Off to the Races

Last week, Representative Jeff Stone - a candidate for Milwaukee County Executive - sent an email to County Board Chairman Michael Mayo requesting two advisory referendum questions be put on the April 5th spring election ballot. Stone's referendum questions ask if the Milwaukee County Board should be reduced from its current number of 19 members, and if the County Board should go from full-time to part-time positions.

Both questions have been considered in the past as ways to make the Milwaukee County Board more cost-effective and productive. In 2003, the County Board was reduced from 25 members to 19. Naturally then, shrinking the Board has already been considered a move in the right direction. If it's been considered in the past, why aren't our candidates offering their opinions on it?

A Mixed Democrat Response

Democrat Jim Sullivan - who has been looking for employment since he lost his seat to Leah Vukmir - didn't return calls and hasn't given a response to the media. Just an opinion, but he may have to check AFSCME (the County's largest union) in order to form an opinion.

Democrat Lee Holloway - the most famous slumlord in Milwaukee - declined to comment as well. But Holloway has also been tied up in court lately, so at least he has an excuse.

Democrat Chris Abele's campaign said he might support a reduction in the county board. His campaign spokesperson said,

"Chris has been very clear in supporting moves that improve the efficiency of Milwaukee County government and allow us to get the best value for the taxpayer dollar. He is open to hearing what the people have to say about their government."

In other words, Abele doesn't want to commit to a position. For politicians, being "open to an idea" is often code for "we don't want to give a public response because we're not sure how it will play out in the media." Too bad, because a response would have shown Milwaukee County that Abele, a contender in the race, was serious about running a lean and productive government.

Chris Abele: the Man of Many Boards

Those who know Abele know he is no stranger to boards. A quick search on the web shows that Abele has been on at least 24 different Executive and Advisory Boards. It gives one the impression that either Abele is superman, or his board memberships can't require a whole lot of committment. Could you imagine having 25 part time jobs? And this brings us to the corresponding point, do we want a government board that's run by people that aren't productive with their time?

One of the more prominent boards or panels that Abele has served on is the Greater Milwaukee Committee - an influential non-profit connected to important projects in Milwaukee. The Greater Milwaukee Committee panel made news late last year when they called for the consideration of blowing up the Milwaukee County government. Chris Abele, who co-chaired that committee, now says the term was unfortunate and a bit silly. Well, that settles it!

It's sort of interesting though that Abele considers what the Chairman of the Greater Milwaukee Committee Sheldon Lubar says as unfortunate and silly. But Lubar thought it wasn't since he continued to use the term "blown up" and "implode" regarding County government at other speaking engagements. Chairman Lubar said that the Milwaukee County government should be turned over to the state because their ballooning pension and retiree health care costs could force the county government to "implode" by 2015. These terms aren't unfortunate or silly, they are reflective of a clear and deliberate view adopted by the organization Chris Abele has co-chaired.

Of course, the language of Abele's organization has also caused some angst with some pretty influential people. In an attempt to pacify Rich Abelson, union boss of the most powerful union in Milwaukee County, Abele told him that he is no "Darth Vader seeking to blow up Milwaukee County." Abele met with Abelson because he needs the support of powerful unions like AFSCME. They can be financially harmful to Democrat politicians that don't tow the line.

Back to reducing the size of the County Board, Abele has not tipped his hand on this issue one way or the other. And this should be a problem to voters. With Abele's vast experience on at least two dozen boards, he really has no good excuse not to give us an answer.

Jeff Stone on Shrinking the County Board

In an interview with El Conquistador, Representative Stone said he wanted to reduce the County Board to a number below 17 members and may even go lower than 10. Smaller part-time boards, according to Representative Stone, will incline the members to treat their job as a service rather than a career. Stone had also remarked that full-time boards tend to be smaller while part-time boards tend to be larger. In Milwaukee County, however, the board is both full-time and large - seemingly the worst of both.

Stone is not alone. In fact, County Board Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo has also proposed rightsizing the County Board. On page 21 of Sanfelippo's blueprint, he says "As we redistrict following the results of the 2010 U.S. Census, we should give careful consideration to reducing the size of the Board or converting to part-time positions." Sanfelippo's proposal says that County Supervisors should follow the lead of county government and do more with less. Based on recent survey results, Sanfelippo has also noted that his district significantly favors shrinking the County Board. The results show that the County Board should be an item on the table, not something to be ignored.

Conclusion

Reducing the size of the Milwaukee County Board would be a good start for any candidate wanting to be the Next Milwaukee County Executive. It shows that they are willing to reform a government body with a history of being entrenched in bureaucracy and partisanship.

During the mid-term elections, for instance, several County Board Supervisors were underhandedly cooperative with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to harm Scott Walker's bid for Governor. County Supervisors Marina Dimitrijevic, John Weishan, and Chris Larson exploited the death of 14 year old Jared Kellner by using a SEIU-staged protest over the O'Donnell Parking Garage Investigation. This is what SEIU spokesman John Morgan implied when he told an investigative reporter that he had "County Supervisors calling for an independent investigation of the O'Donnell Pavilion." Morgan also implicated Supervisor John Weishan as one of the Supervisors he had talked specifics with concerning the protest.

Reducing the County Board - as some would argue - may reduce board diversity, but it will also reduce a sluggish bureaucracy and an unyielding partisanship. Smaller boards tend to run more productively as individual members accept a bigger mantle of responsibility. Government Boards are not meant to be a body of figureheads or self-aggrandizing individuals, but rather an efficient group of citizens working for the betterment of their neighbors. Perhaps Stone's Referendum questions deserve a little more than "no comment" or "he's open to the idea."