Major Milwaukee County Parks Are In Peril

As the gentle reader knows, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele has been concentrating unprecedented power in his hands to ease his path as he continues to go about dismantling Milwaukee County government.  Abele does this through buy-partisanship -- he pays off Republican state legislators to pass bills that give him these increased powers.

One of the more recent power purchases made by Abele was Act 55, which allows Abele to sell off any county-owned land - except for parks - without public notice, public hearing or legislative oversight.  It was because of this law that Abele was able to sell tens of millions of dollars of Park East land for a dollar.

Per a press release from County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb, they have identified 43 parks that have not been properly zoned as parkland and could be sold off by Abele without any say from anyone else.  Some of the parks on that list are simply jaw-dropping.  These include the following parks:

•  Chippewa Park; 
• Red Arrow Park; 
• Cathedral Square Park; 
• Zeidler Union Square; 
• Mitchell Boulevard Park; 
• Mitchell Airport Park; 
• Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum; 
• Grobschmidt Park; 
• Franklin Park; 
• Oakwood Park; 
• Whitnall Park; 
• Sheridan Park; 
• Brown Deer Park; 
• Greene Park; 
• Estabrook Park; 
• Pere Marquette Park; 
• Froemming Park; 
• Lincoln Park; 
• Rawson Park; 
• Melody View Preserve; 
• Riverside Park; 
• Bay View Park; 
• Grant Park; 
• Kohl Park; 
• Lake Park; 
• Armour Park; 
• Runway Dog Park; 
• Servite Park Reserve; 
• Wilson Recreation Center; 
• Joseph-Lichter Park; 
• Juneau Park; 
• St. Martins Park; 
• Algonquin Park; 
• Doctors Park; 
• Hanson Park, 
• A.C.; Southwood Glen; 
• Baran Park; 
• County Grounds Park; 
• Kletzsch Park; 
• Falk Park; 
• Rover West; 
• Scout Lake Park; and 
• Big Bay Park.

A resolution has been introduced that would prevent Abele from selling these parks by correcting their zoning status.  The concern is whether it can be passed quickly enough to keep Abele honest, which is a tall order in itself.

What could prove interesting is the fact that polling numbers show that the bulk of Abele's support in the upcoming election  come from conservatives and Republicans, most of whom live in the suburbs.  I wonder if they will be reconsidering their support for Abele knowing that he could sell their community parks from right out under their noses and there isn't a damn thing they could do about it.

At least Chris Larson has made a commitment to Milwaukee County and its parks.

Abele Plays Budget Games. Again.

It is common knowledge that Chris Abele finds it difficult to do his job, much less do it well.  This is especially true when it comes to the county budget.  Almost every year, Abele presents his budget a week late and in desperate need of repairs, not only for his misplaced priorities but for the simple math errors that a professional would have caught.

Unfortunately, this year proved to be no different.  Well, actually, even worse than normal for Abele.

Once again, Abele claimed he would not have his budget ready in a timely fashion.  Maybe he was too busy giving away county assets to his fellow plutocrats.  Maybe he was too busy plotting his takeover of the Milwaukee Public Schools.  Maybe he was too busy setting up his gubernatorial campaign.

One thing he wasn't busy doing was bargaining in good faith with the transit drivers union.

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

It appears that the boy prince is morphing more and more into his mentor, Scott Walker, by adding all sorts of unethical stunts to the budget process, as outlined by this open letter by Milwaukee County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb:

Lipscomb Open Letter to Abele on 2016 Budget Proposal

So not only is Abele again presenting the budget a week late and several million dollars short, he is actually presenting it first - before the public gets to see it - in a private, invitation only affair, which just happens to be in the same building that houses his privately owned companies. And on top of that, he is going to have campaign staff there?!

 Methinks Abele is trying to go for the world's record for the most ethical lapses at once!

Lipscomb is correct that it does show just how much disdain Abele has for the citizens of Milwaukee County.

Abele's Mismanagement Creates Growing Budget Gap

On Monday, I reported that Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele was refusing to give county workers their lawful raise.  I also pointed out that Abele was doing so because he needed the money to cover gaping holes in the budget as he gave away the shop to his cronies and fellow plutocrats.

A report from Milwaukee County's Comptroller confirmed that the county is facing a growing budget gap, most of which can be laid at Abele's feet.

From a press release from Chairman Theodore Lipscomb, who tears Abele apart for his foolishness:

Milwaukee County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb, Sr., responded to today’s release of the Five-Year Financial Forecast by the independent Comptroller by saying, “It’s clear from this report that the Administration’s continued mismanagement of the pension system and the Executive’s unilateral negotiations on the arena made the 2016 budget gap much worse. If this forecast had been released just a couple of months ago, before we discovered more errors in yet another administrative pension debacle and before the Executive committed $80 million from Milwaukee County to fund the arena, we would have been in a better position heading into next year’s annual budget.” These two items alone account for approximately $20 million of the identified $26.2 million budget gap.

Lipscomb further observed that the report highlights how holding the property tax levy flat over the next five years could require additional service cuts. Chairman Lipscomb noted, “Milwaukee County has responsibly met the challenge of levy limits imposed by the state, but it would be a mistake for local leaders to continue playing out of the Walker playbook. It’s clear that any plan to flat-line the levy really means we fall behind. The report suggests following a flat levy could lead to $38.6 million in service cuts. The report also focused on the County’s infrastructure needs, stating that without increases for maintaining or improving its capital assets, future liabilities would continue to grow. Overriding numerous Executive vetoes, the County Board has led the way with investments in the park system for capital improvements and routine maintenance. The Parks Director is slated to present a plan by September to utilize $5 million recently allocated to the department to address seriously deferred maintenance and needed improvements.

