If They’re So Good, Why Does He Want To Destroy Them?

In this week’s Executive Newsletter, Scott Walker is bragging about the Milwaukee Parks System and that it has won a number of prizes for best future plans.

I find that more than a bit ironic and disingenuous, especially in light of the fact that he just announced that he wants to destroy them in next year’s budget.

In his newsletter, his tech people included a link to this video, which I will admit is very well done, and stars the classy John McGivern.

But as I watched it, a few thoughts struck me:

• There were many mentions of corporate sponsors like Loew’s and Harley Davidson, as well as citizen groups, like the Park People of Milwaukee, stepping up and donating time, money and resources to keep the parks in shape.
• With the economy being what it is, and companies like Harley Davidson having their own financial problems, what would happen if they decide they can no longer support the parks? I highly doubt it would be pretty.
• All the corporate sponsors point out what bad shape the parks were in before they came in to fix them. Mmm, I wonder who’s fault that is…
• In the newspaper article about these awards, the workers are always acknowledged and thanked for doing so much with so little, but in the video, Walker doesn’t even acknowledge them.

But the one overwhelming, reoccurring thought is this: When are we going to have a county executive that actually puts Milwaukee County first?

Special Membership Meeting Scheduled

Please note that there will be a Special Membership Meeting of Local 645 held on Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 6:00 p.m, at District Council 48, located at 3427 W. St. Paul Ave.  The Board will meet at 5:30 p.m.

The meeting will include nominations and election for Delegates to the PEOPLE Convention being held Obtober 16th-18th in Green Bay, WI.

There will also be updates on the Contract Negotiations.

Crazy Talker Walker

Scott Walker has a knack for coming up with some really bad ideas that, if allowed to happen, would only harm Milwaukee County.

Sometimes the County Board doesn’t catch on in time, and the bad things happen, like when Walker wanted to privatize the call center, but only ended up sticking tax payers with a bigger bill when the state took over. Or selling the county grounds to a private development company for much less than what the land was worth.

Sometimes the County Board is able to see through Walker’s smoke and mirrors, and prevent the bad things from happening, like when Walker wanted to move the mental health complex to the old St. Michael’s Hospital.

The County Board had just proven themselves again when they didn’t jump on board with Walker’s plan to privatize the airport. Instead they ordered a study to be done on the feasibility of following through with Walker’s misguided privatization scheme.

It’s a damn good thing that they did, too.

From JSOnline’s All Politics Blog:

Nearly all applications for privatization under a federal law have been withdrawn , including the proposed privatization of Chicago’s Midway Airport, according to a review by Mitchell Airport Director Barry Bateman.

One airport that was privatized, Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., reverted to public ownership. The only airport listed as still actively considering privatization was New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport.

Of course, I’ve been saying it was a dumb idea for a year and half. Others, like Greg Kowalski, also noted that privatizing the airport makes no sense.

Walker is undaunted in his insanity:

Walker has said he’ll revive his push to privatize Mitchell as a means of shifting airport revenue to subsidize county buses, which face multimillion dollar shortfalls in the coming years. He’s said the county could get $500 million or more by leasing long-term airport operating rights to a private firm.

So, instead of doing something positive for Milwaukee County, like supporting the sales tax referendum, which would have given a dedicated source of revenue for the transit system, the parks, and EMS, as well have provided much needed property tax relief, Walker felt that it would be better to follow an unrealistic pipe dream in privatizing the airport. When his plan fell through, as it inevitably would, we would be in a legal tangle over the airport and have a destroyed transit system.

I think that some of the County Board Supervisors said it well enough:

“This isn’t in the realm of reality” for Milwaukee Mitchell Airport, said Supervisor John Weishsan Jr.

County Executive Scott Walker’s support for exploring privatizing Mitchell was dismissed by Supervisor Toni Clark as “crazy talk.”

Even if investors could be found to purchase operating rights to Mitchell, the result would be higher fees to airlines and consumers, said Supervisor Christopher Larson.

