LGBT Ally Chris Abele: Not All Loves Are Equal

In the aftermath of Indiana Governor Mike Pence signing the Right To Bigotry law, scores of companies, groups and governmental bodies have pulled out investments, cancelled events and enacted travel bans to the state in protest. Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic has proposed that Milwaukee County do the same:

Milwaukee County would join other state and local governments, including Dane County, in boycotting travel to Indiana due to a recently passed “religious freedom” law that uses religion as an excuse to discriminate. County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic is simultaneously requesting action along with Dane County Supervisors.

In addition to Dane County, several state and local governments, including Connecticut, New York and Washington along with the cities of Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and Seattle, have announced government-subsidized travel bans to Indiana after Gov. Mike Pence recently signed the measure, which bans all Indiana laws that “substantially burden” people’s ability to follow their religious beliefs when it comes to such matters as treatment of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people.

“Even the Indianapolis Star and the Mayor of Indianapolis have denounced this law,” Dimitrijevic said.“I call on County Executive Chris Abele to issue an executive order banning all tax-subsidized travel to Indiana by Milwaukee County employees. If he does not act, then the County Board should take action through my resolution.”

Companies such as Accenture, Eli Lilly, Levi Strauss and Co. have also issued company bans on doing business in Indiana. Dimitrijevic invited companies in Indiana to re-locate to Milwaukee County.

“We value fairness and equality in Milwaukee County,” Dimitrijevic said. “We have been on the right side of history by adopting domestic partnership benefits and a nondiscrimination ordinance I authored.

“Our taxpayer dollars should not be used to support bigotry, and sitting idly by without action may aid this epidemic. We are the most diverse community in Wisconsin, and I’m sure Indiana companies would benefit from locating in an atmosphere of tolerance.”

One would think that this would be a slam dunk.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is a strong advocate for gay rights. He's donated tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to fight for marriage equality in Wisconsin. When the gay marriage ban was struck down, he again reached into his own pocket to keep the Milwaukee County Courthouse open late and on the weekend so that people could get married.

Yet when he was asked by WTMJ-TV about this, Abele said he refused to impose the travel ban to Indiana.

Abele was not clear why he had this sudden change of heart, but it should be remembered that even though he claims to be a Democrat, he is far from being progressive. He has been known to support the most rabid of teahadists and has praised Scott Walker, especially for Act 10 and other anti-worker legislation. Abele could be just following the lead of Walker and refusing to get involved.

It could be that Abele is still having aspirations to run for US Senator against Ron Johnson and is vying for the conservative vote.

Or it could be that Abele has money invested in Indiana and is putting his love of money over the love shared between people.

Whatever his absurd reasoning might be, Abele needs to reconsider his decision and do the right thing and not the Right thing.

Abele Offers Compromise To Robbing Retirees - By Stealing From Them Instead

Last April, Chris Abele sent out more than 200 threatening letters to Milwaukee County retirees, stating that if they didn't pay the county large amounts of money in just days, he was going to go after their pensions.

Abele claimed that the retirees were improperly given too much money in their pensions - or that they shouldn't be receiving a pension at all - due to bad advice given to the retirees by the county itself.

Abele didn't care if it caused the pensioners to lose their homes.  He didn't care that he was ruining their golden years that they had worked for for decades.  He didn't care if it meant that people in their 70s, 80s or even 90s might have to go back to work just to keep themselves fed.

All he cared about was getting his grubby mitts on that money.

The union did what it was supposed to do, which is fight back against this unconscionable act.  But Abele was too afraid to meet with them and ran off and hid.

Even though Abele had promised to come out with more information in the near future, he has strung the retirees on for nine months, leaving them to twist in the wind with anxiety and fear for what would happen to them for the rest of their lives.

Finally, the boy king realized that he put his imperial foot into it and offered "a comprise."  Instead of robbing the retirees, he would just rob them a little less:

Abele is backing away from last year's move to seek millions of dollars in repayments. But going forward, he still wants to reduce future pension payments to some 200 retirees and future retirees because of ordinance violations in the lucrative pension program.

[...]

Under Abele's plan, pension reductions going forward could range widely, from $35 a month to $1,000 a month, according to preliminary estimates.

Beyond the cold, hard figures, there's this: A small number of retirees even would lose their pensions altogether unless they returned to work or found some other way to get pension credit.

That's because, without the extra years of service they purchased under the county program, they would not have qualified for a pension in the first place.

In total, nearly $26 million in overpayments and interest, plus another $10 million in future payouts, are on the line, according to estimates by county actuaries. If the county were to recoup or avoid paying that total, $36 million, it also would return $9 million that county workers paid to buy back the extra pension time.

It doesn't appear that the Milwaukee County Board wants anything to do with Abele's thievery. Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic laid it out short and sweet:

Dimitrijevic on Friday told the Journal Sentinel that Abele's plan, even with its alterations, is "immoral" and exposes the county to costly lawsuits.

"It seems unfair that an employer who made mistakes, now comes back and harms the security of older adults who served the public," she said.

Supervisor Theo Lipscomb also made a statement regarding Abele's boorish plan. The paper did not quote Lipscomb fully, but he did make his full statement available on his Facebook page:

The ordinance changes from the Pension Board fix the errors, have no increased actuarial cost and essentially no legal risk; Abele's proposal has an unknown actuarial impact, appears to be illegal and is out of touch with common sense fairness.

In other words, Abele doesn't even need to go after the retirees. The pension fund has accounted for the money, there is no extra cost to the board's plan and it is legally sound. Abele can't say the same for his scheme. For Abele to still insist on attacking the retirees shows exactly what a petty, vindicate and immature fool he is.

Abele defended his immoral plan with this (emphasis mine):

Immoral? Abele had this to say: "It is morally indefensible to me to not to recover as much as we realistically can and put those millions into the social services for the needy and vulnerable who need it now more than ever."

Abele's statement can be taken a couple different ways.  One, he is just blowing smoke and wants that money to cover for the sweetheart deals for his fellow wealthy elitists.  Or two, he is speaking honestly (as hard as that might be to believe), which means that his grand scheme for the county's mental health system is already running low on money and he wants to fill his budget holes with the retirees' pensions.

Either way, it stinks to high heaven and shouldn't be considered for even a second.

In fact, Abele should be offering profuse public apologies for even bringing it up int he first place, much less for the deplorable way he has handled this whole debacle.

Whether this whole fiasco is due to his daddy issues or not, Abele has shown himself incapable of finding his way out of a paper bag and definitely unfit for public office.

Dan Adams Makes Last Minute Change To Campaign Strategy

Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele convinced Dan Adams (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abele Party) to run for the Assembly District 19 seat, which was opened up when Jon Richards chose to run for Attorney General.  Abele wanted to increase his "sphere of influence" in Madison, because the Teapublicans he was paying off just wasn't enough.

