by capper
Last night, I transcribed the mailer sent out by the Milwaukee County Board regarding the sales tax referendum.
A concerned reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, was kind enough to scan the mailer she had received and forward it to me. To make it easier for you, I then uploaded to a document. You can see the mailer, both sides of it even, by clicking here.
Coincidentally, I thought of checking the county website, as it was my understanding that they would put up their own pdf, but when I checked the site, this is what I found.
It would be interesting to see what had happened to it.
And to said anonymous reader, my many thanks for your thoughtfulness.
Showing posts with label Milwaukee County Board. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milwaukee County Board. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
NO MORE CUTS
by capper
Once again, gentle reader, we see Walker's weaselly ways with the county budget, cutting services, cutting jobs, cutting the quality of life for every man, woman and child in the county that doesn't happen to be one of his top staff members or one of his political backers.
He wants to services to the elderly. He wants to cut services to the disabled. He wants to cut services to the poor. He wants to cut the frequency of buses while raising fares. He wants to cut the quality of the parks. He wants to cut the livelihood of hundreds of workers.
What he needs to do is just cut the crap that he keeps trying to pull.
Please join me and several hundred of my friends to let Scott Walker know that the people of Milwaukee County want no more cuts to the services that we need to be a safe, affordable and proud community. Please join us as we let the county board know that we are holding them responsible for correcting Walker's negligence and maliciousness.
Join us at a rally for "No More Cuts" on Wednesday, October 15th at 5 p.m. It will be held at Clas Park, which is on the south side of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
Further details will be made as they become available.
Once again, gentle reader, we see Walker's weaselly ways with the county budget, cutting services, cutting jobs, cutting the quality of life for every man, woman and child in the county that doesn't happen to be one of his top staff members or one of his political backers.
He wants to services to the elderly. He wants to cut services to the disabled. He wants to cut services to the poor. He wants to cut the frequency of buses while raising fares. He wants to cut the quality of the parks. He wants to cut the livelihood of hundreds of workers.
What he needs to do is just cut the crap that he keeps trying to pull.
Please join me and several hundred of my friends to let Scott Walker know that the people of Milwaukee County want no more cuts to the services that we need to be a safe, affordable and proud community. Please join us as we let the county board know that we are holding them responsible for correcting Walker's negligence and maliciousness.
Join us at a rally for "No More Cuts" on Wednesday, October 15th at 5 p.m. It will be held at Clas Park, which is on the south side of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
Further details will be made as they become available.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Mark Your Calendars
by capper
All Politics is reporting the schedule for three upcoming public hearings regarding the county budget:
The budget battle will be fought the same way it has for the past six years. At the County Board level. You know the County Board. They're the people that have had to fix all of his previous budget proposals. They're the ones that gave the county a $7 million surplus.
I encourage everyone to attend, and let the board know that Walker's political interests aren't in the best interest of the county, and that they need to preserve the vital services the county provides, like burying the indigent, public transportation, and support for the disabled, the elderly and the poor.
Cross posted at Cognitive Dissidence.
All Politics is reporting the schedule for three upcoming public hearings regarding the county budget:
The budget hearings will be Sept. 10 at Franklin City Hall, 9229 W. Loomis Road; Sept. 16 at Kosciuszko Community Center, 2201 [S.] Seventh St.; and Sept. 18 at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 1531 W. Vliet St. All hearings run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.This is the opportunity for the citizens to make their opinions heard before the County Board. County Executive Scott Walker already held his non-listening sessions and doesn't give a fig about what the people wants. He is only interested in what he thinks would help him as he gears up for another run for governor.
The budget battle will be fought the same way it has for the past six years. At the County Board level. You know the County Board. They're the people that have had to fix all of his previous budget proposals. They're the ones that gave the county a $7 million surplus.
I encourage everyone to attend, and let the board know that Walker's political interests aren't in the best interest of the county, and that they need to preserve the vital services the county provides, like burying the indigent, public transportation, and support for the disabled, the elderly and the poor.
Cross posted at Cognitive Dissidence.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Time To Go To Override
by capper
I wrote last week about the importance of the Milwaukee County Board to override Scott Walker's veto of the sales tax referendum.
