Rebecca Kleefisch Speaks Truly

At Sunday's "homecoming" rally for Paul Ryan, which somehow missed his home by some 60 miles, Rebecca "For Realz" Kleefisch was quoted as saying:

When history looks back and remembers 2012, children will say 'what was in the water in Wisconsin?'

Indeed.

As James Rowen points out, just a little to the north of the rally site the water has an 89 octane rating.

However, Scott Michalak has other advice for Rebecca. He would tell her that maybe she should check in with her husband to find out what their corporate backers have been putting in the water around Concord.

I'm sure that there would be a lot of people willing to give each of them a large glassful of their water and watch them chug it down.

Secret Routers Now Standard Government Policy?

The esteemed James Rowen kindly gave me a shout out for breaking the story on Scott Walker's latest pay-for-play program, giving sweetheart deals to all sorts of cronies and campaign donors.

He also had the catch of the day with this:

One more thing: I also find it fascinating the author of the 'plan' is has the hi-falutin' title of Director of External Communications.

Andrew Davis | Office of Governor Scott Walker
Director of External Communications
(o) 608-267.3839 | (e) andrew.davis@wisconsin.gov

Is there a Director of Internal Communications, and does that person have a secret router to work with?

And as if that wasn't enough, Rowen also might have broken the story on Walker's "Harley" bike ride by finding the actual bike.

But you'll have to click over to the Political Environment to see what I mean.

"Operation Freedom" - Charitable Event Or Political Stunt?

When people ask me about the most recent chapter of the Walkergate saga, where Tim Russell, long time personal friend and aid to Scott Walker, and two others were arrested stemming from a tangent of the Walkergate  investigation, I tell them as explosive as this news is, it's just the tip of the tip of the iceberg.  I remind them there is a big part of the investigation that is still under way.

But even with just the news of the arrests, there is enough fodder for an army of reporters and researchers to keep busy for a long time. This one story is indeed like a rancid onion, in such that as you peel away one rotten layer, there is another, even more rotten layer beneath it.

One of the things that is puzzling a lot of people is the timeline of events regarding "Operation Freedom" and how it was managed.

Per a report from WisPolitics.com, the common accounting of things is that in 2006, concerns were raised by the Milwaukee County Ethics Board on handling a charitable event through the office of the County Executive.  The finances were given over to the Milwaukee Order of the Purple Heart, where Kevin Kavanaugh, was treasurer.

In 2008, Darlene Wink found that $11,000 was missing from the fund and reported it.  Kavanaugh readily agreed that his group owed the fund this money.  (It should also be noted that in 2010, despite his concerns of what happened to the money, Walker reappointed Kavanaugh to the Veterans Service Board.)

Subsequently, in early of 2009, the financial management was handed over to an American Legion Post.  About the same time, Tom Nardelli, Walker's Chief of Staff, went to the District Attorney's office and spoke to them about it.

Despite the American Legion doing an exemplary job of handling the money, in the fall of the same year, they were removed from  deal and the set up was handed to the Heritage Guard Preservation Society, which was basically a front group headed by Tim Russell.

In other words, despite the admonishment by the Ethics Board, Walker still had people in his office in control of the funds for "Operation Freedom."

In 2010, only after the money was transferred to this front group did Walker's office file a formal complaint.

This chain of events raise any number of question, with two of the main ones being why did Walker personally order the funding be transferred from a group that was doing well to the front group ran by Russell, who already had a history of stealing money?  And why did Walker ignore the advise of the Ethics Board by keeping his fingers in the mix?

To answer those questions, as well as some others that have arisen, one has to first look at just what is "Operation Freedom."

Well, according to their About page (complete with misspelled words), "Operation Freedom" is a non-profit group intended to honor veterans by hosting a free picnic at the Milwaukee County Zoo, including free admission to the zoo.

Sounds good, right? Well, on the surface, it certainly does.

But something nagged at me about it.  So, over the weekend, I decided to call Milwaukee County Supervisor John Weishan, Jr., who I know had proudly served in the United States Marine Corps.

Weishan told me that he also had a lot of questions about "Operation Freedom."  He told me that he would be invited, almost as an afterthought, to come to the event and stand on stage, behind Walker and whoever else was hosting it, usually one of the squawk radio hosts from WTMJ-620 AM - Charlie Sykes, Jeff Wagner and James T. Harris (none of whom, I believe, served in any branch of the armed services).  Weishan said that no matter what, he was always told that the would not be allowed to speak, which he considered to be offensive.

Weishan also told me that he was not the only veteran that Walker was less than respectful to.  He told me that certain vet groups, like Veterans for Peace, were also not invited to participate in these events.

Milwaukee County Supervisor
John Weishan, Jr.

He said that Walker might have wanted to keep such tight control of this in order to prevent all groups from participating, which would be difficult if the American Legion were in control of the finances.  He also questioned the purpose of the event, since it was only for certain veterans.  Part of our discussion was whether Walker was doing this to curry favor with the Bush administration and promoting the Iraq War.

As it turns out, I was not the only one questioning the purpose behind Walker's actions in regards to "Operation Freedom."

Dominique Paul Noth, of Milwaukee Labor Press and a man a deeply admire for his skills as a reporter and a writer, in a article worthy of reading for the comprehensiveness of it, was also thinking of Weishan:

When Supervisor John Weishan, a Marine, complained several years ago that Walker was engaged in self-aggrandizement, shutting out the America Legion and the County Board and insisting on creating his own charity effort along with Russell for veterans, Weishan was hooted down as just another liberal politician opposed to Walker’s right-wing vision. So busy were the attackers that they failed to notice what the DA seized on, that Walker created a 501 ( c ) for veterans out of his own elected office, a big warning signal of what could happen to funds from the well-meaning public.  

Today, Weishan looks pretty prescient . . . while Walker? It’s as if the preacher’s son was grabbing a nap in the back pew when morality and ethics came up in the pulpit.

James Rowen, another person I hold in the highest esteem, picked up on Noth's piece and took it even further.  Rowen points out that Weishan led the charge to keep Russell from being appointed as Director of Economic Development.  Rowen felt that this was part of a slap back at Weishan for his defiance:

So it would not surprise me that Walker chose to transfer the veterans' charity management to Russell because Walker saw it as a way to stick it to Weishan. 

I can hear Walker saying, 'Weishan thinks he's the veterans' guy in the Courthouse? He thinks he can push me around by making Russell's life difficult? I'll show Weishan who's in charge here: watch me give that veterans' program to Russell just to tick Weishan off.' 

That's my theory, and don't think for a moment that scores in government aren't settled just like that when a chief executive wants to teach a lesson to a nettlesome legislator.

While all three of these fine gentleman have rational theories that have merit - after all, Walker has shown himself to be a butt-kisser, unethical and punitive - my thoughts take me in a slightly different direction.

Having lived under the Walker regime for going on ten years now, one of things I know for certain about Walker is that everything he does is self-serving.  He can't resist a chance to grandstand and try to curry favor with someone.

At the risk of appearing overly cynical, I believe that Walker saw "Operation Freedom" as just one more opportunity to promote himself.  Indeed, if you look at the page for "Operation Freedom" you see Walker everywhere.  Even their flicker page, which only has 27 pictures after all those years and tens of thousands of vets, and half of those are pictures of Walker.  Yet the events were able to give him the appearance of being such a good patriot. And by tying in his good buddies and free advertisers at WTMJ radio, he was getting all sorts of publicity.

Since he left Milwaukee County, I can't recall one thing that he did to show that he still wants to honor vets outside of what is absolutely obligatory.

It would also explain Walker's desire to keep the control of "Operation Freedom" close to him, so that he could minimize any negative exposure for himself with all those mean old veterans that might not agree with his ideology.

When I spoke to Weishan, he told me that it cost Milwaukee County $100,000 in lost revenue each time they closed the zoo to the public.  In other words, this was just another way he could use his office to promote his personal political interests.

And if Walker was so concerned about the vets, why did he wait two years after the discovery of the missing money to finally file a formal complaint? Is it possible that he only did so when he became nervous when the Democrats filed their complaint against Walker and Russell?

All of this indicates to me that Walker did all of this just to get some free publicity and brownie points for his campaign.

And before anyone wants to try to raise the point that conservatives respect veterans too much to pull such a dastardly scheme as to use them in order to simply raise funds and promote conservative causes and/or candidates, let me give you two names to counter that false argument: Sean Hannity and Lt. Col. Oliver North.

Walker's Popularity In Free Fall

As Scott Walker continues to trample on the Constitution, as well as people's rights, and ignores court orders, it is not surprising at all that his approval rating is falling fast:

The gentle reader will note that Walker is also losing the important independent group, which he and his Republican allies were so very dependent on.

And that's not even the most telling.  James Rowen finds another poll which highlights an even more telling story:

"An astonishing 95% of the survey respondents described themselves as paying close attention to the issue, 71% saying “very” closely. Respondents strongly identified with one or the other side of the budget conflict, and this identification fell along ideological lines. Independents now largely lock arms with the union and protestors. 

"As a result, Gov. Walker is now viewed unfavorably by a 53% majority, and with vehemence: only 3% say “somewhat” unfavorable while 50% say “very.” In contrast, the “Gang of 14,” the 14 Democratic state senators who fled to Illinois, were viewed favorably by a majority of respondents, 51% to 47%, even though a majority thought it was wrong of them to run away. The real winner? Government employee unions in Wisconsin, scoring 55% favorable and only 40% unfavorable."

In other words, not only do people not like Walker, they reeeeealllllllly don't like Walker.

The saddest part of it all is that Walker is such an ideologue and is so beholden to the Koch brother and other special interest groups that it won't even occur to him that he is on the wrong path and will proceed on, no matter what the people have to say.

Is it April 5 yet? And is it November yet?

Walker Introduces Cabinet

And here his Walker's cabinet:

Awfully white, isn't it?

Not only does Walker's cabinet not reflect the citizenry of Wisconsin, as closer looks at his appointees are being taken, it's down right scary.

James Rowen takes a look at Cathy Stepp, Walker's hatchet woman for the DNR. Now word yet on who is going to be the Deer Czar.

And Bill Christofferson points out that Walker's new head of Health and Human Services, Dennis Smith, was the lead hatchet man with the Bush administration tried to kill SeniorCare. Don't be surprised to see 100,000 senior citizens thrown to the insurance wolves. It will probably kill them since they won't be able to afford the outrageous rates the insurance companies charge, but Walker won't care. The elderly don't donate to campaigns like Big Insurance does.

PolitiFarce Strikes Again

In this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, they had their PolitiFarce section take a gander at the claim from WisDems that Michael Grebe, Walker's campaign chairman, as well as chairman of the Greater Milwaukee Commission and Bradley Foundation (in other words, the hand up Walker's behind), squelched a report from the GMC recommending that Milwaukee County be allowed to declare bankruptcy.

The Dems claimed the Grebe had GMC sit on the report in order to protect Walker leading up to the primary and general elections. They based that on the simple fact that Grebe admitted to the fact that he put it to the GMC for a vote.

The crack reporters at MJS went around asking various members of the GMC if Grebe had indeed put any pressure on them to vote to squelch the report. They were mostly told they weren't going to talk, including one that cited the fear of retaliation. If there was nothing to hide, why would the group retaliate? But that was irrelevant to our intrepid, but not objective, reporters.

The one person that came out with any sort of support for Grebe was Sheldon Lubar, who is also a Walker supporter and did a little pay for play with Walker, getting the county grounds for a campaign donation.

That apparently was good enough for the MJS, and they called the Dems allegations, based on Grebe's own admission, as barely true.

Does anyone else see a problem with this?

Oh, and for what it's worth, I seriously doubt the report has any merit when one takes into consideration the special interests behind the group and their history of being anti-Milwaukee County in their past reports as well.

James Rowen also points out that the MJS is also suddenly not so much into the whole transparency from the government stuff either.

More BHD News

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is doing an excellent job of covering the inexcusable way Scott Walker is treating our most vulnerable citizens. Even the Editorial Board is almost showing chutzpah in calling for John Chianelli to be fired, although they still fall dreadfully short of appropriately holding Walker accountable.

Milwaukee County First's take on all this can be found here.

Uppity Wisconsin also sounds off on the issue.

But the line of the day goes to James Rowen for this:

I'll bet Walker's people are meeting overtime to figure out what to do.

Also his office staff.

More Details About BHD, Walker Still Won't Own Up

More details are coming out about the problems at BHD, yet Scott Walker won't take ownership of the problems he has created with his failed policies.

Recommended readings:

• Milwaukee County First: More Details Emerge About BHD
• Fairly Conservative: You just don't understand.
• The Political Environment: More Horror Stories From County Care Facility: How Thick Is Walker's Teflon?
• Milwaukee County First: Will Scott Walker Ever Take Responsibility?

