Tag Archives: Chris Abele

Milwaukee County Bus Stops…Now Featuring MPD Patrols

Posted by Shakara on

Caught On Tape: teenager attacks and threatens a county bus driver

Milwaukee Public Schools.

Mayfair Mall.

Riverwest BP Gas Station

State Fair Park

and now….Milwaukee County Transit Buses.

The list grows longer for public places tainted with youth violence. When will it cease?

It has gotten so bad on the city buses that Chief Flynn announced Friday that his officers will now patrol bus stops on routes with the most problems in order to deter violence.

Because buses are moving vehicles on county roads, safety on the bus system is normally handled by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department. But Chief Flynn said Friday that his officers would step in to keep crime under control.

Sheriff David Clarke has assigned some deputies to bus patrols in the past. It’s no secret Sheriff Clarke is frustrated with the recent string of attacks, but he says the 2012 budget cuts implemented by County Executive Chris Abele will limit his department’s ability to protect riders. Because of that, Clarke advised the public last week that they would be riding  at their own risk.

MCTS also uses the  private security firm G4S Wackenhut (some people refer to them as rent-a-cops) to monitor the buses as well. According to the Journal Sentinel, Wackenhut has responded to the bulk of this year’s 3,200 service calls about problems on buses.

But county executive Chris Abele says the county bus system is the safest it’s been in five years.

A 24-year-old woman was attacked on a bus Thursday near 35th & Fond du Lac Ave. in front of her 2-year-old son.

A driver was assaulted last week by a rider who refused to pay his fare.

A bus was involved in a road-rage incident when the driver of a car cut off the bus, then pulled over and punched the window of the bus door.

Last Tuesday, MPD reported more than 30 teenagers went on a public rampage on Atkinson & Capitol, assaulting innocent bystanders in front of the library after four of them were kicked off a bus.

And the list goes on.

I’m no political debater and I try to avoid those arguments, but Mr. Abele, does that sound safe to you?

Not only has it become dangerous for riders, but drivers can’t even go to work without worrying if they will be attacked during their shifts.

People are calling this city “Detroit Jr.”

Where is this youth infatuation with group violence and attacking adults coming from?

What can be done to make things better? How can we take our city back?

Wednesday Recap Volume II: All Politics All The Time!

Posted by Wonder Woman on

Wednesday Recap Volume II

With all things politics in mind, there is just too much to going on in our beloved state and nation to just digest one thing. So here we go…

National Nonsense…

Cain Can’t

I was up in the air about Herman Cain and all these mounting allegations. Honestly none of them do anything to suede my judgment of him. My judgment of finding any real journalism has been shaken to the core from this. I am not saying if he did or didn’t, but he did express a very real sentiment many of us share.  Politics these days is a broken, bitter, evil place and do we really want to try and convict based on the court of media? Some of the allegations come from people with interesting possible motives, possible mental illness, and ties to Obama and/or other candidates. So I am wondering out loud if we should be trying this man in this court or should we stop that train of media frenzy. I wonder how many candidates locally and nationally we could potentially have if we did not worry so much about media sensationalizing and the ability to call out anyone without using the proper venues of law & order to mount accusations and such. Fair enough, he should have gotten his ducks in a row before he ran, who knew? Since he is an outsider, was it a blitz attack coming from both parties? As an aside, I find it curious we (and you know who you are) rise to OJ’s defense but call this man a coon? I see a lot of hypocrisy here and I just don’t like the smell of it. The fight to allow a black man by blacks to be Republican and Conservative is also being wagged here and if this were Obama I am betting we would have stood with him, hope, change and all!

I am going to refrain from voicing my support of any candidate because I still just can’t reconcile my standards to these people. Again I am not judging any of them, just waiting until I get all my ducks in a row! I know it won’t be Newt though. His record of profiting and making deals with big business are well-documented. He’s done!

