Wednesday, October 13, 2010

It's Holloway or the Highway

Reading the local newspaper, I stumble across the article that County Board Chairman Lee Holloway threatened to fire county staffers who show disrespect to the County Board, if he temporarily takes over as county executive.

I guess the question is, what constitutes "disrespect". Or the bigger question, from what pool of ego is Chairman Holloway's edict coming from.

The bigger part of politics is calling on our electorate to do a good job. Sometimes, we have to shoot down policies and actions that are fundamentally stupid.
I guess I'm being disrespectful......but where I come from, respect must be earned, not commanded. Ask Hitler. His highest ranking officers tried to murder him.

What intrigues me is that the gubernatorial election here in Wisconsin is far from wrapped up. County Executive Scott Walker is not the Governor yet. However, Mr. Holloway is already planning for his takeover of Milwaukee County, and has said he will put himself in office for the interim. I have a vision of a spider, rubbing it's hairy, skinny legs in a cobwebby corner, plotting and planning for a victory attack.

Mr. Holloway needs to be reminded that "Interim County Executive" does not equate to "Red Queen" with an off-with-their-heads philosophy and management style. I think all citizens are sick to death of gangster politics, i.e., my way or the highway.

We can only hope that the gubernatorial election will hinge on thoughtful consideration of the candidates and their records. If it does, Mr. Barrett will be living in the governor's mansion. So, let's not put the cart before the horse's arses. Mr. Holloway would do better to find some solution to the budget woes facing Milwaukee County, rather than letting dreams of power and glory cloud his judgment and effectiveness. It's easy to be seduced by the thought of political power and retribution; a little bit harder to grind out an economic policy that might actually work. Mr. Holloway seems to be so caught up in his potential career upgrade that he has lost sight of what he is actually supposed to be doing. I implore Mr. Holloway to focus on his current job and let the chips fall where they may on November 2nd.

No comments: