Pro-Plutocrat Referendum Group Broke Election Laws

It was pretty obvious from the beginning that Chris Abele, the Mitt Romney of Milwaukee County, wanted to make  his usurpation of power a sure thing.  (Just because the boy prince did not like being told no for the first time in his spoiled life.)

He and his plutocratic pals at the misnamed Greater Milwaukee Committee retained the silk stocking law firm of Foley and Lardner to write the bill that would eventually become Act 14.

He and his pals paid off people like Teapublicans Joe Sanfelippo and Dale Kooyenga to get the bill passed.

Part of the bill was a red herring referendum that they scheduled for the spring election, knowing that the voter turnout would be extremely low and extremely conservative.

Then in the weeks leading up to the voting day, he and his friends at GMC - people like Michael Grebe, Walker's campaign chair and head of the Bradley Foundation - started a PAC front group they called "Forward Milwaukee County."  Said group spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on radio commercials.  They sent out propaganda email blasts almost daily.

They even got the Republicans to do robocalling for them.

But even that wasn't enough for Abele and company to feel assured of victory.  They also had to break the law.

In their zealousness to get their email blasts out to as many people as possible, they did an open records request of the email databases for the county supervisors. Apparently, they didn't bother to check the databases before using them and sent their blasts to people on their county emails:

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And it wasn't just them, but also elected officials, like the county board supervisors themselves:

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Needless to say, it's against the law to send these emails, which blatantly tell the recipient to vote yes on the referendum, via the government emails.  It is also illegal to solicit elected officials in their offices or using their official email.  Thirdly, given that Abele was involved to some extent in this whole debacle, there would be problems with soliciting employees at their workplace.

All in all, some people are in serious trouble.  Abele might be able to worm his way out of it, but Rice is definitely on the hook.

And this is far from the first time that Abele played fast and loose with the law.

Joe Rice, the treasurer for this group, is a former county supervisor and should know the rules.  But apparently he and Abele just don't care. It's more than a bit reminiscent of their mutual friend, Scott Walker, and his staff, who didn't care about the rules even though they knew better.

It's a good think that Abele and Walker are such tight friends.  At the pace they are going, they will be sharing the same prison cell.

Abele and CRG

Chris Abele and his plutocratic pals at the Greater Milwaukee Committee has been flailing around to keep momentum going for their hostile take over of Milwaukee County.  They have stooped so low as to try to frame the entire County Board.  But every time he turns around, he shoots himself in the foot by revealing his true nature.

But no need to fear, for CRG is here!

Starting this week, the ironically and utterly inappropriately named Citizens for Responsible Government is running ads in support of the power grab and advertising for a rally which is scheduled for this coming Monday at the anti-union Serb Hall.

Yes, that is the same CRG that have plumbed the depths of depravity, attacking public service workers without hesitation while committing acts of corruption themselves.

Bruce Murphy also caught the commercial and spoke with Chris Kleismet, one of the two thugs that makes up CRG.  The reason Kleismet gave Murphy for the rally was hilarious:

CRG spokesperson Chris Kliesmet say that up to now, all the grass-roots organizing on this issue has been by liberals. “There are people on both sides of the issue,” he notes. “There hasn’t been a lot of conservative grass-roots action. I think it’s important for people to understand, just like with Ament, if you want change it’s up to us.”

Murphy went on to worry that the CRG stunt will hurt the cause, making it a conservative vs. liberal issue.

He needn't worry though.  There  hasn't been one bona fide liberal who has stood up in support of this attack on democracy.

According to the paper, speakers at the rally include the figurehead sponsor of the GMC bill, Joe Sanfelippo, and former supervisor Joe Rice.  

Now would be a good time to mention that Rice has been very busy running around as a lobbyist for Sanfelippo in the ongoing issue regarding taxi permits as well as mercenary pawn for GMC in their power grab.

But the highlight of the event is going to be the emcee, Charlie Sykes.  For those that didn't know, or knew and forgot, Sykes and Abele don't like each other very much. It all stemmed from 15 months ago, when Sykes making the inference that Abele is a pedophile.  I wonder if Abele and Sykes will hug on stage and make up for their past differences.

What it truly ironic is that in their commercial, CRG is attacking the County Board because UNIONS! PENSIONS!  However, CRG's and Abele's common hero, Scott Walker, had given a sworn deposition leading up to the Mercer trial, in which he testified that the Board was innocent of the conspiracy and that it all came from the executive's office and the faulty information given by them and by Mercer.

