Woman Fired Twice By The State Now Running To Be A State Rep

 

Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, a Republican, is reporteddly running for State Assembly.  That's a pretty gutsy move for a woman who was fired from the state not just once, but twice.

In 2016, Alexander was fired from Economic Support for using her position to get favorable treatment. She was late in getting her renewal for child care in and trying to use her position to have it bumped up instead of waiting in line like everyone else would have to do.

Somehow, she managed to then land an $86,000 a year job as a section chief overseeing parts of the Milwaukee County Child Welfare System (foster care).  She was fired from that job in 2018 for illlegal politicking.  She was helping a woman run her campaign while she was on the state clock.  

It's more than a little ironic that she would get fired for that by Scott Walker, since that is how he got elected and stayed in office.

But there's more.  There's always more.

Alexander is running as an independent for the state rep position. That is because then she can bypass that pesty primary business and wait until November before losing.

However, it is amusing that Alexander keeps applying for all these other jobs and running for all these other seats.  She must not have been happy about the consequences of voting to cut her salary as a county supervisor in half.  Poor widdle diddums.

Happy Deanna Alexander Day!

Deanna Alexander is the Milwaukee County Supervisor representing the 18th District.   She is also very conservative.

Being conservative, she holds many of the same values as her other conservatives - bigotry, racism and the love of money, whether it comes from the Koch Brothers or from her buddy, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele.

Being conservative, Alexander also likes to portray herself as being fiscally conservative and oh so ethical.  Her hypocrisy regarding this has been exemplified by her using tax dollars to commit voter suppression.

She also showed her hypocrisy when she used her office to help raise funds for her father's funeral, even as she voted to deny funding for indigent burials.

As it turns out, Alexander seems to be in the habit of using her office for personal gain.

It was five years ago today that Alexander got fired by the State of Wisconsin when she used her position as an Income Maintenance Worker to try to help her get daycare benefits.

As the gentle reader might remember, due to Scott Walker's refusal to properly administer the Economic Support Program, the state had to take it over to avoid a class action lawsuit.  In a most unusual arrangement, the workers remained county employees but worked under the supervision of the state.

It was during this time that Alexander worked for the program. Not only did she work there, she was a client, utilizing the daycare subsidies.  However, she tried to use her position as an Income Maintenance Worker to gain benefits that were not available to the public.  There was no fighting the accusation since they had the emails to prove it.

In other words, Alexander is a typical, run of the mill conservative Republican.

If the voters in the 18th District have the desire for clean government and good government, that their tax money is being used appropriately and that their interests - as opposed to those of the 1% - are being represented, they need to vote for Martha De La Rosa.

Deanna Alexander's Epic Temper Tantrum

A couple of weeks ago, candidates for the spring election needed to submit their nomination papers.  To keep our elections fair and just, opponents have the right to challenge those papers.  These challenges are reviewed by an election board to see if they have any merit to them.  In Milwaukee County, that entity is the Milwaukee County Election Commission.

In Milwaukee County's 18th Supervisory District, incumbent Deanna Alexander exercised her right by challenging the papers of one of her opponents, Martha De La Rosa.  It should be noted that Alexander's challenge came in after the time was up but the Election Commission decided to accept it anyway.

Alexander's challenge was based on the spaghetti principle - throwing everything she could and seeing if anything stuck.  While some of her challenges were accepted, De La Rosa had enough signatures to appear on the ballot.

Poor old Alexander must be feeling pretty damn nervous about De La Rosa, because she went to her campaign website and threw an epic temper tantrum:

The Milwaukee County Election Commission (MCEC) deliberated in closed session for several hours Tuesday after Deanna Alexander brought a legal challenge that the second 18th district candidate seeking election to the County Board in April’s Election did not fulfill the necessary filing requirements.

The MCEC partially affirmed Alexander’s case, recognizing that the other candidate submitted signatures from people that did not reside in the district or who provided fictitious, non-existent addresses.

However, when Alexander showed that the other candidate had put the wrong election date on nomination papers, had circulated papers with two different district numbers on them, and had failed to file a current Declaration of Candidacy or a signed and current Campaign Registration Statement by the filing deadline, the Election Commission chose the most loose and lenient possible interpretations of the law and dismissed the challenge.

The Election Commission also ignored evidence that someone in the Election Director’s office had altered original documents just before the hearing.

“Under the guidance of the Government Accountability Board, the Milwaukee County Election Commission has made it clear that it sees its role as allowing as many people on the ballot as possible, rather than to properly maintain the integrity of the election process by following both the intent and the letter of the law,” said Alexander.

It's one thing to be upset that her last-minute shenanigans didn't work, but to accuse the Election Commission of cheating and altering official documents? That's definitely a sign of going over the deep end in desperation.

Then again, Alexander has every right to feel a little panicky.  She is not very popular with her racist and bigoted actions.  Furthermore, not many of her fellow conservatives like her very much either and have been quietly distancing themselves from her.

Deanna Alexander Politicizes 9/11

Just when you think that Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander can't get any sleazier, she goes ahead and proves us wrong.

Instead of commemorating the 14th anniversary of 9/11 like most people, remember the innocent victims of the worst terrorist attack on United States soil and the brave first responders who gave their all racing to help those victims, Alexander decided to politicize the day with this Facebook post:

Yes, Alexander decided to spend the day focusing on Benghazi.

I'm sure it's not a mere coincidence that she chose this, given that the day before, Hillary Clinton was in Milwaukee for a campaign stop.  The gentle reader will remember that Alexander had tried to start a movement of referring to Clinton as "Ovary."