“We need to move everyone, not just a select few, forward. If the Executive can commit $80 million of public funds into the business of out-of-state billionaires, surely we can invest more in park restoration and transit improvements that benefit all Milwaukee County residents. It is these types of improvements to our public infrastructure that create a higher quality of life for all."

Don't expect Abele to acknowledge the error of his ways, much less apologize for them.

He has too many issues regarding his daddy's success to admit what a failure he is. Not only that, but this pompous ass has delusions of grandeur in thinking that he will be able to buy his way into the governor's office and admitting he screwed up would pop his bubble.

Again, I urge the gentle reader to call Abele at 414-278-4211 or email him at countyexec@milwaukeecountywi.gov and tell him to stop his political posturing and do his job!  (Needless to say, county workers should do this on their own time and using their own phones,)

Get Ready For Abele's Big Land Giveaway

Last week, I pointed out that one of the many bad things in Motion 999, the omnibus amendment of evil that the Republicans stuck in the state budget, was to give Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele complete control over all land sales involving county-owned properties.

To try to justify this unjustifiable power grab, Abele had his corp counsel head rubber stamp Abele's opinion that this is perfectly legal, if unethical and based on bad government.

And if one did not want to include Abele wanting to give away 30 acres of county-owned land to the Bucks owners for one dollar as a sign of his poor decision making skills, there are other examples of his boneheadedness.

For example, in March of this year, Abele wanted to sell this home in River Hills for $50,000.  The land came into county possession through tax foreclosure:

Per Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb, the land alone has been assessed to be worth $300,000, six times that amount.  Not  only was Abele trying to give this land away, but he failed to even list it on the Multiple Listing System.

Fortunately, Lipscomb is not like Abele and watches out for his constituents and for county taxpayers.  Lipscomb found out about this giveaway and filed a letter of objection:

Lipscomb Letter on Land Sale

Due to Lipscomb's objection, Abele's staff had to actually list the property. Per Lipscomb, Abele's staff are not able to keep up with all of the people now expressing interest in the property.

Once Scott Walker signs the budget into law, neither Lipscomb nor any other county supervisor can stop him from making these giveaways to his wealthy friends in order to benefit them, himself and/or his political aspirations.

If you're a Milwaukee County taxpayer and you feel a tugging on your pocket and hear a large sucking sound, it's not your imagination.  It's just Abele, the boy prince, stealing your money to share with his fellow plutocrats.

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.

'No one gives a blank about low-wage workers.'

Supervisor Theo Lipscomb (Left) and
former Supervisor Eyon Biddle

On September 25, 2014, the Milwaukee County Board held a regularly scheduled meeting. It was the day that Boss Abele was supposed to present his 2015 recommended budget.  However, showing his incompetence and/or disdain for the people of Milwaukee County, Abele didn't bother to show up.

So the Board went on with their other scheduled business.

One of the agenda items being addressed was the proposed sale of part of the Park East area to a local
plutocrat, Jon Hammes.

As Dan Bice of the corporate media giant Milwaukee Journal Sentinel breathlessly and recklessly reports, Milwaukee County Supervisor Theo Lipscomb brought up an issue of concern regarding the sale:

At the County Board meeting on Sept. 25, Milwaukee County Supervisor Theo
Lipscomb relayed a damaging story, based entirely on hearsay, about businessman Jon Hammes — the man behind the project — shortly before a vote on the proposal.

The 8-year-old rumor, Lipscomb said, had come from former Supervisor Eyon Biddle.

"In 2006, as a young organizer, working on behalf of janitors trying to get downtown property owners to pay a reasonable wage, Eyon was down with other janitors protesting outside of a meeting," Lipscomb said during the board meeting.

"They were being escorted out, and Mr. Hammes personally walks Eyon out, puts his hand on his shoulder and whispers in his ear, 'No one gives a blank about low-wage workers.' I felt he could say that to a young black man because he was wealthy and entitled. And who was this kid anyway?"

It was an incredibly rash and harmful charge against one of the Milwaukee area's most powerful and community-minded businessmen. The County Board eventually voted to send the proposal back to committee.

Needless to say, Hammes and his friend, Abele, were outraged about this story getting out:

"There is no truth to those allegations," said Hammes' attorney, Marc Marotta.

On the day that Lipscomb made his remarks, Hammes was named to the Marquette University Board of Trustees. He also sits on the boards of the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin Foundation, the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee, the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Teach for America.

Marotta added, "It's a real embarrassment to the county and to the area that someone in Theo's position would make such an irresponsible statement based on hearsay about someone who has done so much for our community."

Equally upset was Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, who backed the deal. Abele said he has worked hard with other officials to turn the largely empty and ignored Park East corridor into an attractive location for businesses.

"However, when developers see personal attacks like this from elected officials, it makes it hard to convince them to work with us and even harder to get them to invest in Milwaukee County," Abele said via email.

Except that what Lipscomb said was absolutely true.

Unlike Bice, I had no problems contacting Biddle, who attested that the story is accurate. Biddle also told me that he tried to call Bice twice, but Bice never got back to him before running the story.

Biddle also commented about the story on his Facebook page:

This story is absolutely true. Dan Bice and I played phone tag so I was unable to reach him to provide further context. Jon Hammes telling me that he didn't give a shit about low wage workers pretty much made me who I am today.

I applaud Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb and his leadership on this issue. He is looking out for working class people.

"They were being escorted out, and Mr. Hammes personally walks Eyon out, puts his hand on his shoulder and whispers in his ear, 'No one gives a blank about low-wage workers.' I felt he could say that to a young black man because he was wealthy and entitled. And who was this kid anyway?"