Somehow I don't think that will be brought up on Monday.

Milwaukee County Pension System Is Under Attack

Three Milwaukee County supervisors - Joe Rice, Paul Cesarz and Joe Sanfelippo - are trying to do a money grab on the county's pension plan to appease their corporate friends, as well as to carry on the legacy of damage done by Scott Walker.

The thing is, not only is completely unnecessary, it is detrimental to both the workers and to the taxpayers in Milwaukee County, as we explain at Milwaukee County First.

But what can one expect from three of the most ethically-challenged supervisors on the board. Rice and Cesarz are tied in with the latest aspect of Walkergate and Sanfelippo has his own problems as it's being (finally) reported that he's been profiteering off the county.

At least Rice and Cesarz will be gone in a few more months.

Walker Backer FAIL, #1

Aaron Rodriguez, or A-Rod, as he likes to refer to himself, is at it again. In his fear of a pro-Milwaukee County group, Milwaukee County First, of which I am chair, he reaches new heights of desperation and hilarity as he tries to support his gubernatorial choice, Scott Walker.

First, he takes umbrage with a post from one of my colleagues, Jason Haas, regarding Walker's questionable decision to appear at a recent anti-health care, anti-Obama rally. Rodriguez feels that this was a wholesome thing for Walker to do, even though there were people with inappropriate and nutty signs like the classic Obama=Hitler signs as evidence in the video on Dan Cody's site.

But the funny part is when Rodriguez writes this (emphasis mine):

The above quote from Milwaukee County First shows they are willing to use a "run first and check later" philosophy when utilizing sources, especially when it means taking a swipe at Scott Walker. And this isn't the first time that MCF has done this. There petition drive for saving Milwaukee County programs was predicated upon an alleged cut to the county's EMS funding. This, of course, was based upon "leaked" information that the county might withhold $3 million from the county's paramedic program. Without wasting time, MCF drew up a petition stating that people in Milwaukee County would not receive paramedic services for medical services if the funding were cut. What happened? Well, Scott Walker committed to fund the EMS program, and MCF has yet to remove these scare tactics from their petition.

The "leaked" information was for anyone to see in this article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee County, which contributed $3 million this year toward providing paramedic services throughout the county, has made its initial funding proposal for paramedic services for 2010.

The amount: zero.

Apparently this rumor was so secret that the municipal mayors and village presidents felt compelled to pass a resolution asking for the restoration of this funding.

In a second post trying to diminish the growing group that Rodriguez had said would never get off the ground, he tries an old right wing trick with a new twist. Often, right wing bloggers will link to each other's opinion pieces to prove that their own opinion is valid. Rodriguez, apparently unable to find anyone else to agree with, links to his own opinion piece to verify his opinions. It's sort of like, "I said so, so it must be true," type of rationalization.

When Rodriguez wrote the post which he cites, I questioned him on how he would align two opposing statements from Walker. The exchange looked like this:



As you can see, I asked him if he thought Walker would use the money from the federal government to preserve routes or to build his dedicated line for a school that would probably never be built. Rodriguez admitted that it was "probably the latter."

The question now is: Is Rodriguez calling himself a liar when he says that Walker won't cut routes. You can see why he likes Walker so much. They have the same problem of not being able to remain consistent.

Rodriguez makes one more point worth noting. He questions why we didn't cite Supervisor Rice in his press release commending Walker for his dedication to mental health services. What Rodriguez fails to tell his reader is that I had addressed it. The reason I didn't address it at MCF, is unlike Rodriguez, we don't publish false propaganda.

Joe Rice: Screw The Taxpayers!

I've already pointed out how County Board Supervisor Joe Rice had squandered tax payer money on sending out a flier filled with misinformation in an effort to keep them from getting property tax relief.

Now, Bruce Murphy, in his most recent column, highlights how Rice has broken campaign pledges to give back part of his salary. On top of that, he is setting himself up to partake of the pension benefits that has put the County in dire straits already. From the column:

When he first ran for office in 2004, Rice promised to donate $1,000 per month of his salary to a community cause. (Rice said he would earmark it for “parks work.”) He also promised to accept only half his salary. This meant he would have given $48,000 to charity and $101,360 in salary back to the county during his first term in office. In addition, he promised to turn down any pension or fringe benefits.

