(No) Justice Troupis

By Jeff Simpson

If you want to know just how far the State of Wisconsin has fallen since Scott Walker has taken over, it can be summed up in two words - Justice Troupis.  

Jim Troupis was the Republican lawyer, and taxpayer leech in Wisconsin for the first five years of Scott Walker's reign of errors.   Troupis was not only Justice David Prosser's lawyer(which he did much of pro bono), but also the lawyer for the Republicans during the redistricting, where every elected Republican in office signed a secrecy agreement while gerrymandering the state.  

A Troupis appointment would be the dictionary definition of political cronyism and show how little respect that Scott Walker has for the law or the state of Wisconsin.   

In true Crony fashion, Troupis, who was recently appointed to a judgeship, refuses to talk to anyone about his application to fulfill Justice Crooks open seat.  

Troupis was a longtime go-to attorney for Republicans and served as a lead attorney for Justice David Prosser's campaign in 2011 when there was a recount. Walker this May appointed Troupis to the Dane County bench, and Troupis said then he would not run for a full term on that court.
In an interview last week, Troupis declined to say whether he was considering running for the state Supreme Court next year. He did not return a call Monday.

Jim Troupis has went on a "freedom tour" of local bars, to discuss how Republicans love Freedom and Democrats hate freedom, and on these tours he has partnered with well known legal scholar and dog whistle expert, Vicky Pyzinski.    

THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF FREEDOM WITH VICKI MCKENNA AND JIM TROUPIS
Have you ever wondered WHY liberals seemingly reject the fundamental concepts of liberty while purporting to stand for freedom?
Radio talk show host Vicki McKenna and constitutional attorney Jim Troupis will answer that and many other questions at "The History and Future of Freedom", an event hosted by We the People of the Republic on Thursday, October 10, 2013.
Tracing the history and development of freedom that gave way to our Founder's visions, McKenna and Troupis will explain America's unique brand of liberty. From the Greeks to the recall elections, two opposite and competing ideas of liberty have been and remain at war for the heart and soul of western civilization. Which will emerge victorious? It depends on YOU!This event will take place at Rex's Innkeeper (301 North Century Avenue, Waunakee, WI 53597). Doors will open at 6:30 PM, with the presentation starting at 7:00 PM and lasting until 8:30 PM.
All are invited to attend this event. With FREE ADMISSION, there is no reason NOT to come! Bring your family and friends for a fun and educational night out!

Vicki Mckenna ‏@VickiMcKenna  Sep 23

BEST replacement for late Justice Crooks would be JUDGE JIM TROUPIS. his knowledge of & passion for the Constitution has NO EQUAL. #wiright

If that does not inspire certainty that Troupis will be impartial in the law and just "call balls and strikes", nothing will.   Apparently nothing says freedom like making elected reps sign secrecy agreements, or not letting the minority party in on how you are gerrymandering the state.  

While I am sure Troupis and his hate talk am radio echo chamber will be upset that anyone would dare question his qualifications, remember when Judge Sumi was considering a run for Supreme Court herself and Troupis felt the need to weigh in:

Troupis was disappointed Judge Sumi is considering a run. "It's obvious she was talked into it because of Act 10," Troupis said. "It should be about competence and qualifications, and clearly the only purpose of her running is to open that pro-union stuff."

Dismissing a highly competent and qualified woman because she does not do exactly as told, that has to please Scott Walker.  But wait, there's more:

It was Troupis, who gave Scott Fitzgerald the laughable advice of being able to legally arrest the 14 Senators who went to Illinois in 2011.  

First by filing a frivolous lawsuit in Oconoto County, saying that Senator Halperin's absence from the Senate chambers was hurting tourism.

Then following that up with the threat to carry 7 month pregnant at the time democratically elected Senator Julie Lassa "feet first" into the Capitol building to vote on ACT 10.  

Apparently arresting Democrats and assaulting women were the ideas that sparked Troupis "Freedom" conference.   I am certain the Founding Fathers would be right there wanting to arrest fellow legislators who left to make sure that a bill that was never campaigned on was passed with no discussion.   #freedom.

I miss the days when the Democrats were just incompetent and not out and out corrupt like the current batch of Republicans!  

It is really sad that they have such little respect for the people of Wisconsin and the Institutions that they have been charged with Governing.  

Here is Mr. Troupis' extreme partisan resume.    

Walker Appoints Political Crony To Appellate Court Seat

A couple of months ago, I reported that Scott Walker had politically appointed a couple of cronies - Rebecca Bradley and James Troupis - to the bench even though neither one was really qualified for the position.

On Friday, Walker announced his biggest judicial political appointee yet when he announced that he was making his own legal counsel, Brian Hagedorn, an appellate court judge:

Gov. Scott Walker said Friday that he had appointed his chief legal counsel to fill a vacancy on the state appeals court.

Brian Hagedorn, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, will take the $139,059-a-year position in the District 2 Court of Appeals in Waukesha. He replaces Judge Richard Brown, who is retiring August 1 after 37 years on the bench.

"Brian Hagedorn is a person of integrity who has a deep commitment to service and a passion for the rule of law," Walker said. "Brian has been a great asset during a transformative time in Wisconsin history, as we worked to bring big, bold reform to the state."

In case you missed it, Hagedorn was appointed to be an appellate court judge even though he has never been a judge.

In fact, Hagedorn has precious little in the way of experience. Before he was Walker's legal mouthpiece, he worked at a right wing law firm and a member of the Federalist Society.

