So Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker announced that he was going to lay off up to 180 employees, pronto.
Happy holidays!
But instead of scrambling to save these employees, Walker’s been working on his own career advancement.
Raising money for his gubernatorial campaign.
He’s clearly over and done with Milwaukee County. Which makes this statement from his latest press release so laughable:
“Everyday since I was elected to serve as Milwaukee County Executive, I have worked to fix county’s fiscal problems. Since 2002, I have authored eight consecutive budgets with no tax levy increase from the previous year, reduced the county workforce by over 20%, and cut the debt by over 10%. And despite failing national and state economies, Milwaukee County recorded a slight budget surplus in 2008.
So what's he been doing "everyday"?
On Monday, he held a $100 per person Grafton fundraiser. Wednesday evening there was a $100 per person “reception” for candidate Walker at the Chenequa Country Club.
Thursday morning there was a $200 a head “breakfast event” at the Wilderness Resort Club House in the Dells.
Later on Thursday, as supervisors tried to make sense of the layoff news, there was a Sheboygan reception for the little striver from Wauwatosa. If you had $250, $500 or $1,000, you could get in.
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Today, after meeting with Board Chair Lee Holloway and Finance Committee Chair Elizabeth Coggs, job killer took the rest of the day off to be with his family, according to the Journal Sentinel. The supervisors will be scouring the budget for any sort of funds to keep employees working through the rest of the year.
I’m sure Walker will be spending his weekend planning various birthday celebrations and getting ready for his One Year to Victory Rally in Pewaukee on Monday.
Should be a blast.
The supervisors will be holding a public hearing on the budget at the same time Walker’s campaigning in his own self-interest.
There’s no way Walker can blame the current mess on his predecessor. It’s been created on his watch, but he doesn’t have the ability or desire to fix it. He just wants to be rid of it. Sort of Palin-esque, if you ask me.
And this guy wants a job promotion?
Update: Looks like the supervisors and Walker's staff came up with a solution.
Update 2: Now I've got a second source telling me that Walker's staff was only prompted to act after supervisors told department heads that they should come up with money-saving solutions to save jobs. Once his department heads found some savings today, Walker got interested. After he met with Holloway and Coggs, this morning, Walker left, my two sources say.
Walker's been out of the office for most of the day. There was no lunch meeting with Walker, as the JS reported in its updated article. I have to ask: couldn't this drama have been avoided if A) department heads were able to communicate freely with the board, instead of sitting on important fiscal information? And B) Walker himself searched every nook and cranny for savings before announcing layoffs? Talk about unnecessary stress and drama.
Update 3: Here's a joint statement from Walker and the Supervisors:
WALKER AND COUNTY BOARD AGREE TO SUSPEND LAYOFF ACTION
Milwaukee, WI – County Executive Scott Walker, Board Chairman Lee Holloway and Supervisor Elizabeth Coggs, Chair of the Finance; Audit committee, have announced that the layoffs proposed for County employees earlier this week have been temporarily suspended.
The decision resulted in agreement that staff from the Executive and Legislative branches will meet weekly with the Finance & Audit Committee to closely monitor the fiscal status of Milwaukee County. Other actions to avoid a deficit may still be enacted to ensure a balanced budget for 2009. These could entail additional furlough days or a 35-hour workweek.
“I appreciate the efforts of the County Board to work with us on alternatives to avoid laying off County employees,” said Walker. “We will work together to achieve a balanced budget when we close the 2009 books.”
It’s refreshing that we all came together in an effort to treat our employees humanely, while still understanding that we must be extremely creative to avoid a deficit at the end of this year,” Chairman Holloway said. “I thank the County Executive for reconsidering his position in a thoughtful and responsible manner.”
I am pleased that the County Executive has temporarily rescinded these layoffs, but everyone should understand that we are not out of the woods,” added Supervisor Coggs. “We are in a crisis situation in Milwaukee County. The Finance; Audit Committee will meet on a weekly basis well into 2010 to identify and corral any available dollars from all departments.”