Walker has, in the last week, offered up a lot of rhetoric in trying to persuade the Board in not going for the override. His rhetoric is full of false arguments, and a dose of hypocrisy. He claims that the sales tax would make Milwaukee County a "tax oasis", drive business out of Milwaukee County, wouldn't really provide tax relieve, and that the voters already had such a referendum when they re-elected him last April.
I wrote a piece nearly a year ago, at this here site, on the irrational argument of a sales tax making Milwaukee County a "tax oasis." And at that time, gas was relatively cheap at $3 a gallon. Now that gas is hovering around the $4 a gallon range, his argument is even more specious. His supporters try to argue about how much money they could save on a large purchase, ranging in the thousands of dollars. But in today's economy, how many people are going to be willing to make purchases that large on a regular basis? Not many, I'm sure.
In the same piece, I pointed out that the sales tax in Milwaukee County was already higher than that in surrounding counties, but that businesses were still thriving in Milwaukee. Having an even higher sales tax in Chicago doesn't appear to have shut that city down either. If anything, major employers, like Miller, are leaving Milwaukee, but it has nothing to do with the taxes. But transportation seems to have more of an effect on the issue.
Walker is absolutely incorrect when he says that the sales tax won't provide property tax relief. It will do so. Walker is hoping that people will confuse tax relief with tax prevention. It won't keep taxes from going up indefinitely, but it will ease the pain. More long-lasting tax relief would come from things Walker and his ilk oppose, like a rational approach to health care, developing alternative forms of energy and making corporations pay their fair share of taxes. The hypocritical part comes in when Walker argues that in the '90s tax relief measures still resulted in higher taxes. It is hypocritical of Walker to say this, as that a major reason for the increase in county taxes was due to the State government short-changing Milwaukee County (something that he still complains about), due to budgets that he and his Republican allies helped forge and pass.
Walker's assertions about the referendum already being held is as equally laughable as the rest of his arguments. Yes, he was elected by a respectable margin. But so were the members of the County board who are poised to override his veto.
The thing that Walker hasn't mentioned in his arguments about how much the sales tax would cost us, is how much more it would cost the county to have a failing transit system or a parks system that is in ruins. That would do more to drive away taxpayers and businesses alike.
It's not too late to call your local county board supervisor, and encourage him or her to override the veto. You can get the contact information for your Supervisor here, and if you don't know who your Supervisor is, you can find out by clicking here.
Cross posted at Cognitive Dissendence, with the slightest in modifications for coherency purposes.
I wrote last week about the importance of the Milwaukee County Board to override Scott Walker's veto of the sales tax referendum.
Walker has, in the last week, offered up a lot of rhetoric in trying to persuade the Board in not going for the override. His rhetoric is full of false arguments, and a dose of hypocrisy. He claims that the sales tax would make Milwaukee County a "tax oasis", drive business out of Milwaukee County, wouldn't really provide tax relieve, and that the voters already had such a referendum when they re-elected him last April.
I wrote a piece nearly a year ago, at this here site, on the irrational argument of a sales tax making Milwaukee County a "tax oasis." And at that time, gas was relatively cheap at $3 a gallon. Now that gas is hovering around the $4 a gallon range, his argument is even more specious. His supporters try to argue about how much money they could save on a large purchase, ranging in the thousands of dollars. But in today's economy, how many people are going to be willing to make purchases that large on a regular basis? Not many, I'm sure.
In the same piece, I pointed out that the sales tax in Milwaukee County was already higher than that in surrounding counties, but that businesses were still thriving in Milwaukee. Having an even higher sales tax in Chicago doesn't appear to have shut that city down either. If anything, major employers, like Miller, are leaving Milwaukee, but it has nothing to do with the taxes. But transportation seems to have more of an effect on the issue.
Walker is absolutely incorrect when he says that the sales tax won't provide property tax relief. It will do so. Walker is hoping that people will confuse tax relief with tax prevention. It won't keep taxes from going up indefinitely, but it will ease the pain. More long-lasting tax relief would come from things Walker and his ilk oppose, like a rational approach to health care, developing alternative forms of energy and making corporations pay their fair share of taxes. The hypocritical part comes in when Walker argues that in the '90s tax relief measures still resulted in higher taxes. It is hypocritical of Walker to say this, as that a major reason for the increase in county taxes was due to the State government short-changing Milwaukee County (something that he still complains about), due to budgets that he and his Republican allies helped forge and pass.