Perhaps Walker felt that Hagedorn was qualified for the things he did while Walker's counsel, such as fighting open records requests or keeping Walker from being held accountable for a death he caused by negligence as Milwaukee County Executive

Then again, in Walker's eyes, Hagedorn's greatest achievement probably was sabotaging the John Doe investigation into Walker and his illegal collaboration with dark money groups.

It should be noted that Hagedorn being appointed to the appellate court in Waukesha County (or Walkersha County, if you will) is no matter of chance either. Waukesha County is where Walker's campaign is headquartered and where Walker likes to go judge shopping when he is in trouble for his misdeeds, either political or as governor.

The Troupis Dump

By Jeff Simpson 

It has been a time honored, bipartisan tradition, that when politicians are actually embarrassed by the things they are doing, they wait until Friday afternoon to announce it.  THis is because our lazy complaint media cares more about getting the weekend started than scrutinizing said politician.   If you are really embarrassed, than you wait until the Friday of a Holiday weekend,  

Our very own Scott Walker has become the master at this news dump and the Friday before Memorial Day 2015 could have been his master dump. As Capper covered the other day,  Walker appointed a bunch of political hacks and unqualified people to some very important positions.  

Probably the most egregious is appointing Republican lawyer and Wisconsin taxpayer leech Jim Troupis to a judgeship in Dane County.  

Walker's other politically appointed judge is Attorney Jim Troupis to Dane County Circuit Court:

Attorney Jim Troupis has been appointed to fill the seat of retiring Dane County Circuit Judge John C. Albert and will serve until August 2016. Troupis’ appointment comes seven weeks after a committee and group of advisers that vet judicial hopefuls rejected all four applicants for the job.

Those applicants were: state Assistant Attorney General Devra Ayala, state Assistant Public Defender David Klauser, criminal defense attorney John Hyland and Madison attorney and UW-Madison adjunct professor of law Nick Schweitzer.

Hyland, who said in his interview that he had signed the 2012 recall petition against Walker, plans to run for the seat next April and has formed a campaign committee.

Troupis was a partner at the Madison law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich before starting his own law firm in 2010. He worked with Republican legislators during their redistricting of the state following the 2010 census and also represented state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser in the recount of the 2011 election.

Even if you have not heard of attorney Jim Troupis, you have been paying him for his work handsomely.   While taking no bids, the Wisconsin taxpayers have been paying Mr. Troupis $395/hr to defend Scott Walker in court(which keeps Jim very busy).  

Paying Mr. Troupis so well, you would think you would get high quality work for the public good from him.   You would be wrong.   Troupis was waste deep in the unethical filth that was the Republicans Redistricting    gerrymandering of our state.  Even though it was done by a handful of extreme right wing ideologues, they could not even stand Mr. Troupis.

McLeod then added, "I think Tad and (especially) Adam have Jim's 'number,' as my parents generation would say. He's hurt himself in this engagment. Given enough 'rope' he'll do further damage to himself as time goes by."

Plus they illegally withheld emails, that they were court ordered to turn over.  I wonder if judge Troupis will think its OK to blatantly ignore a court order?

Troupis also has contempt for his new peers, as he had this to say when Judge Sumi was purported to be considering a run at the State Supreme Court:

Troupis was disappointed Judge Sumi is considering a run. "It's obvious she was talked into it because of Act 10," Troupis said. "It should be about competence and qualifications, and clearly the only purpose of her running is to open that pro-union stuff."

Who does this guy get along with?  Well hate radio's own cop hitter, Vicki Mckenna for one.  They even went on a "Freedom Pervasion" tour of the state together.  

That is of course, when he is not busy taking trips around the world.  He thanks you for the money to be able to take such an extravagant trip!   

The most ridiculous part of Troupis' career though, would be when the 14 Senators left Wisconsin to slow down the passage of ACT 10.   Jim Troupis gave legal cover to Scott Fitzgerald to try and have democratically elected representatives arrested.   Seriously.  

But James Troupis, an attorney for Fitzgerald, said rounding up the senators is legal under a constitutional provision that allows the Senate to enforce its own rules, including mandatory attendance. That section allows each house to "compel the attendance of absent members."

Troupis insisted the detention is not an arrest because the senators are not suspected of any crimes. Rather, he said, the resolution seeks to enforce a legislative process.
"The Legislature has its own powers - that's the principle here," he said. "The constitution is quite explicit in providing our Legislature with independent authority."

But the distinction between "arrest" and "detention" was lost on a pair of Madison attorneys who are active in Democratic politics who said the state constitution provides an absolute bar against legislators being arrested for non-criminal offenses.

In an open letter to the Senate, Madison attorneys Lester Pines and Susan Crawford said "none of the fourteen absent Senators has been charged with a crime. Nor has any crime occurred. The Wisconsin Senate has absolutely no authority to order any of its members arrested or taken into custody in order to compel their attendance."

At least the irony is strong, when someone can  illegally and ridiculously try and have sitting elected officials "detained" then go on a "History of Freedom" tour around the state.

Troupis/Fitzgerald, actually sent State Troopers to the homes of the 14 Senators.  Wonder what other Government officials have sent police to the homes of their political opposition to have them detained in our History?  

Apparently Troupis feels the need to be in Wisconsin at your job, does not apply to Scott Walker.

Troupis tried to become a Federal Judge in 2007, under his old client George W Bush, but was soundly rejected.   Even the cronyism of Dubya could not see fit to giving Troupis more power.  

