County Executive Abele's Veto of the Work Initiative fails the smell test and shows he has forgotten his Election Night Speech

November 15, 2011



MILWAUKEE, WI (Milwaukee County) - Today, Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb and Supervisor Eyon Biddle reported that funding for the Work Initiative proposed was vetoed 90% by County Executive Chris Abele. It appears the original amount for $1,000,000 was chopped to $100,000.

According to both the offices of Supervisor Lipscomb and Biddle, the veto is a "blow" to the intent and challenge of the Work Initiative.

Shout outThis is for your perusal and ACTION to the supervisors and the county executive. The override can come tomorrow by the full BOARD of Supervisors. Make your calls NOW.

The following Press Release by the Co-sponsors of the Work Initiative, Supervisors Biddle and Lipscomb; and, the response we received from County Executive Abele's office.
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SUPERVISORS DISAPPOINTED IN COUNTY EXECUTIVE’S VETO OF FULL FUNDING FOR READY TO WORK INITIATIVE

Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee County Supervisors Eyon Biddle, Sr., and Theodore Lipscomb, Sr., released the following statements after County Executive Chris Abele vetoed 90% of the funding for the Biddle-Lipscomb Ready to Work Initiative:

Supervisor Lipscomb
“Supervisor Biddle and I proposed the Ready to Work Initiative to balance the need to help businesses create jobs while investing in job training for County residents. Unfortunately, this partial veto creates a 20-1 imbalance that highly favors the business community over workers. This action fails to recognize the magnitude of the mismatch between the number of skilled workers and available job opportunities.”

“The fact that the County Executive didn’t eliminate the program completely shows he must understand that it’s something we need to do, but his veto means we can’t even make a dent in the problem.”

Supervisor Biddle
“To say the least, this veto is highly disappointing. The County Executive appears to be extremely out of touch with his constituents. I’m not sure what world he’s living in. The greatest need for the residents of Milwaukee County right now is jobs. Milwaukee is the 9th poorest city in the nation, and he should do everything in his power to create job training opportunities. The County Executive wants to take smaller steps, but families living in poverty and devoid of hope deserve bold ideas and leadership.

“It seems that the County Executive is more concerned with creating one comptroller position for Milwaukee County than creating opportunities for thousands of Milwaukee County residents out of work. It is also peculiar that the County Executive is only willing to give $100,000 to fund this program, despite amendments offered by some of my most conservative colleagues allocating $500,000.

“I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in overriding this veto on Wednesday. With a County Board override, the Ready to Work Initiative will be a success – and the County Executive will likely take all the credit for it.”

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The response from County Executive Abele's office is:

"I am partially vetoing this amendment to create a more balanced and supportable approach to workforce development and small-business loans. I recognize the leadership that Milwaukee County should play in addressing high joblessness rates and commend the board for developing a thoughtful way to potentially use future land sale revenue toward this end. While I support the amendment's creation of a workforce development program, I believe that funding it at $100,000 for 2012 instead $1 million would be more prudent and give the County the opportunity to more gradually develop a successful program. I have met with Big Step Director Earl Buford and am confident that this initial funding of $100,000 would create a significant and effective program. I also believe that this $100,000 in workforce development funding should be made a priority over funding the economic development
fund from future land sales."