Now, I realize that the Republicans don't mind having people like Alexander as their representatives, but I would argue that if Alexander finds it more important to troll other politicians than doing her job, it's all the more reason to support Martha De La Rosa for the 18th District.

Who Paid For Deanna Alexander's Trip To The ALEC Convention?

Last week, ALEC had their annual convention in San Diego.  Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander managed to make the trip out there for the fun and games and brainwashing:

Traveled to lovely San Diego this week for a conference where we share ideas on good legislation and best practices in issues like policy making processes. One of the top panels I learned from covered body cameras for law enforcement- examining how to protect the public from corrupt cops and how to protect police from false accusations while respecting everyone's privacy rights. It was an added bonus to have Governor Scott Walker join us for breakfast to talk about government reform.
Good for her! I'm glad she had a good time.

But it does raise the question of just how did she pay for the trip and the stay out there.  I mean, it couldn't be cheap.

We know that Alexander doesn't have a lot of money, since she had to use her official position to help raise money for her father's funeral, despite it being illegal and unethical for her to do so.  Did she use some of the excess money from all those anonymous donors to pay for her trip?

Or did she use taxpayer money to make this jaunt?  We know that she has no problem using taxpayer money for things that she shouldn't use it for.

Or did ALEC pay for her trip and hotel stay and food?  ALEC has been repeatedly shown to do that for other lawmakers and Alexander shows that she has no trouble with taking corporate handouts from dark money front groups like the misnamed Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

Of course, taking money from ALEC would also be illegal and unethical, but that sort of stuff never slowed Alexander down.

Seeing that Alexander is almost as prolific as Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan at sending out press releases for political purposes, I sincerely hope that she sends one out to tell us by whom and how this political jaunt of hers was paid for.

But as usual, don't hold your breath for Alexander to do the right thing.

Deanna Doubles Down On The Dumb

Last week, Milwaukee County Supervisor made a fool of herself by trying to start a Twitter trend by referring to Hillary Clinton as "Ovary."  When called out on it, she tried - and failed - to act coy and deny it was really about Hillary.

A week later, Alexander is still receiving blow back from her negative attention seeking stunt, with two of her fellow county supervisors calling her out:

"With disbelief and disappointment, I read the comments of one of my colleagues who has chosen to address former United States first lady, senator, secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as a female reproductive organ," said Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic in an email to No Quarter.

[...]

Supervisor Patricia Jursik went on the attack in an email to Alexander, the citizen and other County Board members.

"I'm embarrassed just to read this. Please stop using talk radio lingo, it is hurting our local government and our country," Jursik wrote to Alexander.

"Deanna, like you, I have two daughters! I would not refer to the men on our board by their sex organs, nor do I want any of our women referred to in this way," Jursik continued. "This is why tweeting is such a bad idea for politicians. I'm sure if you could take it back now, you would."

Actually, Alexander has no intention of taking it back.

She said she is rearing her two daughters to believe "that neither their gender, nor their religion, nor the color of their skin, should ever be used as a sole reason and method for advancement of their selves." She said Clinton, the favorite for the Democratic nomination, should do the same.

"So, no, my ovaries and I don't for a single minute regret speaking up against Mrs. Clinton's fem-gender-centric campaign and the unrealized bias the American people seem to be letting run them into a very sexist election decision," Alexander countered via county email.

"But as someone who respects you as my elder, and is open-mindedly, non-fanatically, glad to listen to your opinions; I thank you for your concern."

Jursik then tried to get the last word.

"Please don't put words in my mouth," Jursik countered. "You embarrassed this board, an apology might be a more reasoned response."

On the bright side, Alexander has finally admitted that she was referring to Clinton. On the down side, she apparently thinks that Clinton has multiple personalities and that she was just going after one of them.

Alexander said that she was upset that Clinton was using her gender as a campaign issue. Unsurprisingly, this is an obvious lie. Clinton has taken stances on a number of issues, with the biggest one being against Citizens United. This is probably what has Alexander so upset. Without Citizens United, her money pipelines from the Koch Brothers, the Bradley Foundation and Chris Abele would dry up and she would actually have to run on her record, which is a pretty damn poor one.

But if Alexander feels that targeting a candidate on one issue is fair game, and since her only campaign strategy is making a complete ass out of herself, perhaps we should start referring to Alexander as "Hemorrhoid."

Milwaukee Republican Refers To Hillary Clinton as "Ovary"

Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander has already made a name for herself based on her blatant racism. First, she used taxpayer money to send out mailers wrongfully stating that voters needed a picture ID to vote in order to suppress the vote.

A month later, she issued a tweet mocking the death of Eric Garner, saying she bought a t-shirt that read, "Breathe Easy - Don't Break the Law."

Now Alexander has segued her way from open racism to self-loathing misogyny by deciding she would attack Hillary Clinton by referring to her as "Ovary":

Alexander only made matters worse when she tried to explain it away:

She notes that people come up with nicknames for politicians all the time. For instance, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was dubbed The Governator and ex-President Bill Clinton was known as Slick Willie to his critics -- and even some of his supporters.

Alexander, who is considered a possible candidate for the state Senate, said she found it interesting that people have jumped to the conclusion that she was referring to Hillary Clinton when she discussed "Ovary's campaign." She noted that Time Magazine ran a "sexist" article on the former secretary of state earlier this month by suggesting that Clinton is ready to run for president now that she's past menopause.

"So I'm certainly not the only one who has taken notice here," Alexander said. "While I would be excited to someday see a woman become president, I think that the potential to make history for simply being female is the only thing Hillary has going for her."

