What is Scott Walker hiding? Despite reports of numerous sexual assaults, a patient's pregnancy, two drug overdoses, weapons possession and the threat of $60 million of federal funds being cut off, Walker and his political cronies are attempting to sweep the abuses at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex under the rug. Last week, a handful of Milwaukee County supervisors and Democratic legislators called for a state audit and increased county oversight of the complex. Their concerns are real: Questions are not being answered and patient safety is not assured.
But instead of working to improve care for the county's most vulnerable residents, Walker's Republican apologists blasted back with knee-jerk political hackery. “Clearly this is a calculated effort being waged against Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker to derail his gubernatorial run,” wailed Sen. Mary Lazich, while Sen. Alberta Darling called it a “political stunt” in a press release sent out by the Walker campaign to trivialize the issue.
Fortunately, unlike Sens. Lazich and Darling, most Milwaukeeans understand these are serious issues that need to be addressed. Indeed, the proposed audit is not a political stunt. The safety and treatment of patients at the complex is far more serious than that. There must be a thorough assessment of the operations of the mental health complex before there's another rape, another death, another security lapse. Walker knows the problems run very deep and have been ignored on his watch. And that's why he doesn't want anyone to take a close look at them.
