Thursday, August 22, 2013

Oh sure, NOW Abele Wants To Compromise

For months, the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and the Milwaukee Art Museum had been at odds regarding the space that they share.  Years of neglect had left their shared building in horrible shape and in need of millions of dollars of repairs.

In order to allow the two entities to reach an agreement, the Milwaukee County Board asked former
Supreme Court Justice Jeanine Geske to step in and mediate between the two.  This agreement was finally reached to the point where all sides were satisfied.

Well, almost all sides.

True to his nature, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele started throwing one of his tantrums and threatened to blow up the agreement out of his hostility towards the County Board.

Undaunted by Abele's spoiled brat routine, the County Board approved the agreement in an unanimous vote.  Abele decried this and said that this support for the veterans and for the art community to be "bullshit."

But now Abele has found that his foolish posturing and inane temper tantrums have put him in a corner on this issue.

If Abele signs the agreement, he will look weak and ineffective to his plutocratic pals at the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

On the other hand, if Abele vetoes the agreement, that is sure to be overridden, probably unanimously. This will not only make Abele look weak and ineffective, it will also show his pettiness.

So with his back to the wall, Abele now wants to compromise:
In the face of an almost-certain veto override, Abele suggested in an email to County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic Friday that she work with him on a compromise figure and a shorter guaranteed funding period.

"If we could do this, perhaps we could even find money to spend on actual services for veterans," Abele wrote.
You'll never guess what Abele did when County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said that he should just do the right thing and sign off on the agreement.

That's right!

Abele through another tantrum:
"She can talk all she wants on harmony," Abele said, reacting to Dimitrijevic's urging Abele to agree with the board's stance. "I sent her an email and asked about compromise on this and haven't heard back from her."
As Dimitrijevic points out, this agreement is already a compromise between all the parties. The only person against it is Abele. His refusal to just suck it up and do the right thing, even if he doesn't want to, is another sign of his immaturity and the fact that - like the overgrown child he is - cannot stand being told no.

Not only his Abele's tantrum an insult to veterans and to the art community, it's an insult to every voter in the county.

Just a few months ago, as Abele was actively pursuing his power grab through Act 14, the County Board offered him a compromise, which was them ceding almost everything he wanted anyway.  Even though Abele would have gotten almost everything he wanted, he refused to accept this compromise, saying it wasn't enough.

But now that the shoe is on the other foot, Abele has suddenly seen the light and is a fan of compromise.

I personally wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw the burned-out courthouse.

For the record, Abele's opposition to supporting the vets isn't related to his adoration of austerity - at least not completely.  Abele has a much more cynical use the War Memorial Center and art museum.  He wants to lump those - along with the public museum and possibly the zoo - into a group to push for a "cultural-based sales tax," most of which would be used to build a new basketball arena.

By having a long term agreement where the county is providing long term support for these two entities puts a definite kink in those plans.

And Abele really wants to watch the Bucks in his the new arena.

4 comments:

  1. Abele can save Milwaukee taxpayers money by tearing down the Milwaukee Art Museum and putting up a pole building instead. Pole buildings are cheap to build and maintain. Abele can call the architectural style "minimalist." I'm sure Mrs. Harry L. Bradley would barely turn in her grave.

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  2. The AM and WM were already negotiating when Marina pulled an end-around and told the two to up their asking price from the county. Assuring them that they'd be covered on the backside by the spend-happy board.

    Now, she doesn't want to return the CE's emails. Opting instead to respond via local press. Why? Because the AM/WM has been earmarked as a platform issue for her next political run. A run she's been lining up for months already!

    But fear not Milwaukee taxpayers! This is just one more thread in the "accountability rope" she'll get hung with come election time. She believes she's building a coalition. Let's let her believe that.

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    Replies
    1. This does not even make sense. You do realize that there was a mediator, right?

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    2. Abele supporters don't have to make sense. I'm not even sure they are capable of it.

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