Contrary to Bice's allegations, the story is not hearsay. It is factual.  (Ironically, at the bottom of the same article, Bice is forced to correct something else he inaccurately reported. And that's not the first time either.)

Boss Abele trying
to buy his way out of
another mess.

Another thing Bice failed on is reporting that Hammes is one of the people that received WEDC money and then turned around and  held a fundraiser for Scott Walker.  Apparently, Hammes isn't quite the upstanding pillar of the community that Bice and Abele are trying to pretend he is.

But it does help explain why Boss Abele was so willing to stand up for his fellow plutocrat and friend of Walker's instead of the working people and taxpayers of Milwaukee County.

It is disappointing, but not surprising, that Abele would again take the pro-plutocrat, pro-poverty, anti-worker position again.  He has done it repeatedly in the past four years, most notably with Palermo's Pizza.

It is outrageous that Abele and his friends are not just trying to ram their plantation economics down our collective throats, but that they are doing it so blatantly and arrogantly.

Needless to say, Hammes, Abele and Bice all owe Lipscomb an apology.  And since they lied about Lipscomb publicly,  the need to apologize to him publicly.

Then the Board should take a long hard look to see if Hammes is really someone they want to do business with.

Finally, the voters and taxpayers of Milwaukee County should take a long hard look at Abele and his long string of unacceptable behaviors and wonder if we really need an elected county executive that is unaccountable to the people.  Then they should vote yes to restoring democracy to Milwaukee County.

Could Milwaukee County See Living Wage Proposal?

During Monday's Labor Day Rally in Milwaukee County,  Supervisor David Bowen announced that he would be introducing a living wage resolution, much akin to the one recently passed in Dane County:

At the rally that awaited them, Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen told the demonstrators that the living-wage ordinance to be considered by the board will be similar to one approved in Dane County.

The proposal would apply to companies contracted by the county to employ service workers, including janitors and security staff, and would require those companies to meet a new wage standard based on federal poverty guidelines, Bowen said.

Bowen was joined at the rally by Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic and Supervisors Theodore Lipscomb Sr., Khalif Rainey and John Weishan Jr.

"If you use public money, you should invest back into the community," Bowen said.

The article went on to show the support for it and the sound reasoning behind it:

"If companies receive taxpayer money, they should provide a living wage to keep their workers off public assistance," said Janet Veum, communications coordinator for Wisconsin Jobs Now.

If wages are so low that workers need public assistance, the taxpayers pay twice, once for the company and then once to support the workers, she said.

Workers also spoke out Monday. Deirdre Dunlap, one of the Labor Day marchers, said she earns $5.25 an hour, plus any tips, for pushing wheelchairs at Mitchell International Airport. She's worked there since November.

"I'm in this because the living wage needs to be increased," she said. "It's really needed to meet basic needs, just paying rent and the bills."

Dunlap supports herself and two daughters on her salary. She said getting them ready for school was a challenge. At one point, she had to choose between buying her daughter shoes and paying a bill. She chose the shoes.

"If there was a living wage that would allow us to not need public assistance, it would allow us to completely get off the system," she said.

The timing for this couldn't be any more vital either.

The Institute for Wisconsin's Future just came out with a study showing how the state budget was designed to really stick to the poor and make they stay poor. Some of the findings include:

• Making health insurance and health care much more expensive for many parents now in BadgerCare;
• Charging premiums for transitional Medicaid;
• Additional cuts in child care support, which make child care less affordable and harder to find;
• Not rolling back the tax increases on low-income households that were included in the last budget –and leaving low-wage workers out of the recent income tax cut; and
• Tightening eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits for jobless workers.

As one would expect, there are going to be cranks that don't believe people should be paid a living wage. One of these fools is Supervisor Steve Taylor, who issued a press release mewling about the proposed resolution:

"As folks throughout Milwaukee County and the nation celebrated the last holiday of the

summer, some Milwaukee County Supervisors were busy reviving the ill-advised minimum wage proposal. At the time when our communities are in dire need of more development to create jobs and increase the tax base, the County Board should be working on initiatives that attract rather than deter companies from doing business with Milwaukee County. Given the current less-than-favorable economic outlook, a resolution of this kind is misguided, out of touch with reality and would do more harm than good to Milwaukee County residents. It is a questionable short term fix that will have long term negative effects on the county's economic well-being. Should an ordinance change with respect to minimum wage be proposed, rest assured that I will be working with my like-minded colleagues on the Board to stop it."

It's amazing how much stupid a person can cram into one paragraph.

First off all, the day is Labor Day. The fact that Taylor couldn't even name it shows how much respect he has - or more appropriately, doesn't have - for the workers. Secondly, the "like-minded colleagues" on the Board also believe in purple unicorns and have their press releases written by Chris Abele's spokesman.

Furthermore, Taylor's whining might not have been so laughable if not for the fact that he is currently on vacation, touring the Southern part of the country and spending what would take a poverty-level wage earner months to make.

If there is a fault with Bowen's proposal, it is that it doesn't go far enough.  Instead of just limiting to companies that contract with the county, it should be for all companies within the county.  While conservative readers are cleaning their spittle off their monitors at this statement, remember that San Francisco raised their minimum wage to $10.55 per hour.  Australia's minimum wage is set at $15.59 per hour.  And neither of these places have fallen into the ocean, despite the hair pulling and teeth gnashing of Teapublicans.

In fact, these places are benefiting by the higher wages.  As is explained by Unite Here Local 2 President Mike Casey in San Francisco:

“Any day that the lowest paid workers in a community get a raise is a great day,” he said.