Comparing Alexander's blatantly gender-based smears to "Slick Willie" or "The Governator" is awfully weak tea, even for the intellectually dishonest Alexander. Then again, Alexander is the first one to go crying to the media of sexist attacks the minute anyone criticized her, even if she did do something unethical or even illegal.

For Alexander to go to such extremes to build up her name recognition for a future run at the state senate should give great hope to any and all future opponents.

Cross posted at Crooks and Liars

Why Yes, Deanna Alexander Was Lying About Voter Supression

Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, a "rising star" among Republicans, has already gained notoriety for her vulgar, racist tweet mocking the death of a black man, Eric Garner. She added to her shame by using her elected position to raise funds for personal use;

Alexander first came to national attention by using taxpayer money to send out a newsletter that included false information that voters would need a picture ID to vote despite the fact that on October 9, 2014, the United States Supreme Court issued an order against voter ID for the November elections. Alexander displayed an amazing amount of faux outrage in denying that she did anything wrong:

Ms. Pabst called Supervisor Deanna Alexander twice on Friday to ask about a newsletter sent to constituents in October. The newsletter, accurate at publication, alerted fall general election voters that they would need to show a photo ID to vote. After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Voter ID requirement for the November election, Supervisor Alexander used email, social media, and a second mailing—a bold post card—to update voters with the new information that electors would not need to provide an ID in order to vote.

“Ms. Pabst knew all of this, yet continued to publish an article falsely proclaiming that the notice was a mistake,” Supervisor Alexander said. “This irresponsible report has increased confusion by leading voters to believe that I either didn’t notice the error or purposely sent untrue information.”

“Ms. Pabst knew on Friday that I had provided voters with two rounds of information and that each were accurate at the time I published them; there was no mistake. Her article is
disappointing and sloppy journalism.” Supervisor Alexander concluded.

At the time, I said Alexander would have been better keeping her big mouth shut.

I was correct.

Recently obtained records show that Alexander was indeed lying through her teeth. Here is the requisition for the mailer:

Click image to embiggen

Since it is hard to read, here is a close up of the top of the requisition:

Click image to embiggen

The gentle reader will note that printing didn't even start until October 9th, the same date that the Supreme Court stopped the voter suppression. Further more, the invoice shows that the mailer wasn't completed until October 20th. Alexander had plenty of time to stop the printing and make the proper corrections. But she willfully chose not to.

There is no doubt in my mind that Alexander truly believes she did nothing wrong with the mailer. Or with the inappropriate tweet, for that matter.

That is the problem with racism. It is so ingrained in the mind of the plantation economy-minded that they can't even recognize the error of their ways. It also accounts for her "rising star" status among Republicans.

But it is still wrong and Alexander needs to be held accountable for her wrongdoings.

Martin Luther King And #BlackLivesMatter

Unless the gentle reader only gets their information from Faux News, you are aware that the protests of police brutality and epidemic of unarmed black men being killed wantonly are ongoing in cities throughout the nation.

Republicans, like Milwaukee County Supervisor <a href="http://crooksandliars.com/2014/12/milwaukee-elected-officials-tweet-mocks">Deanna Alexander</a>, have sunk so low as to mock these deaths. Republicans, like Alexander, have also complained that these protests are causing inconveniences by doing die ins at malls and blocking freeways.  Republicans, like Alexander, have also complained that special interests (read: the Labor Movement) has tried to hijack the same movements that they deride:

(Wisconsin Jobs Now is a pro-labor organization that has also been leading the #BlackLivesMatter protests.)

They really take the cake when they say that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would never have approved of these tactics or Labor's involvement in the protests.

For all their carping and complaining, the only thing that these people have accomplished is to put their ignorance on display for everyone to see.

Dr. King addressed these issues in 1961, when he spoke to the national convention of the AFL-CIO:

Negroes in the United States read this history of labor and find it mirrors their own experiences.  We are confronted by powerful forces telling us to rely on the good will and understanding of those who profit by exploiting us.  They deplore our discontent, they resent our will to organize, so that we may guarantee that humanity will prevail and equality will be exacted.  They are shocked that action organizations, sit-ins, civil disobedience, and protests are becoming our everyday tools, just as strikes, demonstrations and union organization became yours to insure that bargaining power genuinely existed on both sides of the table.

We want to rely upon the good will of those who oppose us.  Indeed, we have brought forward the method of nonviolence to give an example of unilateral good will in an effort to evoke it in those who have not yet felt it in their hearts.But we know that if we are not simultaneously organizing our strength we will have no means to move forward.  If we do not advance, the crushing burden of centuries of neglect and economic deprivation will destroy our will, our spirits and our hopes.  In this way labor's historic tradition of moving forward to create vital people as consumers and citizens has become our own tradition, and for the same reasons.

This unity of purpose is not a historical coincidence.  Negroes are almost entirely a working people. There are pitifully few Negro millionaires and few Negro employers.  Our needs are identical to Labor's needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community.  That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor.  That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.

Indeed, the ties between the labor movement and race equality goes all the way back when union organizers went to the Deep South to help blacks fight for better wages and working conditions.  Conservatives who want to restore a plantation economy have been bitter ever since.

Cross posted at Crooks and Liars.

Deanna Alexander Does It Again - Money Matters, Black Lives - Not So Much

Two days ago, I reported about a very disgusting and vile racist tweet made my Deanna Alexander, in which she mocked the last words spoken by Eric Garner, a black man who was choked to death by a New York cop:

To say that her racism set off a firestorm would be an understatement.