Walker's assertions about the referendum already being held is as equally laughable as the rest of his arguments. Yes, he was elected by a respectable margin. But so were the members of the County board who are poised to override his veto.
The thing that Walker hasn't mentioned in his arguments about how much the sales tax would cost us, is how much more it would cost the county to have a failing transit system or a parks system that is in ruins. That would do more to drive away taxpayers and businesses alike.
It's not too late to call your local county board supervisor, and encourage him or her to override the veto. You can get the contact information for your Supervisor here, and if you don't know who your Supervisor is, you can find out by clicking here.
Cross posted at Cognitive Dissendence, with the slightest in modifications for coherency purposes.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
How Are Those Talking Points Working Out?
by capper
During the course of the last year, we have had a deluge of talking points from the right side of the blogosphere, all in an effort to sway the elections their way. We have heard about how property taxes and sales taxes are too high, that light rail is the devil's work, and that the KRM would be just a waste of taxpayers' money, to name but a few.
These talking points helped get Scott Walker re-elected this past spring. He even ran commercials on the subject of taxes, and how an increase in taxes would drive Miller out of town:
Well, I guess that didn't work out as promised. MillerCoors announced that they will be moving their headquarters to Chicago, along with a couple hundred high-paying white collar jobs.
But their move wasn't based on taxes (emphasis mine):
Need I point out that Chicago also has a high quality mass transit system, that includes a rail component?
Even though their headquarters will be in Chicago, MillerCoors has promised to not only leave their brewery here, but invest heavily into it in order to expand production. With their headquarters there, and their brewery here, I wonder what they would say about having a nice, efficient rail system connecting them?
Meanwhile, due to insufficient revenues, our parks and transit systems are being found to be subpar. It is way beyond time for the people's voice to be heard, and the sales tax referendum needs to be allowed to happen, before we lose more businesses and people due to the poor quality of life Milwaukee County is becoming known for.
Contact your County Board Supervisor and urge him or her to override Walker's veto on July 24th. If you don't know who your supervisor is, you can find out by clicking here.
During the course of the last year, we have had a deluge of talking points from the right side of the blogosphere, all in an effort to sway the elections their way. We have heard about how property taxes and sales taxes are too high, that light rail is the devil's work, and that the KRM would be just a waste of taxpayers' money, to name but a few.
These talking points helped get Scott Walker re-elected this past spring. He even ran commercials on the subject of taxes, and how an increase in taxes would drive Miller out of town:
Well, I guess that didn't work out as promised. MillerCoors announced that they will be moving their headquarters to Chicago, along with a couple hundred high-paying white collar jobs.
But their move wasn't based on taxes (emphasis mine):
In addition to being a neutral site, Chicago presents a more attractive location than either Milwaukee or Denver for the marketing talent that MillerCoors needs to be successful, Long said.
Chicago also boasts O'Hare International Airport, the world's second busiest airport. O'Hare offers global air connections, an important consideration for a company that is partly owned by London-based SABMiller.
Long said those factors outweighed the higher cost of doing business in downtown Chicago, where a specific site for the headquarters has not yet been disclosed.
He said taxes were not a deciding factor in evaluating headquarters sites, which included Dallas as a finalist. Illinois has a corporate tax rate of 7.3%, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators. That compares with 7.9% in Wisconsin, 4.63% in Colorado and 0.5% to 1% in Texas.
Need I point out that Chicago also has a high quality mass transit system, that includes a rail component?
Even though their headquarters will be in Chicago, MillerCoors has promised to not only leave their brewery here, but invest heavily into it in order to expand production. With their headquarters there, and their brewery here, I wonder what they would say about having a nice, efficient rail system connecting them?
Meanwhile, due to insufficient revenues, our parks and transit systems are being found to be subpar. It is way beyond time for the people's voice to be heard, and the sales tax referendum needs to be allowed to happen, before we lose more businesses and people due to the poor quality of life Milwaukee County is becoming known for.
