Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 3
What the next sheriff should bring to the job
With indications growing that Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. may be on his way out, it’s time to consider who should replace him.
Columnist Daniel Bice reports that the sheriff’s longtime deputy, Inspector Edward Bailey, is going to retire at the end of the month. And there has been speculation that Clarke’s other inspector, Richard Schmidt, also may be planning to leave, though Schmidt denies it.
The two deputies have been running the Sheriff’s Office over the past year while the sheriff made repeated national television appearances, gave speeches and campaigned for President Donald Trump. As Bice notes, Clarke received more than $220,000 in speaking fees, gifts, lodging, airfare and other expenses for his talks. If either Bailey or Schmidt - or both - are exiting the department, it’s a signal that Clarke may not be far behind them.
If Clarke is about to leave, Gov. Scott Walker should get serious about who would replace him.
For the sake of the county he once led, Walker needs to get this appointment right. The governor should avoid playing politics, and appoint a steady, thoughtful, professional leader - qualities sorely needed after years of neglect by Clarke, who, after a promising start, used the office to build his personal brand.
Walker should pick a law enforcement professional. Someone who will enforce the law and be tough on criminals, while respecting the civil rights of all citizens. Someone who understands modern policing techniques. Someone who won’t call on citizens to keep guns always at the ready in their homes because law enforcement officers might not get there in time.
Pick someone capable of managing a department and restoring a sense of high morale and professionalism among sheriff’s deputies. Someone who will promote people on merit.
Pick someone who is capable of cleaning up the mess at the County Jail where four people, one a newborn infant, died last year. One of those inmates, suffering from severe mental illness, died of homicide by dehydration.
Pick someone mature enough to deal with other officials respectfully and honestly. Someone who won’t call the medical examiner and berate him about releasing public records to the citizens who own those records, or challenge the county executive (figuratively) to a shoot-out at high noon. Someone who will deal with a reasonable budget assigned to his department without name-calling and without always demanding more from taxpayers.
Pick someone who won’t abuse his office by ordering deputies to detain and question a citizen who complained that all he did was dare to shake his head at the sheriff’s Dallas Cowboys fan gear on an airplane. Someone who won’t resort to playground name-calling of critics via social media. Someone who won’t disparage legitimate peaceful protest movements as beneath contempt. Someone who will provide the public with the information it needs in a timely manner.
Pick someone who will put his primary focus on serving the citizens of Milwaukee County rather than traipsing around the world on book tours or campaigning for a candidate he hopes will give him a higher-profile, higher-paying job.
There are many well-qualified professionals in law enforcement who would fulfill their duty to protect and serve. When the time comes, governor, please choose one of them to replace Clarke.
___
Wisconsin State Journal, March 5
More bad news on the state of our roads
The bad news about Wisconsin’s transportation system last week piled up like a multi-vehicle crash.
On Monday, U.S. News & World Report ranked Wisconsin 49th out of 50 states for the quality of our roads. About 42 percent of Wisconsin’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition, according to the national magazine, compared to just 19 percent in neighboring Illinois.
On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, using Wisconsin’s open records law, uncovered an internal state Department of Transportation memo warning the agency’s new secretary about a “tidal wave” of critical road work that “can’t be delayed forever.” The Republican governor’s plans will lead to more congestion, worse road conditions and decades of delayed projects, the newspaper reported.
On Thursday, Mark Sommerhauser of the State Journal reported that the DOT is scrapping its study of how to expand the busy interstate north of Madison to Wisconsin Dells - despite “significant problems” with traffic congestion as tourists drive to and from this major tourism destination.
And in Saturday’s newspaper, Matthew DeFour of the State Journal reported that Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, wants to borrow more money for roads to get by, rather than increasing the state gas tax or vehicle registration fee to actually pay for what the state is spending.
Fitzgerald’s strategy won’t begin to fix the state’s neglected roads. And his idea to pay off the debt using state income, corporate and sales taxes - rather than relying on user fees from motorists - will leave less state money available for schools, universities, public safety and health programs.