Given Walker’s propensity for boneheaded ideas, instead of making a video about Big Talker Walker, the original artist should have made one called Crazy Talker Walker.

What Did He Have For Lunch?

Let’s see:

Scott Walker boasts about his campaign bike ride on a Harley, and Harley Davidson runs into an economic brick wall and lays off over a thousand workers and closes their Franklin plant.

Then just before his campaign bike ride, he officially announces his campaign, and has a website developed by an agency out of Ohio, claiming no one in Wisconsin could do the job. Funny thing is, one of his primary rivals had no problem finding a local agency more than capable of doing the job, but in a rather good fashion on top of that.

When Walker finally goes on said campaign bike ride, it is sponsored by Georgia-based Air Tran. While on his illegally funded bike ride, local airline Midwest Express crashes and burns.

With the lack of support that Walker has shown for local business, I would not find it surprising that while Patrick Cudahy had been burning day and night, Walker would’ve have taken time from his power tweeting, to do a campaign luncheon, eating bacon cheeseburgers, with real California cheese and Missouri-based Farmland bacon.

Support the Patrick Cudahy Workers

From the inbox:

Immediate Release

July 6, 2009

UFCW LOCAL 1473 ASKS FOR DONATIONS FOR PATRICK CUDAHY WORKERS

On July 6^th 2009, the five alarm fire continues to blaze at the Smithfield owned, Patrick Cudahy plant in Cudahy , Wisconsin . The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1473 (UFCW), represents approximately 1,400 Patrick Cudahy workers at this location.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the workers and their families at the Patrick Cudahy Plant and for the safety of the firefighters. We will work closely with Smithfield management in order to minimize the impact of this fire on our members and their families,” said Local President John Eiden in a statement earlier today.

City officials have evacuated the area surrounding the plant and there is still no word on total damage. As the workers wait for the plant reopening, UFCW Local 1473 has established a hardship fund and is accepting donations to help the Patrick Cudahy workers and their families.

“Local 1473 has a long and proud history of coming to the aid of fellow brothers and sisters in the Labor Community. Today we ask that fellow union brothers and sisters and community members to help our members and their families in the aftermath of this tragic event; in their time of need,” said President Eiden.

If anyone wishes to make a monetary donation to the UFCW – Patrick Cudahy Worker Relief Fund to help the workers and families at the Patrick Cudahy plant make checks payable to Patrick Cudahy Workers Relief Fund care of UFCW Local 1473. The Union is also accepting non-perishable food items.

Please send checks and non-perishable food items to:

Patrick Cudahy Workers Relief Fund

UFCW Local 1473

2001 N. Mayfair Rd.

Milwaukee , WI 53226

Milwaukee County Budget Looking Worse Than State Budget

Just before the holiday weekend, without any sort of advance notice, Scott Walker revealed the preliminary recommendations for the 2010 county budget.

It includes some real doozies, like cutting more services for the elderly and the disabled:

Some $2.3 million in cuts in services to elderly and disabled people and others were proposed, including major trims in independent living supports, adult day care and job help. Support for emergency shelters would end, saving $460,000. County aid for children and adults who attend Wil-O-Way summer camp would be cut in half. Support for the 211 social services hotline would be reduced almost by half, to $192,000.

It also includes closing all the deep well swimming pools. Now one may wonder, “So what?” But think about it. A lot of people use those pools, especially when it gets extremely hot out. When they can’t get in, violence can erupt.

And forget using Lake Michigan to cool off. If you drive, you’ll have to feed the parking meters he wants to put up, and he wants to slash the transit system even more, so that you won’t be able to take the bus there either. (Add to the slashing of more routes, he also wants to add a 25 cent charge for a bus transfer. What a racket…make it so people have to transfer, then charge them extra for it.)

Walker also wants to do his annual proposal to privatize the parks and other county positions, even though it has never saved any money.

Add to all this a new version of a death tax with higher fees for death certificates, as well as many other fees.