Contact your County Board Supervisor and urge him or her to override Walker's veto on July 24th. If you don't know who your supervisor is, you can find out by clicking here.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Less Than Super Superintendent
by capper
Ron Malone needs to be given his walking papers. It's that simple really.
Ron Malone is the superintendent of the Milwaukee County House of Correction (HOC). Over the past year, we have seen numerous inmates that have escaped from custody.
We have seen good correction officers being scapegoated for an inmate's escape, even though they don't know if he really escaped.
Malone has shown that he doesn't even know what the policies are at his facility regarding late nights. In fact, Malone, as superintendent would have to approve of any decisions regarding grievances, but denied ever seeing the grievances regarding the late nights.
There was an inmate that died from a drug overdose, which stemmed from the consequences of the facility being short staffed.
There have also been audits that have shown the HOC to be in terrible shape regarding security, morale, and overall policy.
Things were bad enough that County Executive Scott Walker had threatened to fire Malone if things didn't turn around in a few months.
Now, in the last day, we see that there has been an ongoing investigation into reports that ranking officers were sexually harassing female employees. From what I understand, the report does not cover the whole story, and that there are people being investigated who go above and beyond just the two lieutenants, and that the investigations have been going on for at least a couple of months. One would think that complaints this expansive and serious in nature, involving some of his higher ranked employees would have caught his attention. One might think that, but that doesn't appear to be the case:
Fortunately, some of the members of the county board have enough sense to put a halt to rubber stamping his re-appointment as superintendent, and have referred his appointment to be sent back to committee for further review. Hopefully, they will get it right this time and not agree to his re-appointment to this position.
I won't even rip on Scott Walker for this one either. I doubt if he was aware of the investigations. He's been too busyrunning for governor promoting Milwaukee County on his bike ride.
Ron Malone needs to be given his walking papers. It's that simple really.
Ron Malone is the superintendent of the Milwaukee County House of Correction (HOC). Over the past year, we have seen numerous inmates that have escaped from custody.
We have seen good correction officers being scapegoated for an inmate's escape, even though they don't know if he really escaped.
Malone has shown that he doesn't even know what the policies are at his facility regarding late nights. In fact, Malone, as superintendent would have to approve of any decisions regarding grievances, but denied ever seeing the grievances regarding the late nights.
There was an inmate that died from a drug overdose, which stemmed from the consequences of the facility being short staffed.
There have also been audits that have shown the HOC to be in terrible shape regarding security, morale, and overall policy.
Things were bad enough that County Executive Scott Walker had threatened to fire Malone if things didn't turn around in a few months.
Now, in the last day, we see that there has been an ongoing investigation into reports that ranking officers were sexually harassing female employees. From what I understand, the report does not cover the whole story, and that there are people being investigated who go above and beyond just the two lieutenants, and that the investigations have been going on for at least a couple of months. One would think that complaints this expansive and serious in nature, involving some of his higher ranked employees would have caught his attention. One might think that, but that doesn't appear to be the case:
Meantime, House of Correction Superintendent Ron Malone would not go on camera Wednesday night but tells TMJ4 he takes this very seriously.Malone is either trying, and failing, to cover up a whole mess of problems that he is fully aware of, or he is just plainly incompetent and/or obtuse to what is going on in his facility. Either way, he hasn't shown that he is deserving of the role as superintendent.
He couldn't tell us without going back through the records, if there is an investigation.
He does, however plan to take a closer look at this Thursday and promised to follow up.
Fortunately, some of the members of the county board have enough sense to put a halt to rubber stamping his re-appointment as superintendent, and have referred his appointment to be sent back to committee for further review. Hopefully, they will get it right this time and not agree to his re-appointment to this position.
I won't even rip on Scott Walker for this one either. I doubt if he was aware of the investigations. He's been too busy
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The County Board Shows Some Common Sense
by capper
While catching up on the news, I was heartened to see that the Milwaukee County Board has decided to take some time to analyze the foolish proposal to move the mental health complex. This is especially true given that the county has already invested so much money and effort in getting the current facility up to code.