I do know one thing, as far as the media goes, we sure have come a long way to hell’s door. We are trying and convicting people right and left for sins they may or may not have committed based on baseless innuendo and hearsay. As a country and even here in our community how can it be that we are admitting our minds are “googlized” and unable to make clear rational choices without depending on some “news station,” app, Google, or whatever is the choice addiction, to form our thoughts. I don’t know about you but it feels good to get out a dictionary every once in a while and look something up manually. Arnold did warn us of the machine uprising. Well here it starts with media now the Bible of the American people.

More about that later….

 

Lena Taylor & Alleged Voter Fraud

“So this is what democracy looks like!” Taylor coined this phrase to attack Governor Walker but it turns out that she may soon be at the root of her very own John Doe investigation. I hope no one is surprised by this because she has in the past been accused of questionable voting practices at polling sites, doing God knows what, not so long ago among other questionable practices in her political career.

Funny because last week I had mentioned she would be the choice for Dems looking to anoint a Walker replacement. Senator Taylor, if she makes it passed this and can explain away years of accusations, might still be the only choice as she still holds money, power, and people and momentum that far surpasses any other Democratic contender. Hell she has Ed Schultz in love with her and that is a powerful mouth piece at her disposal, if he is still engaged in Wisconsin politics. Come 2012, I think he just might!

Government Accountability Board Green Lights Rampant Fraud

Last week the GAB publically announced that it would be hiring people on a temporary basis to examine recall petitions. The board also acknowledged that they would not be entering names in any databases which could assist in cross references and checks for duplicity and other anomalies in the recall petition submissions.

They pretty much gave Walker recallers the go ahead to sign away and sign often!

“Recall advocates have suggested amongst themselves that supporters sign multiple petitions in the event that the first petition is lost, damaged or not turned in. In that case, a second signature on a petition circulated by a different group could be submitted and the person’s signature would still count.”

Brian Sikma

http://mediatrackers.org/2011/11/no-process-tothoroughly-review-recall-signatures/

And for the record no, I do not believe for one minute that they have as many signatures as they claim. But if people were told to sign twice “for safety” they probably have a solid 200,000 and maybe 100,000 real people.

Milwaukee County Exec & Supervisors Races Ramp Up

On the heels of the county’s 2012 budget comes a new crop of fresh faces to the political landscape in Milwaukee County.

Interest in the County Exec seat has been shared by Sheriff David Clarke and Representative Jeff Stone who you remember faced off with now county Exec Chris Abele unsuccessfully.

My thoughts….I think Abele has run a very good mirage of smoke and mirrors trying to pull of his “inner conservative.” However he could have had a moment of clarity and seen all that former County Exec Walker had to deal with and might really be buying what he is trying to sell.

However his supervisors are mounting a ground attack and his public feuds with the more liberal supervisors has some of them asking WTH? In the end with the 2012 election and record numbers of libs coming out to vote, they will make nice and he might return to his liberal agenda.

As for Clarke, I love the man for his bravado. He is courageous if nothing else. But as Kanye said “he’s got a big ego…” And I am not sure if that will fare well for him in a season of Republican lynchings. Sure on record he is a Democrat, but he does not act like one, not as far as they can see and he might want to sit this one out!

Is Rep. Stone really ready for around two with Abele? Again I am thinking he will have to put in a lot of time and do a flip, sounding more liberal to counter this “bizarro conservative” Abele we see before us. He will have to distance himself from the recall mayhem and really seek the independents for their blessings.

There are a few seats in play for county supervisors and one wonders what will happen with a board influx, meaning they are pondering whether to downsize or upgrade. Who wants to do all that work for an election just to fire themselves? And then when they vote to keep their seats will we question their intentions. At a debate/townhall I would love to see someone answer that one. Will you vote to get elected to get rid of the county board or downsize it and/or fire yourself?  

I noticed some of the mud has been flying with some of the lesser known candidates by some big name pundits and I wonder “why so angry?” It is way too soon. Although one’s background must be questioned, when dealing with anything county related does it really matter anymore? I guess we are going to have to decide where our moral compass rests these days and again are we fit to judge?

