A people’s inspection tour of crumbling Milwaukee County facilities turned up some damning evidence of County Executive Scott Walker’s management style.
After reviewing the exteriors of five county-owned structures two of which are closed because of safety concerns the 50 or so hard hat-wearing citizens organized by SEIU Local 1 gave Walker a failing grade.
The tour stopped at the O’Donnell Parking Structure, the site of a fatal accident in June; the county-owned Transit Center, which lacks hot water and fully functioning bathrooms; the Community Correction Center, which was shut down in January 2009 because it was unsafe; the Safety Building, which hasn’t been checked during the Graef USA-organized inspections of county buildings; and the Milwaukee County Courthouse, where a 20-pound piece of the cornice fell back in March.
The tour’s first stop: the O’Donnell parking structure, which, SEIU’s Dave Somerscales said, has had serious problems for a long time. “There’s evidence that he was warned about that in inspection reports but there was nothing done about it. And unfortunately someone lost their life because of it.”
According to documents released by the county, the O’Donnell structure had water damage and cracking throughout.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson continued to push for an independent state investigation of the O’Donnell tragedy, “to make sure there is no bias.”
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“We need an independent look at what’s gone wrong,” Larson told the crowd.
Second stop: the county-owned Transit Center. James Macon of Local 998 said that there’s no hot water, half of the bathrooms aren’t working, and it’s not being cleaned.
“It just needs to be torn down or reconstructed,” Macon said.
Third Stop: the Community Corrections Center, the former Huber jail. This facility has been shuttered since January 2009.
“It’s against the law to house any inmates here because of questions of the safety of this building and the structure of the building,” Somerscales told the crowd. “We talked to some folks from the county and they said this building regularly floods. There are problems with water damage. I hope nothing will come down on us now. It was ordered closed. It sits here empty. Nothing is being done with it. Once again we know who was in chargeScott Walker. Walker’s solution it seems to everything in the county is to cut, cut, cut the budget for everything. Cut the budget for inspections, cut the budget for maintenance on these buildings.”
On to the Safety Building, which hasn’t been inspected by Graef yet. There are problems with the roof, Somerscales said, “but we don’t know what else is wrong with it.”
Last stop: the courthouse, where a 20-pound piece of the cornice fell onto the sidewalk in March. This used to be a jewel of the city, Somerscales said, “but now we’re walking in fear.”
The group attempted to deliver the giant scorecard to Walker, but, not surprisingly, he either wasn’t in his office or wouldn’t meet with the group. Two hard hats were left behind for Walker to wear when the courthouse is crumbling around him.
“He’s trying to leave town,” Larson said. “But we’re telling him he needs to stick around and clean up the mess that he made.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Siva Morgan
