Wednesday, April 23, 2008

At least they have the job title right

Why do the Milwaukee County taxpayers have to pay for a spokesman - the "Public Information Manager" - for the Milwaukee County Board? What other government body has one spokesman for 19 full-time (and over-compensated) elected officials? Are they all mute and incapable of typing?

And what information is the public getting? Here's the latest press release from PIM Harold Mester in it's entirety:
Milwaukee Co. Board: Lee Holloway re-elected chairman of Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors for 2008-2012 term
4/21/2008

Contact: Harold Mester, Public Information Manager

414/278-4051 or harold.mester@milwcnty.com

Sup. Mayo Elected 1st Vice Chair, Sup. West elected 2nd Vice Chair

Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors voted this evening to re-elect Lee Holloway as County Board Chairman. Supervisor Michael Mayo, Sr., was elected 1st Vice-Chair and Supervisor Peggy West was elected 2nd Vice-Chair.

“I’m pleased that my colleagues have entrusted me to continue serving as Chairman of the Board,” said Holloway, who has served as Chairman since 2002. “I look forward to continuing my record as an inclusive Chairman leading the way on important decisions facing Milwaukee County over the next four years.”

Four new Supervisors, elected on April 1st, were also sworn-in:

• Theo Lipscomb, 1st District
• Christopher Larson, 14th District
• Joe Sanfelippo, 17th District
• John Thomas, 18th District

The next regular meeting of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 200 of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

That's it. No mention of the time that it took to elect Holloway. No mention of the number of votes. None of the roll call votes. Zip. Nada. Just a friendly press release that could've been written by Holloway himself.

If the supervisors are so incompetent that they want to keep Holloway, the least they could do is fire Mester and issue their own press releases.