Monday, April 29, 2013
Angered over allegations that Milwaukee County Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic has been illegally negotiating with county employees, several county board members want her to resign as chair.
Another Milwaukee County board member has stepped forward in asking for Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic's resignation, according to Patch's media partners at WISN 12 News. Last week, supervisors Mark Borkowski, Steve Taylor, John Wieshan Jr. and Deanna Alexander signed a memo requesting that Marina Dimitrijevic resign her position as chairwoman. Now Jim "Luigi" Schmitt has thrown his support behind the request. "Because of this lack of clarity and accountability, I cannot sit on the sidelines and will no longer continue to support our chairwoman," according to Schmitt's statement. The five members are accusing Dimitrijevic of negotiating with union employees after the state barred them from doing so and then lying …
Monday, April 8, 2013
Milwaukee County taxpayers paid for trips some supervisors took to DC, Virginia Beach, and Wisconsin Counties Association events, and the question remains.. was this an appropriate use of the money?
The travel bill for Milwaukee County board members and staff members totaled $15,000 last year, according to a story by the Journal Sentinel. Daniel Bice's column highlighted trips to Washington D.C., Virginia Beach and Poland. Most of the trip Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic and Supervisor Mark Borkowski took to Poland to visit Milwaukee's sister city was not paid by Wisconsin taxpayers, but was funded through several grants. A trip to the Wisconsin Counties Association conference cost taxpayers $5,000. Willie Johnson Jr. told Bice that the County typically sends three to four people to the conference, but said "county officials wanted to demonstrate a show of force in 2012" since Johnson was in the running to become chairman of the group…
Friday, April 5, 2013
A forum Thursday night in South Milwaukee spelled out all of the changes under a proposed bill reforming Milwaukee County government.
A possible 2014 referendum on slashing salaries of Milwaukee County supervisors—essentially making them part-time positions—has gotten a lot of headlines in recent weeks. But as those attending a forum Thursday in South Milwaukee heard, it's far from the only part of state Rep. Joe Sanfelippo's proposed legislation reforming county government. Sanfelippo, himself a former county supervisor, explained the rationale behind his legislation to what appeared to be an evenly-split audience of roughly 200 at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. County Supervisor Theo Lipscomb provided counter-arguments, with County Supervisor Pat Jursik, who has not yet taken an official position on the bill, moderating the discussion. Besides supervisor …
Monday, January 14, 2013
With state legislators calling for a part-time Milwaukee County Board, supervisors made their case in front of their municipal counterparts on the Intergovernmental Cooperation Council Monday afternoon.
The Milwaukee County Board has not always seen eye-to-eye with the county's mayors and village presidents. But despite their past misgivings, supervisors were eager to meet with their municipal counterparts Monday and defend their jobs in light of a proposal by two state Republican lawmakers to reduce supervisors' pay from $50,000 to $15,000. The proposed legislation would ask all Milwaukee County residents about the downsizing through a binding referendum on the April 2 ballot. At the request of County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic, Supervisor Theo Lipscomb asked that he and three other supervisors appear before suburban officials and administrators at a Milwaukee County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council meeting Monday …
Friday, January 11, 2013
Bill proposed by state Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Joe Sanfelippo calls for binding referendum making supervisors part time and axing salary by 70 percent.
Calling it a plan to help Milwaukee County deal with its fiscal woes, two Republican state legislators on Friday unveiled a plan that would enable voters to decide whether to drastically cut salaries of county supervisors. The legislation proposed by Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills and Rep. Joe Sanfelippo of West Allis would authorize a binding referendum in April that calls for reducing salaries by 70 percent — from about $50,000 to $15,000 — and making the positions part time. "This bill is about local control," Darling said in a press release. "It let's voters decide what's more important: parks or politicians." Darling and Sanfelippo are seeking co-sponsors for the bill, which also would eliminate health care and pension benefits …
Friday, July 27, 2012
County Executive Chris Abele said the cost of adding the question to the ballot — at least $20,000 — is not worth an advisory referendum with no action behind it.
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele plans to veto the county board's request for an advisory referendum regarding a well-known U.S. Supreme Court decision, citing the cost of adding it to the ballot. The referendum refers to an oft-criticized 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, in which the court ruled that the First Amendment protected political spending by corporations and unions in elections. On Thursday, the board voted 14-4 in favor of an advisory referendum that would ask Milwaukee County residents whether they support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would essentially override the Supreme Court decision. Abele spokesman Brendan Conway said the county executive agrees with the board's…
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Voters in 12 communities say yes to reduced, part-time Milwaukee County Board in referendum on primary election ballot.
Voters in 12 suburban Milwaukee communities overwhelmingly showed support for a smaller, part-time Milwaukee County Board in Tuesday's election. The two-part, non-binding referendum first asked voters if the size of the County Board should be reduced from 18 to nine members; that was supported by 84 percent of voters. Eighty-two percent of voters also supported making the position of County Supervisor part-time. The referendum questions appeared on the ballot in Bayside, Brown Deer, Cudahy, Fox Point, Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, River Hills, Shorewood, West Milwaukee and Whitefish Bay. The proposal to reduce the size and salary of the County Board was advocated by County Supervisor Joseph Rice of Whitefish Bay…
With 38 percent voter turnout, Bay voters also chose Phillips and Grady in judicial elections and favored a decrease in size and salary for the Milwaukee County Board.
Whitefish Bay has traditionally enjoyed strong election turnouts, and despite the lack of contested local races, 38 percent of voters went to the polls Tuesday for county races and the presidential primary election. Out of the 2,691 residents that voted in the Republican presidential primary, 66 percent voted for GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, 22 percent voted for Rick Santorum, 7 percent voted for Ron Paul and 3 percent voted for Newt Gingrich. On the Democratic side, 843 Whitefish Bay residents voted for President Barack Obama, who is uncontested. On his way to vote at Whitefish Bay Village Hall Tuesday afternoon, Whitefish Bay resident Dan Sabin said he was voting for Mitt Romney because he likes what the former Massachusetts governor …
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Stark and Grady win judicial races as Manske cruises to county comptroller victory.
Voters turned Tuesday's election into a resounding referendum in favor of incumbents as three current Milwaukee County Board supervisors in Patch's coverage area were reelected, according to unofficial election results on WISN.com. Incumbent Willie Johnson Jr. defeated Bria Grant, in the race for the District 13 supervisor seat on the County Board. Unofficially, Johnson earned 64 percent of the vote. Part of Johnson's district is in Whitefish Bay. The 61-year-old has served on the County Board since 2000. Unofficially, he earned 64 percent of the vote. Supervisor Johnson is chairman of the County Board Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee and a member of the County Board Finance and Audit Committee andCounty Board Economic …
Monday, April 2, 2012
Whitefish Bay does not have any contested local races, but residents will see a new village trustee, school board member and county supervisor on the ballot.
Election Day is here, and although there are no contested local races on the ballot, Whitefish Bay voters are showing up to polls to weigh in on Milwaukee County races and the presidential primary. Follow Patch throughout the day for details on voter turnout and comments from voters about the races on today's ballot: 12 p.m.: Voter turnout is at about 17 percent so far in the southeastern portion of the village (Wards 8,10 and 12 voting at Cahill Square Park.) 12:30 p.m.: Spoke with a Democrat who is voting for Carolina Stark and Lindsey Grady for the non-partisan Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge race. Stark has been referred to as the "anti-Walker" candidate, but I have not read much about Grady's political beliefs. 12:45 p.m.: One …
paul hruz
9:50 am on Thursday, May 2, 2013
Lee how can the unions get anything they asked for? Remember she said they never negotiated more ›