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DAMAGE
REPORT
How Milwaukee County
Executive Scott Walker built his career on lies and Milwaukee County
residents paid the price
by Jim McGuigan
In 2002, Scott Walker burst onto our political landscape portraying himself as a decent, concerned leader who was angry about the pension plan that was enacted by county leaders. Walker called for the recall of then-County Executive Tom Ament and said he would run for the position himself. He voraciously hammered Ament and other county leaders, saying they weren't looking out for the best interest of the citizens of the county and pointed out that, if elected, he would.
Stirring up anger would be key to Walker's success in his campaign to be the next Milwaukee county exec, and he had the help of conservative talk radio show hosts who promoted Walker and demeaned anyone who opposed him. Walker campaigned hard and promised that citizens would not, and should not, have to pay for the pension plan that had been enacted in 2000. Voters saw hope in this young man. He was young, well-groomed, presentable and affable. He seemed sincere and believable.
Until this time, most county leaders had seen Walker as the lunatic fringe of the right. A conservative Republican, no one ever imagined he would have a chance to win the heavily Democratic Milwaukee County. His first race had been against Gwen Moore for a seat in the state Legislature. Although he lost that race, he caught the political bug and wanted more. After dropping out of college, he moved to Wauwatosa and won a state Assembly seat.
As a state representative, Walker was known to be a press hound-faxing out press releases on any matter: state, federal or local. One reporter even laughed at a Walker press release condemning "The Million Man March" on Washington. "Who cares whether a white republican from the suburbs is opposed to a march for black unity," the reporter confided. Despite Walker hinting that he might run against Jim Sensenbrenner for his west suburban congressional seat, most believed Walker would be resigned to live out his political career as the state Assembly representative for Wauwatosa.
Anti-Milwaukee record
Walker's stint in the state Assembly showed him to have a decisively anti-Milwaukee streak. He shocked many local officials when he voted to cut $702,715 from the state shared revenues that were earmarked for Milwaukee, and sent the funds to Lafayette County. He supported "Truth in Sentencing" legislation but opposed requiring that a cost estimate be done to see what the result of this legislation would be.
Fast forward to the county executive race of 2002, where Walker faced Hales Corners Village President Jim Ryan. Ryan used nearly the same strategy that Walker did. This proved fatal since voters who already had Republican tendencies were going to vote for Walker, whose partisan loyalties were not questioned. Ryan failed to inspire moderates and liberals since his message was essentially the same as Walker's. Democratic voters who would have never voted for a Republican heard Walker's seemingly attractive message and decided that they could cast a vote his way since county races are non-partisan.
During the race, Walker pledged to cut his pay if elected. He went from being a $49,000 per year state representative to being a $70,000 a year county executive and proudly proclaimed, with the support of an ever-loving mainstream media, that he had cut his own pay. In just a few short years, Walker had gone from college dropout to an ascendant career in politics.
Cooking the books
As county executive, Walker hasn't kept his promise that people would not "pay" for the county's fiscal woes. In his past two budgets he has systematically over-estimated revenues, causing a fiscal crisis that will automatically trigger by mid-2004. This mechanism allows Walker to keep his tax freeze pledge and, true to his extremist ideology, cut programs and employees mid-year. This past year there were several mid-year cuts, with the pool closings gaining the most attention.
Luck played a large part in the 2003 Walker budget. Walker under-budgeted snow removal costs and, with little snow this past January-April, projections were on target. He also eliminated lifeguards at Milwaukee County beaches. Normally this would have been a crisis, which could have led to drownings. But again, Walker dodged the PR bullet because beaches were closed due to high bacteria counts. Not surprisingly, the county executive has been silent on the critical issue of pollution despoiling Milwaukee's lakefront.
He wasn't so lucky with overstated parks revenues. Much like the CEO of a disgraced and scandal-riddled tech company, Walker dictated the artificial inflation of revenues to match projections, ordering the parks department to increase revenue estimates by $2 million but providing no means to achieve the revenue increase.
As the deficit became clear, Walker ordered then-Parks Director Sue Baldwin to lay off employees and to recommend mid-year cuts. On Walker's request, Baldwin had already made drastic cuts to personnel and there was nowhere else to cut but services. On the list of cuts he could make was the early closure of pools open for the summer. Walker ordered the pools closed, and when the temperatures rose, so did public outrage. Walker used Baldwin as his scapegoat and fired her, but not before he invited television news cameras to the parks department to transform the firings into a media circus.
Promises made, broken
During the 2002 campaign, Walker announced to a large crowd that he would not cut AODA (Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse) treatment funding. Months later, much to the chagrin of those that had believed him, Walker presented his 2003 budget to the County board, including significant AODA cuts. Treatment advocates were outraged, and many in the faith community were shocked that he would say one thing and do another. They reminded him that they had video-recorded the meeting and his promise. The County Board later restored some of the money. Under pressure, Walker did not veto the funding the board restored.
Not only did Walker cut AODA, but he also cut GAMP (General Assistance Medical Program). The uninsured, low income residents of the county have relied on this program for years for health care. GAMP is what most indigents rely on for basic care. Walker instituted a toll of $35 for people to use the GAMP program. The obvious problem is that the indigent don't have the $35. Many people are now delaying care in the hope that they will get better. As a result, area hospitals have experienced a spike in emergency room visits this year, contributing to higher insurance premiums for the public, and crowded emergency rooms. An additional irony here is that county-subsidized insurance premiums have risen dramatically more than either the city or the state plans covering the same time period.
