Executive Action
"Vemen tzu nemen, un nisht farshemen?"
(Whom to take, and not be ashamed?)
Balalaika, Yiddish folk song
Of course these lyrics refer to Milwaukee County voters who must select the next County Executive from five candidates ( Chris Abele, Lee Holloway, Jim Sullivan, Jeff Stone and Ieshuh Griffin) on this Tuesday, February 15. The top two candidates from this primary will run-off on April 5.
Sunday morning, February 13, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorsed Abele for the job. The editorial noted that "he has the real world experience of running a business" and that "Abele hasn't paid state income taxes." (1) But if his business ventures were successful, would he not have a state income tax liability? And if they lost money, is that a good sign for how he would manage the County? If all the residents of Wisconsin, of whom the vast majority have far less than Abele (a multi-millionaire), could arrange their financial affairs so as to legally avoid paying the state income tax, the receipts from that tax would be zero.
Ironically, the same issue of the paper noted on page 2A, in the Rulings Roundup of the Politifact column, that Abele's claim that "Property tax exemptions can be granted to small businesses that move into Wisconsin" was "False," because the state constitution requires uniform taxation of real estate. Politifact has previously determined that Abele's claim that he saved the County $200 million was also "False." It is indeed amazing that the Journal Sentinel would endorse someone whom the paper itself had found to have made two major false claims during a short campaign.
But Abele is clearly the choice of the City's downtown Establishment (Bud Selig, Sheldon Lubar, etc.); he always got invited to the right cocktail parties, joined the right charity boards, hob-nobbed with the right people and served on the Greater Milwaukee Committee. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a longtime pillar of that Establishment, could not be expected to reject one of their own just because he paid no tax and lied twice to win the election.
Chris Abele has spent about $800,000 on the primary, mostly his own money (that he never had to earn), so he will probably finish first on Tuesday. Of the remaining candidates, Stone is the darling of the Republicans, Sullivan of the Democrats, Griffin of the angry black females and Holloway of the slumlords. Stone and Sullivan have both served honorably in the Wisconsin legislature, and Sullivan has also served in the military. Both are capable and have good records. Holloway is the most experienced of all the contenders in County affairs, but has proved himself a terrible manager. If he cannot manage 15 properties without incurring 200 charges of building code violations, I would not trust him with the $1.5 billion budget of Milwaukee County.
Since Miss Griffin has neither political experience nor wealth, she cannot win. But her race has not been in vain: in her next campaign she can run as "NOT the County Executive."
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(1) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Feb. 13, 2011, page 3J.
(Whom to take, and not be ashamed?)
Balalaika, Yiddish folk song
Of course these lyrics refer to Milwaukee County voters who must select the next County Executive from five candidates ( Chris Abele, Lee Holloway, Jim Sullivan, Jeff Stone and Ieshuh Griffin) on this Tuesday, February 15. The top two candidates from this primary will run-off on April 5.
Sunday morning, February 13, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorsed Abele for the job. The editorial noted that "he has the real world experience of running a business" and that "Abele hasn't paid state income taxes." (1) But if his business ventures were successful, would he not have a state income tax liability? And if they lost money, is that a good sign for how he would manage the County? If all the residents of Wisconsin, of whom the vast majority have far less than Abele (a multi-millionaire), could arrange their financial affairs so as to legally avoid paying the state income tax, the receipts from that tax would be zero.
Ironically, the same issue of the paper noted on page 2A, in the Rulings Roundup of the Politifact column, that Abele's claim that "Property tax exemptions can be granted to small businesses that move into Wisconsin" was "False," because the state constitution requires uniform taxation of real estate. Politifact has previously determined that Abele's claim that he saved the County $200 million was also "False." It is indeed amazing that the Journal Sentinel would endorse someone whom the paper itself had found to have made two major false claims during a short campaign.
But Abele is clearly the choice of the City's downtown Establishment (Bud Selig, Sheldon Lubar, etc.); he always got invited to the right cocktail parties, joined the right charity boards, hob-nobbed with the right people and served on the Greater Milwaukee Committee. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a longtime pillar of that Establishment, could not be expected to reject one of their own just because he paid no tax and lied twice to win the election.
Chris Abele has spent about $800,000 on the primary, mostly his own money (that he never had to earn), so he will probably finish first on Tuesday. Of the remaining candidates, Stone is the darling of the Republicans, Sullivan of the Democrats, Griffin of the angry black females and Holloway of the slumlords. Stone and Sullivan have both served honorably in the Wisconsin legislature, and Sullivan has also served in the military. Both are capable and have good records. Holloway is the most experienced of all the contenders in County affairs, but has proved himself a terrible manager. If he cannot manage 15 properties without incurring 200 charges of building code violations, I would not trust him with the $1.5 billion budget of Milwaukee County.
Since Miss Griffin has neither political experience nor wealth, she cannot win. But her race has not been in vain: in her next campaign she can run as "NOT the County Executive."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Feb. 13, 2011, page 3J.
Labels: Milwaukee County Executive
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 4:17 PM
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