Adams and Abele
So happy smearing together

Adams started running his campaign with a platform of being against potholes and for buy-partisanship.
 Predictably, that agenda did not go over well in one of the most progressive areas of the state.

So the Abele/Adams campaign decided to change their strategy from winning the race to running a "anyone but Marina Dimitrijevic" smear job.

It started a couple of weeks ago when a "concerned citizen" supposedly did an open records request and found that Dimitrijevic didn't use the courthouse parking lot very much.  This "concerned citizen" then leaked this information to members of the corporate media, like Dan Bice and Charlie Sykes, who exclaimed that this showed she wasn't working hard enough!

Of course, this was nonsense. Being a county supervisor is hardly a 9-5 office job.  Dimitrijevic is well known for being in the community a lot, holding hundreds of town hall meetings and attending numerous events.  Also, Dimitrijevic is known for being a big supporter of the transit system and often rides the bus.  For people to jump to such silly conclusions without doing basic research is simply irresponsible.

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

It turns out that the "concerned citizen," Joe Trawitzki, didn't actually do the open records request.  That was done by Attorney Sam Hall, who is a supporter of Adams.

So not only Adams tried to smear Dimitrijevic, he also tried to cover up his role in the dirty deed.

A few days later, Bruce Murphy of the blog Urban Milwaukee, who has been a long time fan of all things Abele, launched a screed against Dimitrijevic, accusing her of "sheer ambition."  Although it's hard to tell what Murphy is angry about, it appears that he is upset because she would leave her job as a county supervisor if she wins the election.  Murphy apparently wasn't aware of this and took away one of his attack points, although he sure tried to use it anyway.

I must add that I am disappointed in Murphy's choice of words.  All too often, when a woman politician seeks higher office, people use words like "sheer ambition," which they never would use for a man doing the same thing.  Then again, this isn't the first time that Team Abele has shown misogyny towards Dimitrijevic.  His mouthpiece, Brendan Conway, referred to Dimitrijevic as a "mean girl," something for which Abele's office still needs to apologize.  Abele also attacked Dimitrijevic, saying she was only concerned about not getting paid as much.  He did this on Equal Pay Day, an event to draw attention to the fact that women don't get paid as much as men.

The Abele Party's attack on Dimitrijevic when used the Greater Milwaukee Committee's PAC, Forward Milwaukee County, to send out this ridiculous flier:

There is so much wrong with this flier, it's hard to know where to begin.  Heck, it's difficult to just get past the immaturity and poor quality of the flier.

They obviously are so desperate to keep Dimitrijevic and couldn't find suitable headlines to support their baseless attacks that they had to make up their own headlines and cherry pick the quotes used.

I have no clue as to why they chose to add Jonathan Brostoff to be a victim of their pettiness.  Brostoff hasn't been with the county for years and even when he was a county worker, he was a legislative aide to Chris Larson, and never an elected official.

I should also note that Forward Milwaukee County has had done Abele's bidding before, even if it meant breaking the law and sending emails to county workers and officials at their county email addresses, telling them out to vote on the red herring referendum last spring.

All of this negativity, immaturity, misogyny and out right lying show that neither Adams nor Abele or really fit for public office.

That said, I also want to congratulate Dimitrijevic and her two other opponents, Brostoff and Sara Geenen, for running positive campaigns focused on their own qualifications and agendas and not responding to the mud being flung by the Abele/Adams campaign.

At least Abele has dropped the fallacious line about this not being personal.  It's obviously very personal for him.

That is why, while I am supporting Dimitrijevic in this race, I won't be disappointed if either Brostoff or Geenen would win.

Abele Takes A (Web)Page From Walker's Play Book

Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele wants to expand his "sphere of influence." To do so, he has been buying off what politicians he can and if one is not for sale, he is running his own hand-picked candidates like Dan Abele Adams,  

However, Abele wants Adams to win not just to gain another sockpuppet in Madison but also to keep Milwaukee County Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic out (but remember, it's not personal).  Unfortunately for the Abele Party, Adams isn't doing very well.  He isn't performing well in the debates.  To add to their woes, polling done by the conservative/Greater Milwaukee Committee/Abele Party front group, Forward Milwaukee County, must not have produced the numbers they were looking for.

Abele, realizing just how bad his numbers are, and with two years to go before he is up for reelection, has taken a page out of Scott Walker's playbook - namely, using county property for political purposes.

Abele recently had his county emperor web page updated.  The new web page doesn't have a simple mission statement or helpful information like most county executive web pages do.  Instead, Abele's county web page reads more like the bio page of a political campaign site.

Not only is Abele's web page highly politicized, it is chock full of factual errors and a few grammatical mistakes as well.

As an example of how politicized the page is, looked at this line:

As a lifelong Democrat, Abele is proud to support Democrats across the state and country, but he is also proud to reach beyond political labels and across the aisle to achieve the outcomes that serve the people of Milwaukee County. As County Executive, he’s used his platform to try and bring civility back to politics by asking decision makers to set their differences aside and focus on getting things done.

Also note the irony of that paragraph.  Apparently, he considers trying to frame county supervisors and running smear attacks against the board in general and some members in specific as being "civil."

Abele then uses his county campaign page to promote what he considers to be his two greatest "accomplishments."

One is the privatization of the mental health system.  He boasts that he has taken politics out of the system while omitting the fact that the board consists of his own political appointees who were fired from the county in disgrace.

What Abele did take out of the mental health system is the public.  Although the newly created board of political appointees overseeing the privatization of the system has public meetings, the public is not allowed to have any input into it. 

We'll see how long that lasts.

The other thing that Abele thinks is a great selling point for himself is Act 14, the law he had drafted by a silk stocking law firm and rammed through by State Representative Joe Sanfelippo, in order to eviscerate the county board and concentrate power in Abele's hands.  This way, he didn't have to worry about the will of the people getting in the way because of the quaint idea of representative government.

It must have been a shock to his system when he finally realized that the people weren't welcoming as Dear Leader and were willing to give up to their independence to his obvious superiority.  Obviously he was the Wise One because he had all that money that his daddy gave him.  Even if Abele didn't live up to his father's expectations, he was still better than a mere lay person.

Perhaps if Abele corrected the errata in this piece and put it on his campaign page where it belongs, he might be able to convince one or two people that he is a good guy.  But as it is, it is only a confusing and misleading bit of propaganda at a place it does not belong and not helpful to anyone, even himself.

That's Not Debatable

In the Milwaukee area, with two weeks to the primary election, there were two very important debates scheduled for Tuesday night.

Chris Moews

One debate was for the candidates running for Milwaukee County Sheriff.  Somehow, the incompetent failed to show for the debate.  Apparently, he's not interested in keeping his job since he is so willing to insult the voters and/or so afraid of  his opponent, Chris Moews.
incumbent, David Clarke,

At least it gave Moews the chance to shine and show that he is easily the better choice.