Another question that needs to be answered, is why would Dave Blaska have the Troupis appointment information two days before Scott Walker dumped on the people of Wisconsin?

Congratulations #2 — to Dane County’s newest judge, Jim Troupis.

Troupis Law Office
7609 Elmwood Ave
Suite 102
Middleton, WI 53562
608.807.4096 `|
rtroupis@troupislawoffice.com

Walker Fills Open Judge Seats With Political Appointees

Scott Walker has a long history of cronyism. Walker had so many cronies and campaign donors to take care of that he had dozens of civil service jobs changed so that he could take care of his friends and benefactors.

Yesterday, Karoli wrote about one of the most recent and most egregious of these when Walker appointed the son of Michael Grebe, one of Walker's dark money masters, to the Wisconsin University Board of Regents.

Now, Walker is starting to fill judicial vacancies with political appointees and cronies.

The first of these was Walker's appointment of Rebecca Bradley to serve on the District 1 Court of Appeals.

It should be noted that Bradley served for only two years at Children's Court and didn't handle all of the duties of that assignment. Obviously, Walker didn't appoint her for her experience.

So why her?

Well, she is a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA). One of the main issues for the RNLA is voter suppression, which has been shown to be targeting young minorities the most. As written by the Republicans, the voter suppression laws would be the most restrictive in the nation. Bradley's RNLA responded with inflammatory, irresponsible and baseless rhetoric, saying opposition to the voter suppression law came from "the far left, anti-democracy and divisive campaign funded by George Soros."

Bradley also served as President of the Milwaukee Federalist Society. As I wrote during her one campaign:

As I had mentioned before, Bradley also did a stint as President of the Milwaukee Federalist Society - a fact that she is trying to scrub from her profiles. The Federalist Society is funded in part by the Bradley Foundation (cue Grebe again) and the issue this presents is best described by Tom Foley, aka Illusory Tenant:

The incumbent, Republican Scott Walker appointee Rebecca Bradley, describes herself as a "nonideological" member of the Federalist Society, which is an organization of malcontents and paranoid hysterics with law degrees that was founded on political ideology.

Kinda like being a Milwaukee Admiral but you don't play hockey.

It should also be noted that many political insiders expect that she is being fast-tracked for an appointment to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Walker's other politically appointed judge is Attorney Jim Troupis to Dane County Circuit Court:

Attorney Jim Troupis has been appointed to fill the seat of retiring Dane County Circuit Judge John C. Albert and will serve until August 2016. Troupis’ appointment comes seven weeks after a committee and group of advisers that vet judicial hopefuls rejected all four applicants for the job.

Those applicants were: state Assistant Attorney General Devra Ayala, state Assistant Public Defender David Klauser, criminal defense attorney John Hyland and Madison attorney and UW-Madison adjunct professor of law Nick Schweitzer.

Hyland, who said in his interview that he had signed the 2012 recall petition against Walker, plans to run for the seat next April and has formed a campaign committee.

Troupis was a partner at the Madison law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich before starting his own law firm in 2010. He worked with Republican legislators during their redistricting of the state following the 2010 census and also represented state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser in the recount of the 2011 election.

Besides hiring Troupis for drawing up the Republicans' gerrymandering scheme, and the subsequent legal battle, Walker also hired Troupis to defend his Act 10, the introduction of right to work to Wisconsin. And yes, Troupis got paid very well for these things.

In Walker's Wisconsin, Lady Justice is still blind, but only because Walker poked her eyes out.

Ryan Murray...Is Causing Deep And Lasting Harm...

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker's pet project, WEDC, has been a miserable failure in terms of job creation and a taxpayers money pit.    While there is too much incompetence to list at this time, there is one thing that really stands out!

The Incompetence of Ryan Murray.   




   

Even though we at CogDis have been pointing out that Ryan Murray is beyond incompetent.  It was not Murray's bang up job responding to "citizens policy questions" as much as it was that Ryan's daddy - Mike Murray of RJS Construction.   

When you run a business as successful as RJS Construction, you can not have incompetent boobs like Murray working in the office.   So you call in favors and get him in charge of tens of millions of tax payer dollars.  He can see the world, make a good living and not affect your family's bottom line.

On the other hand, Ryan Murray, as a child of privilege who never had to work for anything in his life, yet was handed everything.   Murray, who couldn't cut it going away to college, has always needed daddy to bail him out.   Murray, has bounced from one right wing campaign to another until Scott Walker handed him power.  Now the power that the Governor has given him has went to his head and it is  not pretty.

Lee Swindall, WEDC's vice president of business and industry development,recently quit because he could not stand Murray.   He was eventually talked into staying, but before that he sent this letter! 

"As a leader of the organization and its mission, I can no longer align with the management methods employed in policy development or deployment. I believe Ryan Murray, lacking either the talent or experience to function as the Chief Operations Officer of the WEDC, is causing deep and lasting harm through the application of control-style management rather than consultative management.

"Murray confuses rigid control with stability and sound management. What he is producing instead is instability, opposition and resentment in WEDC. This state of growing unrest will corrode the ability of the agency to perform and reach goals, not secure it. Ryan Murray is too committed to his own consolidated power to either notice or care about the swelling discontent in WEDC."

The letter came after one clash after another in which Murray reprimanded Swindall for what he saw as chronic flouting of agency procedures and rules — at a time when Murray was tasked with running a tighter ship.