Furthermore, the numbers I have seen aren't adding up the way Walker is presenting them (more on this at a later date).
What is disconcerting is Walker's persistence on the issue:
After all, we all remember what happened the last time the board rubber-stamped a proposal from the County Executive without giving it a thorough vetting.
While catching up on the news, I was heartened to see that the Milwaukee County Board has decided to take some time to analyze the foolish proposal to move the mental health complex. This is especially true given that the county has already invested so much money and effort in getting the current facility up to code.
Furthermore, the numbers I have seen aren't adding up the way Walker is presenting them (more on this at a later date).
What is disconcerting is Walker's persistence on the issue:
Walker has suggested closing the deal soon, noting that St. Michael owner Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare might not wait much longer for the county to decide. The County Board last week voted to delay consideration for two months for more study.
After all, we all remember what happened the last time the board rubber-stamped a proposal from the County Executive without giving it a thorough vetting.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Is There A Doctor In The House?
by capper
The brain drain in Milwaukee County continues. This time the cause can be traced directly back to, who else, Walker.
The medical examiner's office has lost 50% of its qualified forensic pathologists, and there is a strong concern that the others will also leave.
To be fair, Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen retired after 22 years, so I won't blame Walker for his loss. However, the next in line, Dr. Russell Alexander turned down a $75,000 a year raise to move to Maryland.
The medical examiner's office and the D.A.'s office are both warning Walker that there is a strong danger of there being a backlog of autopsies, which would hamper law enforcement and prosecution of murderers. Walker is now forced to increase the salaries for pathologists, which he slashed in 2004, by $25,000 each, and replace a position for a forensic investigator, just one of the one's he cut out in previous years.
There is no word on how Walker plans to pay for all of this. Perhaps he will tap the $7 million dollar surplus that the County Board gave Milwaukee.
There have been no return calls from Dr. Quincy. Walker is standing by the phone, just in case.
The brain drain in Milwaukee County continues. This time the cause can be traced directly back to, who else, Walker.
The medical examiner's office has lost 50% of its qualified forensic pathologists, and there is a strong concern that the others will also leave.
To be fair, Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen retired after 22 years, so I won't blame Walker for his loss. However, the next in line, Dr. Russell Alexander turned down a $75,000 a year raise to move to Maryland.
The medical examiner's office and the D.A.'s office are both warning Walker that there is a strong danger of there being a backlog of autopsies, which would hamper law enforcement and prosecution of murderers. Walker is now forced to increase the salaries for pathologists, which he slashed in 2004, by $25,000 each, and replace a position for a forensic investigator, just one of the one's he cut out in previous years.
There is no word on how Walker plans to pay for all of this. Perhaps he will tap the $7 million dollar surplus that the County Board gave Milwaukee.
There have been no return calls from Dr. Quincy. Walker is standing by the phone, just in case.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
No Honor Among Thieves
by capper
Yesterday, Walker's campaign came out with a press release stating that he had given Milwaukee County a $7 million surplus in 2007. The usual suspects, both local and from far away lands, rejoiced and sang their accolades.
It struck me as wrong. I knew that the County still owed the pension fund tens of millions of dollars. I also knew that many budgets, like HOC and the mental health complex were way over their allotments. But something else was wrong.
JSOnline's Political blog pointed it out:
You can find the original story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.
We owe a big thank you to the county board for having the wisdom, the foresight and the courage to prevent one of Walker's disastrous budgets from wreaking full havoc, for at least that year.
Stay tuned for when Walker takes credit for winning World War II, being the first man on the moon, and for creating the iPhone.
Yesterday, Walker's campaign came out with a press release stating that he had given Milwaukee County a $7 million surplus in 2007. The usual suspects, both local and from far away lands, rejoiced and sang their accolades.
It struck me as wrong. I knew that the County still owed the pension fund tens of millions of dollars. I also knew that many budgets, like HOC and the mental health complex were way over their allotments. But something else was wrong.
JSOnline's Political blog pointed it out:
Darn right, said three county supervisors, Richard Nyklewicz Jr., Roger Quindel and John Weishan Jr. All pointed out that Walker vetoed the entire 2007 county budget, which was overridden by the County Board. That should deny him any bragging rights for the surplus, the supervisors said separately.