And remember this?

Cue The Bush Excuse in 3...2...1...

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Scott Walker received a report warning of the dangers of not performing required maintenance on the Courthouse. Said report specifically mentioned the cornice which came crashing down last month because Walker ignored the report.

Full story at Milwaukee County First.

Illy-T notes that the County is not releasing the reports for fear of lawsuits. Isn't that against open records request laws?

James Rowen sees it as a perfect advertising opportunity for Tom Barrett's campaign.

I'm just waiting for Walker to copy his hero, President George W. Bush by saying, "There's no way anyone could have anticipated that happening."

Desperation from the UWM Foundation?

The profiteers that would build their strip mall and Lord only knows what else must be feeling pretty nervous about their chances. Why else would they have cranked up the hype machine a month before the Tosa Common Council's public hearing?

More at Milwaukee County First.

Also see the erudite James Rowen's thoughts on this.

Walker: How Dare They Spend Money On Jobs And Not CEOs!

In what just may be the biggest blunder of his campaign so far (which is saying a lot since there has been so many biggies), Scott Walker took to the grandstands to stand up for Fred Luber, a big time Republican campaign donor and former campaign staffer who is not going to make as many millions of dollars as he could have.

Trying to stomach the obvious cronyism and pandering to his fat cat campaign donors is hard enough. But Walker is so desperate that he and his very rich sympathizer have resorted to flat out lies, as shown in this story from the BizTimes Milwaukee:

Luber said Super Steel sought assistance from the city in its efforts to land the Talgo contract.

“Going back to last summer, Super Steel took Talgo to the city of Milwaukee and asked for help,” he said. “On the first of February, Rocky (Marcoux, commissioner of the Department of City Development) told us what he was going to do with Talgo. Instead of funding us, (the city) was going to fund the Tower (Automotive) facility with millions to rebuild the building, free rent for a year and then no taxes and all utilities and the other things including job training. At 84 years old I never thought I’d live long enough to have the city take business from us. We have the only train manufacturing plant in the state of Wisconsin. Now there’s going to be another one at the Tower site built by the city with our taxpayer money.”

However, Department of City Development spokesman Jeff Fleming said city officials originally pushed for Super Steel to get the Talgo contract and only offered the Tower Automotive site to Talgo after the company told city officials that the Super Steel facility would not meet its needs.

Talgo spokeswoman Nora Friend said Super Steel first wanted to be a subcontractor to build the trains. Talgo turned that offer down because it was too expensive, she said. Super Steel then submitted a bid to provide space for Talgo, but the space did not meet the company's needs, she said.

After the Tower Automotive site, the runner-up sites were in Racine and Janesville, Friend said.
Talgo will lease the space at the Tower Automotive site from the city at market rates, for $2.59 per square foot, or $344,470 a year, Fleming said. The city is not providing free rent or utilities, he said.

“What Scott Walker and Fred Luber are saying is false,” Fleming said.

"This is just political talk," Friend said. "We are not getting any subsidy at all."

Did you catch what Luber is really complaining about? It's not that his company didn't get the deal with Talgo, it is simply that he now has to actually compete with another business. Luber apparently is just like Walker, in that he feels things should just come to him because of who he thinks he is, and not have to actually earn it. If that doesn't smack of elitism, I don't know what does.

The tax money that Luber is whining about is actually ARRA funding that Tom Barrett and Jim Doyle went out and actively pursued. Walker could have done the same thing, but once again chose to put his political campaign before the common good, and tried to refuse the stimulus funding, until he got smacked down by the County Board.

What makes this even more repulsive on Luber's part is the simple fact that Tom Barrett actually stood up for Luber's company, Super Steel, and asked Talgo to reconsider their rejection of Super Steel. The question is: Where was Walker at the time he was supposed to be helping his good chum out?

Apparently, Walker was busy with his campaign to get all the addresses and other information from his incomplete campaign finance report and out hitting up other wealthy donors around the state.

For Luber to attack the man that tried to help him, while kissing up to the one that didn't lift a finger to help is rather telling of what kind of person he really is. Walker really knows how to pick his friends, doesn't he?

ADDENDUM: I almost forgot this. Another reason Walker didn't help his fat cat sugar daddy out was because Walker had already abolished the Department of Economic Development. It shows how important Walker really thinks it is to brings jobs here, much less anywhere else.

