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Could it be possible? Is the love affair between the MJS and Scott Walker slowly coming to an end? I’m not sure, but a recent article by Dan Bice doesn’t paint the rosiest re-election picture for Boy Wonder. Here’s the skinny from Bice’s article:

A new poll commissioned by Progressive Majority Wisconsin, a liberal interest group, finds that Walker’s re-election numbers have dropped dramatically in the past three years.

According to the survey, 43% of county residents say they are likely to vote for Walker in next spring’s election. That’s down from 64% in January 2004.

By contrast, nearly two out of five respondents said they would be inclined to vote for somebody besides Walker. That figure was only 22% back in early 2004.

Now obviously I don’t put a lot of stock in polls this early in the game, so I’m not ready to count Boy Wonder out, but this just underscores a trend I’ve been noticing since before Pat Jursik was elected to the 8th District Supervisor’s seat, beating a self-avowed Scott Walker crony in Chris Kujawa. If a more liberal candidate like Jursik can win in a district that leans towards conservative candidates, that can’t be a good sign for Walker’s county-wide popularity. I’m willing to bet this trend is only going to get worse for Walker as the field of opponents begins to flesh out, because if his popularity’s sagging without a viable opponent, I’d be curious to see what happens to his numbers once one (or more) opponents start to rally troops to their side.

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I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a supporter of Pat Jursik for the 8th District’s County Supervisor seat, and I think I’ve made it abundantly clear I dislike Chris Kujawa’s brand of politics. Today was election day here in the 8th District, and I’m pleased that despite a barrage of user-submitted stories in favor of Kujawa on SouthMilwaukeeNOW.com, preliminary results of today’s election have Pat Jursik winning the County Board seat for the 8th District. The vote wasn’t nearly as close as I expected, with Jursik taking 3,104 votes to 2,622 for Kujawa.

Jursik can’t get too comfortable though, because her newly-won seat will be up for re-election in April of 2008. I anticipate we’ll see Chris Kujawa run again, since he doesn’t strike me as the type to take no for an answer, and I’ve already decided I’m going make the Jursik re-election campaign my first foray into the sordid world of campaign volunteering.

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According to an article submitted by Patty Kujawa, County Supervisor candidate Chris Kujawa has rejected the County Board’s plan to push a referendum that would raise the area’s sales tax by a penny, if approved. Kujawa’s position on this issue is interesting, given the fact that according to his own campaign website, he believes, “Public service needs to be about serving the best interests of the public.” Apparently, Mr. Kujawa believes serving the best interests of the public involves him deciding what’s best for his constituents, instead of allowing those constituents to decide for themselves. Mr. Kujawa’s disdain for letting the taxpayers of Milwaukee decide the issue for themselves in a referendum is exactly the kind of attitude we don’t need on the County Board, because the citizens of the 8th District deserve a Supervisor who trusts citizens enough to give them the opportunity to decide these kinds of issues for themselves. If Chris Kujawa can’t be bothered to trust the good people of the 8th District to make decisions for themselves, then how can the citizens of the 8th District trust him to provide us with the quality representation we deserve?

Chris Kujawa has made it clear he wants to be a County Supervisor so he can serve as nothing more than a rubber stamp for County Executive Scott Walker, a fact that should come as no surprise given their close relationship. Kujawa’s company has done over two hundred thousand dollars worth of work for the County, a fact that apparently escaped Mr. Kujawa’s memory during a recent interview, saying that fact “slipped his mind.” The citizens of the 8th District deserve more from their Supervisor than someone who’s perfectly content to vote in lockstep with the wishes of the County Executive, never mind the wishes of the citizens he hopes to be elected to serve.

The citizens of Milwaukee County’s 8th District deserve more than a “rubber stamp” from their Supervisor; they deserve real leadership that isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and think outside the box when necessary, and quite frankly, Chris Kujawa just can’t offer that kind of leadership.

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So according to an article on All Politics Watch, County Supervisor candidate Chris Kujawa, a personal favorite of mine (yeah right), said in an interview this week that KEI, his family’s landscaping and exterior design company, doesn’t do business with the county. Kujawa went on to say he resents suggestions he might have a business conflict of interest if he wins a vacant south suburban Milwaukee seat on the County Board. What’s really interesting about Chris Kujawa’s statements is the fact that records show his company’s been paid over $200,000 by Milwaukee County for products and services his landscape firm has provided the county since 2000. Of course, when asked to explain the discrepancy between his own statements and county records, Kujawa chalked it up to the fact that $200,000 worth of work his company did for the county “slipped his mind.”

This is yet another example of why Chris Kujawa simply isn’t fit to serve as a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and I personally hope Pat Jursik hands him his hind end on Tuesday.

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On August 7, we here in Milwaukee County Supervisor District 8 will get to choose who will serve us as our next County Supervisor replacing Ryan McCue, who was elected Mayor of Cudahy. Two candidates emerged from the primary - Chris Kujawa and Patricia Jursik. While I wasn’t able to vote in the primary, I do have every intention of voting on August 7. I’ve been following this race closely, and I’ve decided to support Patricia Jursik. Unlike her opponent, who seems to want to do away with as much county government as possible, Patricia Jursik seems to have realistic objectives for improving the quality of life for residents of the Eighth District while maintaining the level of services folks have come to expect. While Jursik’s opponent Chris Kujawa has managed to rack up an impressive list of endorsements (impressive depending on who you talk to), I don’t see much on his website to warrant getting my vote. His website talks a lot about the endorsements he’s received and how members of his family have served in Cudahy’s city government, but in my opinion that’s not really what matters most when it comes to deciding who’s most qualified to serve as a County Supervisor. Sure, a long list of endorsements is impressive, but I’d rather know what a candidate stands for, and there’s not much information on Chris Kujawa’s website that tells me much about what he stands for - or what he’ll do as County Supervisor.

To be honest, I’m worried that if elected, Chris Kujawa will end up being nothing more than a “yes-man” for County Executive Scott Walker, which is the last thing the residents of the Eighth District need. We don’t need someone who’s going to continue to support Scott Walker’s mismanagement of Milwaukee County government - we need someone who’s going to work to change the status quo.

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