Budget would limit board’s authority

Abele sought proposal that removes land sale oversight

Republican lawmakers plan to eliminate Milwaukee County Board oversight of sales of county-owned properties not zoned for park use, as part of a package of state law changes sought by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.

But Abele’s attempt to wrestle away board review of all purchases of goods and services as well as all other contracts and requests for proposals was being pulled from an earlier proposal.

Livid Milwaukee County Board members Tuesday ripped into Abele for what they called a power grab in the state budget, saying the provisions would be an unconstitutional move to eliminate board review of everything from contracts to land sales.

The state Legislative Reference Bureau had not flagged any of the proposals as possibly unconstitutional, Abele responded.

A proposal approved by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee last week would “drop a cloak of secrecy over the sale of publicly owned land and contracts worth millions of dollars in taxpayer resources,” Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic said.

‘Motion 999’

The plan was part of a committeeapproved grab bag of local government issues known as “motion 999” in the budget bill.

Front and center in the proposal is removal of board authority to act on the sale of one specific property zoned as park land: O’Donnell Park.

The board currently is waiting for the Milwaukee Art Museum to determine whether it will buy or lease O’Donnell Park and its multilevel parking garage. The board prefers that the property not be sold to a private developer.

In December, a majority of supervisors voted to reject Abele’s proposed sale of the park to Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. at the appraised value of $14 million.

Sales of non-park properties would be exempt from board oversight, under the proposal.

County Supervisor Theodore Lipscomb Sr. on Tuesday complained there was no opportunity for public debate of the changes before the Joint Finance Committee endorsed the proposal.

The budget plan would eliminate the board’s current authority to override an executive veto of legislation adopted by supervisors, said Lipscomb, co-chair of the board’s finance committee. The board’s veto override authority is granted under Article IV of the Wisconsin Constitution, he said.

Abele disputed that interpretation of the provision and said he is not attempting to eliminate the board’s veto override authority.

Abele acknowledged meeting with state legislators to discuss the changes. He is asking legislators and Gov. Scott Walker to approve the proposal, Abele said.

James Goulee, executive director of The Park People of Milwaukee Inc., described the land sale proposal as a “scheme” to give Abele “the ability to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of county assets without review or voting by our elected County Board.”

O’Donnell an exception

The proposal sets the table for the sale of one park while creating a legal precedent for sales of other parks, Goulee said.

But the proposal maintains County Board authority to acquire and sell county park land with the exception of O’Donnell Park.

Any sale of non-park land, under the proposal, would require the approval of the elected county comptroller and a real estate expert appointed by elected members of the Milwaukee County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council.

Under state law, a county executive is elected to serve as the chief executive officer, or CEO, of a county. The executive directs all administrative and management functions, supervises department heads, prepares the annual budget, holds veto authority over board resolutions, ordinances and appropriations, according to the “Wisconsin County Official’s Handbook” published by the Wisconsin Counties Association.

The board is restricted to legislative duties and oversight, the handbook says.