Either way it should be an interesting election at the county level as there is the new blood coming from everywhere, but especially in the inner city and Hispanic populations. However I caution this new uprising to be a little more inclusive. A few of them have seen such strong rhetoric coming from our black elected they are more seduced to talk and act as if they already won off the heels and endorsements of the Democrats and recall effort. Hold on partner, there is a silent majority and they really matter here. They are active and as we saw with Alberta Darling, they show up when called into action.

Some of the other candidates show a lot of refreshing promise and sensible talk as they are not bogged down in any of the state mess, can’t be tied to drama, have no affiliations or outside interests that we have seen as of yet, and are well-vetted and ready to serve. I see a lot of potential for voting in some much needed change, but I also see certain seated supervisors giving out their early endorsements and calling an audible on Abele. Watch out for them because these people are definitely up to something and the county is well known for its cronyism. And yes I am referring to Supervisor Dimittrijevic bullying constituents and others and to what end? One has to wonder what her end game is and what is her personal gain?

This is where I will leave my Wednesday recap. That is a lot for one person, it was a lot to hold inside. Thanks for letting me share. Hope you will join in the conversation. It is an interesting time for politics, especially locally. However the negativity, eh, please not this early! Give us until after Christmas and then get your game on!

Peace Family,

WW

Abele Proposes 2012 County Budget Without Tax Increase

Posted by the editor on

For Immediate Release
September 29, 2011
Contact: Jeff Bentoff, Office of the County Executive, 414.278.5281
Amy Paul, Office of the County Executive, 414.278.5150

Budget Would Prevent Transit Cuts, Invest in Community Mental Health

MILWAUKEE–Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele on Thursday unveiled a proposed 2012 budget that erases an inherited $55 million shortfall without major cuts to services while living up to his commitment to not include a property tax increase.

The proposal eliminates potentially massive transit service cuts, without fixed-route fare increases, that had been expected due to a record drop in state aids, increasing fuel costs and other financial challenges. The budget retains border-to-border countywide paratransit, which was being considered for a service-area reduction, using a mix of property taxes, new state funding and small paratransit fare increase.

Other threatened transit services would be spared, including freeway flyers and flyer service to Summerfest and the State Fair, assuming Milwaukee County gets an estimated share of leftover federal funds from the disbanded Regional Transit Authority.

Despite the major deficit, Abele’s budget proposes increasing funding for the county’s mental health department by $3 million to accelerate the transition away from hospitalization and toward care within community settings. That shift is expected over time to save taxpayer dollars and improve care.

The budget contains a number of reorganizations aimed at improving efficiency, accountability and service delivery, Abele said. The budget also includes $1 million to help pay down the county’s debt load.

“As I developed this budget, everything was on the table except a property tax increase and a fixed-route bus fare hike,” Abele said. “We’ve been able to find savings and efficiencies that will allow us to continue to provide needed services to Milwaukee County residents. But it doesn’t stop here. I will continue to work hard to save taxpayer dollars, hold down taxes and provide the services residents depend on.”

“I’m pleased that this budget also begins to pay down debt. County residents will be much better off when we no longer are paying more than $100 million in debt service and are able to use such resources to provide vital services instead.”

Abele’s budget calls for $269,554,701 in property taxes, the same amount approved for 2011. Under his plan, budgeted expenditures decrease by 5.6 percent, from $1,293,694,700 to $1,221,166,445.

The county faced a $55 million shortfall going into this budget, including nearly $29 million in state aid cuts approved earlier this year.
Initiatives in the budget include:

  • Directing $3 million in tax levy funding to support moving mental health services away from hospitalization and toward community care, including support to create up to two North Side crisis intervention programs, an additional 8-bed crisis respite facility in the community and to develop additional community crisis options.
  • Dedicating a portion of the proceeds from any 2012 land sales to a new revolving loan fund to provide capital for businesses.
  • Forming a free-standing Department of Human Resources, and creating a new Department of Transportation with Airport, Transit/Paratransit, Highway and Fleet Management Divisions.
  • Establishing a new Division of Facilities Management within the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) that will also house architectural, engineering and environmental services in order to achieve stronger efficiencies. Expand the role of the Division of Procurement to create a shared county resource for the centralization of contracts and leases.
  • Creating a new Division of Economic Development within DAS to serve as a central point for job development, retention and expansion progress and strategyamong civic, regional economic development and non-profit community organizations.

