Abele: a step up Larson: a step back

The Milwaukee County executive race is pretty simple: A vote for County Executive Chris Abele on Tuesday is a vote to keep the county on a steady forward path of reform that provides social services at a reasonable cost. A vote for state Sen. Chris Larson is a vote to go back to the days of bloated government, higher taxes and meddling supervisors. We recommend Chris Abele. Under Abele (and with help from the County Board):

Milwaukee County has moved forward on real reform in mental health care to a community-based system that promises better care for the neediest among us.

Bus routes have not been cut nor have fares been increased. Parkland has increased. Thanks to the deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, development likely will finally happen in the long-empty Park East corridor.

Housing is being found for the chronically homeless. Although the chronically homeless are only a fraction of the total homeless population, Abele’s plan is still a good step forward.

And although not of Abele’s doing, his support for county government reform had much to do with the shape it eventually took. Legislators reduced the pay and budget for the county supervisors and limited some of their powers and their terms in office. Critics such as Larson — a former supervisor — say the changes went too far and unbalanced the checks-and-balance system in county government.

We disagree. Under the system that will come to a final end this month, supervisors had too much power and were able to micromanage administrative issues such as individual raises and minor contracts. Their staff was bloated, as were their own salaries. Given the limited responsibilities of county supervisors, the position should be a part-time job, not a full-time gig on the taxpayer’s dime. Which is what it will be now.

At the same time, the board has retained its power over the county budget and general pol-

icy matters, giving the entire system an appropriate level of checks and balances.

Larson says he would try to change that. He wants to turn back what he calls Abele’s “power grabs.” But he doesn’t have the power to do that; it would require changing the minds of Republican legislators who control the Assembly and the Senate. Larson was in the Legislature when those changes were approved and he could not affect them. How would he change things as county executive?

He also wants to raise the sales tax to pay for certain county functions such as parks. But again, he has no power to do that; it would require state approval. And, again, that’s unlikely to happen, given the current makeup of the Legislature.

Larson seems to be making promises he can’t keep. He will have to work in the new system that the Legislature created. But he doesn’t seem to be willing to do that. How will he then govern?

Nor is his record in the Legislature any indication that he will be successful in working with others toward change. As minority leader of the Democrats in the Senate, it’s understandable that he can point to few legislative wins. But his recent flare-up with state Sen. Lena Taylor, a fellow Milwaukee Democrat, was simply embarrassing.

The county does face serious challenges, and certainly one of them is the deferred maintenance that resulted in the closing of the Mitchell Park Domes this winter. Abele must bear some responsibility for that and must strive harder to close that gap.

Nor is Abele’s track record on getting along with others sterling. Several department heads, including the popular Parks Director Sue Black (who endorsed Larson last week), were fired with inadequate public explanation; most supervisors have been fiercely critical of Abele and his fights with Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. are almost the stuff of legend.

There’s no doubt that Abele can do better and needs to. But he’s been taking the county forward. Larson would take the county back.