Milwaukee Insight Column: Palace Coup in Offing?

In the movie ``Groundhog Day,'' protagonist Bill Murray is stuck reliving the same day repeatedly. Each day he tries to do something, anything, to break the endless cycle of having to react to identical occurrences again and again. The movie has become so ingrained in American culture that the phrase “Groundhog Day” has become synonymous with reliving the similar events ad nauseam.

For members of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, they’ve been stuck in a funk for ages, just like in the movie. In December 2004, eight members of the board, lead by Supervisor Joe Rice, filed an ethics complaint against the County Board chairman, Lee Holloway.

In February of 2005, the county opened an ethics probe of Holloway. On Tuesday, June 12th 2005, Holloway was charged with 90 civil ethics violations. The most serious allegations charge that Holloway voted to approve $1.8 million in county contracts with the Opportunities Industrialization Center, a now-defunct non profit agency, between 1995 and 1998 without disclosing his own personal financial transactions with the agency.

Holloway has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, yet he and his attorney have continually sought to derail and delay resolution in the case. He’s even gone so far as to sue the special prosecutor.

My full Milwaukee Insight column is available at WisOpinion.com.