Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors is the legislative branch of the government of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Supervisors are elected to the board in nonpartisan elections. There are 18 supervisors.[1] The county board has several committees and votes on issues involving the county, such as the budget.[1]
Contents
Board members
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History
Prestige
As of 1960, membership on the Board was considered more desirable than membership in the Wisconsin State Assembly, and incumbent legislators would often seek a position on the Board, resigning their legislative positions if they were victorious.[2] By the early 21st century, this was no longer the case, and it was instead common for county supervisors to run for the legislature, even though Milwaukee County supervisors were paid fractionally more than the average salary for state legislators. Incumbent supervisors Elizabeth M. Coggs and Chris Larson were elected to the legislature, for example in 2010. An exception to this pattern was the case of Democratic Assemblyman David Cullen, who ran for and won a seat on the Board in early 2012, after a Republican legislature drastically redistricted his Assembly seat, where he had served over a decade.[3][4]
Pension controversy
In 2000, the County Board approved a generous and controversial pension plan that was negotiated by County Executive Tom Ament. The passage of the plan has been called the biggest political scandal in Milwaukee County history.[5] During 2002-2003, the county executive resigned after a recall election was certified and seven county board members who voted for the pension deal were recalled from office. The controversy resulted in the down-sizing of the county board and led to a special election of Scott Walker as County Executive.[6]
In 2009, a civil lawsuit was filed by Milwaukee County against Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Inc., a global financial-advice firm. The county is seeking more than $100 million in damages plus more in punitive damages. The full cost of benefits related to the scandal could reach $900 million.[7]
2013 Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors reform
In May 2013, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill that would mandate a referendum that would cut the supervisors salaries, ended health insurance and pension benefits, reduced the board's operating budget, and reduced the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors terms of office from four-years to two-years.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Hagensick, A. Clarke. "Influences of Partisanship and Incumbency on a Nonpartisan Election System" The Western Political Quarterly Vol. 17, No. 1 (Mar., 1964), pp. 117-124
- ↑ Sandler, Larry. "Rep. Cullen seeks Milwaukee County Board seat" All Politics Blog Milwaukee Journal Sentinel December 6, 2011
- ↑ Schultze, Steve. "Incumbents prevail in Milwaukee County Board races" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel April 3, 2012
- ↑ Tom Ament and Me
- ↑ Bilstad, Erik. Ten Stories That Changed Our Lives: #6 Milwaukee Co. Pension Scandal WTMJ-AM December 15–16, 2009
- ↑ Milwaukee County pension scandal trial primer
- ↑ State senate passes Milwaukee County Board reform bill
