County exec still pushing failed policies

The county executive recently delivered his annual State of the County address and it was full of his same failed policies. Rather then honestly confronting our fiscal challenges and present real solutions as a leader should, he just ended up with a bunch of empty campaign promises.

He once again is trying to sell off one of the county’s most prosperous assets, our airport. After the failure of the Chicago airport deal, why would we sell our successful airport for one-time funds to solve only short-term financial problems? County taxpayers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into our airport and with new airlines and an additional runway, our airport has made a national name for itself.

He continues to advance his privatization plans to further kill jobs in Milwaukee County and erodes our county services. We learned our lesson from our Milwaukee Public Museum-privatizing means less accountability and can even end up being more costly to the taxpayers in the future.

He wants lower-paid, out-of-state contractors to provide county services. Cutting family-supporting jobs does not help our local economy when we need it the most.

The county executive talked about lowering the tax levy when, in fact, each year during his tenure the levy has increased $45 million. He plans on reducing the levy by requiring more employee furloughs, including of deputy sheriffs, which could impact safety in our neighborhoods.

It was only through County Board action that we received federal stimulus money for county projects; the county executive initially refused these funds and now balanced the 2010 budget on them.

In conclusion, we are on our way to improving the county’s finances through long-term strategic planning and seeking more diversified revenues. In January, a state Assembly committee endorsed legislation that authorizes a county sales tax for our county parks. We also continue to work with our labor unions to find the best compromise for our future labor contracts.

We must proceed with caution during 2010 as we work to ensure a balanced budget. Contrary to what some have said, Milwaukee County government provides valuable services to our community and must be preserved for future generations.

Marina Dimitrijevic is supervisor of Milwaukee County’s Fourth District, which includes Bay View and Milwaukee’s near south side. She can be reached at marina.dimitrijevic@milwcnty.com or (414) 278-4232.

Copyright 2010 by Bay View Compass. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.