She has spent the last two days deleting comments off of her Facebook page and locking down her campaign Twitter account.  The only three other people I have seen do that are her good friends and benefactors - Scott Walker, David Clarke and Chris Abele.

Unfortunately for her, not all of her friends support her overt racism.

A friend of Cog Dis has shared these tweets made by Alexander, showing that while she might not think that black lives matter, she does care about one thing - money:

In other words, she is more concerned about businesses making money than she is about people making a living wage or the reason for the protests- another black man being unjustly killed by a white cop, something which has become epidemic across the country.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that Alexander opposes raising the minimum wage, much less making it a living wage, making her complaints hypocritical and hollow - much like her spirit.

The fact is that Alexander is an embarrassment to the Milwaukee County Board and to Milwaukee County in general.

If she had a shred of dignity or respectability, she would apologize and resign immediately.  Don't hold your breath for either of those things to happen, since she doesn't possess either of those qualities.

I again call on the Milwaukee County Board to censure Alexander for her overt racism and attempts to fan the flames of the racial tension that envelops our community.

In the meanwhile, you can contact Alexander and tell her you don't appreciate her racism and that it has no place in government. You can call her at 414-278-4259 or email her at deanna.alexander@milwaukeecountywi.gov.

Deanna Alexander's Racist Tweet Goes Beyond The Pale

With all of the racial tension going on in Milwaukee and the rest of the nation, one would think that it would be incumbent to try to calm things down, or at least not fan the flames.

Yet Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander has willfully failed to act like a responsible adult and put out one of the most horrendous and blatantly racist tweets I've seen from an elected official:

It's one thing to express support for law enforcement officers, but to mock the unnecessary and unjust death of a black man goes beyond the pale.

While it is surprising that Alexander somehow thought it would be a good idea for an elected official to send out such a overtly racist tweet, the fact that she is a racist is no surprise.  She exemplified that when she sent out this vulgar email against her opponent, Tracey Corder, in her last election:

As I had written at the time:

Being a social worker myself, I would like to know why Alexander thinks that's a bad thing.  Or is she just using her career as a bureaucrat in order to be elitist?

With the reference to the "four convictions" against Corder, she is being downright dishonest and deceitful.  There are four cases involving Corder listed on CCAP.  But two of them are small claims court involving the time when she lived with her brother and the other two are traffic violations.  Not exactly the hardened criminal that Alexander is trying to portray her as.

The really ironic part of her tweet is that she is not exactly law abiding herself.

In just the past couple of months, she was caught using taxpayer money to send out a voter suppression mailer and then got lying about it. She is also under investigation for violating ethics rules by using her status to raise money for her father's funeral.

People are already calling for Alexander to resign because of her extremely racist tweet but I don't expect her to do that.  She doesn't have enough integrity or honor to take responsibility for her actions.

I do, however, sincerely hope that her colleagues on the Milwaukee County Board will hold her accountable and censure her for trying to flame the fire under the racial tension in our community.

She must answer for her inappropriateness and irresponsibility.

But I have to admit I agree with Alexander on one point - she is broken.

ADDENDUM: Here are some examples of incidents in which the person was not breaking the law and is not breathing easy - or even breathing - anymore.

Of Fundraising, Funerals And Ethics Fundamentals

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced the gentle reader to Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, a "rising" star among the Republicans. Alexander had gotten herself in a bit of trouble for using taxpayer dollars to help suppress the vote in Milwaukee. To make matters worse for herself, she got caught up in her lies about it.

Now Alexander is in even more hot water.

Unfortunately, her father passed away recently. And as anyone who has lost a loved one knows, funerals are expensive, even if you are making more than $50,000 a year like Alexander is.

So Alexander set up a fundraising account through www.youcaring.com.

The problem is that she advertised this account on one of her Facebook pages in which she identifies herself as a "public figure" and includes a link to her campaign website:

She's already raised over $2,000, many donations from anonymous donors, including one for $1,000:

Yeah, that's an ethics problem, as Georgia Pabst of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

According to the county ethics code: "No county public official or employee shall use his/her public position or office to obtain financial gain or anything of substantial value for the private benefit of himself/herself or his/her immediate family, or for an organization with which he/she is associated."

Michael Maistelman, a lawyer who specializes in election law and who has represented the campaigns of prominent Democrats, said it appears Alexander is using her position for private gain.

"The question is would she be getting donations if she were not an elected public official," he said. "Would donations be made, or are they being made, because of who she is and her position."

With campaign contributions, contributors must give their name, address, employer and report the amount to make sure there's transparency, he said. Candidates must periodically file campaign finance reports that make that information public.

With an anonymous contribution, he said, someone could legitimately question whether there has been a violation of the public trust. That donor could be trying to get something from the county, but you don't know, Maistelman said.

To make this whole sordid affair even more sickening, she is using her office to raise funds for her father's funeral even as she voted to deny funding for indigent burials. (Over 300 families in Milwaukee County use indigent burial funds every year.)

As with most Republicans, she figures that as long she gets hers, that's all that matters and the screw the poor if they think they should get any type of help.

The good news is that Alexander won't get a free pass like she did with the voter suppression newsletters. A group called One Wisconsin Now has filed a formal complaint against Alexander:

"The law is clear and must be enforced," said Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, in filing the complaint. "No elected official can use their status to raise personal funds, regardless of the circumstances."

Any anonymous gifts through the YouCaring.com site would make it difficult for the public to know who may be giving to Alexander and to determine if individuals with business before the county may be attempting to influence her, the complaint states.