Casey said the extra income will go directly into the local economy.

“That money gets spent,” he said. “It doesn’t get stowed away into savings accounts or into buying stocks or doing what rich people do with their windfalls.”

There is no indication what Abele would do if this resolution makes its way to his desk, but as the gentle reader is aware, he is well known for not being a friend of workers.

Methinks that the following statement I got from Supervisor Theo Lipscomb sums the whole issue up the best:

We can debate what the standard should be but there's no doubt in my mind that when public dollars are invested the wage should be high enough that those who work don't also need food stamps to feed their family.

So much of what government does has been privatized; essentially politician's have outsourced their conscience. Most elected officials would never vote to pay people minimum wage but when you privatize services you basically hire someone else to do that dirty work for you.

Living Wages Now!

Indeed, the only reason to oppose this idea would be the desire to continue to suppress an entire group of people in order to favor the moneyed elite. That is not fiscal responsibility.  That is plutocracy.

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.

Abele's Plutocracy Still Proving To Be Very Unpopular

When the Milwaukee County Board started holding their "OUR Milwaukee" listening sessions, the turnout was good and the vast majority of the people were against Chris Abele's plutocratic power grab.

Abele and his apologists brushed it off as it being the unions and "special interest groups" cramming the place.  (And if Abele and his supporters complaining about "special interest groups" doesn't cause you to give a derisive snort, nothing will.)

If this was true, opposition to the Plutocratic Power Grab Bill would quickly subside.

Milwaukee County's First District, represented by Supervisor Theo Lipscomb, is one of the most, if not the most, politically balanced districts in the county.  To gauge where his constituents stood, he sent out a survey.

The results were very interesting.

The following comes from Lipscomb's e-newsletter:

After sending out thousands of surveys and receiving over 400 responses during the course of two months, I am pleased to say that the results are in. Below is a summary of the survey responses as they pertain to Milwaukee County Board reform, as well as a link to the full results.

Survey Highlights

• The survey asked, "How much time do you want your County Supervisor to dedicate to the job of representing you on County issues?" The top answer to this question was full-time. Nearly 70 percent want at least half-time representation.
• An overwhelming majority of survey respondents (over 75 percent) answered that they believed decisions about the budget, operation and organization of Milwaukee County government should be made by Milwaukee County.
• 65 percent of respondents felt that significant cuts should be made to County government. In addition, a little over half of respondents believed that significant cuts should be made to the County Executive’s office and State government.
• When asked to rank issues and services relating to Milwaukee County in order of importance, respondents place economic development as their most important issue, with property taxes and levy limits as the second most important issue. Public safety ranked third. Economic development was ranked number one overall, and its average ranking was also the highest. County Board reform had an average ranking of seven out of ten.

The full poll results are in this pdf which he included in his email.

As the gentle reader can see, the reforms which were just enacted by the Milwaukee County Board closely reflect the results of this survey.  Meanwhile, the bill being sponsored by Abele and the Greater Milwaukee Committee fly in the face of the will of the people.

That would go a long way in explaining why Abele, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and their minions are going to such lengths to mislead and hide the truth from the public.

If Abele's bill was as benevolent as he tries to portray it, he wouldn't need to resort to such base and boorish behaviors, such deceptions and such lies.  The fact that he is doing these things show that not only is his overreaching power grab bad for Milwaukee, but he is bad for Milwaukee.

CRG: Citizens for Recall Gaffes

My good buddies at CRG (Citizens for Recall Gaffes) are at it again.

As the reader may recall (pardon the pun), CRG threatened to recall Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic, for having the audacity of standing up and fighting for her constituents and trying to protect Milwaukee County as a whole from more of Scott Walker's ineptitude. I had speculated at the time that it had more to do with the fact that Dimitrijevic was forming a strong run for the soon to be vacant county executive position.

Bruce Murphy of Milwaukee News Buzz did a follow up story on that recall effort. To put it succinctly, CRG is once again spinning their wheels. Orville Seymour admits that little (meaning none) progress has been made.

That is not surprising, or even all that interesting.

But Murphy's story does have two interesting tidbits in it. So interesting that I am surprised the usually astute Murphy allowed them to slide without more in depth questioning.

The first thing of note is that Chris Kleismet, the ringleader for this group of political thugs, is backing off of the recall of Dimitrijevic:

CRG leader Chris Kliesmet attempted to distance his group from the effort...

Could there be trouble in paradise among the upper echelon (are there any "officers" besides Kleismet and Seymour?) of this group? Or is Kleismet finally getting tired of having egg on his face?

What is also of note, but not as surprising, is that Kleismet is again lying. Consider the very next sentence following the above one:

Kliesmet says the CRG – which was heavily involved in the recall of county supervisors who voted for the infamous pension plan – hasn’t held a recall since 2002.

Tsk, tsk, liar, liar, pants on fire, nose is as long as a telephone wire.

Kleismet, king of recalls, can't seem to recall that his band of not-so-merry men tried to recall Governor Jim Doyle, not once, but twice. The first one was in 2005 and, of course, failed. The second flop came last year, when they tried it again.

They were also threatening to recall Supervisors Pat Jursik, Lynne De Bruin and Theo Lipscomb last year in an effort to bully them into supporting Walker's illegal budget. (I often wonder how they try to justify their desire for a "responsible government" with their support for an illegal, deficit-laden budget - then again, they are not exactly pillars of the community either.)

All I can say it I anxiously anticipate the day that they live up to their name and mount a recall effort against Goobernator-elect Walker, who has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars of tax payer money weeks before he is even sworn into office. However, I will not be holding my breath for that day to come.