To help address the deficit, the proposed budget calls for $20 million in savings from redesign of the health care plan for employees and increased employee contributions, and $5.5 million in additional savings from a 4.7% pension contribution. Further savings include changes in the Sheriff’s Department that would result in more focus on core and mandated responsibilities.

Abele presented his budget proposal at a Thursday meeting of the County Board. The board will begin reviewing the budget in October and is scheduled to approve the county budget in November. A copy of Abele’s budget speech can be found here.

Millionaire & Wanna Be County Executive Chris Abele Has Bice On His A**

Posted by Giant on

Daniel Bice is the reason I don’t use my government name… this cat doesn’t play and like I’ve said in the past, don’t let this man smell your piss around this city or he’ll come after you. Bice’s latest target is Milwaukee’s own Bruce Wayne aka Chris Abele. It turns out that Abele didn’t get the memo about Bice in time to clean up his scent he has left all over town.

G -

County exec candidate Chris Abele racks up thousands in parking tickets

Daniel Bice
March 7, 2011

Chris Abele, the millionaire philanthropist running for county exec, doesn’t pay any state or federal income taxes.

That’s been well-documented.

But the guy apparently doesn’t mind dipping into his wallet to help the city’s meter readers meet their monthly quotas.

Records show Abele has racked up 92 parking tickets since Jan. 1, 2007. Of those tickets – which run $22 each – he paid a $5 late fee on 26 and a $15 late fee once.

Total cost: $2,169.

To most people, that’s real money, but it’s just a drop in the bucket for the scion of wealthy Boston businessman John Abele.

“Chris is on the go a lot,” explained Brandon Lorenz, Abele’s campaign spokesman.

Like nobody else is.

But unlike others, he’s not feeding the meters when he’s parking his 2009 Audi, which bears the striking vanity plate “PRFR0CK,” according to city and state databases.

Lorenz confirmed that this is an allusion to T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” long a favorite among English majors, something Abele was as a student at Lawrence University in Appleton.

In the campaign, he has pledged to crack down on the number of taxpayer-paid luxury cars provided to county bureaucrats and politicians. He has said he would use his own vehicle, not a county one, if elected.

The campaign manager for Abele’s opponent, state Rep. Jeff Stone, said she was stunned by the tally of Abele’s tickets.

“My only comment is, ‘Wow,’ ” said Stone aide Vi Hammelman.

Hammelman later offered something a little more hard-hitting: “I can’t imagine taxpayers would trust someone who has no regard for the rules, is that irresponsible and throws away money like that.”

In response, Lorenz took a shot at Stone.

“Frankly, folks should have real trouble trusting someone who votes in Madison to end collective bargaining and then comes back to Milwaukee to try to win election and changes his mind,” Lorenz said.

He is referring to Stone’s vote last month in favor of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill, which would eliminate most collective bargaining for public employee unions and require state workers to pay more for their health care and pension costs. Since then, Stone has said that he liked the bill overall but would have preferred to leave the current collective bargaining rights intact.

Now we’re way off the topic.

Lorenz emphasized that his boss doesn’t like getting tickets but has no outstanding citations. City records show that Abele received many of his tickets for parking near the headquarters of the Argosy Foundation, the family nonprofit overseen by Abele. It is located in Cathedral Place, 555 E. Wells St.

“He has frequent meetings there at the foundation and elsewhere,” Lorenz said. “He’ll sometimes park on the street when he’s there.”

Yet as the heir to millions, he can ignore plugging the meter. For, as his beloved Prufrock said, Abele has the time – and the money – “for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions, / Before the taking of a toast and tea.”