The other debate was between the candidates for Assembly District 19, which include Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic, Jonathan Brostoff, Sara Geenen and Abele Party Candidate Dan Adams.

Marina Dimitrijevic

It has been reported to me that Dimitrijevic was very polished and presented herself very well.  Likewise,
Brostoff showed that he is no slouch and also did well for himself.  Geenen appeared to be very intelligent but timid.

That said, it was Dan Abele Adams that provided the comedic relief for the evening.  Not did he only prove himself to be a dyed-in-the-wool Abelebot, but spent a great deal of time trying to convince the audience he really is a Democrat.  Between that and trying to justify Act 14, which concentrated power in Milwaukee County in Chris Abele's inept hands, he had members of the audience laughing at him.

Here's a pro tip for Abele-Adams: If you're running for office in one of the most progressive districts in the state and you have to waste time trying to convince people that you're really a Democrat two weeks before the primary, you've got serious problems.

Endorsement: Marina Dimitrijevic For Assembly District 19

It was apparent from the beginning that the race for Assembly District 19, which became an open seat as Jon Richards set off to run for Attorney General, would be a most interesting race.  There are four Democrats, three of which would make wonderful representatives for that district.

During the past several weeks, I have been tracking the race and watching how the candidates fared.

Marina Dimitrijevic

By and far, Dimitrijevic was the candidate to beat throughout the race.  She entered the race early with an established campaign machine and was easily the most recognizable name due to her ten years on the Milwaukee County Board and currently the Chairwoman of that entity.  I did an interview with her at the end of last year, which you can read here.

Marina Dimitrijevic

She also started out with a very impressive list of endorsements.  On the political side, she was quickly endorsed by U.S. Representative Gwen Moore, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Former Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton and Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinski, to name just a few.  Likewise, Dimitrijevic also picked up the endorsements of most of the major unions including AFSCME, SEIU, the nurses' union, the sheriff's deputies, AFT, ATU and a number of others.

Recently, Dimitrijevic has also earned the support of Clean Wisconsin Action, Wisconsin Progress and the Wisconsin Gazette.

Dimitrijevic has run a good solid campaign, doing a lot of doors and a lot of phone banking.  Most notably, she has ran a positive campaign, focusing on her own achievements and what she brings to the table when she is elected.

Jonathan Brostoff

I also did an interview with Jonathan Brostoff at the end of last year.  Brostoff is the candidate that presents the largest challenge to Dimitrijevic.  He is an experienced campaigner, although this is his first go at it as the candidate.

Brostoff has many political connections, which reflects in his list of endorsements.  The politicians that are supporting Brostoff aren't quite the heavy hitters that Dimitrijevic has behind her, but are not to be taken lightly either.  That said, I do have to wonder how many of those endorsements have to do with the fact that Brostoff's boss is State Senator Chris Larson, who is also the minority leader of the Senate.  One thing missing from Brostoff's list of endorsements is any from unions or community groups.

Brostoff has been busting his tail, and probably more than a few pairs of shoes, doing doors in all sorts of weather.  Brostoff has also been very creative in his fundraising events, which have ranged from a "salsa social" to a karaoke event to laser tag.

Sadly, Brostoff, who had been running a positive campaign, has gone negative against Dimitrijevic, accusing her of supporting the whackadoodle Sheriff David Clarke.  What he is referencing is the Milwaukee County Board's action of restoring scores of deputy sheriff positions which Chris Abele had cut in this year's budget, thereby restoring good paying jobs for some of the county's finest men and women and maintaining public safety.

Sara Geenen

Sara Geenen was the first to announce her candidacy for this race.  Geenen is a labor lawyer for the Previant Law Firm and volunteers with the Milwaukee Public School System. I also had the opportunity to interview her at the end of last year, which can be read here.

Geenen is a very intelligent woman and would be a great asset to the fight against the many repressive and oppressive measures that have been and will be introduced by the Republicans.  Unfortunately for her, Geenen does not have the money or name recognition of Dimitrijevic or Brostoff.  She has not gained any political endorsements but does have the support of some private sector unions which are very passionate about her candidacy.

While I don't think Geenen will win this race, I hope she continues to stay in politics and runs again for another seat in the future.

Dan Adams

Dan Abele Adams is not as much as Democratic candidate as he is one for the Abele Party.  I have noted before that Adams and Chris Abele are very close.  Abele has held no less than four fundraisers for Adams and has given Adams a lot of support, both directly and indirectly.

Outside of Abele, Adams has not gained any significant endorsements and for good reason.

Adams has come out in favor of voucher schools and stated that he supports parts of Act 10.  Based on the two videos that he was able to produce, thanks to Abele's largesse, we do know that he is strongly opposed to potholes.and very much in favor of buy-partisanship.  He has shown himself to be the true plutocratic sock puppet by endorsing anything and everything that benefits the one 1% as well as things that would harm our most vulnerable citizens.

Judging from the word on the street, I don't want to say that Adams is doing poorly in this race, but if it weren't for Abele's money, he would have already given his concession speech.

Endorsement

As I had noted in the interviews that I had done last year, I was not sure who I would endorse in this race or if I would even endorse anyone.  Even now, I feel that Dimitrijevic, Brostoff and Geenen would make a good representative for the people in AD 19.

That said, it is undeniable that Dimitrijevic's long history of supporting unions, marriage equality, women's rights, voter's rights, accessible health care for all, the environment and sustainable energy gives her a hand up on the other candidates.  Add to that the fact that she is very familiar with how the likes of Scott Walker operates and has a proven track record on countering his malfeasance and has run a very positive campaign also gives her the edge of being the best candidate for the people of AD 19.

It is for these reasons, and many others, that I have proud to endorse Marina Dimitrijevic.

To learn more about Dimitrijevic, please visit her website and her Facebook page.  And if you are able to donate, please do so, because even though she is the best candidate, she still has to deal with all of the money that Abele is pouring into this race and attacking her on multiple levels.

Meet Marina Dimitrijevic - Candidate for Assembly District 19

For years, Assembly District 19 has been ably represented by Jon Richards. Now that Richards has decided to run for Attorney General, his seat has become an open one.  Fortunately for the people in AD 19, they have a great slate of candidates to chose from to be Richard's successor.

Marina Dimitrijevic

One of those candidates is Marina Dimitrijevic.

I have had the pleasure and privilege of knowing Dimitrijevic for almost ten years, since she was first elected as the Milwaukee County Supervisor for the Bay View area and in her current role as Chairwoman of the Milwaukee County Board.

I had the opportunity to interview Dimitrijevic earlier today to discuss her campaign and the race in general.

The first question I asked is why she chose to jump into the race.