Walker Takes Credit For Project He Opposed

Today, they had a ground breaking ceremony for Veteran's Manor, which will be an apartment building for low income veterans.

Scott Walker was there. From what I've heard, he gave a nice speech about how we should do whatever we can for our veterans and was the recipient of many thanks and kudos for getting the building built.

There is a problem with this.

Walker opposed the project because it used stimulus dollars. In fact, if the County Board hadn't pressed the issue and took over the stimulus application process, these apartments would probably never exist and that corner would remain a brownfield for years and years to come.

If anyone should be receiving praise for these apartments, it should be Supervisor Theo Lipscomb and his colleagues on the stimulus task force which he headed. It was this task force that attained the stimulus dollars which made this project happen.

Instead of receiving accolades, Walker should have been offering apologies.

But that would require a certain level of integrity which Walker has yet to exhibit.

Now, That's A Rebuttal!

Supervisor Theo Lipscomb does much better than his colleague, Johnny Thomas, did in offering a rebuttal for Walker's State of the Campaign address. The whole thing can be read on the BizTimes blog, but here is a juicy excerpt:

No longer content to simply pretend that he has frozen the tax levy, when it has actually increased by nearly $45 million during his tenure, County Executive Scott Walker upped the ante during his State of the County address Tuesday by making an arbitrary and irresponsible bet when he promised to lower the tax levy next year.

This may say more about his perception of his political prospects than his management ability. Given the state takeovers and service deterioration that Milwaukee County has experienced, it’s clear that the County Executive’s managerial track record is lackluster.

There is no need to propose a responsible budget if you plan to skip town for a new job. The impending fallout will not manifest until later when taxpayers suffer the increasing consequences of service cuts, deferred maintenance and broken promises.

Walker’s $200,000,000 check to taxpayers, an insincere metaphor about savings, is really an example of “Enron-like accounting” since it is based on paper gains not yet realized but projected forward and multiplied for effect. When this check bounces, the rhetoric will fall flat.

The rest is good reading as well, but the Lipscomb really nails it at the end:

It is good to hear the County Executive singing positively about Milwaukee County, but citizens must look beyond the rhetoric to see the peril of short-term promises. Simply put, it must be an election year.

Of course, Lipscomb's reference to "Enron-like accounting" reminded me again of the similarities between Scott Walker and George Bush.

County Board Fails To Learn From Past Mistakes

The Milwaukee County Board today, in an act of utter insanity, approved the sale of the county grounds, and the home of the Monarch butterflies to a private developer that is supposed to build an engineering campus on part of it.

Before I go any further, I do want to start by saying thank you to Supervisors Dimitrijevic, Larson and Lipscomb for voting to uphold the Counties best interests. I would also like to offer special commendations to Supervisor Weishan who not only saw the peril of this proposal, but also tried valiantly to at least delay, if not prevent, this travesty, by putting reasonable conditions and terms to the proposed land deal. It is nice to see at least four of our elected officials are willing to make the hard choices and put the interests of Milwaukee County first.

I am really stunned that the Board did not have the foresight to take the time to analyze the proposal and make sure everything was on the up and up. They just went through a stark reminder of what happens when they don't follow through on checking, double checking and triple checking what the County Executive's office tells them, especially when it sounds too good to be true. One would have thought the stress and the blow back from the Mercer trial would have awoken a fresh sense of caution and leeriness about anything that even resembled another "great deal" for Milwaukee County.

They should have also come to realize that the Walker administration is even less trustworthy than Ament's administration was. He's lied to them about the cost of moving the mental health complex. He's lied to them about the possibility and consequences of privatizing the airport. He's lied to them about every budget.

I just find it extremely unfortunate that they failed this time to seek and to see the truth. After all, how many times have I pointed out that Walker had promised to not allow the land to be developed. An anyone paying attention to more than the local daily paper and local talk radio already knows that Walker's promises are not to be believed.

Even the wording of the proposal itself shows the writing on the wall, as well as the worthy efforts of Supervisor Weishan. From the Daily Reporter (which is quickly becoming my favorite local news source)(emphasis mine):

The UW-Milwaukee plans to build a new campus housing research programs for the College of Engineering & Applied Science. The property also would provide space for private research companies.

The sale requires the university to build academic buildings totaling 450,000 square feet on the property, but allows up to half of the property to be owned or used by private companies.

County Supervisor John Weishan Jr., one of the four to vote against the sale, unsuccessfully tried to put more limits on what the university can build on the property. His amendment would have prohibited the construction of shops, restaurants, hotels, dormitories or other housing on the site unless the building had multiple uses.

Weishan said the amendment would have prevented the university from developing buildings that do not relate to research and university functions.

“Will UWM sell this land five years from now?” he asked. “Once we sell it to UWM, we have no control over it. It is gone.”

The line that I emphasized shows that this proposal had absolutely nothing to do with the school. The whole Innovation Park malarkey was just the front for a money grab by developers, who know damn well that the land will at least triple in value as the State proceeds with its reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange.

My friends and I will be watching, and when the developers turn their backs on their promises, I will be sure to remind the supervisors who voted for it.

But what really made me confounded is that Board Chairman Lee Holloway and Scott Walker were actually fighting over the credit on who worked harder to get this piece of garbage through.
That would be like Tom DeLay and Rod Blagojevich arguing about who is more corrupt.

But the article does show one other thing. Walker basically admits he doesn't care about what is best for Milwaukee County or its tax payers:

The county executive acknowledged that he had not been pressing hard for top dollar for the County Grounds property UWM is buying. He wanted a fair price, but was most concerned with getting the deal done, Walker said.