Bill Christofferson really hits the L'Affaire de Walker et Luber right between their weaselly eyes.

One Wisconsin Now has more on how much Luber has pumped into Walker's and other Republican campaigns.

James Rowen brings us to how Barrett's team also slams Walker's weaselly ways.

Between Walker's continuing and escalating campaign gaffes, the fact that his mismanagement of Milwaukee County is going to be very noticeable in the near future, that he still has a messy 2011 budget to contend with and still no contract with the largest unions to help ease the matter, and that Mark Neumann is leading him in every corner of the state but the southeastern corner, it would not be at all surprising that he drops out of the race before the primary. Again.

"[Walker] was and is a counterfeit leader"

James Rowen channels his inner cognitive dissident. My favorite part:

Walker was never a philosophical or actual urbanist - -let alone a pragmatic, down-to-earth, hands-on problem-solver - - though the territory and people he represented are, in the main, urban, and in a particularly challenged environment, too.

He was and is a counterfeit leader, a political game-player, a place-holder at taxpayer expense looking to take as few risks as possible while timing his move up and calculating first and pre-eminently how every news release and utterance and semi-colon will fit into ideological templates and, someday - - sooner now rather than later - - into roughed-out ads.

Condolences To James

James Rowen, a man I much admire, has had a terrible loss in his life.

My condolences, thought and prayers go out to Jim, his family and his brother's family.

Monarch Trail Again Being Threatened

After the valiant efforts of people like the Friends of the Monarch Trail, especially Barb Agnew, several County Supervisors, notably John Weishan, and the gentle readers of this humble blogsite, the Monarch Trail was given a fighting, if slim, chance to survive.

Now the Trail is being threatened by a new enemy, WISDOT. Gretchen Schuldt gives us the story:

So WisDOT wants to destroy part of the butterfly trail. What is the impact of that? Will the butterflies settle for only part of a berm and wind break? Will the added noise and pollution from the closer, bigger freeway scare them off or kill them? Will the cumulative impact of the potential freeway project and the proposed construction of the UWM engineering school harm the habitat?

WisDOT doesn't even consider those things. After all, as the agency notes, the butterflies "have no special regulatory protection."

They are just in the way.

It is time again to pick up our phones, our pens, and our keyboards and again take to the defense of the Monarch Trail.

From an email I received this morning from Barb, including an email from Gretchen:

The public hearing for the EIS is today and tomorrow at State Fair Park. Details are here: http://citizensalliedforsanehighways.blogspot.com/2009/06/zoo-interchange-public-hearings-this.html

Comments on the EIS are due by July 13.

They should be sent to

Jim Liptack, project manager

Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Southeast Region

141 Barstow St.

Waukesha, WI 53187

dotdtsdsezoo@dost.state.wi.us

The EIS is at http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/sefreeways/docs/deis-home.pdf

Just be careful if you go to the State Fair Grounds. James Rowen is reporting that he is hearing rumors that WISDOT is being rather Stalinistic.

In The Private Sector, Walker Would Have Been Fired By Now

The widely-respected and non-partisan group Public Policy Forum released the results of a study regarding the fiscal viability of Milwaukee County. The results are not pretty. And I do believe even then, the results understate the severity of the situation. (The actual study is in a pdf found here, but at the time of this writing, the Adobe reader is stating that the file has been damaged and is unreadable.)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a story covering the report, and giving Walker's spin on the issue. Unfortunately, the paper does not give us a lot of in depth reporting, but basically an outline of the report and Walker's positioning.

The current fiscal crisis is based on three problems. The most obvious one is the pension scandal created by former County Executive Tom Ament. This obviously put a major crunch on the county's budget in 2004, when the enhancers of the pension scandal kicked in and their was a mass retirement.

The second issue adding to this is the current global financial recession, which greatly drained the pension fund, requiring extra money needed to be provided by the County.

The third issue that greatly contributed to the problem is the current County Executive, Scott Walker. As stated above, Walker came into his current job with a big mess served up to him in the form of Ament's pension scandal. However, he sought the job voluntarily and said that he would fix the pension mess and get the county headed back in the right direction. After seven long years, he has done neither.

