Over this past weekend, a fire broke out at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, causing an estimated $500,000 in damage. In response to the fire, there has predictably been some individuals who’ve decided County Executive Chris Abele is to blame for the fire.
Although, if there was any justice in the world, Walker would be appearing as a co-defendant with Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele for being the cause of the fire.
When Walker was Milwaukee County Executive, he was infamous for not spending the needed money to make necessary repairs or even routine maintenance to county buildings. During Walker’s tenure in the county, we had seen parts of the cornice on the courthouse fall of, parts of the airport fall down and the tragic loss of life as part of O’Donnell Park fell on a boy, killing him. The facility at the Milwaukee Mental Health Complex was found to be in shoddy condition. The parks buildings were found to need nearly $300 million in repairs and deferred maintenance .
Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele has done nothing to change this horrible track record. The Mental Health Complex was recently cited for being in even worse condition than before because of Abele’s policies.
Commenting on the fire at the Courthouse, County Supervisor Pat Jursik noted, “We are reacting to emergencies that were sitting there waiting to happen,” citing a report completed by CBRE showing the need for repairs to the electrical room that caught fire at the Courthouse.
While it certainly may be convenient for some to point fingers at County Executive Abele as the villain in this situation, is he solely to blame, or should the County Board share some responsibility?
After all, while County Executive Abele is responsible for proposing a budget, the County Board has had the final say over what the budget ultimately looks like – barring any vetoes by Abele. So my question is simple – what has the County Board done to address repairs for so many of the deferred maintenance projects Milwaukee County has to deal with?
After reviewing the County Executive’s proposed 2013 budget and the budget ultimately approved by the County Board, I found that the County Executive proposed a Capital Improvements Budget of just over $121 million for 2013, while the final budget approved by the County Board appropriated just over $123 million for the Capital Improvements Budget. Obviously a $2 million difference between the two budgets is no small number, but from what I can tell, the extra $2 million the County Board appropriated was used to implement electronic medical records at the House Of Corrections, for replacement of airport escalators, repairs at the War Memorial, and for bus shields.
Of course there’s no denying Milwaukee County has a significant number of deferred maintenance projects that need to be addressed, but if those projects are going to be addressed it’s going to take a concerted effort on the part of the County Executive and the County Board, not finger pointing or blame games. Just as County Executive Abele has the opportunity through his proposed budgets to address deferred maintenance issues within Milwaukee County, so too does the County Board.
It’s rather simple, if one understands how county government works.
The Board sets the final budget and it is the county executive’s responsibility to administer it. However, Abele, like his mentor, Scott Walker, has chosen not to follow the budget. One example, in my section, the 2013 budget calls for our unit to be increased by two staff members. To date, we are now three workers and one supervisor short. What is Abele doing with that money? It sure isn’t spending it on repairs. And we are one of the lucky areas. What Abele is doing at the mental health complex is inexcusable.
So anyway, as you noted, the Board put even more money into the fund. But once the budget is set, the Board’s hands are fairly much tied, and that was before Act 14.
You also failed to note that Abele originally refused to even due the study and had to be brow beaten to do it. He finally did it, much later. And now he refused to act on it when he did get it.
But that is Abele’s version of efficiency for you.
er, do the study. Sorry.
Only people with an unhealthy obsession with the CE would blame a fire on him. The post is spot on.
Dan, on whom or what do you place responsibility for the fire?
Also, has any attempt been made to estimate the damage the fire did to Milwaukee County’s bond ratings?
John, maybe you know more about bond ratings than I do, but I was under the impression bond ratings were determined by a government unit’s fiscal standing, debt, solvency, etc., not things like infrastructure failures.
I don’t know and it’s silly for anyone to try to guess as to what is to blame for the fire. Rampant speculation about the cause of a fire is premature at best. There are a number of people who’s job that is who I’m sure are working on that right now.
But to say, as capper did, that Abele caused the fire is a whole other level and Zach is right to call that out. It’s moronic behavior to even suggest that.
Yes, Dan, it’s a lot easier to think of the money Abele can spend and ignore the facts. I hope you enjoy California. I hear there are a lot of superficial people out there.
Dan, congrats on the Apple job.
Apple and the rest of Big Data are big on renewable energy.
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2013/03/22/apple-hits-100-renewable-energy-in-its-data-centers/
FWIW, Facebook’s building a $1.5 billion dollar data center in Des Moines
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/22/facebook-to-build-a-1-5-billion-data-center-in-iowa/
Sure would be great if you happen to be in the break room…. with some of Tim Cook’s posse, you found an opportune time to mentione all the potential wind power in Lake Michigan, how along with biogas from Wisconsin dairy farms, it could fuel Apple data centers in the Badger state.