Even as draconian and poorly thought out Walker’s budget is, he is claiming it is still over $40 million too much, and will probably only add to the misery.

To add insult to injury, Walker also throws his own staff under the bus (if there is still one running), and blaming them for following his directives:

He noted that the measures were put forward by the bureaucrats, not him. Nonetheless, he imposed tough budget guidelines for his department heads that left little room for cheer.

But this is the norm for Walker and the budget process. He makes absurd demands, presents a lousy budget, and leaves it to the County Board to fix all of his mistakes.

It is also worth noting that he still hasn’t done the any of the things that would help save tax payer dollars, like sitting down with the unions and do some good faith bargaining regarding the new contracts.

Another Business Leaves Milwaukee County

JSOnline is reporting that yet another business is leaving Milwaukee County:

General Rubber Co., a distributor of hoses and accessories for hydraulic, air, water, refrigeration and other equipment, has moved its offices from Milwaukee to a larger facility at 16988 W. Victor Road in New Berlin.

Note that it is not leaving the state. In fact, the article points out that they have another facility in Appleton.

In fact, Wisconsin is the best state in the country when it comes to having manufacturing jobs.

Yet Walker thinks he is the cure to the state’s problems. I would think not.

In a Time of Crisis

I am sure that everyone has heard about the horrible fire at the Patrick Cudahy plant that has been burning for more than 24 hours now.

The fire crews from several surrounding communities should be commended for the valiant efforts to fight the blaze, as should Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue, who showed good leadership in a time of crisis. He was willing to make the hard decisions in the effort to protect the public safety as much as he was able to.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

It should be also noted that County Board Chairman Lee Holloway and County Supervisor Pat Jursik were quick to pledge County resources to aid in the emergency. The Department of Aging did a lot to help area seniors safely evacuate and made sure that they will be safe until they can return home.

But I have one question: Where was Scott Walker? One would think that a man who claims to be the best person to run the state would be at least doing something during a crisis in his own county, and so close to the airport.

“Walker Exceeded His Authority.” Again.

The arbitrator that decided AFSCME’s grievance against Scott Walker and his plan to put almost 2,000 county workers on an indefinite furlough issued his written decision on Wednesday.

Frankly, it was better than I had hoped it could be.

The arbitrator ruled that Walker took a number of missteps in issuing this edict.

The biggest issue is that Walker again exceeded his authority:

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker exceeded his authority in attempting to unilaterally cut union employees’ hours as a budget-cutting move, according to an arbitrator’s ruling issued Wednesday.

The County Board would have to agree to such a move first, the arbitrator, Amedeo Greco, said in his decision.

This is not the first time Walker has overstepped his authority. Just last month, he had to backtrack on closing the County’s only two indoor pools and creating a new tax on toddlers, when he admitted he did not have the authority to do those things.

This disregard of the law has been a pattern for Walker. Every budget season, he keeps trying to remove state mandated positions and/or programs.

Why his repeated abuses of power hasn’t been sent to the DA’s office for investigation is beyond me. Especially when one considers that he is pulling these stunts to just try to gain the support of the fringe conservatives.

But back to the ruling.

The arbitrator also found other flaws with Walker’s actions. These include the fact that Walker had failed to show that the County’s projected deficit was severe enough to warrant such drastic actions. In fact, it was in the testimony that Walker’s chief number cruncher, Steve Kreklow, admitted that the deficit was only one third the number of what Walker has been reporting. And even the new lower number of $4.5 million is almost seven times the number that the award-winning County Auditor found it to be.

Another error that Walker made was that he left the furlough open-ended which was contradictory to a previous arbitration hearing.

But even though it was ruled that Walker did everything wrong, Walker is still refusing to accept the truth of the matter:

Walker disagreed with the arbitrator’s decision and said it conflicted with the reasoning behind a judge’s ruling on the subject last week, when Reserve Judge Dennis Flynn said the county executive had the right to order furloughs without the board’s consent. Walker said he would study the issue with county lawyers before deciding whether to appeal the arbitrator’s decision.

