Saturday, September 19, 2009

They Should Write For Cog Dis

From County Supervisors Elizabeth Coggs and Peggy West:
Milwaukee County Supervisors Peggy A. West and Elizabeth M. Coggs are responding to the County Executive’s series of media announcements regarding his 2010 Budget proposal.

“Even though County Executive Scott Walker is tentatively scheduled to present his 2010 Budget proposal to the County Board on September 24th, he appears to be directing his department heads to manufacture crisis situations so that he can come in and ‘save the day.’ Earlier this year, County Executive Walker ordered all of his department heads to submit budget requests with steep cuts, to cover what the County Executive believes is a $90 million budget hole for 2010,” said Supervisor West. “Fair enough, but for the County Executive to hold a series of public events announcing that he is reversing all of the cuts proposed by his own department heads (to make himself look better) is ridiculous and unacceptable to me and many of the constituents we represent on the County Board. We are facing extremely difficult financial decisions, and it is inappropriate for the County Executive to give a false sense of security to some groups over others. No one is safe in the 2010 Budget. The County Board will allocate dollars where the needs are the greatest. The County Executive’s decision to make promises to some groups over others only impedes our ability to do that.”

Supervisor Coggs, Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee, expressed disappointment that the County Executive barred his cabinet heads from attending any of the Committee’s budget listening sessions, forbidding them from hearing the concerns of Milwaukee County residents and taxpayers. “Let’s not forget that it was the County Executive who demanded that his department heads turn in budgets with extremely painful cuts. This is a playbook manufactured by Scott Walker’s campaign to portray him as a knight in shining armor saving the day in Milwaukee County. In fact, this plan is so clever that his own department heads and the news media don’t even realize they are playing right into it. Well, we’re not buying it,” Supervisor Coggs added. “We have true needs in Milwaukee County, and we will not turn our backs on the residents of Milwaukee County. We must be creative and work together in developing long-term solutions that allow us to preserve vital programs, save tax dollars and limit the impact on the roughly 5,500 employees and their families in Milwaukee County. We ask for help from the County Executive, his department heads and all Milwaukee County residents throughout this budget process.”
Of course, I would have to teach them to stop pulling their punches.

1 comment:

  1. You realize if they write for you, then you will have to pay them.

    ReplyDelete