Dimitrijevic said that the state is "absolutely out of control" and that she is angry with the constant attacks on workers, women, the LGBT community and on local control.  She said that she wants to take her experience to Madison and turn things around.  She added that the state legislature has been so destructive that she can't take it anymore and feels the need to take a more direction in reversing this.

I pointed out that this race was a progressive's dream in that some very qualified and progressive candidates in the race.  I also pointed out that she has a distinct advantage over her opponents due to her name recognition and that she has had three very successful campaigns

Dimitrijevic said that she has a lot of respect for her opponents and is looking forward to a positive, competitive race. She also said that she is not taking anything for granted, pointing out that her last opponent for her seat on the county board outspent her 4:1.

Dimitrijevic also said that she feels that she is the best candidate due to her experience and proven record.  She said that she understands what is important to her constituents and has delivered on those issues.  She feels that she is a "proven champion" of the people and would be "ready on day one" to start working on these issues.

Dimitrijevic proudly pointed out that she was the author of the domestic partner benefits resolution and worked with County Executive Chris Abele to get it passed.  She also pointed to her work on authoring green legislation which has not only increased the county's environmental sustainability, but also saved county taxpayers millions of dollars.  She also said that she has spent the last decade standing up for workers against two executives who have been very hostile towards the county employees.

Dimitrijevic summed it up by saying that it's one thing to just say that one is in support of something, but she also delivers on it.

Dimitrijevic said that it was her proven record of delivering on her promises that has earned her many prominent endorsements, including those of Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Mayor Tom Barrett.  Dimitrijevic also proudly pointed out that she has the endorsement of many unions, including SEIU, American Federation of Teachers Local 212, the nurses' union, the firefighters and the deputy sheriff's union.

As an exclusive to Cog Dis, Dimitrijevic also confirmed that she has received the endorsement from AFSCME.

She also wanted to note that for five consecutive years, readers of the Shepherd Express has voted her to be the best county supervisor.  She emphasized again that this was due to her ability to follow through and deliver on what she says.

Dimitrijevic said that her top issues include:

• Environmental sustainability
• Equal rights
• Marriage equality, saying she wanted to get the state caught up with a growing number of other states and legalize marriage for all people.
• Workers' rights
• Job creation - specifically good, family supporting jobs
• Education

Dimitrijevic said that education is one of her most passionate issues. To explain why, she went on to share a very personal story which she said that I could share with the gentle reader.

She said that her parents immigrated to the United States from Serbia and settled in the South Side of Milwaukee, where she has lived her entire life.  She said that it was the Milwaukee public schools that she attended that taught her to be fluent in Spanish and exposed her to music and to the arts.  She also said that when her family hit financial hard times, it was the schools that made sure she was fed.

She said that she found that Scott Walker's cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from public education and siphoning even more to privatized schools to be unacceptable.  She said that not only does she want to reverse this and restore funding for public schools, but wants to start universal pre-kindergarten classes throughout the state which would be funded by the state.

She pointed out that many other states are already doing this, as are many European countries.  She points out that numerous studies have shown that a child learns things the best while they are very young.  She feels we need to catch up with the curve to give our children a fair chance of succeeding later in their lives.

I would point out that Dimitrijevic has had seven years of experience of dealing with Scott Walker while she has been on the County Board.  Just like State Senator Chris Larson, who was also a county supervisor, she knows how Walker thinks and has proven herself to be an effective in dealing with his attacks.

Dimitrijevic has been married for 5 years and has 3 stepchildren.  Dimitrijevic proudly noted that her husband, Eduardo, is very supportive of her campaign and is the hardest worker on the campaign, bringing his experience and enthusiasm from working in politics in his home country of Uruguay.

You can learn more about Dimitrijevic by visiting her website and her Facebook page.

I have not decided who I will endorse - or if I will even endorse anyone - in this race.  That said, I can say with confidence that were Dimitrijevic were to win this race, I am confident that she would very ably represent the people of AD 19 and would not disappoint them in the job she would do.

Irrefutable Evidence That Chris Moews Would Make A Better Sheriff Than David Clarke

Just about everyone in Milwaukee County knows that there is a three way power struggle going on in county government.

Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele hates the County Board, especially Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic.  Abele also hates Sheriff David Clarke.  His hatred has caused him to usurp power from the County Board and to try to cut the Sheriff's budget and staff to irresponsibly low levels.

At the same time, Clarke has shown his hatred towards the Board and towards Abele by issuing immature, reckless and offensive press releases.

Meanwhile, the County Board has been increasingly forced to be the adults in a room and keeping Abele and Clarke from ruining the county with their ego trips.  For this, Abele and Clarke have only stepped up their assaults and insults.

Obviously, the county would benefit greatly from a new county executive and a new sheriff.

The bad news is that - short of a recall - we are stuck with Abele until 2016.

The good news is that we can rid ourselves of Clarke in 2014.  The better news is we have a very viable and much more qualified candidate in Chris Moews.

Not only would Moews be a more effective law enforcement official, but he could also help the entire county government by being able to work with both Abele and the County Board.

And for proof, look at this picture, courtesy of his campaign's Facebook page:

Yes, I know Abele looks like he just swallowed a live toad, but the fact is Moews got him to pose in the same picture with Dimitrijevic.

You would never get Clarke to pose with either Dimitrijevic or Abele much less both of them at the same time.

A higher level of public safety and less drama in the courthouse are more than enough reason why we need to support Chris Moews for Milwaukee County Sheriff!

Remember, It's Not Personal

In what is shaping up to be one of the more interesting races in 2014 is the Democratic primary for Assembly District 19, which is becoming an open seat as Jon Richards pursues the Attorney General spot.  It is a rare occasion where the voters have a plentiful cornucopia of good, solid, progressive Democrats to choose from, something I wondered if I would ever see again.

The first candidate to announce was Sara Geenen, who works as a labor attorney.  She also serves on the board for 9to5, per her campaign Facebook page.

The biggest name in the race, both literally and figuratively, is Marina Dimitrijevic, who announced her candidacy a few weeks ago.  Dimitrijevic is currently the Chairwoman of the Milwaukee County Board.

It is expected that Jonathan Brostoff, aide to State Senator Chris Larson, is expected to make an announcement soon regarding entering the race as well.

Political and social activist Jason Rae had considered a run but chose not to jump in after all.

Like I said, it is a progressive's dream to have such a slate to choose from.  All of them are in support equal rights, the environment and the working class.

There is also another candidate that has announced for the race - Dan Adams.  Precious little is known about Adams other than he went from being an assistant prosecutor to the more lucrative field of being a defense attorney.

The other thing we know about Adams is that Chris Abele is supporting him:

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is backing attorney Dan Adams for the same east side Assembly seat being sought by County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic.