It will be interesting to see who has donated or will be donating to his campaign because of this sweetheart deal he gave them. It seems that Walker would be more suited to run for the Governor of Illinois than of Wisconsin.

Is Walker A Compulsive Liar?

Last week, when the Milwaukee County Board overwhelmingly overrode Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's veto of the Board's resolution to aggressively seek stimulus dollars, Walker brushed it off as being inconsequential:

Meanwhile, Walker said his defeat on the issue would have little practical effect. He challenged supervisors to come up with a single example where his caution on the federal aid resulted in the county losing out.

"In the end, I think you will see very little impact," Walker said. He'll have county staff review all potential opportunities and apply for funds according to the County Board policy, Walker said.

I don't know how Walker does his math, but it is obviously not in the manner that most people would consider to be rational. In a press conference, and subsequent press release, County Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb pointed out that Walker did in fact miss quite a bit. To the tune of more than $6 million dollars. Some of the places this money will be going to include improving runway safety areas at the airport, energy efficiency and conservation in all of the 600 some buildings the County owns, new sheriff squad cars, more community prosecutors, and improvements in the parks.

Lipscomb sums it up with this:

“These projects, benefiting Milwaukee County, somehow failed to make it on to the County Executive’s list. This highlights why the County Board has taken such an active interest in the pursuit of economic stimulus funds. We are worried that Milwaukee County will miss some valuable opportunities if we don’t remain vigilant, active, and vocal on this issue."

There is also this handy little chart to highlight the benefits that Lipscomb was talking about.

I find it truly outrageous that not only did Walker lie about the amount of benefits that he was willing to short change the taxpayers on, but that he did it knowing damn well that, due to his short-sighted, incompetent administration of the County, it was now, only barely a quarter into the fiscal year, already facing a $14 million dollar budget shortfall.

And despite giving his cronies excessive raises without anyone being notified and still planning on his taxpayer-funded campaign cruise around the state in June, he is asking for each department to cut spending by 3% in order to cover his butt during his run for the governor's office. Of course, I shouldn't have to mention that it was this kind of management from Walker's administration that led to the state having to come in and take over the Income Maintenance Program.

And don't even get me going on this piece of tripe he managed to get printed in last weekend's newspaper. That would be worthy of a post in itself. Something like what Dan Cody already did.

But it is not only the general population that Walker is lying to. He is also lying to his base support group.

Walker has long made a grandstand showing of his stance against stimulus dollars, or later, what he defined as "irresponsible" stimulus dollars. But at today's meeting of the County Board's Stimulus Task Force, Walker's people handed out a list of of what could best be described as his stimulus wish list.

With the help of my friend, Gretchen Schuldt, author of Milwaukee Rising and CASH, I am able to provide you with a copy of Walker's Stimulus Application Summary (pdf) (which I am sure was quickly updated by Walker's staff after Supervisor Lipscomb's press conference earlier that day). I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised by some of the things Walker wishes for. I never would have expected Walker to apply for that many green projects from boosting energy efficiency and conservation to alternative fueled vehicles or for things like the youth mentoring program.

I'm just not too sure on how Walker's willingness to go after that sort of stimulus money, or that large amount of stimulus money, is going to play with his extreme right-wing support base. I also can't find one of the listed items that meets his three criteria regarding stimulus dollars. How convenient for him that he doesn't have to follow his own rules.

I only wish that the County Board had worked up the gumption and the backbone to pin Walker's ears back long ago. It might have helped to avoid a lot of the mess that Walker has gotten us into already.

The County Executive's New Clothes

The news coming out the Milwaukee County Courthouse today reminded me a lot of the famous tale by Hans Christian Anderson.

As I wrote about last night, the County Board had a special session this morning to take immediate action on some pressing issues. Things went pretty much as I expected.

No action was necessary on the mental health complex as that Walker returned the resolution unsigned, effectively killing the move to St. Michael's.

The Board also laid over the HOC business and passed Supervisor Weishan's resolution to endorse the Farm and Fish Hatchery at the HOC as "programs of overriding value for the residents of Milwaukee County. this will save the County a lot of money. The fish from the hatchery goes to stock the local ponds and lagoons for the county's fisherman. Some of the fish goes to the zoo to feed the seals and other fish-eaters, eliminating the need to go to a third party, and spending more money. The farm goes a long way to feeding the hungry in the county, which in allow helps keep the cost of supplemental income down.

What surprised me the most was that the board sustained Walker's move to throw his friend, Gerard Randall, under the campaign bus. I really thought that they would have overridden the veto in order to put the contract up for bid, especially in these tough economic times when people could use all the help they could get in finding gainful employment.

What was no surprise to anyone is that he County Board overwhelmingly overrode Walker's veto of the resolution allowing the County to aggressively pursue stimulus money. What was interesting is the level of emotions that more and more members of the Board is starting to show as they tire of Walker's showboating and his willingness to sacrifice the county for his campaign.

Even more moderate Supervisors like Lynne DeBruin and Pat Jursik are showing signs of disgust with Walker's shenanigans:

Walker's criteria for taking federal stimulus aid that the board shot down was politically motivated and "totally bogus," said Supervisor Lynne De Bruin. Supervisor Gerry Broderick said Walker's stance on stimulus aid was "great theater or dress rehearsal aimed at the governor's race in 2010."

De Bruin said Walker began backing away from his refusal to even consider stimulus aid after Milwaukee business leaders publicly disagreed with him. She called the standoff between the board and Walker the most upsetting issue of her 17-year career as a supervisor.

[...]

Supervisor Patricia Jursik criticized Walker for insisting on rejecting federal aid that required a local match. Walker said his ban on funding that required a local match wasn't absolute.