Cross posted at Crooks and Liars

Taxpayer Funded Voter Suppression - There's More!

Deanna Alexander and her benefactor, Boss Abele

Last week, we reported about Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, a "rising star" among Republicans who caught caught using taxpayer money to send out a newsletter falsely informing people that they needed a photo ID to vote, even though the US Supreme Court had put a stop to it for the November elections.

Alexander defended herself by saying that she sent out a correction postcard to notify her constituents that her newsletter contained the false claim.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a blurb about the incident, giving Alexander cover by calling it a mistake.

Instead of keeping quiet and hoping the story would go away, Alexander tore into the journalist, Georgia Pabst, in a press release from her official office. Alexander accused the reporter of of "sloppy journalism":

Friday evening, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Georgia Pabst published an article with a misleading title and context.

Ms. Pabst called Supervisor Deanna Alexander twice on Friday to ask about a newsletter sent to constituents in October. The newsletter, accurate at publication, alerted fall general election voters that they would need to show a photo ID to vote. After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Voter ID requirement for the November election, Supervisor Alexander used email, social media, and a second mailing—a bold post card—to update voters with the new information that electors would not need to provide an ID in order to vote.

“Ms. Pabst knew all of this, yet continued to publish an article falsely proclaiming that the notice was a mistake,” Supervisor Alexander said. “This irresponsible report has increased confusion by leading voters to believe that I either didn’t notice the error or purposely sent untrue information.”

“Ms. Pabst knew on Friday that I had provided voters with two rounds of information and that each were accurate at the time I published them; there was no mistake. Her article is
disappointing and sloppy journalism.” Supervisor Alexander concluded.

Like I said, Alexander would have been better keeping her mouth shut.

It turns out that Pabst did some more of that sloppy journalism and found that Alexander was lying through her teeth.

First off, she did not send the correction postcard. Milwaukee County Clerk Joe Czarnezki, who had received numerous complaints about Alexander's newsletter, is the person who sent out the postcard correcting her lie:

The post card mailing sent out the weekend before the November 4 election to 7,000 constituents of County Supervisor Deanne Alexander to tell them they did not need a photo ID to vote, was initiated and paid for by County clerk Joe Czarnezki.

Czarnezki said he received complaints about the information in Alexander’s newsletter that was received by many residents in Alexander’s northwest side district the weekend of October 25 saying they needed photo ID to vote. After consulting with the Government Accountability Board in Madison, the board recommended that correspondence be sent correcting the information, so the post card mailing was prepared, he said.

Postage and mailing for the post card cost about $2,000, he said. Alexander’s name was on the post card, along with Czarnezki’s . She contacted him about the matter after the post card preparation was under way, he said.

But there's more!

Pabst found out that Alexander's misleading and false newsletter wasn't mailed until October 21, almost two full weeks after the Supreme Court ruling. Alexander had more than enough time to stop the mailing of the newsletter, if not the printing of it. Yet she willfully chose to do nothing.

Something tells me that this is not the end of this story. Because when it comes to Republican corruption, there's more. There's always more.

Taxpayer Dollars Used For Voter Suppression In Milwaukee

Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander is a Republican's Republican.

Alexander won her office with a late race-baiting flier against her African American opponent. She's appeared at CPAC, was named a "rising star" by dark money group American Majority, illegally accepted free legal representation from a Bradley Foundation funded lawyer, supports gay bashing Chick Fil A and has accused Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis of supporting infanticide.

Yeah, she's a real pip, alright.

So it comes as no surprise to us in Milwaukee that she used taxpayer money to mail out 7,000 copies of her newsletter which included the information that a photo ID would be needed to vote on Election Day:

Here's a close up of the part in question:

The first problem with this is the fact that US Supreme Court blocked the implementation of this voter suppression law for this election.

But wait! There's more. There's always more.

This matter was quickly brought before the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board who ordered her to immediately send out another postcard - again at the taxpayer expense - to correct the misinformation she distributed.

Per her Facebook page, on Friday - just days before the election - she sent out the correction notice. It is doubtful that the postcards will get to the people in time before Election Day.

Despite the fact that it cost taxpayers thousands of dollars to send out the original mailer and thousands of dollars more to send out the correction, I have a feeling that we won't hear from the conservatives about this waste and fraud.

For me, the unanswered question is that why Alexander sent out only 7,000 of these mailers when she represents more than 50,000 people. You don't suppose that these mailers were targeted at a certain class of voters, do you?

Cross posted at Crooks and Liars.

Chris Able: The Pro-Poverty Plutocrat

Here we go again.

Chris Abele, the Mitt Romney of Milwaukee County, has opposed a living wage ordinance since Supervisor David Bowen first announced his plan to introduce the resolution on Labor Day of last year.  Abele was so opposed to it that he went to the Teapublicans in the state legislature and nearly had all living wage laws in the entire state nullified.

Fortunately, despite Abele's best efforts, the living wage ordinance passed, his veto was overridden and the law will go into effect at the end of May.

But Abele is still bound and determined to keep people in poverty.

The latest chapter in Abele's war against the poor starts with a battle over the housekeeping contract for Milwaukee County.  Abele is trying to get the contract with his chosen vendor, CleanPower, rammed through before the living wage law goes into effect.*

To do so, he is sending out his minions, like his personally-owned county supervisor, Deanna Alexander, and with the help of right wing propagandists like Wisconsin Reporter, to raise the false concern that postponing the contract will cost taxpayers more than $2 million over the next two years.

There's more than a few problems with this presumption.

