Blogging Blue

Is Supervisor Peggy Romo West using text messaging to avoid transparency?

Zach W — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:06:02 +0000

On Wednesday I wrote about Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy Romo West’s use of text messaging to fire her Legislative Aide. At the time I noted that Sup. West was playing “hard to get” when it came to answering very specific questions I had regarding the frequency of her use of text messages to conduct County business, and I added that I had filed an open records request regarding very specific text messages Sup. West sent regarding County business.

Today Sup. Romo West responded to my open records request with the following:

Mr. Wisniewski:

The following is my response to your open record request, dated May 23, 2012.

Your open record request was for the following two items:
(1) Any and all SMS (text) messages sent from (414) 915-xxxx between the dates of 03/21/012 and 3/22/12 relating to “Ms. Perez” and Douglas Ditscheit.
(2) Any and all SMS (text) messages sent from (414) 915-xxxx on 03/31/12 regarding canvassing and a mailing.

Please be advised that I do not have any SMS (text) messages on (414) 915-xxxx responsive to your request.

Despite rebuffing my inquiries and records requests, Sup. West can’t hide from the truth. From the evidence I have in my possession, which includes transcripts of text messages sent by Sup. Romo West, Sup. Romo West appears to have utilized text messaging quite frequently to engage in official County business. Her inability (or more likely, her unwillingness) to be transparent about her use of text messaging to conduct County business is quite simply disturbing, and it’s reminiscent of another attempt by Milwaukee County public servants to avoid scrutiny of their activities.

After all, if memory serves me there’s some sort of ongoing “John Doe” investigation in Milwaukee County that has uncovered the use of a secret internet network used by staffers of then-County Executive Scott Walker to engage in illegal activity on taxpayer time. Sup. Romo West’s use of text messaging in what seems to me to be an attempt to avoid scrutiny and transparency certainly seems more than a little odd, and it makes me wonder just how common it is for our elected officials to use similar methods to avoid public scrutiny.

Ultimately, Supervisor Peggy Romo West’s unwillingness to answer simple questions and to provide information that there must be a record of leaves me wonder what exactly she has to hide. What is Supervisor Romo West hiding from me, but more importantly, what is she hiding from her constituents and the taxpayers of Milwaukee County?

The Compas/Fitzgerald debate: An unfortunate illustration of Wisconsin politics

Lisa Mux — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:49:36 +0000

By all accounts, Lori Compas exceeded expectations at Wednesday night’s debate with Senator Scott Fitzgerald. She had the support of roughly 3/4 of the crowd packed into the Jefferson High School auditorium, and she more than held her own. “I think it went amazingly well,” said Compas’ husband aka The Mastermind. But despite Lori Compas’ success, I left the auditorium troubled and more worried about the state of our state than ever before.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” That was the most common sentiment echoed at the debate. The energy in the packed auditorium was palpable and many people were unable to control their emotions, despite the moderator’s numerous pleas to “respect the candidates.” All traces of “Wisconsin nice” disintegrated once the debate began.

I joked with friends that the free cookies provided beforehand probably should have been laced with some kind of sedative, but it really wasn’t a laughing matter. The fact that supporters of both candidates were unable to even listen to the candidates speak without yelling, hissing or clapping is troublesome.

It’s proof that the “divide and conquer” strategy has worked.

When Compas talked about the devastation created by job loss, a Fitzgerald supporter yelled out, “You want a handkerchief?!” The insensitivity of that remark caused Compas’ supporters to gasp and hiss and the situation devolved further.

At one point in the evening, a man was escorted out of the auditorium by a police officer because he was so upset.

A Fitzgerald supporter even yelled “Liar!” when Compas was explaining that there were divisions created by the Walker and Fitzgerald administration that needed to be bridged (which kind of proved Compas’ point).

But it was almost painful to witness the behavior from both Fitzgerald and Compas supporters.

Really, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Yes, lives have been forever altered because of political decisions made by the Walker and Fitzgerald administration. Yes, people have a right to be angry.

But we can take action to rectify the situation by voting Scott Fitzgerald out and Lori Compas in. That won’t solve the problem, it’s going to take much more than that, but it’s a start.