I'll spare both the gentle reader and myself to point out all of the ongoing hypocrisies from Walker as he tried to spin himself out of the corner he has put himself in. That is something I think I have covered in overly abundant amounts, even though it is still true.

However, there are a couple, three things that were not covered in the JSOnline articles, and I have no idea if they will report on these things when the final copy is complete.

One is that the County Board drew a very clear line in the sand for Walker.

While he was given the floor, Supervisor John Weishan told Corporation Counsel to "be prepared to go to court to enforce the stimulus policy of Milwaukee County." Supervisor Weishan told me that, while he hopes he is incorrect, he would not be surprised to see Walker show the same kind of passive aggressive sabotaging of the pursuit of the stimulus dollars that Walker has shown since the stimulus law was signed by President Obama.

Weishan explained that if Walker decides to not follow County policy, either by ignoring it, or by having another set of circumstances that sabotages the County's chances of receiving stimulus, dollars, they will ask the courts to order Walker to follow the county ordinances. If Walker then continued to fail in his duties, he could also be found in contempt of the court.

Weishan pointed out that Walker has a history of violating the county's laws, such as when he refused to fill the authorized and funded positions in the call center, even though he signed off on that himself. Walker's refusal to do his job in that circumstance, as the reader knows, was the state coming in and taking over the center, but leaving the County on the hook for paying the salaries of the workers.

Weishan also expressed frustration because Walker has not only ordered his staff not to cooperate with the Board, but has yet to fill the slot of the Public Works Director and had eliminated the Economic Development Director. Weishan said that these two things have put the county at a distinct disadvantage in getting things done, much less getting them done efficiently or in a timely fashion.

Supervisor Theo Lipscomb also expressed his frustration with Walker's constant stonewalling and obfuscation. He said that for the better part of a month, he has been trying to get Walker and his directors to give them a list of what he has applied for as opposed to what is available. He said that Walker has repeatedly refused to work with the County Board and with the Board's Stimulus Task Force. He said that Walker has consistently refused to give the Task Force any information, or when he did, he would quickly contradict himself, as he has done with his "three requirements."

When I told Lipscomb that Walker had come out with a press release today, that was supposed to be a release of his stimulus list, Lipscomb was surprised. He said that no such list was ever given to him, and that he is disappointed that Walker is again refusing to cooperate with the board.

Lipscomb told me that Walker obviously came out with this list after this morning's session, as that it echoes what Lipscomb had said on the floor. He also pointed out that most of the things Walker is listing as having requested are things that were coming to Milwaukee County and/or to the urban Milwaukee area due to a formula that was part of the Restoration and Reinvestment Act anyway.

Lipscomb stated that "this list, provided after the fact of the meeting, only shows that they're (Walker's administration) behind the curve."

He also expressed frustration with the fact that Walker's people kept telling the Task force that Walker didn't mean no ongoing maintenance costs, but that he was opposed to any new maintenance costs. Lipscomb said that this was also proven to be more hypocrisy as that his list for transit includes new voice annunciator systems on the buses. None of the buses currently have annunciator systems, meaning that this would require new maintenance costs.

Walker is indeed a county executive with new clothes, but at least the County Board is willing to point out the truth of the situation. Much more importantly, they are willing to do the work that is needed while Walker continues to march about pretending that he is something that he is not.

Walker World: Where The Hypocrisy And Incompetence Never Ends

We already have seen how Walker has changed his mind repeatedly, and continuously contradicted himself on whether he would take stimulus dollars and whether he would put stipulations on whether he would accept the stimulus dollars.

It was already mentioned that the County Board, realizing that time was a-wasting, passed a resolution, on a 17-1 vote (any bets that the one no was Paul Cesarz?) to establish a stimulus task force to spearhead the attainment and utilization of said stimulus dollars to rebuild and repair some of the damage that has been caused by the last seven years of neglect by Walker.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the first meeting of this task force. I know that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a reporter there and covered the story. But as is so often the case when it comes to Walker, they did not fully report the story.

As Walker had threatened to do, he kept any of his department heads from participating in said task force. In fact, all but one, Cynthia Archer, skipped the meeting altogether. Archer was there, but not as a participant.

To make a long story short, Archer told the task force that Walker was supposedly looking to protect the county taxpayers. She never did explain how making them pay for something and then not using it was exactly protecting them, but Walker hasn't figured that part out yet either. Archer also reported that Walker was unaware of this task force until the last minute, even though the resolution has been on his desk, waiting for his signature, for several weeks. Was he lying or just unaware because he was too busy campaigning?

Archer reported to the task force that Walker had three criteria before he would accept any stimulus money:

1. That there was no local match required by Milwaukee County,
2. That there would be no long term financial obligations, and
3. That there would be no ongoing operating or maintenance costs.

Archer did not mention that Walker had already requested some rapid transit buses, which do require maintenance and which do have an operating cost. She did say that Walker has supposedly had his staff working on developing their wish list of projects they wish funded by the stimulus dollars, even though he has been publicly grandstanding on how eeeeeeeeeeeevil Governor Doyle is for doing the same thing. Some of these projects include road rebuilding. And, of course, anyone that has lived, and driven, in Milwaukee County for the last few months know that roads require a lot of maintenance to keep them plowed and to repair potholes.

In other words, Walker, who has repeatedly stated that he was against even asking for stimulus money, then changes it to that he would still not ask for the money, but would accept it under certain conditions. He then goes out and asks for the money, disregarding the conditions he said that he would only take it under.

