Working on a story about campaign contributions to political candidates from Franklin, I downloaded the July, 2010-continuing reports from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board’s website from Wisconsin’s “Big Three” in the gubernatorial race – Tom Barrett, Mark Neumann and Scott Walker. What I didn’t expect from this was to be amused by politics.
On page 113 of Walker’s 1,163-page finance report, he reports a contribution from Gerald Hay, who reports a home address in Franksville. Since Mr. Hay contributed $600 to the Walker campaign, the law requires the individual to provide their job title and place of work. The Walker campaign put down that Hay’s title is “Self-Employed – Service – Food/Beverage” and that he works for “South of the Border”, located on 10741 S. 27th Street in Franklin.
Hmm…South of the Border? Anyways, let me continue.
Continuing my data collection, I come across Sandra Hay on pg 134, with a home address in Franklin. She too contributed a decent sum of money – $750 to be exact – and thus she also had to provide her title and place of work. The Walker campaign has Mrs. Hay down as “Self Employed” by “Self”, but lists the address of “Self” the same as “South of the Border”s – 10741 S. 27th Street in Franklin.
This is getting interesting. So far we got two members of the Hay family contributing $1350, and both list their place of work at 10741 S. 27th Street, yet their titles are totally different. But alas, I get down to the bottom of it!
Way down, or should I just say buried, on page 811 of the report lists a $150 contribution from Danny E. Hay, who lists his home address as the same as Sandra’s in Franklin, but apparently was a little more forthcoming as to where he works. Since the benchmark requiring the individual to provide employee info is $100, Mr. Hay also had to list his title and place of employment – which so happens to be the “Business Owner – Administrative Professional – Executive” at On the Border. Guess what On the Border’s address is? I’m sure you guessed right! If you didn’t, let me cue OnMilwaukee.com:
On The Border
10741 S. 27th St., Franklin
(414) 761-6440
This is one of the bigger, more popular and more expensive clubs in the area. It is regarded, along with Silk, as a favorite among strip club regulars in the area. The cover is $5 during the day and $12 at night. Private dances are available for between $20 and $35. You can go into a very private area and get three dances for $90 or pay $300 for a half-hour of company. Our “experts” tell us that some dancers in the VIP area can be quite friendly. “If you get the right girl in the right mood, you can have a very good time,” one said. It’s not unusual to see couples enjoying a night together, particularly on Thursday, when admission for couples is free. The club serves food after 7 p.m.
So dare I ask where “South of the Border” comes from in Walker’s finance report? How about being self employed by yourself, which is rather interesting! While I’m sure the Walker campaign’s filings are perfectly legal, I find it amusing that $1350 in contributions from owners of a strip club aren’t really noted as such. Then the final $150 that has the correct data is buried on page 811 of a 1,163 page finance report! Is the Walker camp embarrassed to receive $1500 from On the Border ownership?
Perhaps I found one of the reasons why: In digging a little deeper on how Sandra Hay could be listed as “self employed” by “self”, I came across an article from the Chicago Breaking News Center, which is a news collaboration of the Chicago Tribune, CLTV & WGN. The article focuses on a controversial methadone clinic in Waukegan, which Mrs. Hay was a co-owner, that closed last year after a death prompted Illinois authorities to inspect the clinic. The article reports that the business likely closed due to the strong possibility of its license being revoked after it did “very poorly” on those inspections. Towards the end of the article, published August 25, 2009, it noted Hay’s ownership of On the Border and that IL authorities were investigating a possible connection between the club and the clinic. It is unknown if they closed the case.
Nice job Greg!
Thanks Zach – much appreciated!
Those campaign finance forms sure make for some interesting reading, don’t they?
Yes they do – just found something interesting in Rep. Stone’s report tonight! I suppose I should cross-post on here, too.
A quaint little piece of “investigating” but the implication of the existence of this article is that it is somehow bad or immoral for a politician to receive a donation from an owner of a strip club. Either that, or it is implied that it is somehow bad or immoral to receive donations from business owners who were no good at running a business. Which is it? Or neither? If neither, why was this written?