Wag the Dog

Bryan,

I had seen this agenda earlier today and was very surprised by these appointments.  Quite the opposite of the School Board.  Well, I guess Kristen and Steve will get a chance to put the money where their mouths are, now, won't they?

I was most interested in the Committee of the Whole Item H though.  Can't wait to hear this.  Unless, of course the meeting time runs out.  It is near the end and there sure is a whole lot of stuff on the agenda.  Three and a half pages! and two possible closed sessions.

And not a mention of the “B” word even though they know it is a hot item.  I guess citizen comment time will be the only “comment” we get on that.

Regardless of who Mayor Taylor attempts to sacrifice for his, or the Council’s political expediency, HE should be held accountable by voters for making the pledge to the electorate.

The Mayor told me personally, the day he signed the pledge, that he has VETO power over the budget.  As I see it, that puts the onus on the full Council to override it.  Then, who’s on the “hook”?

P.S. Glad to see the APB worked...

If I were in Kristen or Steve's position, I would be salivating.  It seems natural that when you are a newly elected member of a governing body that you would have little power to advance the agenda on which you ran.  I think that this situation gives Kristen and Steve a unique opportunity to make an big impression upon the city of Franklin.  A good impression at that!

A very good point indeed, Bryan!!

Sacrificial lambs for sure!   An ancient phrase rang when I read this....et tu Brute??!!  What an obvious dagger in the backs of Ald. Wilhelm and Ald. S. Taylor!  

When Franklin residents drank Taylor’s Kool Aid and put him back in office, I wonder if they really knew his MO.   This person is no amateur.  His moral compass when awry long ago when he helped orchestrate the Milwaukee County Pension scandal that he benefited handsomely from.  He showed his hand again when he attempted to bury the Environmental Commission but was slapped down by irate residents who secured petitions to show their rejection of his underhanded scheme of slipping this axing into the last budget proposal.   When he was caught, he quickly retracted his sabotage attempt.

Personally, I trust Ald. Wilhelm and Ald. S. Taylor to take the high road when it comes to the next budget.

Let everyone learn what the Mayor is up to and hold him personally accountable for his, and only his, actions.

I wonder if the Mayor ever heard this: “An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow man.     ~  Thomas Jefferson

DISCLAIMER:  The opinions mentioned above are not necessarily those of certain politicians but certainly those of the author.

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In connection with the Mayor’s appointment of Chairman Steve Taylor and Ald. Wilhelm to the Finance Committee:

I am waiting for the Mayor to discover his Pyrrhic victory!  And he thought he was being soooo clever!!

I believe the Mayor has misjudged these two very capable Alderpersons.

The following overview of past events in Franklin have not gone unnoticed:

I believe that Council Chairman Steve Taylor and Ald. Wilhelm have savvy.  You will not have savvy if you ignore history.  

Remember what our history teachers told us: “Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them”.

I am sure that Council Chairman Steve Taylor and Ald. Wilhelm know about the shameful Franklin Citizens for Responsible Leadership (euphemism for “The Special Interest Subsidiary League for Commercial Development”] tactics that were employed to stack the deck on the Council to promote rampant and irresponsible commercial development at all costs.  Then they banded together to remove those who opposed them.  The Asst. DA of Milwaukee County ordered this conclave to disband.  I’m sure he saw this as a parallel to “putting Typhoid Mary in a kissing booth”.

I am confident that Council Chairman Steve Taylor and Ald. Wilhelm will do all that he can to thwart another  “sleaze machine” that threatens to raise its ugly head.

Current alderperson members of that former “sleaze machine” [to my knowledge] were Olson, Sohns, Skowronski, Solomon, and Tom Taylor.

Not so coincidentally, it was Olson, Sohns, Skowronski, & Solomon who were instrumental in abolishing Franklin’s EHTICS BOARD.   This “dead canary in the coal mine” should tell us that Franklin’s government will never be safe as long as we have elected officials who are dead set against ETHICS and a board that will monitor that virtue!!  We need the ETHICS BOARD reinstated...post haste!

This is according to a Journal Sentinel article at the time:

The city is considering disbanding its Ethics Board, saying it has become a tool of warring political factions in this community known for its often down-and-dirty politics.

The likely demise comes after a particularly rancorous year in which politicians, advisory committee members and city staff traded accusations before the panel, and two Ethics Board members resigned - one voicing frustration over the "witch hunts that have driven the board's activities."

"I feel bad for them. They are people of conscience who wanted to do the right thing," Mayor Fred Klimetz said of the commission members.

"I think they were taken aback by the absolute viciousness, the fight to the death" among the adversaries who came before them.

The Common Council will take public input on the issue at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4.

Three of the six aldermen who will ultimately vote on whether to disband the panel had cases before the Ethics Board in the last year.

Two of them, Aldermen Steve Olson and Jim Bergmann, support abolishing the board. The third, Ald. Lyle Sohns, said he is undecided but could support its demise "as long as we replace it with something that works."

Among the cases filed before the Ethics Board in recent months:

Before his election to the council in April, Olson and members of the Franklin Citizens for Responsible Leadership accused Bergmann and Aldermen Ralph Netzel and Basil Ryan of abusing their powers by abstaining on votes. The complaint was dismissed, with the Ethics Board declaring unconstitutional a city ordinance that required aldermen to seek mayoral approval before abstaining. The law has since been rescinded, and Netzel and Ryan are no longer in office. Sohns and Economic Development Commission Chairman Kenneth Skowronski were accused by Sohns opponent Fred Knueppel of failing to divulge a business relationship with a city consultant. Sohns said the three had submitted a joint proposal for a project but that they weren't required to divulge it because they did not win the contract. The case stalled after Sohns and Skowronski refused an Ethics Board order to produce the proposal, saying it would be self-incriminating. Franklin's Environmental Commission member Kristen Wilhelm alleged that city planner Mary Kay Buratto deceived her board in an effort to award a contract to a predetermined company. Buratto, who has since resigned, denied the allegation. The case is pending. Knueppel accused Del Sievert, a former alderman and member of the Board of Public Works, of bidding on a $70,000 city contract for soil removal in violation of city policy. The case is pending.

Yes, history IS important!!

DISCLAIMER:  The opinions mentioned above are not necessarily those of certain politicians but certainly those of the author.