The report from the PPF recommends a few things that need to be done to restore fiscal health to the county. These include:

We also conclude that year-to-year budget balancing is no longer a tenable strategy. Instead, what is needed is a comprehensive approach that considers all alternatives, from implementing new or enhanced local revenue sources; to eliminating, transferring or outsourcing programs and services that are not essential to the county's core mission and that could be performed just as well by others; to selling or leasing assets to generate capital as a means of paying down liabilities or re-investing in other assets that must be retained.

Some of this, like the outsourcing, has been already done. The food services at the House of Correction and at the mental health complex have been privatized. Most of the security at the courthouses have been privatized. Most of the janitorial services have been privatized. The GAMP program is gone with the advent of BadgerCare. Many of the mandated services, like the Sheriff's office, human services and the courts have been scaled back on a yearly basis.

However, there is much that could be done in regards to finding other revenue sources that Walker has willfully failed to pursue. There is the obvious raising of taxes, which I can't imagine a lot of people would like, but may be a necessary evil. But there are also many less painful ways of gaining extra resources.

There is the sales tax. Despite Walker's repeated efforts to prevent it from going to referendum, it was finally voted on last November. The people stated that they approved of the 1% sales tax and the benefits it would bring, including easing the strain for funding for the buses, the parks and the EMS. In the face of the proven benefits that places like Washington County has enjoyed from their sales tax increase, Walker refuses to pursue action by the state legislature to allow it to happen.

There is also the stimulus dollars. Walker knows darn well that the taxpayers of Milwaukee County will have to pay for these dollars whether we use them or not, but he doesn't care. In his perpetual run for governor, Walker has decided to showboat the issue and has repeatedly flip flopped and weaseled his way around the stimulus dollars, thereby shortchanging all of us. He continues to obstruct the efforts of the County Board to pursue and utilize the full amount of stimulus dollars the county is eligible for. Needless to say, this money would have the double benefit of putting people to work and allowing for much of the desperately needed repairs to our infrastructure.

It would also be a good idea for Walker to actually stop appointing his cronies and campaign staffers to jobs they aren't qualified to fill. Then maybe the county would be able to sell some of its properties, so that there isn't an automatic multimillion dollar deficit in the budget.

PPF's report has caused a lot of reaction from local officials and local bloggers. Milwaukee County Treasurer Dan Diliberti calls for a reform, including giving more power to the controller. County Board Chairman Lee Holloway calls for the formation of a long range steering committee, and shows his understandable nervousness at the thought of the state taking over the whole county. James Rowen and Zach Wisniewski have shared their own thoughts on the subject.

While local officials are trying to find viable solutions to the county's economic woes, Walker, on the other hand, is too busy campaigning and sending out kudos to a company that is hundreds of miles from the place he is supposed to be paying attention to, namely Milwaukee County.

In the private sector, if you had a CEO that had deliberately put his company in financial straits while he was applying for another job and giving congratulatory memos on company letter head to one of the competitors, he wouldn't be long for the job. The Board of Directors would have shown him the door long before it got to be of such a critical nature, threatening the very solvency of the company.

So when are we, the taxpayers, or if you will, the Board of Directors for Milwaukee County, going to show Walker the door?

Sour Grapes And Red Herrings

I always thought that the traditional Irish fare for St. Patrick's Day was supposed to be corned beef and cabbage. However, Milwaukee County Scott Walker has decided to give us a plate full of sour grapes and red herrings instead.

Still stinging from the schooling that Mayor Tom Barrett gave him on how a leader gets things done effectively, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker does what he does best. He goes running to Charlie Sykes with yet another email (which appears to have been sent on county time again) full of lies, hypocrisies and attempts to divert the reader from the reality.

Walker breaks his attack into three prongs. The first line of attack is that this will cost city taxpayers more money:

The City of Milwaukee asked for $100 million from the initial “stimulus” package, so we know that the true cost of the downtown streetcar system is at least that much money. So who will pay for it? The next great battle will be fought at the Milwaukee Common Council level as alderman from outside of downtown Milwaukee have to ask themselves if they (and their constituents) are willing to pay to subsidize the operations of a system that serves a three-mile loop in downtown Milwaukee.

What Walker doesn't mention is that unlike him, Mayor Barrett did ask for stimulus dollars. The divvying up the remainder of the transport fund already pays for half of the projected cost. I have no doubt that out of the hundreds of millions of dollars of stimulus funding the city will receive, that the balance will be covered.