Murray, called out as incompetent by a peer, is now in charge of tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money.   No wonder Scott Walker can not create jobs.   


This is what you get when Scott Walker is in charge.  Walker cares more about rewarding donors than actually governing and his appointments and actions prove it.

We do not need four more years of incompetence and cronyism.  Let's make Ryan Murray try and get a real job,disband WEDC and vote Scott Walker out of office in November

Our tax dollars and our jobs depend on it!   

The Very Political Non-Political Mental Health Board

When Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele paid Teapublican Representative Joe Sanfelippo to push a bill removing local control of the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division, they tried to justify this power grab by saying it was to take politics out of the mental health system.

That rationale is about as believable as Scott Walker's claims that his agenda is working.

We already saw that Walker did his protege a favor by making the political appointment of the disgraced Kimberly Walker to the ad hoc mental health board that is supposed to take over things.  Kimberly Walker is the former corporation counsel head that got fired for giving advice to Abele on how to  illegally circumvent open records laws and for giving faulty legal advice to the board.

On Thursday, the "non-political" board voted unanimously to make the politically appointed Kimberly Walker the chair of the board.  Apparently, her skill had trying to cover up things made her to invaluable to pass up, even though she has no experience with disability rights laws.

To add to the non-political politicalizing of the board, they also voted to hire on Kathy Eilers, the political appointee of Abele's who was rejected by the board because she couldn't even articulate a plan for the mental health service outside of closing the hospital, despite there being a dearth of community-based services.

As I had said all along, this is going to be a lose-lose situation.  Not only will our most vulnerable be victimized by the corporate vultures and have their civil rights violated in the name of greed, but the taxpayers are going to have to pay much, much more - both directly and indirectly - due to Abele's greed and malfeasance.

Cindy Archer Gets Another New Job

A couple of days ago, my Brother in Blogging, Jeff Simpson, pointed out that Cindy Archer, long time aide to Scott Walker, just got a new job.  Not only did she get a new job but she got the job without applying for it, interviewing it or being among the finalists for the job.  And not only did she have this job handed to her, she also got a huge raise, 31% higher than what her predecessor got paid.

However, Jeff did make one mistake and omitted a few things.  Jeff titled his post "Cindy Archer - Part Deux."  He should have named it "Cindy Archer - Part Quattro."

When her boss was able to con the majority of the people of Wisconsin into voting for him, Walker took Archer along with him to Madison, making her a deputy secretary in the Department of Administration.  Her pay was $124,000 in this position.

Not only did Archer land this high-paying, cushy job, but she was instrumental in many facets of Walker's early days.  Not only was she instrumental in the dropping of the Act 10 bomb, but was also ironically named to the fraud commission.  (There are no reports that she turned herself or Walker into the commission for their fraud and waste.)

Archer suddenly left her job for reported medical reasons.  But there were no worries for her.

She came back to a guaranteed job in the Department of Children and Families.  And yes, even though it was less money than she had been making in the Department of Administration, it was unbelievably higher than that of her predecessor in that job:

Now, documents provided by the state show she actually was already hired a day earlier on Aug. 18 to a $99,449-a-year job in the Department of Children and Families, as the department's legislative liaison, according to a letter released Friday from Eloise Anderson, who heads the department. Her appointment to the new job was effective Aug. 20. Anderson's letter says Archer would be "performing duties as prescribed by this office."

Whether she's drawing it yet or not, Archer's new salary is about 61% more than the last person to hold the position. Kimberly L. Collins, who held the same liaison job until May, was paid $61,859 in 2010, according to state figures.

Last summer, Archer jumped jobs again, this time going to the Public Defender's Office, where she was again making six figures:

Cindy Archer, a key cabinet member on Walker's county staff, is set to start a new six-figure job with the state on Monday.

Archer — who has bounced around the Walker administration for the past 21/2 years — beat out more than two dozen other candidates to be named an administrative services director at the state Public Defender's Office. She will be paid $101,510 a year.

And now, less than one year later, she was literally given this new job.with its hefty pay hike.  I guess Walker just couldn't wait until he demolished the civil service code before he started trouncing all over it.

Walker is trying to claim that Archer got the job on merit and her knowledge of the arcane computer system.  Critics are decrying the move as Walker's typical cronyism.  Some have said that it is pay off to buy Archer's continued silence in the Walkergate investigations.

All three arguments have their merits.

Walker's blatant cronyism is well documented.

Archer's home had been raided in the original Walkergate investigation and her name appears all over the emails sent via the secret router, including giving Kelly Rindfleisch directions to check it frequently during the day to keep the campaign humming.

As I noted when Archer first moved over to the Public Defender's Office:

But I can't help but notice the irony of the fact that Archer is getting paid richly for working for the Public Defender's Office, the one area of the state that she should be a client, not in the hierarchy.

But when translates Walker's explanation for the move, that makes perfect sense.   Obviously he would want someone intimately familiar with the illegal politicking Walker has done and continues to do to be high up int he Public Defender's Office.

When people start getting charged with crimes related to all of this politicking, it would not be surprising that they will end up spending all their money on their legal defense and eventually ending up needing a public defender.  That is exactly what happened to Tim Russell.  (And not everyone is fortunate enough to have millionaire and billionaire donors to their legal defense cooperation fund.)

Regardless of the reason Walker chose to violate civil service laws and hand this job to Archer over the two finalists, along with the exorbitant raise, it should be enough to give pause to most people that Walker is not fit for any kind of position that has even the most minute iota of responsibility or authority.

