Milwaukee County Board Update

Here's the latest regarding the Milwaukee County Board.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's story regarding the Attorney General's letter offers an ominous foreshadowing of Monday's apparently tentative board meeting, wherein an election for Board Chair is scheduled to take place.

Milwaukee County supervisors interested in seeing an end to County Board Chairman Lee Holloway's tenure scored a legal victory Friday that apparently clears the way for an election for chairman, although perhaps not at the scheduled special meeting Monday.

Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager on late Friday contradicted the county's top attorney, who had opined that a two-thirds vote was needed to remove a chairman in midterm, along with a showing of cause and lengthy proceedings.

County Corporation Counsel William Domina and supervisors last week invited Lautenschlager to weigh in, and she tentatively concluded that the board's regular election rules should apply. That means a simple majority could pick a new chairman - a distinct prospect, given that 10 of the 19 supervisors sought the special meeting, saying that Holloway is too distracted defending himself against civil ethics charges to fulfill his duties.

The opinion stunned even some of the leaders in the group of 10, who had viewed the request for a special meeting as a symbolic act of protest designed to pressure Holloway into stepping aside until his ethics case is decided.

Symbolic? The time for symbolism is long past. The time for action has arrived.

If the County Board delays past Monday, they will have failed in their duties to look out for Milwaukee County taxpayers.

If outside entities try to intervene or ask the court to delay the election, they will be acting in their own self interest, and not in the interest of Milwaukee County taxpayers.

Enough is enough.

There is no reason for the County Board to be tentative in their actions. They now have more on their side than they did a few weeks ago when they scheduled Monday's meeting.

If they balk Monday, it will be a sign that this was all for show. Holloway's cloud will have enveloped them all.

Did they really want to elect a new leader? Or did they merely wish to placate the vocal critics of the current board chairman?

Postponing the election would be a sign of retreat and a vote of confidence for the embattled chairman. A postponement would not be prudent, or statesmanlike. It would be cowardly and calculating.

As the Wisconsin Counties Association notes on its webpage,

As we head toward the future, the challenges facing counties will continue to grow. State and federal funding reductions, paired with increasing demands for services, will force counties to find innovative solutions to better serve their citizenry.

From public safety to social services, county government plays a vital role in all our lives, regardless of which county we call home. I personally believe Milwaukee County government can better serve their citizenry under a chairman that has the support of the majority of the County Board.

Hold the election. If Holloway wins, so be it. We all live with the consequences of that election, whatever the outcome.