Both are running as Democrats for the seat long held by Rep. Jon Richards, who wants to run for attorney general next year.

Abele’s endorsement was announced Tuesday by Adams, who quoted Abele saying he admired Adams for “his steadfast commitment to choosing the public good over political grandstanding.”

Now remember, Abele has always said that there is nothing personal when it comes to his war on the County Board, on the workers, on the county's most vulnerable citizens and against democracy.

So the fact that he chose to endorse the least pro-labor, the most pro-business candidate is not personal.  The fact that he took a personal swipe at Dimitrijevic and is behind a smear campaign against her is not personal.

The fact that Dimitrijevic led the Board to stand up to Abele's plutocracy and had the audacity to tell Abele no has nothing to do with his actions.

Nope, nothing personal about it at all.

MJS Tells Abele To Sign War Memorial Deal

Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele is losing his war against veterans and art lovers.

Poor darling.

Abele haz a sad.  He haz to grow up.
Photo by Mike De Sista

When the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and Milwaukee Art Museum had reached an apparent impasse in negotiations, Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic brought in former Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske to mediate.  She managed to get all the parties involved to reach an agreement.

However, Abele, being the acolyte of austerity that he is, made it clear that he would rather push the veterans into the lake.  He called the deal "bullshit."  He tried to sabotage the deal.  When he realized that he was the odd man out on this - and after he spent months crapping on the county board - he suddenly wanted to compromise.  Maybe he'd settle for just pushing some of the veterans into the lake.

Thank goodness that the adults in the room - the county board - held fast and stayed the course for doing what is right.

Now even the distinctly Abele-friendly editorial board at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is telling Abele to grow up and sign the deal already:

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele seems to have run out of options on a deal for a new governance structure and fiscal support for the War Memorial and the Milwaukee Art Museum. He has asked County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic to compromise on the deal so that it would provide less public support over a shorter period of time, but she has said the deal approved 18-0 by the board last month already is a compromise. He has threatened a veto, but that 18-0 vote practically guarantees an override vote by supervisors.

Furthermore, a veto would only prolong this fight for a few more weeks and could unnecessarily delay implementation of a $25 million renovation plan. To move matters forward and in the interest of county amity, Abele should simply sign the deal.

Like Abele, we would have preferred a different deal — but we can live with this one, worked out over 18 months with the help of Marquette University professor and former Supreme Court justice Janine Geske, who was brought in by Dimitrijevic to help resolve some key differences.

The deal does create a better balanced and more efficient governance structure between the two bodies, as well as several other entities that were under the War Memorial umbrella, such as the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. It also provides a set funding level of taxpayer support for the two entities at $1,586,000 for 10 years — about $1.1 million for the Art Museum and the rest for the War Memorial.

Much of that money will be used to help pay for utility costs and routine maintenance at the War Memorial, which has been deteriorating. Coupled with $10 million pledged by the county for major maintenance issues and the $15 million the Art Museum plans to spend on a major renovation, the funding will help restore the War Memorial to a building in which all county residents can take pride.

The guaranteed 10-year support and partnership with the county may also help reassure donors that their money will be well-spent, as Dimitrijevic has argued.

Furthermore, the nearly $1.6 million is not out of line with the average $1.5 million in annual support the county provided from 1999 to this year.

So the deal makes sense on several levels, and prolonging a hopeless political fight over the issue appears fruitless.

The fact that Abele still hasn't signed the deal and that even the paper has to scold him into doing so shows that Abele has a lot of growing to do - both personally and professionally.

It also shows that despite what his ghost writers (yes, there is more than one) would have you believe, Abele's concern does not lie with the people of Milwaukee County, but rather how he and his plutocratic pals can exploit it.

Oh sure, NOW Abele Wants To Compromise

For months, the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and the Milwaukee Art Museum had been at odds regarding the space that they share.  Years of neglect had left their shared building in horrible shape and in need of millions of dollars of repairs.

In order to allow the two entities to reach an agreement, the Milwaukee County Board asked former
Supreme Court Justice Jeanine Geske to step in and mediate between the two.  This agreement was finally reached to the point where all sides were satisfied.

Well, almost all sides.

True to his nature, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele started throwing one of his tantrums and threatened to blow up the agreement out of his hostility towards the County Board.

Undaunted by Abele's spoiled brat routine, the County Board approved the agreement in an unanimous vote.  Abele decried this and said that this support for the veterans and for the art community to be "bullshit."

But now Abele has found that his foolish posturing and inane temper tantrums have put him in a corner on this issue.

If Abele signs the agreement, he will look weak and ineffective to his plutocratic pals at the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

On the other hand, if Abele vetoes the agreement, that is sure to be overridden, probably unanimously. This will not only make Abele look weak and ineffective, it will also show his pettiness.

So with his back to the wall, Abele now wants to compromise:

In the face of an almost-certain veto override, Abele suggested in an email to County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic Friday that she work with him on a compromise figure and a shorter guaranteed funding period.

"If we could do this, perhaps we could even find money to spend on actual services for veterans," Abele wrote.

You'll never guess what Abele did when County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said that he should just do the right thing and sign off on the agreement.

That's right!

Abele through another tantrum:

"She can talk all she wants on harmony," Abele said, reacting to Dimitrijevic's urging Abele to agree with the board's stance. "I sent her an email and asked about compromise on this and haven't heard back from her."

As Dimitrijevic points out, this agreement is already a compromise between all the parties. The only person against it is Abele. His refusal to just suck it up and do the right thing, even if he doesn't want to, is another sign of his immaturity and the fact that - like the overgrown child he is - cannot stand being told no.

Not only his Abele's tantrum an insult to veterans and to the art community, it's an insult to every voter in the county.

Just a few months ago, as Abele was actively pursuing his power grab through Act 14, the County Board offered him a compromise, which was them ceding almost everything he wanted anyway.  Even though Abele would have gotten almost everything he wanted, he refused to accept this compromise, saying it wasn't enough.

But now that the shoe is on the other foot, Abele has suddenly seen the light and is a fan of compromise.

I personally wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw the burned-out courthouse.

For the record, Abele's opposition to supporting the vets isn't related to his adoration of austerity - at least not completely.  Abele has a much more cynical use the War Memorial Center and art museum.  He wants to lump those - along with the public museum and possibly the zoo - into a group to push for a "cultural-based sales tax," most of which would be used to build a new basketball arena.

By having a long term agreement where the county is providing long term support for these two entities puts a definite kink in those plans.

And Abele really wants to watch the Bucks in his the new arena.

Hours Against Hate

From the inbox:

MILWAUKEE COUNTY BOARD CHAIRWOMAN MARINA DIMITRIJEVIC JOINS “HOURS AGAINST HATE” CAMPAIGN
Pledge-Signing Event Slated for July 11 at 9to5 Offices

(MILWAUKEE) – Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic will join a global initiative to help promote respect across lines of culture, religion, tradition, class, sexual orientation and gender by participating in the Hours Against Hate campaign. The organization’s goal is to recruit five hundred individuals to commit one hour toward fighting bigotry.

