Waukesha County Executive Dan Finley is resigning to take over the struggling Milwaukee Public Museum. Milwaukee County's gain is Waukesha County's loss as Finley was a capable administrator with bold ideas and a good sense of value for the taxpayer.
In fact, it was just recently I had some fun with an editorial in the Waukesha Freeman praising Finley (correctly) for managing to hold the line on the county budget. The editorial had a triumphal tone, too much for my tastes, and was really a victory lap for the now departing county executive, even if the editors weren't aware of it.
Waukesha now enters a period of budget planning led by Waukesha County Board Chairman Jim Dwyer who will take over in the interim until a special election is held.
The special election promises to be special indeed. Dan Finley has been the only county executive Waukesha County has had. And as he and his wife Jennifer Finley told WISN's Mark Belling this afternoon, Jennifer Finley may be interested in making a run for the job. So I suspect will dozens of others including every school board president and mayor in this county.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Public Museum has made a brilliant move in getting Dan Finley. Finley should get the MPM back to its core mission while making the cuts necessary to make the museum financially sound again, even selling off the rainforest property. He is also a big enough name with a solid reputation which will restore the confidence of donors to the museum. It will be a tough job for Finley, but then so was becoming Waukesha County's first county executive.