We are not doomed to forever be divided. We are not victims. We cannot control others, but we do have a choice over how we treat each other.

So, please, let’s follow Lori Compas’ lead and start treating one another with respect, regardless of political viewpoints, before “Wisconsin nice” is gone forever.

Video of the debate here.

This is what "Wisconsin nice" looks like

Thursday Music: the National: Conversation 16

Ed Heinzelman — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:11:36 +0000

President Obama Remains Distant from Wisconsin Labor Fight

Phil Scarr — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:15:44 +0000

It’s very disappointing to me that the President is keeping the Wisconsin labor movement at arms length.

Ever since the recall wars erupted in this battleground state, the Obama campaign has been faced with a dilemma: How involved does the president get in a polarizing fight with huge national overtones?

Less than two weeks to go before the June 5 election, the answer seems pretty clear.

President Barack Obama’s forces are pitching in with voter turnout and fundraising appeals. But the president has avoided taking a vocal role in the conflict, and there is little expectation of an Obama visit to Wisconsin in the homestretch of the campaign.

Whether Obama will be speaking out about the race in the coming days or sending top surrogates here is still unknown.

I wonder if the President remembers this campaign promise?

And understand this: If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I’m in the White House, I’ll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself, I’ll will walk on that picket line with you as President of the United States of America. Because workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner.

Couldn’t you find your comfortable shoes, sir?

A Fable of Moral Mathematics

Phil Scarr — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:22:38 +0000

A wonderful, must-read piece over at Naked Capitalism on the morality of math. Well, when you put a $ or a € in front of the numbers, at least. It’s a funny story involving a class and marbles and an economic system run amok.

From her commanding heights at the ECB Teacher promptly begins distributing per capita grants of euros to all the classmates in the eurozone, and soon everybody has enough marbles to pay their debts and keep their game of “money economy” happening, to the delight of all parties. Greeks are smiling in their new Mercedes and Germans are revelling in their fat bank accounts as they soak up the Greek sun on vacation. And all’s right with the world.

Except for some Austrians, who confront Teacher, “So where are you getting all the marbles you’re distributing willy nilly throughout euroland? That seems pretty immoral to us! Unsustainable, too. Vigilantes will come an’ git you. And you won’t like that, nosiree!”

Thursday Music: A G is Gone

Phil Scarr — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:42:23 +0000

Nostalgia is nostalgic… Say what you want about disco, the Bee Gees or any of that, but this song has a bass line that just won’t quit… Now there’s only one G left. I haz a sad.

A billionaire with a big check for Scott Walker…

Zach W — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:54:05 +0000

On Monday May 21st Republican Gov. Scott Walker visited the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s field office in Sheboygan, and joining Gov. Walker was a spirited group of folks protesting his “divide and conquer” strategy of governing. Among those gathered in Sheboygan was a “billionaire” there to deliver a $500,000 campaign donation to Gov. Walker in exchange for a candid conversation with Walker about his plans for Wisconsin’s future.

Two weeks ago video surfaced of Gov. Walker explaining to billionaire campaign donor Diane Hendricks how he wanted to “divide and conquer” Wisconsin’s public sector and private sector unions in order to turn Wisconsin into a “right to work for less” state. Walker had previously offered such candor about his secret plans to “drop the bomb” on the people’s workers in a phone call in which he believed he was speaking to billionaire backer David Koch.

Here are a couple of photos from the event:

You can check out the rest of the photos from this event HERE

Let’s play the Peggy West guessing game!

Zach W — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:31:53 +0000

On April 25, 2012 Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy Romo West terminated the employment of her Legislative Aide (LA). While Romo West’s termination of her now-former LA isn’t necessarily newsworthy, what’s curious about the termination is how Supervisor Romo West chose to terminate her Legislative Aide’s employment.

So how exactly did Supervisor Romo West fire her Legislative Aide?

