walker and Abele, she would have already gotten my nod for reelection.  The choice is made all the easier by Buresh showing himself that he is not qualified for office, both through his behaviors and his lack of understanding of the issues.