What Wisconsin really needs is leadership on the issue, something Gov. Scott Walker and Fitzgerald aren’t providing. Any hope for a responsible solution lies in the state Assembly, where Republicans understand that road construction costs increase with inflation, and that a sustainable funding source is needed for the good of our state’s economy and jobs.
The reason Wisconsin roads are so bad and getting worse is that user fees haven’t increased in more than a decade.
The average Wisconsin citizen pays more in income taxes over time. Homeowners pay more in property taxes, too, despite the governor’s strong efforts to restrain this most burdensome tax.
But when it comes to paying for roads, Gov. Walker has steered Wisconsin down an increasingly bumpy path. He is refusing to raise the state gas tax or the vehicle registration fee, which haven’t kept up with inflation. In fact, most motorists are paying less gas tax than a decade ago because their vehicles are more fuel efficient and burn less gas.
Walker also has ignored task force recommendations to develop a mileage-based charge, which would reflect the growing popularity of hybrid and battery-powered cars. And he hasn’t embraced open-road tolling, which would bring in more revenue from tourists.
The governor’s endless opposition to minor and reasonable user fees on drivers might be a nifty political talking point as he seeks re-election next year or pursues another run for president. But he’s hurting Wisconsin’s economy and jobs by failing to maintain a solid transportation system.
___
The Journal Times of Racine, March 4
Keep court oversight free of bias, conflict
Independent oversight of Wisconsin’s judges and court commissioners is at risk in Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed new state budget.
The governor, citing potential but unspecified “administrative efficiencies,” has asked the state Legislature to remove the independent standing of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission and instead put it, and its budget, under the jurisdiction of the state Supreme Court.
The commission is charged with investigating complaints against state judges - and that includes Supreme Court justices. Each year, the Judicial Commission reviews 400 to 500 complaints against judges and court commissioners and, if it finds probable cause of misconduct, either issues a warning or seeks disciplinary action from a three-judge panel.
The panel’s recommendations go to the state Supreme Court, which is the ultimate arbiter in deciding whether a judge or commissioner is reprimanded, suspended, censure or removed from office.
It is of note that in the past decade, the Judicial Commission has alleged misconduct against sitting high court justices three times - one of which resulted in a Supreme Court reprimand against Justice Annette Ziegler for failing to avoid conflict of interests when she was a circuit judge in Washington County. Ziegler had presided over nearly a dozen cases involving a West Bend Bank when her husband was on the board of the bank.
In perhaps the most notorious case, the Judicial Commission recommended action against Justice David Prosser for allegations that he placed his hands on the neck of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley during a heated argument. Seven justices were present at the mini-melee and after Prosser called on them to recuse themselves because they were witnesses, the high court couldn’t reach a decision because it lacked a quorum.
Suffice to say that such pesky complaints by the Judicial Commission would probably dwindle if the Judicial Commission was placed under the control of the high court itself. Instead of a judicial watchdog, the Judicial Commission would lose its independence, and its teeth, and become a cozy lapdog for the court.
But the Legislature doesn’t have to listen to us - they should listen to the Commission itself. Earlier this month, the nine-member Judicial Commission urged lawmakers to oppose Walker’s proposed change.
“The proposed budget degrades the independence of the Judicial Commission by transferring the budgeting and position authority over the Commission from the Legislature to the Supreme Court,” commission executive director Jeremiah Van Hecke warned.
It should also be noted, the Judicial Commission is not made up of a partisan left-wing cabal operating out of some cellar in the City of Madison: five of the commission’s members were appointed by Gov. Walker. The other four were appointed by the state Supreme Court.
They see what we see - that putting the commission under the aegis of the high court would not only jeopardize fair and even-handed judicial oversight, it would pose real conflicts of interest for both the Supreme Court and the commission members.
The Legislature should pull this proposal from the budget and keep the oversight of Wisconsin’s court as free and independent as practicable.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.