Cynthia Archer - Part Deux

By Jeff Simpson


If there was ever any doubt that the missing link to all of the information to the John Doe/Scott Walker corruption scandal is inside Cynthia Archers dark mind, it was erased this week!  

MADISON – Cindy Archer, the longtime aide to Gov. Scott Walker who landed a new state job and a hefty raise, wasn’t a finalist for the job. In fact, she never even applied.

Even so, Archer was named the State Public Defender Board’s new chief information officer in September. She makes $113,459 per year, 31 percent more than her predecessor.
 
Archer was one of Walker’s top aides when he served as Milwaukee County executive. She was part of an inner circle of county and gubernatorial campaign staff that regularly traded messages using private emails through a secret router set up in Walker’s office to evade Wisconsin’s open-records laws.
 
Seven candidates interviewed for the CIO job, but Archer wasn’t one of them. Nor was she one of the two finalists whose names were forwarded to State Public Defender Kelli Thompson and her deputy Michael Tobin, department spokesman Randy Kraft said.

Thompson and Tobin “were impressed with the qualifications of both (finalists),” Kraft said, but “the final decision recognized the importance of Cindy’s hands-on knowledge and experience with the agency’s aging technology.”

Who knows computers and IT better than a 55 year old career politician.   Apparently being one of the architects of ACT10 makes you an expert in all fields.   She also could have studied computers during her long sick leaves times on state pay.  

That, or she has some information on Scott Walker that no one on the right wants her to share so they must continue to take care of her and obviously she was none to happy with the $25,000/yr pay cut at her previous position.    So nice of Kelli Thompson and Michael Tobin, to put their career and reputation on the line to protect Scott Walker.     

Bipartisan Cronyism

Three months ago, I broke the story that Scott Walker had asked that the disability rights advocacy group Disability Rights Wisconsin be investigated for violating the laws regarding patient confidentiality.

Last week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the group was found to have violated the law but that it did not rise to the level of them being stripped of their authority to be the state advocate for the disabled.

However, buried at the end of the story - where the corporate media giant likes to put stories that they really don't want people to know about but do want to be able to claim they reported it - is the news drop that people should be aware of (emphasis mine):

On Friday, Walker announced his final two appointments to the new Mental Health Board.

They are Lyn Malofsky, who will represent consumers of services, and Kimberly Walker, a legal representative.

Malofsky served as executive director of Warmline Inc. and helped establish La Linea de Apoyo for the Spanish speaking. She co-founded the Crisis Intervention Team.

Walker is executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee and previously served as corporation counsel for Milwaukee County.

What the paper doesn't report is that Kimberly Walker was fired from her corp counsel job for her incompetence and lack of ethics. Kimberly Walker was the person who gave Emperor Chris Abele advice on how to circumvent open records laws. Not only was her advice unethical and illegal but it was also faulty in that her advice wouldn't work.

Illegalities and ethics never bothered Scott Walker and he is no stranger to cronyism, so this was a slam dunk decision.

Isn't it nice to see that Abele and Scott Walker can show such "bipartisanship" to reward another crooked crony?  I'm sure that if Scott Walker ever needed the favor, such as giving Tim Russell a job, Abele has got it covered.

And isn't it nice to know that this whole scheme regarding Milwaukee County's mental health system had nothing to do about politics or profiteering?

Inside WEDC

By Jeff Simpson

We brought you the story of how Scott Walker's key job creation agency - Wisconsin Economic Development Committee(WEDC), has been a massive failure.   This was one of Scott Walkers big campaign ideas, to replace the accountable Commerce Department with the unaccountable WEDC.

Unfortunately, this is one promise he actually kept.   WEDC's failings are grand, costly and well documented but there is so much more.  

Let's look at the WEDC mission statement that comes from Scott Walker himself:

 Mission
To elevate the Wisconsin economy to be the best in the world by providing a positive business climate, world-class support services, and economic development tools to accelerate business start-up, attraction, and growth.
Core Values
INTEGRITY. We will hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards.
HONESTY. We will tell the truth without qualification.
ACCOUNTABILITY. We will honor our commitments to ourselves, our partners, and our investors.
RESULTS-FOCUS. We will add value in every action.
CUSTOMER-CENTRIC. We will put the needs of the customer first.

Then he goes directly against everything he has written out here(career politician Scott Walker is Chairman of the Board) by appointing young, no business experience, political hack Ryan Murray as Chief Operating Officer .  Nothing like trusting a multi million Wisconsin taxdollar budget to a kid(Ryan Murray) who has a Poly Sci degree and an extensive history of making copies and stuffing mailers, for the "friends of scott walker" campaign.

But wait, there's more(thanks to an astute reader of this very blog):

I was curious to know who is Ryan Murray, chief job creator. He has no business experience. But Murray has worked for disgusting right wing politicians with questionable ethics.

Then there is Murray’s conflict of interest as a Member of the Board of Directors for Brightstar Wisconsin Foundation, which “accepts charitable donations as a 501(c)(3) organization and uses them to take equity positions in for-profit early-stage companies.” WEDC gave Brightstar $300,000. How much profit is going into Murray’s pockets as a member of the Board?

The explanation on Brightstar’s website about this conflict of interest does not pass the smell test.

Apparently the one thing he did master, while working for Scott Walker, was how to leave your ethics at the door.  It is not that big of a deal anyway, its only tax dollars!

But Wait there is still more!  Small Government republican Scott Walker better look up what the word small means!

