South Side scuffle earns alderman accolades

Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan gained a pugilistic reputation literally overnight. The alderman had his chin cut in a scuffle with a unruly drunk harassing people in front of a South Side grocery store. The man was also urinating. As bystanders stood by doing nothing, the alderman -- on his way to a meeting -- accosted the man and the drunk proceeded to hit Donovan and the two went to the ground in what could be described as something out of the World Combat League.

In introductions at a Common Council committee meeting the following day, Donovan was addressed as "Ald. Bob ‘Dukes' Donovan" and "Ald. Balboa."

The latter title came from Police Chief Ed Flynn, who congratulated Donovan by saying, "It's important that at least you went the distance."

Chief Orator: Speaking of Flynn, he has become quite deft at addressing the Common Council. When asked to discuss problems with the department's $7.3 million Crime Data System, which hasn't worked since MPD got it, the chief basically said management in the department wasn't smart enough to deal with it. But he said it in a way that no one can quite come away offended.

Flynn, who inherited the system when he took the reigns earlier this year, said MPD supervisors overseeing the system were "somewhat overmatched" when it came to working with the vendor to fix the problems. He said perhaps the department wasn't able to "get the attention of those who speak the language."

Flynn nabbed headlines early when he reached out to business leaders in town asking for technology assistance for the department. He said he and a few local CEOs met with the CEO of Tiburon, the system's vendor, and "it was kind of fun to watch those guys slap this guy around."

He said he wouldn't fill a deputy inspector position and instead hire an IT expert for the department to deal with the technology needs of the department.

"Ultimately, it's a supervisory issue," he said. "I've got a lot of optimism about the adaptability of our people and our willingness to adapt is very much dependent upon how rapidly we're able to get the thing to work."

The Secrets of Selling Health Care: Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl wants to curtail the pharmaceutical industry's practice of giving doctors information about their drugs directly and instead create a federal "academic detailing" program, which would offer some objectivity.

"The industry's educational outreach is essentially a marketing program, and evidence shows that doctors' prescribing patterns can be impacted by pharmaceutical sales representatives," reads a statement from the senator.

"Pharmaceutical reps often confuse educating with selling, and evidence shows that doctors' prescribing patterns can be heavily influenced by these sales representatives. Without academic detailing, physicians may not have access to information about the full array of pharmaceutical options, including low-cost generic alternatives. However, research has shown that when they do, doctors prescribe the best drug -- not just the newest one -- and healthcare spending is lowered."

Indeed, Kohl should go after the medical supply industry, too. A few years ago, I was invited to watch open-heart surgery at St. Luke's Hospital and the rep selling the heart valve was in the operating room, too, talking to the doctor about his latest product. He invited the doctor to a "seminar" in the Upper Peninsula to hear more about it, noting that the seminar would take an hour or so followed by a day or two of golf. "Bring your wife," the rep offered.

Dollars Behind Bars: An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found that spending on prisons has grown about six times faster than spending on higher education over the past two decades and Wisconsin is among the leaders.

A state-by-state breakdown shows that from 1987 to 2007 the fastest growth in corrections spending occurred in Idaho (where spending rose 416 percent), followed by Texas (396 percent growth), Arkansas (353 percent), West Virginia (346 percent), Pennsylvania (340 percent), Colorado (338 percent), Vermont (258 percent), Wisconsin (251 percent), Oregon (247 percent), Connecticut (242 percent), Montana (238 percent), Florida (237 percent), North Dakota (235 percent), California (216 percent), Utah (211 percent) and Wyoming (200 percent).

The Score After Fighting City Hall: Taxpayers in Milwaukee should be pleased to know that its government doesn't roll over when faced with claims from citizens for personal injuries, pothole damage and various other incidents that cause people to take on City Hall looking for a quick settlement and some fast cash.

Watching folks come before a Common Council committee seeking money for anything ranging from twisted ankles on city sidewalks to car repairs from pothole damage to even home repairs after police break down the door serving a search warrant is a monthly affair.

According to the city attorney's office, 577 claims were brought against City Hall the last six months of 2007 asking for $1.26 million, but claimants walked away with a mere $282,189.51.

Tops among the settlements was a $57,097.28 deal on a $186,517 claim against the city treasurer's office.

Among other high-ticket agreements was a $20,037.22 bodily injury settlement for Deonte Boldon after an accident with a support services vehicle. The Water Works settled several claims for damage to vehicles including $4,999.99, $4,925 and two for $4517.60. The city successfully fought off complaints for sewer back-ups, offering a tops of $4,100 in those matters. The Police Department's top claim came in at $5,037.91 in a property damage case.

If people aren't satisfied with the Common Council determination, they can take the city to court looking for justice. Among those, according to the city attorney's office, 357 cases were filed against the city, 12 were settled and eight were ruled against the city. Those eight amounted to $9,818.55. The 12 settlements totaled $3.2 million, but that figure is skewed by several property assessment cases in the mix.

The Cost of Never Saying Die: The City of Milwaukee has finally waved the white flag in a lawsuit brought by U.S. Bank over the obscure issue of paying property taxes on bank security deposit boxes, but not before years of appeals have cost the city substantially more than if it had settled in the first place. In this case it's about $460,000.

The City Attorney's office has been accused in the past of not accepting defeat very well and instead wasting city time and money on appealing an issue to death.

U.S. Bank won its initial judgment in 2002 and interest on the judgment has accrued at 1 percent a month since then. U.S. Bank brought its suit after state law changed, canceling the city's right to charge property taxes on bank security deposit boxes. At a committee meeting this week the city attorney's office admitted that the case had been through five judges and mediation before they came to the conclusion that there was no sense in appealing it further.

But aldermen didn't seem too concerned as to why the city continued to appeal a case that it was going to lose. They wanted to know why the city attorney's office or the budget office didn't plan the settlement into its budget for the year and instead went to the Common Council to ask it to dip into the city's contingency fund -- generally used for emergencies or unforseen costs -- since the city attorney's office knew the settlement was going to happen this year.

"We have to get to the bottom of this," offered Ald. Michael Murphy.

"It's called budget gimmickry," Ald. Jim Bohl said.