Dimitrijevic will sign the pledge July 11 and work the phones for 9to5 to promote a July 17 “Know Your Rights” training session and the community canvass 9to5 will sponsor on July 13.

“Wage discrimination is unacceptable, and it is a form of discrimination against all women,” Dimitrijevic said. “Joining Hours Against Hate and 9to5 in fighting discrimination is one way we can help to end the injustice of wage theft and bias against women. Discrimination against women is a form of hate, and we must fight to end it.”

Conceived from a Facebook campaign started by the U.S. Department of State in 2011, the message of Hours Against Hate is simple in its power: Pledge support of those who don’t look like you, pray like you, love like you or live like you.

“We ask everyone who is outraged by hate to pledge an hour to help end it,” Dimitrijevic said. “We won’t tell you how to spend your hour. We simply ask that you take action.”

Chantia Lewis, a grassroots member of 9to5 and mother of two, said pay discrimination is pervasive in the US and in Wisconsin. 9to5 is one of the largest, most respected national membership organizations of working women in the U.S., dedicated to putting working women’s issues on the public agenda. 

“Women earned 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, and the gap for women of color is even greater.” Lewis said, "As working women, we need to know our rights, demand fair treatment, and support one another in standing up for equality."

Elana Kahn, director of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council, said Hours Against Hate is one small way in which hatred can be defeated. The mission of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation is to ensure the continuity of the Jewish people, to enhance the quality of Jewish life and to build a strong unified Jewish community in Milwaukee, in Israel and throughout the world. The Jewish Federation is sponsor of the program.

“This is a program that engages everyone,” Kahn said. “We want to build a stronger, more tolerant world, and Hours Against Hate is one way with which we can help increase understanding of those who are different from ourselves.”

Individuals can join the campaign at www.hoursagainsthate.org.

A kick-off event, which is open to all members of the community, will take place at 2:30 p.m. on July 11 at the 9to5 headquarters, 207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 211. Chairwoman Dimitrijevic will be joined at the event by Kahn of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and Vickers of 9to5.

Chairwoman Dimitrijevic is the youngest woman in history to serve as Board Chair and only the second woman to serve in that role. She also has the distinction of being the youngest woman ever elected County Supervisor when she was first elected in 2004.

It is my understanding that Emperor Chris Abele felt that this was a political stunt against him. He then admitted that he also believed that the universe rotated around him.

Abele's Tantrums Over Firing Of Corrupt Corp Counsel

Two months ago, Cory Liebmann reported on an email he found from Kimberly Walker, the then head of Milwaukee County's Corporation Counsel, in which she solicited County Emperor Chris Abele to send all emails through her in order to circumvent open record requests:

"Please see the following below... my two-cents worth.  FYI - trying to play this forward in my mind.  With the exception of my email, this email string will not be exempt from open records requests.  Should you wish to preclude its disclosure, please send additional comments, revisions etc., only to me with the names of others who should see it, and I can forward. Just a thought."

Walker's suggestion to avoid open records requests is not unlike when Tim Russell installed  a secret router and email system so that Scott Walker's staff could do illegal campaigning without fear of being found out.

This solicitation to commit a crime was compounded by her failing to perform her job adequately and giving faulty legal advice.

Despite the failings, the unethical and illegal behavior, Abele never saw fit to correct the situation.  If anything, he encouraged and enabled it to continue.  (And Abele wonders why people refer to him as "Walker Lite" and "Lil Walker.")

The inevitable result was that the Milwaukee County Board had to be the adults and voted to terminate Walker's service.

This caused Emperor Abele to have a major temper tantrum and hissy fit.

First he called upon the Imperial Ghost Writer, Aaron Rodriguez, to attack the County Board, and especially Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic.  Rodriguez' effort was a predictable failure.  The best that Rodriguez could come up with was to the effect that they hired a law firm where the janitor's sister's boyfriend's babysitter's aunt's ex-husbands stepdaughter's dog gave a donation to Dimitrijevic six years ago.

Rodriguez also tried to ignite some selective outrage by pointing out that the law firm that Board would contract with had a Blue Fist on their webpage.  The horror of it all!

 His rant about that reminded me of this famous scene from the movie "Animal House":



And in accordance with Abele's and Rodriguez' hypocritical nature, there was no mention that Abele and his plutocratic pals at the Greater Milwaukee Committee had hired the union busting silk-stocking law firm of Foley and Lardner. Foley and Lardner is the Abele equivalent of Scott Walker's Michael Best and Friedrich.

Gaining no traction with Rodriguez, Emperor Abele then turned to his own bought and paid for supervisor, Deanna Alexander.

Shortly after the firing, Alexander shot off a press release filled with unsupported and unsubstantiated allegations of having "secret meetings" and making sure that no one told Alexander.  It is not clear at this time whether Alexander wrote this release or if it was another production by Brendan Conway, Abele's spokesperson.

Now it is being reported that Alexander, through the Bradley Foundation's Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, has filed a complaint with the Milwaukee County District Attorney, the state's Attorney General and corporations counsel's office. (Oh, no conflict of interest there!)  The complaint alleged that Supervisor Theo Lipscomb, who originated the movement to fire Walker, and the other supervisors had violated the open meeting laws.

Not once did it occur to any of these fools that Lipscomb might have done what any supervisor would have done and met with the other supervisors on a one to one basis, which is perfectly legal.

Make no doubt about it - this move by Alexander and the other sockpuppets is for no reason other than to try to scare the supervisors into switching their votes and upholding Abele's veto of the firing.

It should be noted that many people have stated that Alexander is over her head on this stuff, which she found out today when Supervisor Gerry Broderick issued his own press release with some interesting questions in it:

Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Gerry Broderick said today that Supervisor Deanna Alexander was disingenuous in filing an open meetings complaint against 13 members of the Board because she herself secretly met with colleagues in seeking the removal of Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic.

The Board fired Corporation Counsel Kimberly Walker last week in a 13-5 vote that Alexander said was “irrational.” The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a complaint on Alexander’s behalf on June 21.

“I can’t help wondering if Supervisor Alexander had these same concerns in mind last month when she set about meeting behind closed doors with colleagues intent upon unseating Chairwoman Dimitrijevic,” Broderick said. “Shouldn’t her failed coup attempt be subject to the same level of scrutiny as the successful dismissal of Corporate Counsel Kimberly Walker? Or is there a politically convenient double standard being applied here?”

Broderick also questioned who was paying for the attorneys involved in the complaint.