Meanwhile, county taxpayers aren't so lucky. Walker not only said that he wouldn't ask for any stimulus dollars, even though there are hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure repairs needed, but is working devilishly hard in trying to sabotage any efforts by the County Board to get this funding. Not only will county taxpayers be held on the hook to pay their taxes on the stimulus dollars, but they will still have to pay for these repairs themselves. Who will pay for all of that, Mr. Walker?

Walker's next attack comes on the grounds of the cost to the county transit system:

Based on a review of the Mayor’s plan, transit system staff believes that a new streetcar system will cost the bus system up to $3 million per year. This is because the operations of the streetcar system are funded – in part – by transit aids from the state government. Assuming that there is not a massive increase in transit aids to cover the new system, aid will be taken from the Milwaukee County Transit System to pay for a street car system. Which routes will the transit system have to cut because of the $3 million less in state aid?

Coming from Walker, this is laughable. Walker is the one that has been the overseer of the transit system's death spiral. It was Walker that refused any efforts to help the transit system, including increasing ridership by adding bus racks to increase ridership and actively opposing any efforts by the citizenry to gain a secure source of additional funding for the transit system (which would have also helped control property taxes, as it did for Washington County).

The responsibility for the transit system's current distressed situation lies squarely at Walker's feet.

Walker's third attack comes in the form of stating that Barrett was being irresponsible and is all alone in his desire for a streetcar system for Milwaukee:

The County Board agreed with me as they passed a resolution in the past calling for the $91.5 million to be used on improvements to the bus transit system. They voted to support Bus Rapid Transit. Even the Mayor’s plan includes a portion for Bus Rapid Transit. The Common Council did not pass a resolution supporting a downtown street car system so the Mayor is operating in a vacuum. Will the Common Council even support the Mayor’s plan?

Now this is something that Walker knows something about. Walker is continually issuing and reissuing ideas that are rejected by the County Board and other sentient beings. Some of these issues include the irresponsible effort to move the mental health complex to the old St. Michael's Hospital, trying to privatize everything, including the airport and the call center (which he eventually lost control of due to his incompetence) and his very questionable pension obligation bond plan, which had already been rejected by the voters a number of years ago.

He has shown a distinct pattern of trying to force decisions that aren't necessarily best for Milwaukee County, but what he decides is best for his perpetual gubernatorial campaign. But seeing how well he is doing at that, it just may be a good thing that he is neglecting Milwaukee County. If he did for us what he is doing for himself, we would all be even in more serious trouble than we already find ourselves.

Finally, to help heal Walker's hurt feelings, James Rowen offers some hard facts about transit and its funding.

I Smell A Weasel

JSOnline is reporting that Scott Walker has chosen not to file an electronic campaign finance report with the state. Instead, he has filed a 247-page hard copy of the report with the County Election Commission. To get a copy, it will cost almost $50. (I called. It's 20 cents a page. Anyone want to chip in?)

This only serves to be a deterrence to anyone that wants to review his statement. It also flies in the face of all the garbage he was spewing about being interested in transparency in government.

The impeccable James Rowen smells a rat. I think it smells more like a weasel.

What is equally, and maybe even more disturbing is that MJS is also reporting that they have a copy of the electronic report, but they don't have it anywhere on their website. Perhaps they are waiting to go over it themselves first, before making it available. That would be understandable. However, if they don't post it, especially in light of all of their "Data on Demand" links, that would make me even more suspicious.

Either way, I think I will be getting a copy of the actual thing myself. MJS has been known to be less than completely forthcoming when it comes to Walker.

Walker's Worthless Press Release

Even though Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has been busy in Washington, D.C., schmoozing up to special interests and sharing "Stick it to Milwaukee" stories with Tommy Thompson, he still managed to have his campaign office executive's office issue another campaign promotion press release. This has to be the most pointless document he has ever produced.

The press release urges the County Board to take immediate action on four of his campaign promises that he issued last week. The four actions specified by Walker are moving the mental health complex to the decrepit St. Michael's, selling county land to UWM School of Engineering, selling the county interest in the Park East corridor, and approving of his preliminary transit agreement with Waukesha County.

I got in contact with Milwaukee County Board Supervisor John Weishan, Jr. to get his reaction to Walker's fiat, and how soon the Board would act.

At first he wasn't aware of the release, saying Walker's never gotten in touch with the Board about any of it (so much for Walker's promise of cooperation). When I told him about it, he chuckled.

