Public Square - WI State Legislature contacted for legislature actions regarding UW Regents

Public Policy Review
Area: Public Confidence


In the Square


MILWAUKEE - On June 27, 2011, Wisconsin leaders of the Senate and Assembly were sent the first copy of a Formal Complaint against Wisconsin Government Agency, UW System Board of Regents.

It is a Call for Investigation and Correction of U.S. Constitution, Wisconsin Constitution, State Statute 36.01(1)(2), UW Milwaukee Select Mission and the 1956 reorganization violations before and after the 2010-2011 Search and Selection of the 8th Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

The legislature makes the laws. The senate approves the appointments to this government agency.

The formal contact to the legislators-legislature follows contact to WI Attorney General office and the response that essential said that the WI Attorney General's office did not have the "legal authority" to conduct an investigation and provide recommendations for intervention and prevention.


The office of Mary Glass, Chair/CEO, Milwaukee Professionals Association has asked the legislature to use their authorizing power (Wis. Stat. § 165.015, Wis. Stat. § 165.25(3) and 59.42(1)(c)) to engage the office of the state Attorney General as well as the WI Government of Accountability office.

The Complaint includes:

-- 2010-2011 Search and Selection process that included a national search of 44 candidates and 5 finalists.

-- Conflict of Interest.

-- Refusal to respond to public information request.

-- Discrimination of African American, People of Color and Work-Challeges Milwaukeeans as participants in the search process.

-- Discrimination in $240 Million UW Milwaukee Initiative and $176 Million Senate Bill 514.

-- Discrimination of procurement, goods and services, partnerships developed during the search process.

-- unprecedented bias toward the "Interim Chancellor", now Chancellor.

-- Appointment, ongoing training of board of regents members, evaluation, term limits, specifics for removal, engagement with public and process for Complaints.

-- Ex Offico seats on WI Board of Regents - Per the unacceptable Code of Conduct (repeated refusal to respond to request for information) of Regents Stan Davis and Regents Brent Smith as President of the WI Technical College System and Regents Tony Evers, WI State Superintendent. The position of WI Technical College and the Department of Education are "ex-officio" positions.

Timely
Wisconsin economy is in a state of turmoil.

Governor Scott Walker says Wisconsin is "Open for Business". If so, it must first and foremost include the City of Milwaukee. At the present time, it does not,

The Complaint speaks to the Enduring Concentrated Poverty status of the City of Milwaukee and how the Code of Conduct of the UW Regents and the UW-Milwaukee culture of discrimination contributes to the devastation that can be corrected if All Hands are on Deck with an effort to "re-define", "re-brand" and "un-trap" over a half-million people in the largest city of Wisconsin. By engaging in an initiative (BOTTOM-UP) to expose hidden talent, emerging markets and submerging markets at the "neighborhood-level" for a NEW Middle Class.

How the denial of the stakeholders at the neighborhood-level contributes to "haves" and "have-nots", discrimination, 5-10 times higher unemployment than the numbers given at the state level for Wisconsinites.

The recent resignation of ex-Chancellor Carolyn "Biddy" Martin, UW-Madison and the controversy around her abrupt departure adds a compounding component on the timely action of the legislature since the WI Board of Regents will be in the process of a national search and selection process.

"The state of Wisconsin is in the 'global public square' for many thorny issues of unfavorability,". said Glass. "We hope our leaders in the legislature with take this opportunity to make massive corrections that are needed to start the process of 'getting-our-public agencies-in-order'. "It will do so much to establish-restore-create public confidence."