Usually when a new spokesperson takes the reins as mouthpiece for a corporation, press releases are sent out and the media is forewarned. That doesn't seem to be the case with Harold Mester, the new flak for the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors (pictured above), who quietly took the job at the beginning of November.

"I guess there was no one to send out a press release," he laughs.

Mester heads to the Courthouse after five years as news director for WISN-AM. He said the move was financial and to give him something else to do.

"Radio news doesn't make much money, even in management. And radio news gets old after awhile."

The new gig comes at a much-needed time for the board, which continues to be overshadowed in the media -- and especially talk radio -- by the agenda being set by County Executive Scott Walker, which for the most part, seems at odds with the majority of the board's wishes. The overwhelming rejection of Walker's recent budget vetoes proves that.

"We're trying to provide a counterpoint to what the county executive is doing. It really is the County Board that sets policy," he says.

Mester says he is responsible to work with all the supervisors, "as long as it's not a campaign issue" and not just Board Chairman Lee Holloway, which had been a point of contention before Mester arrived.

Mester's predecessor, Alicia Griffin, had come under fire by board members as early as spring 2005, when supervisors questioned the value of the position, especially after Holloway referred to the post as part of "my staff." Griffin's detractors were accused of being racially motivated by her supporters, but the position was eliminated until the 2007 budget was approved. Griffin made about $58,000 a year, while Mester says he'll earn about $52,000.

Potawatomi Polling: Public opinion is the next card being played on the table over a proposed casino for Dairyland Greyhound Park. The Denver and Las Vegas-based renowned polling firm of McGuire Research has been phoning residents in southeastern Wisconsin to test whether the odds are in favor of maintaining the Forest County Potawatomi tribe's Menomonee Valley casino or leaning toward approving the Menominee Indian tribe's plans for a mega-casino and hotel at the dog track site in Kenosha.

McGuire pollsters say the Potawatomi are behind the poll and the questions certainly seem to lean that way. The Potawatomi, after all, figure they stand to lose big time if the Menominee can fire up gaming tables and slot machines a mere 45 minutes from the Valley.

After a series of queries on how one feels about the direction of the city and county of Milwaukee and how favorable County Executive Scott Walker and Mayor Tom Barrett are viewed, the pollee is dealt a list of questions where it's almost impossible not to come up with a favorable view of the Potawatomi. No word on when the results will ever be released.

Getting Testy on Transit: Milwaukee Ald. Bob Bauman is getting a tad frustrated over the much-ballyhooed talks about a commuter train from Kenosha to Milwaukee (aka the KRM), since there seems to be absolutely no consensus on how to pay for it, or how to pay to keep the Milwaukee County Transit System viable as well. Bauman argues that without a decent bus system, any KRM plan won't work.

"It's like (Milwaukee business leaders who support KRM) are looking through a brochure for a $250,000 Ferrari when they can barely afford the Volkswagen they have," he says.

Bauman will try to pass a resolution in the Council that calls for any funding plan for the KRM to include dedicated funding for the Milwaukee County Transit System. A trial balloon to use a sales tax floated by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority, which wants to build and run the $200 million line, fell flat upon announcement earlier this year. It's expected to cost $11 million to run the line.

Unless business leaders can reach a consensus on funding, Bauman says, "They should just stop discussing and studying the projects, because all they're doing is making the consultants rich."

 Page 1 of 2 (view all on one page)

Next >>

Post a comment / write a review.