“Is she paying for this out of her own pocket? Because that’s what she should be doing,” Broderick said. “If she is getting free legal advice, then she is engaging in unethical, if not illegal, behavior as a public official.”

It will be interesting to see if Alexander has suddenly become expendable to Emperor Abele, who has a long track record of abandoning friends.

Lastly, for now anyway, the sour and boorish Sheldon Lubar, who is one of Abele's fellow plutocrats at GMC, shows his true nature by some very bitter and acidic personal attacks on both Dimitrijevic and Lipscomb in a tantrum that rivals one of Abele's. It must be a plutocrat thing:

In a letter to Lipscomb, Lubar said "you and the rest of your mindless plotters of 13 supervisors should be ashamed of yourselves" for working to oust Corporation Counsel Kimberly Walker. The board voted 13-5 to fire her, with no debate.

[...]

In an interview, Lubar criticized Dimitrijevic as "a child... She has no maturity." He compared her unfavorably to her predecessor as chairman, Lee Holloway.

It truly is amazing to see the way these plutocrats act when they are told no. It's also very disappointing that Abele and his apologists act when the person saying no is a strong woman like Dimitrijevic. Their bigotry and misogyny really shines through.

In an effort to sum up the oddness and inanity of the situation, Kimberly Walker was inept, unethical and dishonest.  As a result, she rightfully lost her job.  In a pique of rage, the elitist and arrogant Chris Abele has made his friends, apologists and minions look like fools and boors, possibly gotten them into their own legal trouble.  To top it off, the person that Abele and minions were trying to defend, will have her own name dragged through the mud as her behaviors are made more public than a blog.

The only thing missing from this circus is the clowns at Citizens for Responsible Government issuing their empty threats of recalls.

All in all, Abele should have done as he did with Patrick Farley and just tried to sweep this all under the rug while he was behind.  But by not choosing his battles wisely, he has made things much more difficult for himself and his dwindling allies.

There But For The Grace Of God Go We

In the beginning of May, my wife went to her primary physician. The appointment was to address some of the routine things that can happen to a person as they get older.

Or so we thought.

During the appointment, the doctor ordered X-rays of my wife's chest due to my wife having a lot of congestion.

The Friday before last, the doctor called and told us that the X-rays showed a spot on one of her lungs.

As the doctor gave us the name and number to an oncologist, my mind was reeling.  My wife had cancer twice in the mid-1990s, but had beat it both times.  She is also about the age my mother was when she was diagnosed with cancer.

We called the oncologist and got an appointment for the first thing Monday morning.  That was the longest weekend of my life as I tried to keep my imagination from getting carried away.

I'll spare the gentle reader the details of the whirlwind of scheduling appointments, more tests and more scans, and the nonverbal language of the oncologist giving the tell that she was already thinking of treatment options.

The big news was that the tumor was thankfully not cancer.

As I spent the weekend waiting for Monday and then spent the beginning of the week waiting as my wife was poked and prodded and dyed and had all sorts of tests and scans done, I did a lot of thinking.  What else is there to do in a hospital waiting area?

The most frequent thought I had was how glad I was to have a job with relatively decent benefits.  If not for the insurance, my wife might not have had the X-rays done, the spot might not have been found.  I silently thanked by union brothers and sisters who had fought so hard to get us these things and appreciated them all the more.

For without the insurance through my job, we might have had to go with Badger Care, like many of the poor, the working poor and Walmart employees (but I repeat myself).  But with the way that Scott Walker has been screwing up by the numbers with first Badger Care and now with Walkercare, odds are my wife wouldn't have any resources that way.

She might have been able to access free screenings, like those offered at Planned Parenthood, but Walker and his Teapubligoons went after them and made sure that they couldn't help the poor either.  After all, who would want to save a life or anything?

Another frequent thought was that of gratitude to the Milwaukee County Board, led by Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic.  I realize that this might sound odd, but there is a very solid reason for it.

When the county was going through the crafting of the 2013 budget. one of the major issues that Milwaukee County Executive Emperor Chris Abele and the County Board were at odds was that regarding employee benefits.

Abele wanted to give workers a 3% raise, but completely eliminate the health savings account and raise employee contributions to 29%.  The Board restored the HSA and cut the contribution to 25%.  They also cut the raise to 1.5%.  It was the same amount of money either way, but the Board's method offered a greater potential of savings as well as balanced it a little better for the workers (although we took a hit either way - losing over another thousand in take home pay).

Because the Board's version won out at the end, I was able to focus on supporting my wife instead of trying to find money we don't have or finding a bankruptcy attorney or having to give up everything just get her the care she needed.

As I wrote above, we were most fortunate that the scare was just that - only a scare.  Even with the "Cadillac" insurance we have, if it had been anything more than a scare, it would have sent us over our own personal fiscal cliff.

Yet, even though we are one major illness from bankruptcy, we are one of the "lucky ones."

There are tens of thousands of Wisconsinites that are not receiving the necessary and proper health care and have nowhere to turn now.  And the only reason for this is the greed and malfeasance of Walker, his Teapubligoons in the legislature and their corporate overlords.

Until these wrongs are righted, I am rededicating myself to the fight, not just for health care, but for all the evils that Walker and his ilk have visited upon our once great state.  I hope that the gentle reader will remember what we are fighting for and once again pick up the fight as well.

I would also be remiss if I ended this without giving a large shout out of thanks to all of our family, friends and coworkers who gave us an overwhelming amount of emotional support during this scare.

Chairwoman Dimitrijevic's Statement Regarding Usurpation Of Milwaukee County

The following is the statement from Milwaukee County Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic regarding the plutocratic usurpation of Milwaukee County:

The bill signing is taking place in Milwaukee County when the state legislative committees that heard this bill – which targets Milwaukee County – never held a single public hearing here. The County Board, on the other hand, held local listening sessions all over the county where a clear message was heard that residents preferred local reforms over state-mandated change. The County Executive chose to ignore the residents of our county who preferred local reforms. Instead, he worked closely with outside interests to give himself more power. There will be many challenges in the implementation of this poorly written bill as a result of the state micro-managing a local government with no local input. Many counties across the state opposed the bill.

We all know what happened here. This is an attack on the legislative branch of the most diverse county in the State of Wisconsin. The bill aims to destroy the legislative branch and attempts to reduce the power of the people. AB 85 consolidates power into one person’s hands, the County Executive. This consolidation of power is dangerous and undemocratic because it reduces the checks and balances in government.

This is not about the County Executive or me. It is about the people of Milwaukee County. Generations to come will be affected by this bill. The County Board will do its best with what has been forced onto us by the state to represent the people on important services like transit, parks and mental health. We will stand up and protect the interests of Milwaukee County.

This will be bad - far worse than anything Walker did during his eight years as county executive. And we will be here to make sure that the people are aware of it, since the corporate media won't report it.