Regarding Walker's persistent attempts to move the mental health complex to St. Mike's, Weishan said that he can't see it happening. He reminded me (like I needed it), that the proposed move would be more expensive than building a new facility on county grounds. He also added that the new building would be much more energy efficient and ecofriendly. On top of all that, he pointed out that there was no guarantee that WEAS Development would still be in existence in five, ten or twenty years, especially in today's economy, so there could be no guarantee that they would keep their end of the deal. Furthermore, after the end of the lease, the County and its taxpayers would be at the mercy of whoever held the rights to the building, as that the County would have hundreds of patients and nowhere else to go with them.

Weishan also questioned why Wheaton Franciscan hadn't torn down the St. Michael's building, like they threatened to do by December 1 of last year:

Wheaton, which owns St. Michael, has closed most of the hospital at 2400 W. Villard Ave. In a letter to the county Friday, Wheaton President and Chief Executive Officer John Oliverio said that unless a deal is reached with the county to take over the hospital by Dec. 1, he’ll order the hospital’s demolition.

Weishan noted that the fact that they kept lowering their price shows that they were trying to overcharge the County all along.

As a last point on the whole mental health complex/St. Michael's issue, Weishan also told me that State Statutes require Milwaukee County to have its own mental health complex, and that putting themselves in such an untenable position could lead to further problems.

Regarding selling county land to UWM for their School of Engineering, Weishan points out that the problem really lies between UWM and Walker, who can't seem to come to an agreement on the price. He told me that the County Board can't vote to approve or deny anything until Walker gives it to them to vote on, which he hasn't done yet. Weishan added that things might go along smoother if there was a Director of Economic Development, but Walker abolished that position in his latest budget. (Not that it was doing the county a lot of good to have one, since Walker kept appointing his unqualified cronies/campaign managers.) This duty falls to the head of the Department of Public Works, but that was George Torres who had quit to work for LaCausa, and Walker hasn't hired anyone to take that position.

Similar problems surround the Park East corridor. Weishan stated that Walker first has to get the City of Milwaukee to come up with the willingness and the money to pay for the land. Then he has to have his non-existent Director of Economic Development or his non-existent head of DPW to submit the proposal before the Board could take any sort of action.

Weishan did state that he had serious concerns about that proposal though, even if it were ever to get actually produced. He stated that what it would do in effect is take all the risk off of the suburbs and put it all on the City of Milwaukee. In other words, Walker is again abdicating his responsibilities as County Executive and trying to dump it on Mayor Barrett and the city taxpayers.

Regarding the transit issue, Weishan said that he is still waiting to see something from Walker so that it can be discussed and voted on. He pointed out that there is a meeting for the Transportation, Public Works and Transit committee on March 4th, and he would expect Walker to have something to them by then, if he is really serious about it.

Meanwhile, while Walker is schmoozing special interests and issuing worthless proclamations, Mayor Barrett is again outshining Walker by showing real leadership by developing a plan to set up a methane pipeline between Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties, as James Rowen puts it succinctly:

In a nutshell, the MMSD aims to capture methane gas at its Muskego landfill - - some intergovernmental cooperation linking Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties - - put it in a 17-mile pipeline and send it into MMSD operations at Jones Island.

Hundreds of jobs would be created in the pipeline construction, so the project would be good for the workforce, air quality, and property taxpayers.

It is this inter-governmental creativity, big-picture, pragmatic, Smart Government approach to stimulus dollars that Walker blew off with his "no thanks" approach.

It's what real leaders practice - - easier when not in full-time campaign mode - - as stewards of public funds and other shared resources, like air quality and natural resource supplies.

You can read James' full post at The Politcal Environment.

It is rather telling when the City of Milwaukee's Mayor Barrett makes a better county executive than Walker does, even though Walker holds that office. Heaven only knows what makes Walker think he is qualified to be governor.

Two Wise Men and Walker

A big old sinkhole closes the Locust St. Bridge this afternoon.

James Rowen, a wise man, notes its meaning, and the need for stimulus dollars to shore up the infrastructure.

Dan Cody, another wise man, also notes it.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's take: We don't need any stimulus dollars.

Don't you just hate it when reality gets in the way of empty and irresponsible campaign rhetoric?

Happy Blogoversary!

To James Rowen.

The Political Environment turns two today.