Best of luck.
Mr. Abele missed a perfect opportunity to lay the blame where it belongs, Scott Walker’s gutting of Milwaukee County infrastructure. Now it’s “trickled down,” to the local judiciary. How many more infrastructure time bombs are ticking? It’s always been my sense that since Walker took over in 2002, plenty of dedicated Milwaukee County workers are holding the infrastructure together with “chewing gum and bailing wire.” That doesn’t last for long.
Amber Moreen, Brendan Conway, and others should urge Mr. Abele to acknowledge Scott Walker’s role.
John, maybe Abele is more interested in fixing the problem than in doing the easy work of blaming people.
The administration did not drag its feet on doing the CBRE study. Launching something like that takes work and time. This may be of some surprise to people like you and Capper but these efforts are more complex than passing amendments and issuing press releases.
Alphonso, yes it does take some time, but not a year and it should not take goading. That whole series of events was a precursor for the multitude of failures we have seen and will continue to see from him.
This may come as a surprise, but being surrounded by yes men doesn’t make Abele a leader.
Al, if you’re billing Mr. Abele for commenting here, couldn’t you at least coming up with something beyond the quote he gave the JS: “Abele said he preferred to focus on fixing the problem rather than pointing the finger of blame.”
Regardless, it’s always nice to hear from the “everyone-gets-a-trophy,” crowd. Abele gets paid a salary north of $100,000/year to run the County. I know you want to reward failure, but some of us our old-fashioned. We believe in accountability. You I-hate-individual-responsibility types are part of the reason Jared Kellner’s dead. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/97390699.html
If the County Exec didn’t drag it’s feet on the CBRE study, why isn’t he demanding a retraction from the JS?
Supervisors Patricia Jursik and David Bowen said Abele should have acted sooner in hiring a firm for a $450,000 inspection of 25 major county buildings. The measure was included in the county’s 2012 budget, but a contractor wasn’t hired until late in the year.
Jursik accused Abele of dawdling then and renewed the complaint Monday.
“We are reacting to emergencies that were sitting there waiting to happen,” Jursik said.
The report by consultant CBRE — issued in February — called for replacing old components and other improvements in the electrical system.
The courthouse power system is 47 years old and “approaching or beyond its life expectancy,” according to the report by CBRE, a real estate services firm.
Aging electrical components should be replaced, the report said.
In addition to shortcomings with the courthouse electrical, plumbing and heating systems, the building also has no sprinkler system, the CBRE report says.
It also pointed out that the power substation in the courthouse basement is next to a paint shop and hazardous paint fumes. The report called for ventilation or separation of the two areas.
Saturday’s courthouse fire did not engulf the paint shop, said Don Tyler, the county’s director of administrative services.
The CBRE report also recommended replacement of branch power panels, which are as old as the building. The courthouse was completed in 1932.
The report also noted that steam piping routed above the courthouse electrical substation should have a drain pan installed to protect the substation.
County and fire officials have not yet listed a cause of Saturday’s fire, though they said they believed it was not arson.
Problems well-known
The flaws in the courthouse have been well-documented, through the CBRE report and other studies, said Jursik, who was chairwoman of a County Board long-range planning group. The county should expedite action on long-range plans so maintenance can be addressed in a thoughtful way, she said.
“We can meet and meet and talk and talk, but if we don’t get the plan and start in a productive way we are back to putting out brush fires,” she said.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/cleanup-crews-swarm-courthouse-in-massive-effort-after-fire-b9950819z1-214768761.html
It’s uncustomary of the JS Newsroom to give Mr. Abele’s critics such a forum. If I were you, I’d take notice.
Please, surprise Capper and me. W/R/T the electrical wiring, tell me what Mr. Abele’s going to do now and why couldn’t have done it sooner.
Al,
Based on Capper’s reporting, it looks to me like Amber Moreen’s running the County.
http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-sobering-look-at-chris-abele.html
Based on everything I’ve seen, Mr. Abele’s a Wall Street Republican, just like Scott Walker. He plays at being a Democrat, pro-choice, marriage equality…, but what matters to the elites is “collective bargaining.” They know it’s the only chance the 99% have and folks like you don’t get that.
Not sure how you cannot blame Abele for vetoing the funding for infrastructure updates and then once he is overridden, not spending the money. That is the definition of blame.
Correct Stan- Choices get made, and the last 2 County Executives for Milwaukee County have chosen to pose in front of “no added property taxes” over maintaining county buildings and improving the quality of life for the area. This fire is the latest result of that type of thinking.
The County Board may be heavy-handed and obnoxious at times, but their members have been right more often than they’ve been wrong the last 10 years. I’d rather they have the power than the MMAC’s puppet in the Exec’s office.