The Legislative Audit Bureau found that as of November 2012, eight WEDC officials received salaries of more than $100,000, with a ninth at $98,500. The audit notes that several top level position holders at WEDC are paid less than their industry peers.

By comparison, at the former Wisconsin Department of Commerce, the state agency that Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican majority replaced with WEDC in 2011, just two employees topped $100,000 in 2010, according to payroll data collected by Wisconsin Reporter through an open records request.

WEDC CEO Reed Hall, reportedly was set to make $120,000 when he took the full-time position in January 2013. In February, he received a $65,000 raise.

The agency has around 90 employees, including regional account managers through the state.
About a fifth of WEDC employees received “merit awards” from management, the audit notes. Board members at WEDC may not have even been aware of the policy.

“We found that WEDC’s full governing board has not always been informed about certain personnel policies and practices, including the amounts and types of compensation and fringe benefits provided to WEDC staff,” the audit states.

In December 2012, 17 staff members received merit awards totaling $59,500. Six of those awards were for $5,000 each.

Eight executives making well over $100,000/yr, and have given out numerous merit awards.  All while the agency itself has lost MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars.    I would be curious to see what in their job description would make them worthy of merit pay INCREASES.  

That does not even include the other perks like a taxpayer funded iphone, ipad and we will even foot the bill for their members to come down to Madison on football Saturdays and catch a game(we even provide the tickets):

Among other notes, the audit found $1,109 spent from three transactions for rooms rented in Madison for unspecified meetings. Taxpayers also picked up the $1,789 tab for six season tickets to UW-Madison football games.

WEDC seems like a great place to hide Big Walker donors children, so much easier than having them attempt to survive in the real world.


The punchline of the audit though, is this:

  The audit notes that several top level position holders at WEDC are paid less than their industry peers.

A gold-plated, marvelous no-prize awaits if you can find anyone in Wisconsin, who is a peer to Ryan Murray and whose salary is higher than Ryan's. 

Contest entries  - jeff_simpson7@yahoo.com or @jeffsimpson7

Massachusetts Teachers Reject Divide And Conquer Scheme Of Merit Pay

Via Diane Ravitch, we learn that some teachers in Lee, Massachusetts, were awarded merit pay from the Gates Foundation based on higher test scores.  In an amazing show of solidarity and professionalism, they rejected the money and turned it back to the school system.

They explained why in a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, who, as is the norm for the corporate media, got the facts wrong:

To the editor of THE EAGLE:

While we appreciate the article "Investing in students' futures" (Eagle, Dec. 3), we would like to make some clarifications.

The $8,700 that the Lee Middle and High School A.P. teachers gave to the school is not from "grant pay," but rather "merit pay," earned as a result of high student scores on last spring's A.P. exams. Unfortunately, the acceptance of "merit pay" was a non-negotiable requirement imposed by MMSI as part of the grant. We accepted these terms only for the additional benefit that a strong and varied A.P. program would provide for our students -- "merit pay" was not an incentive to us. By refusing to accept this money and instead returning it to the school, we found a way to make it more palatable.

As a union, we strongly oppose "merit pay" on both philosophical and ethical grounds. First, the notion of "merit pay" suggests that high achieving students are more worthy of a teacher's time and effort than average achieving students or those who struggle. Refusing to accept the "merit pay" has allowed us to put the money back into our departments to enhance the learning of all our students. We will buy much-needed items, such as supplies, textbooks, and technology, and also fund field trips and SAT preparation classes for students lacking the means to pay for them themselves.

Second, "merit pay" for certain teachers of certain students in certain classes is inequitable to professional educators. In our view, it is a way to undermine union efforts to ensure fair and equal pay for equal work, education, and experience. Before students arrive in an A.P. class in 11th or 12th grade, they have already been in school for at least 10 years. It is faulty logic to assume that the efforts of one A.P. teacher were the only cause of high scores. Earlier teachers, parents, and community members all help contribute to the success of our students.

Merit pay is an insult to our professionalism and a divisive tool designed to incite dissension among us in hopes of weakening our union, which is not only a political organization, but also a professional one, intended to protect the interests of both educators and students.

The LEA was pleased to find a way to bring high-quality, college-level curriculum to our students while holding on to non-negotiables of our own.

JANE MCEVOY

Lee

Jane McEvoy is A.P. Language and Composition, English Department Chair and LEA Vice President. The letter was also signed by Robert Hungate, A.P. Biology, Science Department Chair, Mary Verdi, A.P. Literature and Composition, Thomas McCormack, A.P. Statistics, and Pamela Briggs, A.P. Calculus.

I applaud the teachers for their strong stand in solidarity and professionalism. Their students are lucky to have such high quality teachers.

I would encourage the gentle reader to reflect on this story and think about what Scott Walker and the Teapublicans have done to our state with Act 10 and substituting it with their own version of merit pay, not only in the schools, but in all aspects of public service.

Keep in mind that unlike Massachusetts, in Wisconsin, merit pay is just another way of saying cronyism.

Madison Retains Title of Crony Capitol of the World

As soon as Scott Walker took office in 2011, he started going about the job of thanking all of his cronies and campaign donors by giving them cushy jobs in state government, where they did little more than collect their paycheck.

Nearly three years later, and he's still paying back the favors, with the latest being Lynne Van Hollen, the wife of Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen:

Lynne Van Hollen has been named an assistant legal counsel at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Van Hollen, who is married to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, will start January 13, says Joy Staab, director of public affairs for the Department.