Furthermore, it was a board-led move to recraft the county's health insurance that provided such a windfall in savings that it offset other departmental deficits for '07, said Nyklewicz, the County Board's finance commitee[sic] chairman.
You can find the original story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.
We owe a big thank you to the county board for having the wisdom, the foresight and the courage to prevent one of Walker's disastrous budgets from wreaking full havoc, for at least that year.
Stay tuned for when Walker takes credit for winning World War II, being the first man on the moon, and for creating the iPhone.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
by capper
Even though Halloween was two weeks ago, with all the usual ghosts, goblins, things going bump in the night to scare us, there were some who felt more terrified by other things. If you listened to most of the right wing pundits and bloggers, the scariest thing out there was Doyle's Frankenstein Veto.
But now comes something even scarier, creeping out from its underground lair tomorrow....
Even though Halloween was two weeks ago, with all the usual ghosts, goblins, things going bump in the night to scare us, there were some who felt more terrified by other things. If you listened to most of the right wing pundits and bloggers, the scariest thing out there was Doyle's Frankenstein Veto.
But now comes something even scarier, creeping out from its underground lair tomorrow....
Scott Walker and his Giant Crayola From Hell!!!!
Yes, that's right, tomorrow is the day that Walker wastes everyone's time with a big grandstanding production to announce the vetoes which we all know will be overridden by the County Board on Wednesday. (With the possible exception of the pay raise for the County Board, and I won't cry about that one.) Expect all the local right wing bloggers and/or squawkers to be singing his praises and booing the Board. Yawn.
If you wish to contact your County Board Supervisor, and tell him or her that you value a better quality of life over Scott Walker's $12.50, and wish them to override Walker's vetoes, you can call them at (414) 278-4222. If you're not sure who your Supervisor is, you can find out here.
What Were They Thinking?
by capper
I have already written about Scott Walker and the decimation he would create to the public transit system if he would have gotten his way. The County Board restored many of the cuts that he had made, as well as removed his massive increase of Transit Plus.
But the County Board, for whatever reasons, chose not to restore all of his routes. One of the routes they chose to leave off of the county budget was Route 11, which travels Vliet Street from Water Street to 47th Street. This makes no sense.
On 12th and Vliet is the Marcia Coggs building, which holds Economic Support Services, Disability Services, and most of the other social services that Milwaukee County provides. Most of the people that utilize these services are the poor, the physically disabled and the developmentally disabled. These same people are often reliant on public transit to get around, including to meetings with case workers who provide the social services for them.
On 17th and Vliet is the Martin Luther King Community Center (which Walker had also threatened to cut). This facility offers many community activities, including lectures, social events, educational sessions, community meetings and various charitable activities. One of the most notable is the donation of school supplies like backpacks, pens, pencils, paper and the such to neighborhood children who are in need of these items.
One would think that even if the County Board wouldn't or couldn't restore all of the routes that Walker had cut, they would at least have maintained the ones that were most needed.
I have already written about Scott Walker and the decimation he would create to the public transit system if he would have gotten his way. The County Board restored many of the cuts that he had made, as well as removed his massive increase of Transit Plus.
But the County Board, for whatever reasons, chose not to restore all of his routes. One of the routes they chose to leave off of the county budget was Route 11, which travels Vliet Street from Water Street to 47th Street. This makes no sense.
On 12th and Vliet is the Marcia Coggs building, which holds Economic Support Services, Disability Services, and most of the other social services that Milwaukee County provides. Most of the people that utilize these services are the poor, the physically disabled and the developmentally disabled. These same people are often reliant on public transit to get around, including to meetings with case workers who provide the social services for them.
On 17th and Vliet is the Martin Luther King Community Center (which Walker had also threatened to cut). This facility offers many community activities, including lectures, social events, educational sessions, community meetings and various charitable activities. One of the most notable is the donation of school supplies like backpacks, pens, pencils, paper and the such to neighborhood children who are in need of these items.
One would think that even if the County Board wouldn't or couldn't restore all of the routes that Walker had cut, they would at least have maintained the ones that were most needed.
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