Here are some guesses:

In person
On the telephone
Via letter
Via email
Telegraph
Carrier pigeon
Pony Express
A letter in a bottle
Smoke signals
None of the above

If you guessed “None of the above,” you’d be correct. County Supervisor Romo West actually fired her Legislative Aide via text message from her cell phone. Here’s Supervisor Romo West’s message:

I need you to get your things and leave. I have tried to very hard to work with you, I appreciate your service up to this point but at the very least, common sense must prevail, you cannot stay and jeprodize me or my office with juvenile antics.

Ironically enough, Supervisor Romo West went on to send a text message about the ineffective communication between her and her legislative aide:

I apologize but again apparently our relationship is such that we cannot communicate to the detriment of my position.

Perhaps I’m a little more old-school than Supervisor Romo West, but the last time I checked, text messaging wasn’t the most effective means of communicating, because it tends to be a little difficult to carry on a conversation 140 characters at a time.

In response to inquiries about the method she used to terminate her former LA, Supervisor Romo West wrote, “Out of respect for employees and former employees, we do not discuss personnel matters publicly.” Quite curiously, Supervisor Romo West also deflected my very specific questions about how frequently she (Supervisor Romo West) utilized text messaging to conduct official County business to County Supervisor Pat Jursik, as if Supervisor Jursik would have any meaningful insight as to how frequently Peggy Romo West uses text messaging to do the job she was elected to do.

In response to Supervisor Romo West’s unwillingness/inability to answer my questions, I’ve submitted a formal open records request to her office regarding her use of text messaging to conduct official County business. From what I’ve been told, Supervisor Romo West’s use of text messaging to conduct County business is extensive, leaving me to wonder if her use of text messaging is simply a matter of convenience or an attempt to skirt our state’s open records laws and the transparency they provide for citizens curious about the activities of their elected officials.

Recall Memo: June 5: Walker 57 Barrett 13 OR Walker 25 Barrett 1

Ed Heinzelman — Thu, 24 May 2012 02:46:01 +0000

No those aren’t the most recent poll numbers from the tea party sun tea brewmaster…they are very specific fundraising numbers for our two gubernatorial candidates in the recall election.

First, 57% of Governor Walker’s contributions came from out of state! While Mayor Barrett’s contributions from out of state amounted to 13%. So much for Governor Walker’s painting himself the target of out of state unions…it just isn’t so.

The second pair of numbers is the amount raised by each candidate during the past reporting period. Governor Walker: $25.3 million…Mayor Barrett $832,000.

There is no way that the Mayor Barrett can overcome the deficit in campaign contributions in the next two weeks…but he can certainly use our help. You can contribute here!

But please make sure you understand and make it clearly known: 57% of Governor Scott Walker’s $25 million campaign war chest came from people outside of Wisconsin. What favors do they expect in return?

And most importantly, VOTE:

VOTE for Governor:

—–>> Barrett

VOTE for Lieutenant Governor:

—–>> Mitchell

It’s no wonder Wisconsin’s “Deer Czar” wants to privatize hunting in WI

Zach W — Thu, 24 May 2012 02:08:35 +0000

Remember James Kroll, WI’s “Deer Czar” who referred to public hunting lands as “the last bastion of communism?”

It seems in addition to serving as Wisconsin’s “Deer Czar,” Dr. Kroll is also a bit of a capitalist, offering endorsements/testimonials for various deer-related products and services. Among the products Dr. Kroll has endorsed is Boss Buck, a feeding system used at game farms that actually bears Dr. Kroll’s name and signature.

Here’s a list of some of the products James Kroll has endorsed or done testimonials for:

Rack Buck – Buck forage oats
Sneaky Feed – Remote deer feeder monitor
Skunk Fusion – Cover scent
NutraDeer – Deer Feed
GMS – Game Management Software
Hunt Encino – Texas Commercial Deer Hunt
Buck Forage – Deer Feed
Boss Buck – Deer Feeder
Trophy Feeders – Deer feeder

The powers-that-be in Wisconsin have long believed in science-driven game management, but thanks to James Kroll we could now be seeing a shift towards profit-driven privatization of hunting and capitalism-driven game management in our fair state.

Credit for much of the content of this entry goes to reader Jim Spice, via his Facebook page.