in Madison-area local government?
Sheriff Kalvin Barrett warns that he will not be able to run the new county jail, currently under construction, if the Dane County Board slashes 28 deputy positions, as Supv. Heidi Wegleitner proposes.
That’s just fine with Madison’s downtown, Tenney Park-area supervisor, for she is steadfastly Defund the Police, like so many other progressives. She fought building a new, more humane (albeit smaller) jail. Wants to defund the sheriff’s drug and gang task forces for the usual progressive reasons. Yes, she plays the race card.
The supervisor identifies “people who are incarcerated, and families impacted by child welfare and juvenile justice systems” as her priorities, along with “low-income people, people of color, people with disabilities.” Supports the “Free the 350 Campaign,” so called because 350 is the number of black inmates supposedly “over-represented” in the Dane County jail. Just free them — like the fatal hit and run driver on Schroeder Road, who subsequently skedaddled.
UPDATE: Motion to cut 28 deputies passed! Only supervisors Jeff Weigand and David Peterson voted NO. Voting YES on at least one of the 3 deputy cut amendments were Supvs. Andrae, Furman Gray, Kigeya, and Rose. Still must go to county board but this die is cast!
‘Justice’ but not the courtroom kind
An identifying quirk of the progressive breed is their habit of expropriating the word “justice” to their pet causes. Thus, income redistribution is “economic justice.” Banning your gas kitchen range is “environmental justice.” DEI is “social justice.’ Supv. Wegleitner’s focus is “housing justice.”
Dane County is $31 million in the red but not a penny of her $3.76 million in sheriff’s department reductions would go for property tax relief. No, $1.52 million gets funneled to various homeless shelters. The other $2.24 million goes back to social welfare programs. (Your favorite blogge warned about the reductions a week ago.) Wegleitner was among the majority who voted 27 to 5 against auditing Urban Triage, headed by the bullhorn-wielding BLM activist, Brandi Grayson, of which Supv. Wegleitner is an outspoken admirer.
Taxpayers have been ‘redirected’
Remember how the wheel tax was supposed to keep our highways and byways in good operating condition.? Supv. Wegleitner is very upfront about the shell game:
When Progressive Dane supervisors advocated for a wheel tax, it was so general purpose revenue dollars that were being spent on transportation could be redirected to human services programs.
We know this because that’s what she pledged in writing to Progressive Dane, the local political party that once was to the left of even Dane County Democrats but is now indistinguishable. She got PD’s endorsement and that of the Democratic Party of Dane County as well as AFSCME, the government-employee labor union. Greater Madison’s UniParty! Indeed, Democrats endorsed 26 of the 37 county supervisors! Only two of their endorsees lost — one of them to Jeff Weigand. the only conservative of the 37.
Sheriff Barrett told the Public Protection Committee tonight his department already had foregone $8.8 million in budgeting, including body-worn cameras and replacing worn-out squad cars. Consultants hired by the county dictated more staffing if the new jail was to be more than a lock-up, if it was to rehabilitate as intended, the sheriff testified.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: “Progressive Dane is THE political party that dedicates itself to working on local policy,” Heidi Wegleitner told the party’s endorsement board. We think she is short-shrifting her support from the local Democrat(ic) party.
14 responses to “Who speaks for the hard-working taxpayer”
Why do so many Liberals look like they come from central casting as patients in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest?
Because they think Donald Trump is Nurse Ratched, and he is going to take their hallucinations away.
Pioneering: Demented Donald is the one who fears reality will take his delusions away. Now the Mad King has decreed that a grand, golden ballroom be constructed in his honor. Certain words come to mind: illegal kickbacks, crooked contractors, greed…does anyone actually believe the Mad King when he says private donations for this boondoggle will go to charity? Meanwhile, Americans are going hungry; some will die for lack of affordable insurance; Hegseth is ordering the murder of unknown people on the high seas…
Some of us tried to warn the Magat contingent, and indeed, the nation.
Trump wins the popular vote, the electoral college and all the swing states… some king! Cry more, Lib!
And let us not forget the $20 billion bailout for Argentina, plus $1 billion a year to Egypt. Trump has screwed the American taxpayers.
Trump said he’d pay for it with his own money and private donations. Why do you hate putting people to work?
Progressive Dane sees what’s happening in Portland, San Francisco & other blue cities with homeless, crime & degradation & says “Hold my beer!” Madison on the way to join them.
A family member from Chicago was shocked when I told them Madison police do not have body cameras. So sad PD wants to enable criminals; the people who need the protection of the police are the people in the neighborhoods who are not rich , just trying to get by.
True but that is a Progressive feature, not a bug. The more “financially marginalized” folks in Dane County, the more money will be funnelled to Urban Triage, Freedom Inc et al and the more payrolls for the race grifters.
Its a growth industry so there will never be enough money.
Dane County residents don’t know how fooked they are. 18% have any common sense. Is it any wonder? Has anyone read Dane County’s housing plan to move Madistan’s “pets” out into wyteyland out in the County? You will have a Regional Transit authority in place within 3 years to get them to their new cribs. Shootouts at bus stops in Stoughton and Sun Prairie will rival Madistan’s. So glad I’m retiring in June and will be out of this shethole in July. They will bleed you dry. Time to get out of Dodge Men.
There are no law-abiding taxpayers on stolen land.
There will be no firing of live ammo over stolen land.
I’m just waiting for the county referendum to increase my taxes like the school board about every 3 years) and the city did. The wheel tax for the county and city don’t seem to fix any roads like all the money for the school board don have any increase in test scores.
Taxpayers have been screwed since The New Deal, a Democratic invention. Last I checked, the economy is rocking, a Republican invention. Try harder Anonymous.
[…] a county committee voted to strip the sheriff of 28 deputy positions, (first reported here) it wasn’t to alleviate a $31 million budget deficit. No, they’re going to spend that […]