The seasons are being reflected in Milwaukee County government.
Last month, most of us were celebrating Christmas. There were parties, family gatherings over sumptuous meals, and, of course, presents. Good times were had and there was a certain feel of warmth and joy that only comes with Christmas.
But then in January, people return to the daily grind of work and school, errands, the occasional need to shovel some snow and the other mundane events that occur in the winter. But also, people get smacked with the Christmas bills. Bills for the food and beverages need for a successful party or to make that family dinner. And, of course, the bills for all the gifts that we bought for our friends and family and loved ones.
It’s like that in Milwaukee County as well, much in a much grander scale.
But it was Scott Walker who got all the presents, and the tax payers who got stuck with the bills.
In the fall of 2009, as our elected leaders were hashing out the 2010 budget, Scott Walker included a plan to privatize the security guards at the Courthouse and other buildings. The Board rejected that idea and cut it out of their budget. Walker used his Frankenstein veto pen to reinstate the privatization. Again, the Board overrode his veto.
But after 2010 started, Walker declared a fiscal emergency and went ahead and privatized the guards, giving a lucrative contract to Wackenhut, over the protests of the County Board.
To make matters even worse, Walker bungled the whole thing.
First, he didn’t county on the professionalism of the county guards, who stayed on duty to the bitter end. So Walker had county security guards as well as the Wackenhut guards on duty at the same posts. To top it off, he also had Sheriff Deputies on duty, some on overtime, at the same posts.
Secondly, the jobs he took from Milwaukee County citizens ended up going to people from Chicago and Florida. The it turned out that one of the Wackenhut supervisors had a criminal history, including inappropriate sexual conduct, all while he was the police chief for Manawa.
Despite Walker’s claims that it would save tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars, the reality was that it barely made it to $70,000.
And now, even that small savings has been obliterated, because Walker, as he is prone to do, overstepped his authority and the whole thing was done illegally.
The unions took the matter to arbitration, and the ruling of the arbitration came out late today. It was in the favor of the unions:
The county did not have a true budget crisis at the time and county officials failed to give the union representing the security guards an opportunity to make some alternative cost-saving proposals before laying them off, according to the decision from arbitrator Amedeo Greco.
Greco’s ruling also said the $125,000 annual savings from privatizing the courthouse security estimated by county officials was overstated by nearly $53,000.
[...]
The ruling calls for immediately hiring back the laid-off county workers with back pay, with any unemployment compensation or wages from a new job subtracted. It also called for a guarantee of at least 180 days of work – the amount of time that Greco said should have been given to the security guards’ union to react to Walker’s privatization plan.
No estimate was immediately available of the cost of the back pay or the number of former county security guards laid off last year who might want their old jobs back. The private firm G4S Wackenhut was hired by Walker to replace the union workers. The Wackenhut guards are being paid up to $10.50 an hour, about $5 an hour less than the union guards made.
It should be noted that at least a handful of county security guards were able to land jobs with Wackenhut. This ruling means that for the past ten months, the county will have been effectively paying over $25 an hour, between this ruling and the Wackenhut contract, just so that Walker could make a political statement.
On top of that, unless the county can find a way out of the Wackenhut contract, for the next six months, the tax payers will have to foot the bills for two groups of security guards.
That’s not exactly what anyone would call fiscal responsibility.
Ideally, since Scott Walker was the sole person responsible for this bad decision, he should be the one to pay for it. But Walker was never interested in fiscal responsibility, only in what he thought would make him more politically popular. Now that he has gotten what he wanted, don’t look to him to make give a hoot about Milwaukee County tax payers, much less an apology or offer of restitution.
Our advice to the Milwaukee County tax payer is to hold onto your wallets. There is little doubt that many more of Walker’s bills will be coming due over the next several years, and we will be the ones that have to pay them.
[...] Bluster Blunders I fear that Governor Walker will be repeating mistakes that will be magnified at the state level. Such as missteps in Milwaukee County that stemmed from making bloated political pronouncements that he claims will save money, but which ultimately wind up costing a lot. In the case of his illegal privatization of security forces a lawsuit and double-staffing occurred and, “…unless the county can find a way out of the Wackenhut contract, for the next six months, the tax payers will have to foot the bills for two groups of security guards.” Milwaukee County First [...]
If for arguments sake the Republicans are correct in their beliefs…wouldn’t there be an outcry of thanks…of jubilation that our problems are solved??? Let’s look at what is happening…tens of thousands of people in Wisconsin are outraged at the ourageous bill that the Governer is trying to get passed by sneaking it under the table.
The fact that the Democrats refuse to reenter the building shows that there is also disagreement and the feeling that pushing an agenda through without the benefit of conversation or concessions is not an honest approach.
Back to the Republicans…if Governer Walker is right…what is he so afraid of…what can he guarantee anyone, really???
To me Governer Walker is acting like the the Authoritarian parent…Authoritarians believe that it is my way or the highway, there is no room for compramise, conversation or response on the part of the child. This is what it seems to me to be his position.
Almost equally as harmful is the Passive parent who do not give guidance or direction. The feel that the child can figure it out and make their own decisions. These are like the Republican party and supporters who will follow mindlessly the same rhetoric as the Governer.
When a parent refuses to allow for this give and take and expects that the child become like them or believe exactly like them and not allow for the growth of the child, this is called fusion. This is another area that is damaging and in Republican supporters expecting that all people follow along like little soldiers for Governer Walker’s bill is the same.
Authoritative parents (insert Deomocratic leaders) are those who still understand and expect that the rules be followed, but that in any decision there is some wiggle room to accomodate the changes that are taking place as the child develops. An authoritative parent takes into consideration what is best for all concerned…for the child when it is needed for their protection and for the parent to recognize the beauty that is their child as they develop into their own people. This is called individuation. Each person learning to think and speak for themselves. This is the reason that the Democratic party is protesting that their voice be heard and the reason that they are walking out to prevent a vote. It also allows for the voice of the people to be heard…they are like the child of the Authoritative parent.
It’s really pretty simple…at this point the Governer is digging his heals in like an authoritarian parent refusing to budge because his way is the only way…there is no arguing with him. Unless he figures out that the people will not agree to that kind of decision making or parenting, that it is not in anyone’s best interest, the Authoritative position will continue to grow stronger and he will at some point, in order to make this truly decision making for the people by the people, they/we will continue to speak out and advocate for our rights.
We the people of Wisconsin are coming out and speaking out because we believe that the success of any Government, Business or Parent is the flexibillty to entertain anothers point of view. The demonstrators are being peaceful and have made their offer of concessions which have fallen on deaf ears…
My final point is about the either/or nature of the Governers demands in his bill…this is not how a good parent or leader operates…using scare tactics or punishment is not nearly as effective as working to prevent the problems in the first place. There are many other ways that the problems with Wisconsin’s finances could be repaired. I’m no government official, but even with the few classes in Business, Economics, Ethics, American Government and Public Policy I can figure this out…why can’t he???
Until all voices are recognized!!!