Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has certainly been keeping a low profile as he runs for re-election.
Unlike his predecessors, Abele has refused to meet with the county board of supervisors and answer detailed questions from them about his proposed budget. He sent his aides instead and asked to hold 17 private meetings with individual supervisors behind closed doors, shutting out the public from their discussions.
Then, last Thursday, he was a no-show at Milwaukee Inner-City Churches Allied for Hope’s (MICAH) annual public meeting, although he’d accepted their invitation. He apparently canceled a few hours before the event because he didn’t like the questions he would be asked about his plans for taking over public schools in Milwaukee and privatizing them. The tough questions didn’t scare off his opponents next spring, state Sen. Chris Larson and Pirate Party candidate Joe Klein, who clearly answered the questions. Similarly, Abele hasn’t committed to holding public meetings on the appointment of his new school commissioner, which will happen by mid-November. (Abele’s campaign staff didn’t respond to the Shepherd’s request to explain his MICAH cancelation.)
All of this points to trouble in the Abele camp. He is frantically hiring people like the unemployed former head of the Democratic Party and others from the Democratic ranks to try to look like a Democrat over the next six months. Also, his inability to face the public reveals a real weakness of character, leadership and judgment that he will try to cover up with a million-dollar campaign for re-election created by high-paid advisors who simply don’t trust him in front of the public. When Abele speaks off the cuff, he often offends those he should be winning over. Most recently, when he was asked what he would do for the African American community, he said that his plans for African Americans included more programming at the House of Corrections and improvements to the county’s mental health and social services. Unfortunately, he is totally out of touch with regular people. Since he can’t seem to open his mouth without sticking his foot in it, Abele typically sticks to prepared remarks in controlled environments like his private, invite-only budget preview held at the building that houses his business incubator—a safe event full of his convenient admirers and employees.
Look for more of Abele’s carefully staged events open to a vetted audience and more no-shows in the future when he can’t control the event as his million-dollar media campaign kicks into high gear. Instead of getting straight talk from the county executive, the county will be blanketed with nonstop TV and radio ads, expensive mailers and robocalls to create an image of a successful elected official. The truth is that Chris Abele totally disregards the public and only seeks to purchase votes, not earn them.
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