We are offering our enthusiastic endorsement of Chris Larson for Milwaukee County executive, who we believe best represents Milwaukee County’s values.
In 2011, county voters wanted to end the Scott Walker era in Milwaukee County government. They voted for, and we endorsed, Chris Abele five years ago because we believed that he would invest in our county residents and assets like our park system, which had been starved by Walker, and work productively with county supervisors to move our county forward. That is how Abele presented himself in the campaign.
Instead, Chris Abele has continued the Walker era in Milwaukee County government, not ended it as many voters assumed he would five years ago. In fact, Abele has trumped Walker by running to the Republican legislators in Madison for a series of power grabs that have given the county executive office almost unchecked powers. It is almost impossible to find another county-level office with that much unchecked power anywhere in the country. He has also made little effort to try to work with the county board, even when they agree on the issues. That’s why we apologized for our endorsement of Abele in his initial election in last week’s issue of the Shepherd and now enthusiastically support Chris Larson.
So let’s finally end the Walker-Abele era and start a new chapter in county government. Let’s solve our county issues locally in an honest, transparent, democratic manner, instead of having the county executive run to the Legislature to work in secret with non-Milwaukee lawmakers to override the will of Milwaukee County residents. Let’s have an open, honest discussion about paying for county services, such as public transit, instead of hoping and praying that future generations will figure it out for us. Let’s have an honest, open county budget process. Let’s stop giving away our precious assets to cronies who can afford to pay the fair market value for county-owned land. Let’s put county residents to work by repairing county buildings and parks and make sure that county residents are paid a decent wage and can develop their work skills. Let’s preserve our beloved landmarks such as the Mitchell Park Domes to honor the generations that built them and the generations who will enjoy them in the future. Let’s make sure that the county’s most vulnerable residents are getting the care that they need so that all of us can thrive as a community.
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We should not have a county executive who feels superior to his constituents because of his inherited wealth and has disdain for the average working- and middle-class residents of Milwaukee County. Let’s not let him buy another election with his basically false and toxic negative ads. If he is that desperate to keep his job and will support all of these toxic and generally false negative ads, then perhaps he is just not the right person for the position. Please vote for change.
We believe that Chris Larson will launch a new era in Milwaukee County government that will be much more open, honest and transparent and look out for the interests of the Milwaukee County residents and taxpayers, not the wealthy special interest groups. We are asking Shepherd readers to vote for Larson on April 5.