2004 damage report
Perhaps the most startling and appalling cut Walker made in the 2004 budget was the cut to shelters for battered women. Women and their children who are victims of domestic violence have few places to turn. They often bear the brunt of physical and mental abuse as long as they can bear, and only then do they flee from their abusers. These shelters operate on the margins and ask the public for donations so they can continue to stay open. Foundations and businesses are a mainstay for these shelters but with tough economic times, they donate less than in times of prosperity. It is a bitter irony that Walker proposed the cut at the worst possible time for these shelters. Fortunately, the County Board restored some of the funding.
Corrections officers rely on keeping inmates busy to reduce behavioral problems, foster job skills and provide a productive means for the perpetrators of crime to contribute to the community. As such, the House of Corrections (HOC) has run a farm and fish hatchery on the HOC grounds. Produce from the farm goes to feed inmates and the rest is donated to local food banks. The fish are used to stock ponds in the county park system. Although Walker eliminated both the farm and the hatchery from the budget, the County Board restored funding for the hatchery.
Walker put priority on his conservative social agenda this year when he cut funding for the Day Reporting Center (DRC). The DRC actually saves county tax dollars by allowing nonviolent convicts to report in to take classes that will help make them job-ready, instead of locking them up. The results have been that people who serve their sentence at the DRC in lieu of incarceration are much less likely to re-offend. Although the per-inmate cost to the county is much less with the DRC than with jail/incarceration, Walker chose to cut the program -- the traditional conservative "lock 'em up" approach rather than cost-saving, effective rehabilitation.
In Milwaukee County, the budget address has always been a way for the county executive to promote his own ideas and to share his vision for the future. Walker took the unusual approach of using his budget address to present a spiteful diatribe on the "sins of the past," which he placed squarely on the shoulders of former County Executive Tom Ament. Despite this being his second budget, Walker continued to look to the past for blame for what he was about to do. As if to say, "it's not my fault," Walker cursed the name of Ament at least a half dozen times in the first five minutes of his speech. It's been nearly two years since Walker was successful in promoting the recall of Ament, but he continues to resist any indication that problems in the budget are his own fault.
Phantom revenues
The Walker budget understates expenses and overstates revenues. He relies on $2 million more in court-related revenues, which he hopes to get from the state by increased lobbying and some good old-fashioned wishful thinking. The Doyle administration has already said it's not going to happen. In the Walker budget, parks are anticipated to draw in $19 million in fees and other revenues, but on a good year, the County only brings in about $17.3 million.
County bus fares increase 25 cents. In the past, each time bus fares increase, ridership decreases. It's simple economics, where the laws of supply and demand rule. Since Walker has a track record of opposing mass transit, it is likely that when ridership diminishes, routes will be cut, forcing mass transit into a death spiral. Paratransit, the transportation service the disabled rely on, will also raise fares in this budget.
Goodbye parks
Walker believes he will save at least $2 million by combining the Department of Public Works with the parks department. Essentially, Walker has destroyed the parks department, whose management he had already fired. The new department, the Department of Parks and Public Infrastructure, will sport DPPI on all of its trucks. County workers are now affectionately calling Walker's new department "Dippy".
For Sale: Your county land
Walker expects to raise an additional $5 million from the sale of County lands. Walker projects that the Medical College will purchase some land on the county grounds. Last year, Walker tried to sell land to Children's Hospital but they didn't buy it. Also for sale is the area of the county grounds that will have a detention pond on it. Walker expects that MMSD will be a willing buyer. The parking lot on 6th and State, which is currently used for a mix of sheriff's department squads and public parking, is to be sold.
After a nearly two-year-long Walker lovefest, the mainstream media is finally starting to cover some of the problems Walker is creating with his faulty budgeting.
A built in budget deficit
The question has to be asked: What drives him? Walker is a true believer in socially conservative government. A Republican to the core, Walker has actually helped to pioneer the politics of shifting responsibility, while claiming his regret at making deep, painful service cuts. By inserting unrealistically rosy revenue projections into the 2004 budget, Walker again won approval of a budget that will require deep cuts by mid-summer. Those cuts will come well after his upcoming April election. Parks, bus services and other programs will have to be trimmed back or eliminated in order to fill the problems of a built-in budget deficit.
Last year he said the need to close pools earlier than normal was due to an unexpected deficit. County residents should expect to see a need for similar "unforeseen" cuts in 2004. However, Walker has learned that suburban voters (his political base) take their parks very seriously. For that reason, cuts to social spending and transportation are more likely to fall victim to Walker's budget hatchet.
The Republican Party website saluted Walker as a compassionate conservative. Using the term compassionate-conservative is like saying loving-fascists. Like oil and water, they just don't mix and "compassion" certainly doesn't reflect the policies that Walker has advocated.
In all fairness, Walker does have a reputation for studying the issues. Despite his innate lack of ability, he reads voraciously and sources tell me he tries to understand issues. The problem is that he just doesn't get it, or arguably, he just doesn't care. Like every county budget in the last decade, this year's budget was a difficult one. Walker has yet to realize that you cannot cut yourself out of a hole.
Whether his myopic policies are due to a lack of caring, lack of ability or slavish adherence to a socially conservative agenda, the end result is that people without means have paid greatly with this budget. Under the Walker Administration, being poor has, in and of itself, become a crime.
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