I’ve made numerous attempts to contact Rice to find out if he lived up to any of these promises, all to no avail. So I asked Harold Mester, spokesperson for the County Board, to check county records. Mester tells me Rice draws the same salary as every other supervisor.

Rice did apparently turn down health insurance, as no deductions were taken for this in 2004, but beginning in 2005 he began accepting health benefits. In 2007, he added dental care and since then has continued to get coverage for both dental and health care.

Rice did sign a waiver of the 0.5 percent pension sweetener for public officials, but has never signed a waiver for the rest of the pension, so he remains eligible for the fringe benefit as well.

I e-mailed this information to Supervisor Rice, asking if he had any corrections to make to this information, and once again was greeted with silence.

In more than 25 years of covering public officials, I don’t recall anyone who made more generous promises of a giveback to taxpayers and the community – or who failed so completely to inform the public of how he lived up to his pledges. In short, the situation seems quite newsworthy.

It is no wonder that he has lined all of his votes up with Walker. They have the same kind of cavalier attitude towards the people of Milwaukee County.

If you wish to contact Supervisor Rice, and tell him he wants to start keeping his promises, and to get his hands out of our wallets, you can find his contact information here.

Walker And Allies Waste Even More Tax Dollars

Over the past week or so, I've written on Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's hypocritical position regarding a mailer sent out by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. The mailer in question is a simple one page flier, done in grayscale, to explain the sales tax referendum that is on the ballot.

Walker hypocritically blasts the board for spending tax dollars to mail this flier, but then repeatedly wastes tax dollars and county resources to expound on his views and advocate against the referendum.

I have recently learned that two County Supervisors, Joe Sanfelippo and Joe Rice have each used tax payers dollars to print and mail their own, individual fliers, advocating against the referendum.

I have not seen Rice's flier. (If anyone received one, let me know.) However, John McAdams has told shared that he spoke to Rice, and that Rice has a whole PowerPoint presentation on the issue, again using county property and resources, which McAdams was kind enough to put into pdf form. Rice's presentation gives a lot of talking points, but no proof for the allegations he makes. It is like he is practicing to become a radio talk show host.

I have gained a copy of Sanfelippo's mailer. It is a six-page thing done in color and printed by the inmates at the House of Correction. This came out of the money that he was allotted when from the Board's funding, using county resources, including the guards and print shop workers that oversee the inmates.

In Sanfellipo's flier, he spends a lengthy time explaining why he thinks the referendum is wrong, again using the same talking points, and ends his spiel with this:

I joined County Executive Scott Walker when he vetoed the sales tax increase referendum back in July. Since then, unfortunately, the County Board has voted to override the Executive's veto, and the referendum will be on the November 4th ballot. Between now and then, I will work to "shine the light" on the confusing language of the referendum so that voters know that voting "yes" would RAISE taxes, not lower them.

I don't know if that passes muster legally, but if it does, it sure seems like it's dancing on the edge.

Might I also point out briefly that neither Walker or his allies inform the voters of what the consequences would be to a "no" vote, including the decimation of the transit system that would keep 45% of workers who rely on the bus to get to work from getting to work. Yeah, that'll do the business a lot of good.

Walker then really puts his weaselly paw into his weaselly mouth by joining forces with the Wisconsin Club for Growth, a right wing political action committee, to put out a radio commercial against the sales tax.

In said commercial, Walker flat out lies and says that this is the board that voted to raise their pensions, and that the sales tax is to bail them out. Only five of the current nineteen board members had voted for the pension bail out. But that isn't the worst of it.

Walker has filed a lawsuit against Mercer, the actuary agency he accuses of not informing the then County Board of the true costs of the pension plan that Ament was pushing through. This lawsuit is already on weak legs as that Walker's star witness, Stuart Piltch, whom Walker paid lots and lots of tax payer money, turned out to be an unreliable witness, to say the least. After Walker pinned the pension vote on the board, does anyone really think that the attorneys representing Mercer don't have that commercial downloaded, taped, transcribed and otherwise recorded in every single way known to mankind. Whatever chance that lawsuit had had recouping some of the money is now greatly dimished.

For some guys that are supposed to be worried about the current tax situation, they are sure blowing a lot of taxpayer monies on what is nothing more than politcal grandstanding and posturing.