Staab says she did not know Van Hollen's salary and would have to check with the Human Relations coordinator who was out of the office Thursday.

As usual for the corporate media, the real story is buried at the bottom of the article:

Ed Wall, the secretary of the Department of Corrections, was one of J.B. Van Hollen's top deputies at the Department of Justice when he was tapped by Gov. Scott Walker in 2012 to head the Department of Corrections.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This isn't a government anymore, it's a corporate-run syndicate.

Koskinen, Others, Get the Walker Civil Service Special Bonus Reward Program

Two months ago, it was uncovered that Scott Walker had manipulated civil service laws in order to give Capitol Commandant Dave Erwin a 11% raise - which translated into over $11,000 raise - for the top brown shirt in Walker's stormtroopers.

Erwin's second in command also got the same bypass of the rules and a hefty raise from it.

Walker said admitted it wasn't proper and was glad it was only a one time incident.

But c'mon now.  Is there anyone who still believes Walker on anything?

Lo and behold, there were more bending of civil service rules to reward good cronies.

One of Walker's other beneficiaries was John Koskinen.  If the gentle reader was not aware or had forgotten, Koskinen was the guy that dreamed up a new way for Walker to invent job numbers, since the real ones aren't working out too well for him.

According to the article, Koskinen got the enrolled in the Walker Civil Service Special Bonus Reward Program which netted him a $14,416 raise:

A July 11 email between two DOA personnel workers laid out the shadow job transfers for Koskinen. First, he moved from the Revenue Department to the Administration Department as an executive policy and budget manager at a salary of $100,501 a year. Then he was made the administrative manager of the Division of Administrative Services at a salary of $107,705.

After that, Koskinen was transferred to be the administrative manager of the Division of Enterprise Operations at a still higher salary of $114,917. Only then did he return to the Revenue Department with this latest salary as a civil service employee.

The email from DOA's Bureau of Human Resources director Kim Pomeroy outlined that the changes could all be made on a single day or over a two-week pay period.

The article reports that this is 26% higher pay than another person with similar duties and skills - except that the other person didn't pull Walker's arse out of the fire now, did he?

And the giving didn't stop there either.

Walker used this gimmick at least two more times:

Paula Veltum, a former building superintendent for state facilities, has seen her pay jump by more than 23% over the past two years.

As recently as 2011, she earned $66,375 in her DOA post, a figure that includes overtime, according to a Journal Sentinel database of state employee pay. By the next year, she was named an administrative manager overseeing state buildings, and her salary was boosted to $73,080 per year.

In the administrative manager post, Veltum was responsible for working with staff at the Capitol, governor's mansion and other major state office buildings to maintain those facilities, according to Marquis. But Marquis emphasized that Veltum was not in a position to receive direction from either the governor or his wife.

Records show that on May 19, officials moved Veltum from being an administrative manager to a phantom slot as an "architect/engineer manager," a transfer that pushed her annual salary to $80,213.

Two weeks later, Veltum returned to her previous job, receiving a $1,220 per year pay hike as a result of the transfer. She also received a $1,000 lump-sum bonus on the same day, a Journal Sentinel database shows.

"Veltum received offers for jobs in the private sector and at another state agency," Marquis said, explaining the reason for the moves.

In fact, Veltum left DOA in July — six weeks after her transfer from the ghost position — to join the state Department of Safety and Professional Services as a section chief in the field services bureau.

She was the only applicant for the civil service post, which pays $82,246 per year. That's an increase in her base salary of $16,871 from 2011, of which about half came from the phantom transfer.

Marquis said that politics didn't play a role in the raises given to Koskinen or Veltum, just a desire to keep good employees.

"All of these increases were related to retention," Marquis said.

[...]

In addition, Laura Ellingson, a DOA civil servant who oversee the workers' compensation program for state workers, received a 5% raise to $84,501 as part of a shadow jobs transfer over two weeks, the records released to the Journal Sentinel show.

Y'know, this may sound crazy, but maybe instead of focusing on the old Walkergate investigation, I think it's time to open up a whole new one. Preferably this time it would be done by someone who has the fortitude to prosecute.

Of Nepotism and Retaliation

Last week, I told the gentle reader about some mighty fine journalism by Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express in which she reported about the rampant nepotism, cronyism and favoritism happening at the state's Department of Health Services in Milwaukee County.

In a nutshell, due to Scott Walker's Act 10, people in management are able to hire, promote and give raises to their family, friends and associates regardless of who has merited it and who is the better worker. In the Milwaukee Enrollment Services (what used to be the Income Maintenance Program), relatives of managers were promoted after only months on the job and over people with much more skill and ability. Likewise, it wasn't hard work that earned bonuses or raises, but who you knew and/or were related to.

This pattern is still going on. It has been reported that the current training class consists of fourteen people, eleven of whom have some sore of relationship with a person in management, such as a friend or a person from one's church.

To make matters worse, the head of this department, Ed Kamin, had ordered his management team to lean on anyone who filed a complaint about the nepotism.  This brought a strong and swift response from the union. The following is an email sent on May 9th, to Jacquelyn Koeller and Nicole Teasley, members of DHS' Human Resources:

Good Afternoon Jackie and Nicole,

On Tuesday, May 7, 2013, I had communicated with you regarding information I had received beginning on Monday afternoon, May 6, 2013. A number of MilES employees had reported to me that a meeting had been held by Ed Kamin with MilES Supervisory staff, in which the topic of a recent round of Promotional hiring was discussed. It was alleged that Supervisory staff were advised to "watch closely" individuals who had filed complaints/appeals with the State regarding being denied a promotion, and to "lean on them".

