Scott Walker's Record of Failure - Cronyism

Walker has a long and sordid record of rewarding those who have supported him once he reaches office, first as county executive and later as governor.

• Walker' 'budget repair bill' allowed several dozen civil service jobs to be filled by political appointment rather than by a competitive hiring process. Some in those positions – notably former top Walker aide Cindy Archer – have received hefty raises under the new system. Archer, for example, made nearly 65 percent more than the previous legislative liaison at the Department of Children and Families, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ['Archer profited when job shifted from civil service to appointment,'  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 09/17/11] [Act 10]

• Brian Deschane, the son of the executive vice president and lobbyist for the Wisconsin Builders Association – a major Walker donor – landed a job with an $81,500 salary in the Walker administration, even though the 27-year-old had 'no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions,' according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Walker demoted Deschane after the Journal Sentinel broke the story –and a week after Walker' spokesman Cullen Werwie said Deschane was a 'natural fit' for his job at the Department of Commerce. Deschane later resigned. ['No degree, little experience pay off big,' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 3, 2011] ['Walker demotes son of campaign contributor,' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4/5/11]

• Walker installed Renee Miller, a Republican campaign worker with 'no experience with land records and vital records,' as the register of deeds for Marinette County and passed over three other more experienced candidates, according to the Sentinel. Miller is a friend and campaign worker of Republican Rep. John Nygren. ['Another Walker pick causes stir,' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4/20/11]

• Walker' 'budget repair bill' originally proposed to sell 37 state-owned power plants to private contractors without bids or review by the state' Public Service Commission, even going so far to let the state determine what a 'fair selling price' for the plants would be, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. ['Walker administration still intends to sell state power plants,' Wisconsin State Journal, 3/19/11]

• Walker privatized custodial services for county buildings as Milwaukee County Executive and, after bypassing the county board, awarded a $1.2 million contract to the company owned by Edward M. Aprahamian, one of Walker' 'longtime supporters' and a longtime Republican donor, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ['Incoming custodial firm faces a stink,' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/13/09]

• Several Milwaukee County supervisors filed a complaint against Walker in June 2009 after he took $2,800 from AirTran Airways to sponsor his annual motorcycle tour. The complaint alleged the trip breached state ethics and campaign laws because it was a corporate donation for what was a political trip. [AirTran sponsorship of Walker's motorcycle trip draws complaints, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/19/09]

• Walker as county executive approved large raises for several of his top aides, including a 26 percent raise for his chief of staff, Tom Nardelli, but later laid off workers amid a projected $6 million deficit in the county budget, according to the Journal Sentinel. ['Walker orders cuts to avert county budget deficit; Supervisors question raises for top aides,' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/28/08]

• The state Justice Department reprimanded Walker' county executive office in 2005 for denying public records to one of Walker' political opponents, telling the office in a letter that 'this episodes evinces a case of how government officials ought not do business…Nobody honored to service in public office ought to manipulate public records in this fashion—that is the opinion of this office.' [Department of Justice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/10/05]

• Tim Russell, a Walker campaign aide, bounced throughout various Milwaukee County departments and agencies and was the county's housing administrator when prosecutors seized his computer in 2010. Russell has gone missing and is thought to have a role in an ongoing corruption probe centering on the Walker campaign. [Authorities seize computer of Walker aide," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Aug. 23, 2010]

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