First and foremost is the presumption that it will have to cost taxpayers a dime.  If Abele and his band of cronies had any negotiating skills, they could have the vendor eat the costs.  They can afford to lose a half million or even a million dollars of pure profit more than the workers could afford to be kept at sub-poverty pay levels.

Secondly, what Abele and company doesn't want you to think about is what it would cost not giving these workers a living wage.  If these workers are kept at the sub-poverty pay levels, taxpayers would be paying for their income subsidies, such as BadgerCare, food stamps and energy assistance.  It also doesn't consider the other costs that stem from keeping people in poverty, such as the money needed to deal with foreclosed homes, homelessness and so on.

Thirdly, Abele doesn't want people to realize that this would also help stimulate the economy.  Paying someone $11.33 an hour is not going to make them filthy rich.  These workers are going to be spending the extra income on food, rent, mortgages, taxes and all sorts of things that will help keep the economy going.

Perhaps Abele realized that this argument wasn't working after all and tried to up the ante by complaining that the living wage law would require the county to hire three people to enforce the law.

Abele claims that he needs the extra staff to investigate employee complaints, do audits and answer open records requests.  I'm not exactly sure why the extra staff would be needed since these are services that should already being done.  Unless he his implying that the companies he is contracting with are that disreputable.

The cost of these three extra people, if they are really needed, would be $200,000, per his propagandists.

His concern over that price is laughable.

The county budget is $1.3 billion.  In a budget that big, $200,000 isn't even a blip on the radar.

Abele is paying more than that to just two of his top aides, Chief of Staff Amber Moreen and Director of Administration Don Tyler.

Abele's 2014 proposed budget was off by $3.5 million, but he wasn't concerned about that.

Abele's deferred maintenance caused a fire in the courthouse that is going to cost more than $17 million, of which at least $2 million will be coming directly from taxpayers.  He has yet to apologize for this.

The supposed price for these three workers is half of what Abele wanted to spend on a private security force, because he was too busy trying to lay off deputies, leaving none to protect him.

As I have pointed out before, the issue of a living wage is not an economic one.  The fact that Abele has not qualms about squandering millions of tax dollars shows that it's not a fiscal issue for him either.

No, it's not an economic issue, but a moral one.  And the message Abele is sending with his constant attacks against the poor is that he is willfully trying to keep them in poverty, , which, by any measure, is an immoral act.

Fortunately, the Milwaukee County Board, which has shown the fiscal responsibility and moral strength that Abele can only wish he had, appears to be poised to push the housekeeping contract back so that the living wage can be enforced and lift the workers out of poverty sooner rather than later.

*I would be remiss if I did not also point out that by refusing to give the county housekeepers their jobs back, he is not only not going to save money, as the private company workers will get the living wage as well, but if the housekeepers prevail in their lawsuit, the county will also have to pay them five years of back pay.

What Is Deanna Alexander Hiding?

Last week, the Milwaukee County Board almost unanimously shot down a proposed contract with CleanPower to take over all the janitorial duties for the county.  Part of the reason for this denial was the low pay the company offered their workers:

The board also voted 17-0 to reject a long-languishing $9 million contract to have CleanPower take over all janitorial services for the county. Some supervisors have objected to low pay offered by CleanPower, an issue championed by SEIU, a union attempting to organize janitors.

The firm pays janitors $8.75 an hour to start, according to testimony by employees of the firm.

Abele said he'll work with supervisors to try to negotiate an acceptable cleaning contract with CleanPower.

Supervisor David Bowen said he would like to see the cleaning contracts rebid, with specifications revised to give smaller firms a chance to compete. Cleaning firms not big enough to bid on a combined contract covering all county buildings didn't get a fair shot in the last bidding competition, Bowen said.

As the astute reader might have noted, the vote was 17-0. But there are 18 supervisors, which is why I said almost unanimously.

To be honest, I didn't think much of it at first, figuring that one of the supervisors was in the bathroom or something.

But then Supervisors Khalif Rainey and Russell Stamper II issued a press release that raised my eyebrow:

Milwaukee County Supervisors Khalif Rainey and Russell Stamper II today said they would introduce a resolution requiring supervisors to provide an explanation when they abstain from voting on the Board floor or in committee, saying that the residents of Milwaukee County demand such transparency.

“We have approximately 54,000 people in each of our districts who deserve an explanation for any abstention,” Rainey said. “If supervisors have a good excuse for abstaining, they should explain it to the Board and to their constituents. That way, the people of Milwaukee County will not be left to wonder whether there is some sort of conflict of interest or other reason for staying out of an issue.”

Rainey and Stamper said they became concerned about the issue after an abstention by a supervisor from a vote to reject a $9 million contract with Encore One, doing business as CleanPower. The contract was for the purpose of housekeeping and janitorial services in Milwaukee County facilities.

“If there is a conflict of interest, the public has a right to know,” Stamper said. “A supervisor used the existing Board rules to abstain from a vote on a $9 million contract. Supervisors were elected to vote and the public deserves to know why they abstain. If you’re not going to vote, then you should provide a reason. This incident was a red flag for transparency.”

The CleanPower contract was rejected Thursday on a 17-0 vote of the full Board, with one abstention that came without explanation.

“Refusing to vote and refusing to give the public an explanation for failing to represent constituents’ interests on a multi-million dollar contract does not pass the smell test,” Stamper said. “The public deserves greater transparency from their elected officials, so we are researching how other legislative bodies handle abstention votes and will introduce legislation to create greater accountability by the Board.”

Stamper said the resolution would end any speculation by requiring a full explanation of abstentions.