This Supervisory Meeting was said to have been held on Friday, May 3, 2013 or on Monday, May 6, 2013. This information came to me from employees both at the Call Center and the Coggs Center. Subsequently, I have received a number of reports in reference to an email that was sent to DHS DL MilES Global by Mr. Kamin on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 9:53am.and also have received hard copies of this communication. The Subject matter is titled "thought'. It asks staff to take a look at an attached poem titled "Nobody's Friend", which begins, "My name is Gossip".

When I spoke to you both on Tuesday, I expressed my concerns relative to what was alleged to have been discussed in a Supervisory Meeting and is now being circulated, discussed, and has been reported to the Union. If this is true, this information obviously leaked by Management only serves to further decimate morale and the unrest brought about by Management's promotional hiring decisions. Individuals who disagree with those hiring decisions are following the State process available to them to appeal and receive recourse. I am named as the Employee Representative on a number of those appeals. Additionally, if this action is being pursued by MilES Supervisory staff, it would violate Wisconsin State Statutes, Chapter 230-State Employment Relations-Subchapter 1-Section 230.83-Retaliatory action prohibited (1) and the Union would demand that DHS-MilES immediately cease and desist.

The Union, AFSCME, District Council 48 and Local 594 do hereby request that you
investigate these serious allegations and advise the Department if true, what is contained in the State Statutes and what the consequences of any violations would be. I have advised the affected employees as to how to proceed, and if the Union becomes aware of the alleged advice given to MilES Management staff being implemented or followed through with, the Union will assist the employees with any complaints to compel enforcement of the State Statutes, or any other action deemed necessary by the Union to aid and protect its members. Our scanner is currently down, but if you would like a copy of the email with the Gossip poem, please advise and provide me with a fax number, and I will forward to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your consideration and assistance in this matter.


David Eisner
Contract Administrator, District Council 48
President, AFSCME, Local 594

Ms. Koeller responded the next day with acknowledgement of receiving the email and a voicemail from Mr. Eisner.

However, she responded again eleven days later, on May 21st, again acknowledging the email and stating that DHS would look into it and take "appropriate action."

It has been reported that as much as the supervisors had been harassing the workers after Kamin's meeting with them, they have done a complete 180 and appear to have ceased their bullying tactics.

Unfortunately, it looks as if there is nothing that can be done at this time about the nepotism and cronyism, thanks to Walker's Act 10.  Is it any wonder why he is so anxious to get it in front of Rubber Stamp Prosser and the other corporate-controlled Supreme Court Justices?  He is afraid of the unions getting any sort of foothold in their fight to restore workers rights.

Did Nepotism Charges Lead To Action On Act 10?

A few days ago, Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express, broke the story of the nepotism, cronyism and favoritism that has been going on at the state's Department of Human Services in Milwaukee County.

I added my two cents by pointing out that due to Act 10, there is a greater rate of turnover of workers, making it possible for these types of shenanigans.

The Hunger Task Force, which has been getting bullied by both Scott Walker and Chris Abele, made some very good points in their press release:

A state run Milwaukee food stamp program has been charged with nepotism. State employees working at the Coggs Human Services Center on Vliet Street are speaking out about managers who have hired relatives, promoted them and recently offered them a bonus. Employees receiving promotions had less than two years of experience and were promoted over those with many more years working for the state.

Hunger Task Force Executive Director Sherrie Tussler said, “Why would state employees get a bonus? Bonuses are for the private sector. This just doesn’t make sense. Our state budget proposes requiring work for food stamps. That same $2.5 million dollars spent on bonuses could supply the Milwaukee County food pantry network for a full year. I thought we were trying to cut the costs of running these entitlement programs.”

News of the nepotism comes on the heels of the state being at odds with Milwaukee County over use of the Coggs Center, a public facility. Hunger Task Force was asked to stop using rolling computer carts to help non-English speaking residents of Milwaukee sign up for FoodShare benefits. The story first appeared in an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Hunger Task Force seeks a well run Food Stamp Program for people in need in Milwaukee. The staff of the Coggs Center should be treated fairly and the program should be administered properly. There are customers in urgent need of emergency food.” said Tussler.

The mainstream media started picking up on the story Thursday. Channel 58 presented one of the more comprehensive reports:



There are two interesting tidbits about the Channel 58 story.

 One is that the reporter was looking high and low for Vanessa Robertson, one of the supervisor's named in Kaiser's report.  But he couldn't find her because she had fled the building to go to the call center, where she almost never goes.

The other is that witnesses report that when the reporter found some employees that were more than willing to talk about the working conditions, the county's private security guards came in and escorted the reporter from the building, a la Chief Erwin's Capitol Police.

Just days after this story broke, in a Friday afternoon news dump, the Wisconsin Supreme Court announced that they will now take up the Colas' ruling regarding Act 10.  This is a year after the ruling and after a number of requests by Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

The question is why, after waiting so long and denying all previous requests to review the decision, is the high court now deciding to hear the case.

Is it because of the nepotism, cronyism and favoritism cases being filed by the union?  Do they need to remove all power from the union to protect themselves from the consequences of their own wrong-doing?

Some would say that this is purely coincidental.

But the wise people will know that in Fitzwalkerstan, there is no such thing as a coincidence.