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You hear a lot of talk about how Milwaukee wants to be, and should be, considered a major American city.
It's being used a lot now as we struggle with the idea of building a new arena to keep our professional basketball team in town.
Sports is one way to measure you are a big league player, but there are other measurements as well. Restaurants and nightlife and amenities and hotels and cultural events and traveling tours and transportation and museums are all some of the things that go into the equation, and Milwaukee comes out pretty good in those areas.
The place we are lacking, however, is in our corruption. We are just a penny-ante corrupter and we pay the price. It wasn't always that way, however.
At one point we had Frank Balistrieri who was one of the main godfathers in the national organization of the Mafia in the United States. He didn't show up much in public corruption stuff but he was always there and we kind of wore him with a perverse pride. But he's been gone for a long time.
I am reminded of all this, of course, because of the indictment of County Supervisor Johnny Thomas, who is accused of voting for something for the princely bribe of $500. Now, I'm no expert in these matters, but when you make $50,090 in your government salary, an extra $500 hardly seems worth changing your vote. Add to the fact that the money changed hands in a Dunkin' Donuts and you've got small-time. I mean, where is the hotel room or dark alley or even the FedEx package?
The same grand jury that has charged Thomas is looking at Gov. Scott Walker's operation when he was Milwaukee County Executive.
News and rumors from that probe are dripping like a sink with bad washers.
They've started charging some of Walker's workers, and the governor himself is scheduled to meet with the District Attorney. Walker is trying to pass off the meeting as a nice little visit to discuss minor concerns.
Yeah, right.
The big rumor is that there was a computer router in the county executive's office and some of the people there, maybe even including Walker, used that computer system to do campaign work. The problem is that the work would have been done on county time and with county equipment.
Politicians doing political work! Now that's a scandal. President Obama flies on Air Force One to six states in one day to give speeches about how good the job outlook has become, and he is in the middle of a campaign for a second term. Does anybody ask him about he millions that go into that trip?
We have a pretty sparse history of public corruption in our fair city.
Once we had an alderman who took a couple of thousand bucks and stored it in the ventilation ducts at his home. We had a county executive who traded his vote for a roll of stamps. And this was when stamps cost something like 20 cents each.
We've had a couple of aldermen who took money from their campaign accounts and used it for private purposes. Both of them served a little time. We had a state senator who did all kinds of stuff and went to jail for a while. I have a nodding acquaintance with that one since I worked for him and was a witness against him.
However, we are but a bit player in the world of public corruption. Illinois has three governors in prison. They sell seats in the Senate for big bucks. Philadelphia has police on the take. California is rife with racist cops. And New York, fuggedaboutit. Everything is on the table.
If we are truly serious about becoming a major league city, we are going to have to find some big deal corruption to expose. If we can't find it, then we ought to create some. Without it, we are destined to remain a nice little city in the Midwest.
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.
This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.
