Inmates Released, Public Safety Plans Cut:
“Patchwork” Walker’s Latest Hypocrisy Exposed by Political Ally
MADISON – “Reality” comes from some pretty strange places and, in the case of Scott Walker, it’s now coming from one of his own friends as the latest example of Walker incompetence is revealed.
We’ve already seen the damage that Walker’s ineptitude has caused to Milwaukee County’s parks and the way his private profiteering plans have made the County Courthouse more like an outhouse.
This time, with public safety at risk because of Walker’s failed management, the stakes couldn’t be higher: Inmates will be set free, patrols will be cut and valuable safety programs will be given the axe under Walker’s bungled budget of misplaced-and dangerous-priorities.
And that’s according to one of Walker’s own allies, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who in a scathing letter to Walker recently warned of coming “consequences,” lamenting the nearly $5 million hole Walker’s budget blows in public safety programs.
“Scott Walker’s incompetence has reached such heights that even his political allies have taken issue with it,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Mike Tate. “Just this week Walker made a series of false assertions about his public safety priorities that not even Sheriff Clarke, a longtime fan of Walker’s, could buy.”
Describing Walker’s previous efforts at managing the public safety budget as “patches” that are “failing,” Clarke wrote in the letter that, “There are consequences to how you have (put) this budget together. That is not a threat; it is reality.”
Clarke went on to list these consequences, including allowing the release of 120 inmates of the House of Corrections, a reduction of the patrols on county highways, and the elimination of various drug and other assessment programs that have been credited with reducing recidivism.
Tate contrasted Walker’s reckless budget schemes with the results-driven record of Tom Barrett who, facing historic budget pressures, has worked with Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn to bring violent crime in the state’s largest city to its lowest level in more than 20 years.
“Where Scott Walker’s undisciplined and patchwork management style leaves a gaping hole in the county’s safety budget, Tom Barrett has been focused and has employed smart management of historically-limited resources to realize dramatic results,” Tate said. “Tom brings the kind of leadership needed to improve the well-being and safety of Wisconsin’s working families.”