“The Board deserves transparency, our constituents deserve it, and the people of Milwaukee County deserve it,” Rainey said. “We need to require such explanations to provide full transparency for the people of Milwaukee County.”

A quick check revealed that the abstaining supervisor was - to no great surprise - Deanna Alexander. the Purple Unicorn of the County Board.

There are only a few reasons why a supervisor might abstain from a vote.

One is that she has some personal interest in the business, such as owning stocks or having a relative involved with the company. But that doesn't need to be a deep, dark secret. In fact, if she does have some personal interest in CleanPower, her stating so would be a mark of transparency, responsibility and good leadership.

Another reason why a supervisor would abstain is if she had recently received a campaign donation from the company.  This is a possibility as that Alexander fancies herself as an up-and-comer in the GOP (even though she claims to be Independent).  But as with the personal interest, coming forth would make her appear more credible and responsible.

The only other reason that I could think of for her to abstain would be that she was told to.  And the only person she listens that closely to is her benefactor, Chris Abele.  Heaven knows she doesn't represent her constituents.  But why Abele would direct her not to vote is anyone's guess.  It might have to do with his proclivity towards sketchy backroom deals.

But given her own history of shady deals and poor behavior, Alexander really needs to be forthcoming and inform her constituents on why she refused to represent them on this particular vote.  She owes them at least this much.

Supervisor Alexander Commits Fraud In Order To Play Hookie

Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander is a member of the Board's Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee, which has an important meeting this Wednesday.

But she might not be there.  She's currently in Nashville for a GOPAC conference:

6th Annual State & Local Summit – September 8-11, 2013 – Nashville, TN
Conservative Ideas in Action

The Sixth Annual State and Local Summit will attract legislative leaders from across the country, including Senate Presidents, Speakers of the House, and Committee Chairs to share policy ideas and trade best practices in implementing conservative principles to create jobs, get government spending under control and make government more effective in delivering public services. Attendees will also discuss with national Republican leaders the ideas and initiatives that Congress can implement to address the challenges our country faces. Through panel discussions, policy sessions and networking events, attendees are offered a unique opportunity to advance free-market conservatism across all levels of government.

Alexander is committing fraud by being there as that she does not have a leadership role and she is not a committee chair.

And even if she had a chair position, she still wouldn't be a leader, since she has been bought and paid for by County Emperor Chris Abele.

Her misrepresentation should not come as a surprise, since she does that with alarming alacrity.

ADDENDUM: I have learned since this was posted that Alexander blew off a training today for supervisors regarding Act 14, the bill she sold her constituents and herself out for.

John Doe Meets A Purple Unicorn

I received this in the email today from an anonymous reader:

Click to embiggen

In itself, it's not too interesting.  But the two things I would point out is that the self-described independent Libertarian and ethically-challenged Deanna Alexander is doing an awful lot of schmoozing with the Republicans, almost as if she thinks she might have a chance at being reelected, much less going on to a higher office.

I would also point out the sender of the invitation, Rose Ann Dieck. The gentle reader might recall that Dieck was a good buddy to Darlene Wink and was given immunity in the Walkergate investigations.

I'm sure that these two women will have so much to discuss - such as the proper way to shake someone down and how to get immunity.

But it is remarkable how little shame these right wingers have these days, especially with whom they associate.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

As the gentle reader is aware, the first half of 2013 was a tumultuous time in Milwaukee County.  Because the County Board had been one of the few entities that ever told Chris Abele "no," he threw one of the biggest temper tantrums in recorded history, pushing and paying state legislators to pass Act 14, naming him Milwaukee County Emperor.

Before that happened, the County Board did something Abele has yet to do.  Through a series of hearings they called "OUR Milwaukee," they went to the people and listened to what they wanted.  The result was a resolution to redefine the roles of the County Emperor and the County Board.

The Board passed the resolution in April.  And as everyone expected, Abele vetoed it, saying it didn't punish the board enough for opposing him.

On Monday, May 6, the County Board convened to take up that veto as well as other items.  To the casual observer, it looks like Abele's veto of the OUR Milwaukee resolution was overridden by a 14-4 vote.

And indeed it was overridden by that margin.  But as we all know, when it comes to these sorts of things, there's more.  There's always more.

If one looks at the actual minutes of that meeting. one would find that Supervisor Deanna "Purple Unicorns" Alexander was late to the meeting.  She was so tardy that she had missed the first two votes, including the vote regarding the Board's reform resolution.

The minutes of that meeting reveal that Alexander went through the pain of calling for a suspension of the rules so that she could have her vote recorded on the votes she missed, even though it made no difference whatsoever in the final outcomes:

Supervisor Alexander asked unanimous consent to SUSPEND THE RULES to be recorded as voting Aye on Item No. 1 and No on Item No. 2.

Supervisor Romo West OBJECTED.

A motion was made by Supervisor Alexander that THE RULES BE SUSPENDED to be recorded as voting Aye on Item No. 1 and No on Item No. 2. The motion PREVAILED by the following vote:

Aye: 14 - Alexander, Borkowski, Broderick, Cullen, Dimitrijevic, Haas, Johnson Jr., Jursik, Mayo Sr., Rainey, Schmitt, Stamper II, Staskunas and Taylor

No: 4 - Bowen, Lipscomb Sr., Romo West and Weishan

This in itself, while unusual, is perfectly legal.