Walker said another option could be to try to persuade the board to go along with shortened workweeks for 45 days, the length of time Greco suggested would pass muster.

The third option remains layoffs, though Walker said he was unsure how many might be needed.

What Walker isn’t admitting to is that the hearing that was in front of Judge Flynn was completely separate from the issues presented int he grievance. Furthermore, Walker must have elided over the part that said he failed to show the County in a fiscal crisis that would warrant excessive furloughs, much less layoffs.

I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it because it is the simple truth. If Walker was serious about wanting to fix any deficit, real or imaginary, he would first sit down with the union and do some good faith bargaining on the new contract. But while he dinks around and keeps stalling, he is costing tax payers millions of dollars.

That is perhaps what he wants though. If he keeps stalling, then that would give him the wiggle room to call for the lay off of hundreds of workers. What he fails to recognize, or perhaps just doesn’t care, is that such a mass layoff will raise the pique of most of the citizens of Milwaukee County who suddenly find themselves without services. Then he might have much more to worry about than trying to keep up with Mark Neumann.

Neumann To Enter Gubernatorial Race

Governor wannabe Scott Walker is sure having a hard time of it.

Just this week alone, he got slapped down by an arbitrator that pointed out that he is not the King of Milwaukee County. He then had a nationally known neocon figurehead come and disrespect him at his own fundraiser. He then got busted flip-flopping yet again on stimulus funds. Now he finds himself trying desperately, and failing to cover up the fact that he lied about the supposed it deficit with this lame attempt:

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s budget deficit announcement and push for a 35-hour workweek for county employees prodded the County Board and judges to take needed budget trimming action, one of Walker’s top aides said Tuesday.

Announcing a $14.9 million year-end deficit — since lowered to $4.4 million — and unpaid furloughs provided incentives for action, said county Administrative Services Director Cynthia Archer.

Of course, almost no one is buying into that garbage, much less the County Board:

Some county supervisors, however, have been sharply critical, saying Walker and Archer cried wolf on a deficit that’s not all that serious.

County Board Chairman Lee Holloway blasted Archer, saying she was dishonest with supervisors about the severity of the projected deficit.

She should steer clear of political games and be more straightforward with the County Board, he said.

And this was all by the end of the day Tuesday.

Wednesday is already shaping up to be a day of woe for Team Walker as well.

Wednesday is the day that the first viable Republican candidate will be announcing his run for governor:

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann is to make official Wednesday his Republican bid for governor in 2010, touting his private-sector experience as the necessary antidote to high state taxes and spending.

Neumann’s candidacy ensures a hard-fought – and likely well-funded – GOP primary contest against Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who announced his candidacy for governor in late April. Appleton businessman Mark Todd also has announced plans to run as a Republican.

Neumann is already staking out one of his strategies as painting himself to be the only candidate with experience in the private sector.

We have already discussed the idea of which candidate, Neumann or Walker, is more beatable. In said discussion, I stated that I thought Walker was more beatable, and I still feel that way.

Walker has the baggage of leading Milwaukee County from the frying pan into the fire as well as all of his campaign miscues already. Even though Walker has been actively campaigning, he still does not have a lot of name recognition, and many of those that do recognize his name usually spit when they hear it.

Neumann, on the other hand, as only the baggage of some outrageous, bigoted positions.

But Walker even manages to blow that advantage. It was just announced that he has taken Michael Grebe to be the chair of his campaign. Grebe is the CEO and President of the Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation is the same group that came up with the racist The Bell Curve and The Feeding Trough, which were solely created in the aim of turning public opinion against minorities, namely African Americans, and poor people.

It should be noted that Grebe came into his office well after these things were published, so he may or may not have any part of their release, but it is still the same group, and will surely be brought up if and when someone goes after Neumann for his stances of hate.

All in all, it should be entertaining for the next year, except for the prospect of Walker trying to continue to run his campaign on the backs of Milwaukee County citizens and workers.