If you’ve got some extra T.P., the courthouse could use some!

If you’ve been to the Milwaukee County Courthouse lately, you know that calling it a mess would be an understatement. At every turn there’s trash strewn on the floors, bathrooms that appear to be in dire need of some serious sanitizing, and insects and animals can be found lurking in corner, crawling across desks, or being bludgeoned to death in the hallways. According to a report by WISN, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has blamed the cleanliness crisis at the County Courthouse on the county housekeepers who stopped coming to work after their jobs were eliminated as part of the County’s 2010 budget. However, as the Reasonable Progressive notes, these problems aren’t new to the Courthouse:

County Executive Scott Walker’s claim that this is all because of laid off custodial workers is a load of B.S. I have worked for the District Attorney’s Office since January 2005. The courthouse complex was, is, and undoubtedly will continue to be one of the most disgusting places to work in the city. And that’s just disgraceful.

I don’t expect someone to take out my garbage or clean my office, and no one ever has. But I don’t think it’s too much for public servants, victims, defendants, and other visitors to the courthouse to have clean, fully stocked bathrooms. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to ask that janitors not bludgeon rodents to death in the hallway. I think that I and my coworkers shouldn’t have to worry about cockroaches crawling across our desks and into our personal property. I think that if there is trash in the stairwell, it shouldn’t sit there for years.

The fact that employees of the various offices contained within the Courthouse would need to bring in their own toilet paper is simply galling, but as bad as conditions at the Courthouse may be, at least the County Executive doesn’t have to suffer. When 12 News checked out Scott Walker’s rest room on Friday, it was found to be fully stocked.