Opaque & Premature: Meet Milwaukee County Government

The Journal Sentinel reports:

County Executive Chris Abele on Monday vetoed an attempt by the County Board to seek a state or independent audit of county government...

Some supervisors have called for a broader review of county government, saying a greater range of efficiency moves should be considered. 

Abele described the audit attempt as a delaying tactic.

A delaying tactic ... um, duh! It's been proposed that a whole department's workforce be part-timed and/or terminated. Most would prefer to either avoid or delay unemployment. And, as far as efficiencies or bang-for-the-buck savings go, there might be other, better options available. The kind of thing that could be discovered and quantified by performing an audit.

So, what's the rush? The audit may even support Board pay cuts, it could also reveal other efficiencies and/or needed improvements. What doesn't Abele want the public to see? Why does this idea need to be fast-tracked?

18 supervisors (making roughly $50,000 annually) and their staff cost $6.5 million per year, in a budget of over $1.3 billion, which is less than one percent of the total budget.