Scott Walker "Welcomes" Audit, Hometown Paper Breaks Silence

Oh my goodness, I wish Xoff was around to see this! The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sort of reported on the story that I broke here, “Contract Questions for Scott Walker”. Well, let’s not give them too much credit for slightly reporting on this topic several months too late. They were almost forced to do so thanks to Milwaukee County Board Supervisors on the Finance Committee (John Weishan in particular).

In a committee vote of 4-3 they endorsed a review of two contracts that were awarded to a company whose executives were also contributors to Scott Walker. You may recall that I originally reported that the company in question received rather low scores in the bidding process but still won a $1.2 million contract and also got a $250,000 No-Bid contract.

A few weeks after I posted the original report, the AP picked up the story. The Journal Sentinel still did nothing. The excuses that were passed down to me were weak. “The amount given to Walker was too small.” My response to that is so what? So if I do something that MAY BE just a little naughty, it’s A-O.K. with you? Also what about when you reported on Jim Doyle in the past based on only a $50 donation from someone? That is a lot smaller than a $2,000+ gift. Their other point was that “many of the other companies that scored higher than Phoenix Care Systems/Bell Therapy were awarded contracts that year”. So why did the companies that scored so much higher than Phoenix/Bell get so much less cash? Yeah, they were awarded contracts but the lower scorer was awarded the BIG DADDY of contracts for that year. So how do you explain that? If you can’t explain it then why didn’t you report on it?

Scott Walker’s response was typical of him when he is being held accountable. He claims it’s “politically motivated.” And your constant often unfounded attacks on Doyle are not “politically motivated” right? Walker also said that he “welcomed the audit.” Well good for you! I hope this means that you will convince your allies on the County Board to vote for the audit on February 2nd, which is when the committee’s request will be heard.

I encourage all Milwaukee County residents to call their County Supervisors at 414-278-4222 and ask them to support the Finance Committee’s recommendation. If Walker is “welcoming the audit” then they should be receptive as well.