On a side note, I wish we had seen this Marina during the fight leading up to the usurpation.

Journalism Is Dead: Part 12,587

Just check out the headline that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel chose to go with regarding the committee reassignments for Milwaukee County Supervisors:

Dimitrijevic is lucky she is a woman, or they would have ran with "Dimitrijevic won't say if he's stopped beating his wife."

The amazing thing is that the tabloid has taken great pains to avoid covering Milwaukee County Executive Emperor Chris Abele's retaliations against underlings that didn't kiss his ring.  Or the simple fact that his whole usurpation bill stems from the fact that the County Board were the first adults in his life to tell him no.

It truly is a sad thing when the biggest paper in the state is revealed to be nothing more than a glorified conservative blog.

Negotiating One's Way Through The Irregularities And Lies Of Milwaukee County Negotiations

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the baffling strategy of the Chris Abele for Milwaukee County Emperor campaign.  In a nutshell, Abele and his acolytes were accusing the Milwaukee County Board, and namely Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic, of the most hideous of crimes - talking to the union!

The accusations fell flat when confronted with rationality and reality, yet they continued with this attack because UNIONS!

The charges were ridiculous for a number of reasons.  Top of the list is that despite Abele's most devout wishes, Act 10 is NOT the law of the land.  The ruling of the Honorable Judge Colas singled out these items and found them unconstitutional:

• The requirement for annual recertification elections by unions wishing to remain the certified bargaining representative for a bargaining unit,
• The prohibitions on negotiating fair share and voluntary dues deductions by payroll withholding,
• The limitation on negotiating anything other than increases in base wages, and
• The requirement for a referendum prior to negotiating wage increases greater than the CPI increase set forth in the statutory formula.

Furthering belying Abele's claims that the union is decertified is the fact that he continues to hold monthly Joint Safety Committee meetings which include representatives from the unions.

Add to this that if there had been contract negotiations, before any such contract was ratified, it would not only have to be approved by the union members, but it would have to get past the County Board as a whole, Abele's veto and then any override attempt.  Given Abele's anti-worker attitude, it's doubtful it would have gone anywhere.

In other words, it was still a case of trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

But as with his good buddy and hero Scott Walker, when it comes to Chris "Lil Walker" Abele, there is always more.

While all of these shenanigans were going on, Abele and his plutocratic pals were desperately trying to get enough Republicans in the state senate to go along with his power grab bill.  They were losing the senate because of the issues of local control and the fact that they don't really trust Abele either.

So, suddenly, wild paper trail evidence appeared out of nowhere!

Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that there were indeed negotiations going on, and to prove it, he had supplied a copy of the contract and a number of emails to support this supposition.

And that's where things started falling apart for Team Plutocracy, even though no one really knew it at the time.

The contract that Bice provided looked like no other contract that I have seen before.  Furthermore, the two things listed in the contract - a pay raise of 1.5% and a collection of dues from members who voluntarily sign up for it - made no sense.  

Compare the contract that the county allegedly offered to AFSCME, to the more legit appearing contracts offered to the other unions.

A 1.5% raise was already included in the budget.  Why offer what was already in the budget?  And why get upset about it? Was it because Abele was still mad that it wasn't the 3% raise he wanted workers to get?

The other component would be in direct violation of the Colas ruling, so I could see disagreeing with that one.  Besides, the unions wouldn't agree to that necessarily as it was in violation of the ruling.

Indeed, Bice's article contains emails from the union questioning this "offer."

But it was in one of the emails from Fred Bau, the county's labor negotiator, that really raised red flags with all of the irregularities it contained.  Look at the header:

Click to embiggen

The email lists a series of events of Bau's meetings with the union.  This is unusual in itself because any discussion of contract talks would normally be withheld until the Finance, Audit and Personnel Committee met in closed session to discuss this.  (The reason for closed session is indeed to keep it secret so that they don't tip their hand to the unions.)  

The next odd thing about this is that Bau wrote it on a Saturday afternoon.

But the really alarming issue is that when Bau sent the email, he did a blind carbon copy to Amber Moreen, Abele's overpaid Chief of Staff.  

The reason why this is alarming is that as one of the results of the Tom Ament pension scandal, the county executive's office was not to have any knowledge of what was being negotiated, much less have a say in it.  

So in the absurd way it stands now, the labor negotiator serves at the pleasure of the county executive and is answerable to him.  However, the negotiator receives directions from the Board regarding contract negotiations.  In hindsight, they should have taken the negotiator's position and moved it from the executive's control altogether, but unfortunately, they did not.

The fact that the county executive was made aware of the details of the supposed negotiations presents some real puzzling issues:

• If the County Executive was aware of the supposed negotiations, were they really negotiations?
• Since the County Executive was aware of the negotiations, was he giving directions to the labor negotiator, which would be illegal?
• Since there is now proof that Abele was fully aware of the supposed negotiations, why was he feigning ignorance of them?

I think that the answer to the third question is directly related to the answer of the second question.

And as proof that Abele was indeed interfering with negotiations, comes another late breaking article from the local paper (emphasis mine):

The president of the state nurses' union said Monday she was assured by the Milwaukee County labor negotiator that County Executive Chris Abele would sign a proposed contract that included a provision in which the county would collect union dues through payroll deductions.

"I was specifically told the county executive was going to sign it," Candice Owley, the nurses' union president, said in an interview. She said county labor negotiator Fred Bau told her that April 15.

Abele, however, denied he had given that direction to Bau.

"I didn't tell Fred that," Abele said. "Absolutely, without any reservations, unambiguously, no," he said.

Owley said she "was most unhappy" to see Abele's comment Monday that terms of the nurses contract deal and three other tentative union agreements appeared to violate the state's Act 10 law that restricted public worker collective bargaining.

Why would Bau promise anything about the County Executive unless he received this from the County Executive? The simple answer is he wouldn't.

So, given all of the information we have now, there are a few possible scenarios of where the truth of the matter lies:

• The County Board was legally negotiating with AFSCME and Abele was not only aware of it, but was also illegally involved surreptitiously,
• The County board illegally negotiating with AFSCME and Abele was not only aware of it, but was also illegally involved surreptitiously, or
• The County Board was not involved in negotiations with AFSCME and Abele was directing his labor negotiator to make it appear that he was so that he could frame the Board with it in order to turn public opinion against them.

If the gentle reader thinks the third choice is a bit too conspiratorial, just ask former County Supervisor Johnny Thomas, who Abele had framed by his former Director of Administration, Patrick Farley.

In summary, for anyone calling for Dimitrijevic to step down from her office for this, they ought to be calling the same for Abele, since he's just as, if not more so, guilty as anyone.

And given Abele's penchant for vindictiveness, I would offer some friendly advice to Fred Bau: Get thee hence to HR first thing and file for retirement before you get fired.