Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele rarely takes questions from the public—and even more rarely takes questions from county supervisors in a public hearing.
But Abele did answer questions after presenting his recommended 2016 budget to the board of supervisors and in the process managed to offend African American Milwaukeeans.
When responding to Supervisor Khalif Rainey’s question about what Abele’s budget does for African Americans, the county executive responded: “By far the most significant increases in funding we have made every single year have been into restoring social services, whether it’s more programming at the House of Correction, it’s more people served at child support, and adding to child support and employment, the Pathways to Responsible Fatherhood Program.” He then added the county’s driver’s license recovery program, mental health and transit funding as boons for African Americans, before finally mentioning the new UpLift MKE, a workforce training initiative.
Afterwards, supervisors blasted Abele’s comments as being insulting, insensitive and “worthy of talk radio,” not a Democrat who is in charge of the county with the biggest African American population in the state.
“The county executive all but said he was doing nothing for the African American community in Milwaukee County when he addressed the board,” Rainey said in a press statement. “I asked him for specifics, and he came back and said he was increasing funding for social services and the House of Correction, among other things. Is that what he thinks of the African American community? That they need more social services and better accommodations at the House of Correction?”
Rainey continued, “Chris Abele has no plan for dealing with the crisis in the African American community, and his comments not only reflect a lack of sensitivity, they reflect complete ignorance as to what is happening in Milwaukee County.”
Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde called on Abele to apologize and urged county residents to call the county executive’s office at 414-278-4211 to explain his comments.
“Either Mr. Abele is terribly aloof, doesn’t care or has an outright disdain for his African American constituency,” Moore Omokunde said in a press statement issued on Thursday. “I don’t know which is worse, but if you look at his power grabs, his funding of an arena on the backs of our poor and elderly, or his comments at today’s budget meeting, it is clear that he is clueless as to solutions to the extreme difficulties faced by the African American community in Milwaukee County.”
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Supervisor Michael Mayo said in a statement he was “shocked,” “deeply disappointed” and “offended” by Abele’s response and called him “missing in action” on issues of concerns to the community.
“What do social services and the House of Correction have to do with economic opportunities for African Americans?” Mayo said. “Give us a hand up, not a hand out.”
Later, Abele released a statement clarifying his remarks, saying, “Racial and ethnic disparities exist at the House of Correction, in our juvenile justice system and in our society. Wisconsin is the worst state in the nation for the incarceration of African American men and the unemployment rate for African American men in Milwaukee is more than 50%. This reality is what is outrageous. This is what I am working hard to change by investing millions of dollars in programs that empower people and strengthen communities.”
As an elected official said off the record, “He has totally failed to create opportunities for African Americans and now with Abele’s election about six months away, he is trying to act and sound like a Democrat but is even failing at that.”
Rare Candor from Abele
Abele’s budget pitch to the Board of Supervisors came a day after giving an invitation-only budget preview at the Pritzlaff Building, which houses the county executive’s private business incubator, Ward 4, and a week after the board’s regular September meeting, at which the county executive typically presents the budget. At the Pritzlaff event, Abele was formally dressed in a suit and tie and read from prepared remarks without greeting guests or taking questions. Former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chief Mike Tate, now a campaign consultant, hovered in the back of the room. Abele is up for re-election in the spring.
On Thursday, supervisors made note of Abele’s private event, with Board Chair Theo Lipscomb saying “No RSVP is required” for the presentation to the board and Supervisor Steve Taylor saying that it was “disrespectful” for Abele to make his formal budget presentation a week late and a day after the private preview. Abele said it was a “departure from past practice” and that the Pritzlaff event wasn’t meant to replace the formal budget presentation.
Supervisors also pushed back on some of Abele’s claims in his budget presentation. Abele is proposing to keep property taxes flat and use efficiencies, enhanced revenue and the county’s debt reserves to pay for his programs.
Abele stated that he is giving county workers a 2.5% raise, will boost the county’s lowest-paid workers’ paychecks, is freeing up $1 million for retention bonuses and isn’t asking workers to pay more for their health care. Whether the 2.5% raise includes a 1.5% cost of living increase that supervisors passed earlier this year—and Abele vetoed—seems to be a point of confusion. After the supervisors overrode Abele’s veto 14-4 and formally enacted the policy, the county executive refused to implement the cost of living increase. Ultimately, County Corporation Counsel Paul Bargren wrote a memo stating that the supervisors had the power to enact this policy, which the county executive must implement.
In his speech last Thursday, the county executive said that the raise included the supervisors’ 1.5% increase. But when answering a question from Supervisor Willie Johnson Jr., Abele said that “the increase we’re talking about is on top of that.”
When the Shepherd sought clarification on the pay increase, Abele’s office said that “the county executive was referring to the fact that the 2016 budget funds a 2.5% increase over the 2015 budget.” So Abele’s “raise” includes the supervisors’ cost of living increase.
Supervisor Taylor criticized Abele for seemingly taking credit for investing in the parks. Abele vetoed $5 million in parks infrastructure improvements the board passed; it was among the items that Abele didn’t implement that the county’s attorney said he must.
Abele also shed light on how he would cover two big holes in his budget. Earlier this year, the county’s private advisors had failed to incorporate a cost of living increase and stepped-up payments into its calculations for pension funding. Those errors blew a $20 million hole in the 2016 budget. Abele said it would be funded through the county’s debt reserve fund.
Similarly, the county is short $4 million annually in state shared revenue, beginning next year. That money is being used to fund the new Bucks arena in a deal negotiated by Abele putting county taxpayers on the hook for $80 million. Abele is seeking to come up with an additional $4 million annually from suburban residents who are behind on their property taxes. Next year, however, he will take money out of the county’s debt reserve fund and use enhanced revenue to pay for the Bucks arena.TAGS: Chris Abele, Milwaukee County, county budget, 2016 budget, Bucks arena, African Americans, Khalif Rainey, Martin Weddle, Willie Johnson, Michael Mayo, Steve Taylor, Theo Lipscomb, Ward 4