Supervisor Broderick questioned why the department heads weren't present, and accurately blamed Walker for being an obstructionist. Supervisor Jursik was rather angry about Walker's secretive behaviors and questioned what Walker may be hiding from the task force, and what projects he is arbitrarily denying. The task force then asked Corp Counsel for a legal opinion on whether all of the decisions on what stimulus money to ask for and how to use it is policy, which means Walker was stepping out his jurisdiction and did not have the authority to make these decisions.

James Rowen also agrees that the Board should take over the process, given Walker's placement of his political aspirations ahead of the good of the County.

Another thing that the MJS failed to report was that Sheriff's Inspector Kevin Carr, representing Sheriff David Clarke, a conservative, stated that the Sheriff's office wanted to have pursue several millions of dollars of money to replace the antiquated medical records for the jail and the House of Correction, replacing it with an updated electronic system of record keeping. He also pointed out that the Sheriff's Office needed 50 new squad cars. Inspector Carr pointed out that it would be irresponsible to ask the Board for this money in the fall if they did not avail themselves of the stimulus dollars first.

Also present was Dan Finley, CEO of the Milwaukee Public Museum and a conservative, who said that the MPM would also like to pursue $1 million dollars for building maintenance.

And if that wasn't enough hypocrisy for you, well, there's more. Walker is the human eternal fount of hypocrisy.

MJS reported earlier this week that Milwaukee is going to get a nice hunk of stimulus dollars to aid the public transit system. The reason is not Walker, who refused to ask for any of it. The credit goes to Governor Jim Doyle, who, unlike Walker, puts the best interest of his constituents first, and had asked for stimulus dollars for the transit systems here and in Madison and the Fox Valley.

Walker graciously states that he would accept the money, because that wouldn't add any costs that wasn't already being planned for. Of course, this is utter crap that he is trying to serve to us. If it was already being planned for, then the system wouldn't be in the critical condition that it is in, and wouldn't be facing an implosion due to Walker's neglect:

In addition to new buses, stimulus money could cover part of the $7 million cost of replacing fareboxes, said Milwaukee County bus system spokeswoman Jacqueline Janz. Walker, Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas and Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson have discussed joint purchasing of fareboxes for their transit systems.

The Milwaukee County bus system also needs $2.2 million in equipment to announce stops for riders who are deaf or blind, to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Janz said. Until recently, that function was handled by the much-maligned Transit TV system. But the Florida company that owns the video system has filed for bankruptcy and its screens have gone dark, Janz said.

The paper reported that most officials think that this would avert the transit crisis for maybe a year. I think that they are being overly optimistic. First of all, there is no guarantee that Walker would use the money for its intended purpose, but might just shift it over to one of his campaign contributors for some bogus, made up reason. Secondly, even if Walker did use it correctly, that we would get the new equipment in time:

Realizing that nearly all of its counterparts would use stimulus money to buy buses, the transit system issued a request for proposals Feb. 18 in the hope of getting to the front of the line for bus orders. It will take at least a year from the time of the order to delivery of the buses, and delivery time could grow if demand strains bus manufacturers' capacity, said Brian Dranzik, the county's transportation budget and policy chief.

But then again, it does take a long time to get a bus down here from Canada. After all, they Canadians are busy picking up all the money that Walker and Sarah Palin are throwing at them.

It should also be noted that while the rest of the country is still enjoying a boom in their public transit systems, our continues to lag, due to Walker's mismanagement. He still hasn't figured out that cutting routes and raising fares is a good strategy.

All of this only proves that if it weren't for hypocrisy and incompetence, Walker wouldn't have any skills at all.

The County Board Reacts To Walker-Caused Debacle

As one would imagine, the reactions have been flying regarding Walker's most recent case of paw-in-mouth disease. First, he willfully fails to fully staff the call center, effectively sabotaging it and causing the county to be subject to fines and a class action lawsuit. Then he opens his big yap and dares, double dares and double dog dares the State to take over. So they did.

Last night, I shared Supervisor Weishan's statement on the matter. In a conversation with me, he stated that he believed that the State takeover of the Income Maintenance programs was about 20% political, but 80% financial, citing the class action lawsuit. Weishan also shared with me that he was disappointed int he State's reaction to the situation. He said he would have preferred having chance to show the State that the county could have pulled it together.

Weishan added that while he was disappointed with the state, he was even more disappointed with Walker. He pointed out how Walker was stagnating the local economy with his short-sighted policies. Weishan also stated that it was frustrating because he saw Walker as being an "obstructionist" to any new idea that could help Milwaukee County grow.

Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb also issued a statement regarding his disappointment and frustration at the take over.

The real smackdown comes from Board Chairman Lee Holloway (emphasis mine):

“Milwaukee County’s foundation is built upon providing economic support services. We cannot take that local option away from County residents. The knee-jerk reaction by some, including the County Executive, is to dismantle County government programs. Our constituents deserve better; they deserve the right of local representation. They depend on Milwaukee County to be the provider of last resort. It’s time for the County Executive to listen to the County Board’s call to re-energize our commitment to managing public assistance programs. We need to prove to the Legislature that Milwaukee County can effectively provide these resources to the community. I understand how crucial it is that the people of Milwaukee County receive the benefits for which they are eligible during this economic downturn.

“At the same time, this problem must be approached with temperance, as the decisions made on behalf of constituents should not be driven by the political ambitions of a temporary County Executive. The plan presented by the State does not demonstrate or guarantee that citizens in need would be better served. The State’s takeover of the Milwaukee County Child Welfare program does not inspire confidence. Clearly, the State is singling out management as the problem. Locally, the County Executive and the County Board could consider instituting a different management model if the State requests it.

"...by the political ambitions of a temporary County Executive." I love that line! Throw in a "weasel" or three, and it could have been me writing it.