The rub in this story is the fact that for weeks before the vote, during the vote and two days after the vote, there were advertisements on Facebook and elsewhere for a fundraiser for Alexanders.  Said fundraiser was being hosted by Chris Abele and two front men for the Greater Milwaukee Committee - Jason Fields and Joe Rice.  Not only was the fundraiser being hosted by the people who were lobbying her, but it was scheduled for Wednesday, May 8 - just two days after she went through the pains to make sure her vote was recorded in the way that Abele and the Greater Milwaukee Committee wanted her to vote:

The campaign finance report for Alexander's campaign - which is ironically named "Citizens for Servant Leadership" - shows she did make a tidy little haul that night.  She brought in $1952 that day.  However, the report also shows that the great majority of the money came from people she doesn't even represent.  Some of the bigger donors include:

• Chris Abele - $522 
• Michael Grebe (head of the Bradley Foundation) - $125
• Orville Seymour (one of the two guys running the misnamed Citizens for Responsible Government) - $50
• Karl Rajani (keep an eye for that name with the ongoing dismantling of the mental health complex) - $250

It should be noted that CRG - PAC also gave Alexander another $250.  

By far, Alexander's largest donor was herself, giving her own campaign a loan of $877.63.

It should be noted that even though Alexander is a former accountant and a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative - and even though she had a fund raiser held by the richest people in Milwaukee County and surrounding areas - her campaign is still in the red, owing herself more than $2,800, which is double of what is her current balance.

Milwaukee County's Code of Ordinance's Chapter 9 clearly states that a county official should not receive or give anything of worth in exchange for their vote or other official action.  Yet Abele held Alexander's fundraiser - donating the maximum himself - just two days after she had to take extraordinary steps to have her vote recorded.  

Sadly, it doesn't surprise me that Alexander and Abele have done something that appears to be rather unethical, since we already know that Abele had his spokesperson writing Alexander's press releases.  

What I find so particularly disheartening is that those who would sell their votes and their office to diminish democracy in Milwaukee County would sell themselves - and the rest of us - so cheaply.

The Koch Machine In The Courthouse

American Majority is a right wing front group, much like Americans for Prosperity or Club for Growth, who take money from people and groups like the Koch Brothers and the Sam Adams Alliance and launder it through to groups like Media Trackkkers.

And we all know that Media Trackkkers has a deplorable track record when it comes to reporting on anything.  Some of their best work included, "Oh my God, black people are voting!" and "McCarthyism is the way news should be handled."  And who could forget how Mr. Media Trackkkers, Brian Sikma, lied his face off about an alleged assault which never even occurred.  He was lying so bad that Charlie "I got nothing" Sykes was calling him out on it.

So obviously, American Majority is more worried about advancing their corporate agenda rather than tell the truth.

This is pretty well evidence by an article from the American Majority blog about Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, which should be categorized as fictional (or even farcical).

Deanna Alexander and
her boss, Emperor Abele

The article, which one can take as a early introduction into Alexander's aspiration to move on to a higher office, stumbles over itself quickly when it contradicts itself quickly.  In the first paragraph, they try to portray Alexander as some sort of reluctant hero (emphasis mine):

What prompts everyday Americans citizens to run for office to better their communities?  For Deanna Alexander, a mother of two in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, it happened when she attended her first Neighborhood Watch meeting and heard about an opening on the Milwaukee County Board and saw no one else was interested.

But just a few paragraphs later, they admit there was considerable interest:

Deanna not only won her three-way primary on February 21, 2012 with 42% of the vote, but she was elected to her position on April 3, 2012 with a solid majority (55%). But an independent thinker, who regularly seeks out her constituents’ perspectives, was not what the rest of the Milwaukee County Board was expecting. Deanna was placed on the powerful Finance, Personnel, and Audit Committee and ruffled feathers when she voted against a simple budget provision that would result in raised taxes, something she had promised her voters she would oppose.

So which one is true?  Was there no one but Alexander or was there at least three, forcing a primary?
Obviously, the answer is the latter.

The rest of this work of fiction was the conflation of her doing the bidding of Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele and making it seem like they were honorable deeds as they tried to build her up for a future campaign.

The one thing of interest is that the blog reports that Alexander attended one of their brainwashing education seminars about six months before the election.  Maybe that is where she learned it's easier to give up integrity and independent thought in exchange for campaign donations and other gifts.

Sources say that Alexander is planning on taking on State Representative LaTonya Johnson, who won her last election with 84.7% of the vote.

In preparation for that, Alexander has already been sending out feelers and drawing lines in the sand.

One of Alexander's early positions was her anti-gay rights stance.  To show her dedication to opposing equality, she drove dozens of miles to eat her fill of crappy chicken sammiches.  Such intestinal fortitude.

She also takes the corporate line of being against women's rights, going as far as accusing Texas' Wendy Davis of wanting to kill babies:

Next she'll be accusing Davis of eating babies too.

We also can't forget what a useful tool Alexander is when she allowed Emperor Abele's spokesman to put words in her mouth.  Then again, she did get richly rewarded by Abele and his fellow plutocrats at the Greater Milwaukee Committee when she actually had the County Board do a Suspension of the Rules so she could vote the way her boss wanted her to.  To round off her trifecta of ethically challenged missteps, she is now taking free legal services from a Bradley Foundation-sponsored firm.

These are things that make American Majority and Chris Abele appreciate Alexander so much.  She's just like a Koch machine.  You stick some money in, make a selection and she'll spit out a corrupted vote or play the useful stooge.

One might have thought that Alexander would have been bright enough to notice that selling your vote and selling out your constituents isn't very popular, as her good friends Jason Fields and Joe Rice could attest.  Then again, one might have also been overestimating her intelligence.

At least if she does choose to run, we will have the comic relief candidate for next year.