Posted on 02/02/2002 7:49:46 PM PST by BraveMan
Citizens trying to oust Milwaukee County Executive F. Thomas Ament say they have now collected more than 80,000 signatures, well over the number necessary to force a recall election.
"We're not celebrating yet," said Bryan Olen. The group has until March 18 to turn in 72,844 verifiable signatures of eligible MilwaukeeCounty voters. Organizers have said they hope to collect more than 100,000 signatures, figuring that some will be thrown out as duplicates or ineligible.
Ament said Saturday night he would not comment on the latest news from recall organizers.
The local taxpayer revolt, unprecedented in memory, was prompted by revelations that Ament and his top advisers stood to gain potentially millions of dollars in extra pension benefits that they had urged the County Board to approve. Ament later said he was not aware that he would benefit so well, and he asked for the resignations of three of his top administrators, saying he had lost their trust. Some analysts estimate he could have stood to gain $2.3 million from the deal if he retired in 2008.
Ament's efforts have done little to slow the stream of recall petitions. Since the recall effort began on Jan. 16, petitions have come in at a rate of 3,500 or more signatures a day, including a sheet last week from the School Sisters of St. Francis.
As the tally grows, the pressure for Ament to resign has been mounting. Fellow politicians, business leaders and even members of Ament's own Democratic party say he should resign, now that the recall effort appears to be so strong.
Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, called the latest signature numbers "devastating" to Ament.
"These numbers show that Tom has lost his ability to lead the county," Sheehy said Saturday.
Ament, though, is conducting county business as usual and is showing no signs publicly of preparing to step down.
No decision made
Privately, his advisers say Ament has not made a final decision on whether he would leave office early. But, for now, he seems intent on staying the course in hopes that voters can be convinced that he shouldn't be ousted for one mistake after three decades with the county.
In the last week, Ament has begun to resume public appearances, specifically courting support in the African-American community. Saturday night, he was among several elected officials to appear at the Frontiers memorial scholarship banquet, held at the Italian Community Center. Frontiers is an international black community service club.
On Friday, his aides said complaint calls to the exec's office were tailing off. Ament has met with department heads over proposed state aid cuts and is trying to keep county operations on track, aides said.
Some 22 small-businesses owners have added their names to the recall effort, allowing petitions to be circulated in their stores or "Recall Ament" signs to be posted in their windows.
A rally Saturday in the Magnolia Building, 2342 W. North Ave., attracted only a few dozen people, most of whom were with the organizing committee. But the petitions continue to stream in at the office, say recall organizers. The effort continues today with at least 11 drive-through petition-signing stations throughout the county. The Web site, www.recallament.com, has surpassed 100,000 hits, organizers say. John Rudig, a recall volunteer, has sold more than 2,700 "Recall Ament" buttons.
Orville Seymer, a member of the organizing committee who supervises the collection of the petitions, called the results "stunning."
"We knew it would catch fire, but we didn't expect this," he said.
Some Ament loyalists have characterized the recall group as being dominated by right-wing politicos intent on turning the county executive office over to a Republican. They note that Olen, the committee spokesman, and Ralph Lisowski, the vice chairman, have held office in Cudahy and South Milwaukee, respectively, and have been out front with their conservative views. Seymer, the committee's director of security, and Mary Baker, committee secretary, have been active in fund raising for conservative candidates in the southern part of the county.
'Everyday folks'
But several of the committee members, including the chairman, Joe Klucarich, have not been active politically. Nor have many of the more than 1,000 volunteers, says Chris Kliesmet, a board member.
"These are everyday folks who have been pushed too far," said Kliesmet, 47, an engineer from Bayside. Kliesmet is the son of former Milwaukee County Sheriff Robert Kliesmet, a former president of the International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO.
Nancy Jonus, 47, an insurance salesman from Oak Creek and a member of the board, said she didn't know if Ament was a Republican or Democrat when she signed up to help with the recall.
"It didn't matter to me what he was," she says. "I didn't like what he did."
Mileka Aljuwani, who has formed a splinter group called the Black Citizens for Responsible Government, said her group was working in association with the main group but would be pushing for the recall of all the county supervisors in the central city who have backed Ament.
"This is no right-wing conspiracy," she said. "We are black folks, white folks, Republicans and Democrats."
As the recall petitions filled, even fellow Democratic party leaders said Ament should heed what the signatures might foretell.
"He's history," said Robert Heule, vice president of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party. He said party strategists no longer are focused on how they can help salvage Ament's career.
"We're looking to see who we can replace him with," Heule said.
Last week, David Matheus, chairman of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party, said he had signed a petition to recall Ament because the county executive had lost his trust. Matthew J. Flynn, former state party chairman, called Ament "unsupportable" and added that "if he were smart, he'd resign."
County Board Chairman Karen Ordinans, who was among the majority of county supervisors to ask Ament to resign two weeks ago, renewed her request on Friday.
"I feel like we are in a rut as long as he is around," Ordinans said. The success of the recall effort shows that Ament no longer has the trust of the voters, she said.
"I hope he would not go through a recall for his sake and sake of the people of Milwaukee County," she said.
In the two weeks after the pension scandal broke, Ament received a wellspring of support, according to phone messages and e-mails obtained by the recall committee under open-records requests. Marilyn Figueroa, who has charged Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist with sexual harassment, called to offer "any help with the Latino community." "She will do whatever," Ament's secretary wrote. "She knows this is a tough time."
Waukesha County Executive Dan Finley called to say "anything he can do, he'll do."
From Supervisor Elizabeth Coggs-Jones, also former board chairman of the Social Development Commission: "She loves you."
Defense attorney Gerald Boyle called twice. "If you need a friend, please call," the message said.
Tony Czaja, the former county supervisor who was arrested with a prostitute outside of a crack house, called to say, "keep your chin up. You're doing a wonderful job. We need you."
Other calls of support came from nurses union President Candice Owley, Milwaukee Ald. Michael Murphy, Career Youth Development founder Jeannetta Robinson and Milwaukee County Circuit Judge John McCormick.
Not all were supportive. George Mitchell, a political consultant, wrote: "You should either resign or not seek another term. The long, long effort to restore credibility in county government can't begin while you pursue the fantasy of running again."
Oddly enough, nobody's noticed any reduction in the quality of county services. Go figure.
Some of these people are getting checks in the tens of thousands for the sick pay alone. Ament claims, (I'm paraphrasing here) "golly, I never ran my own numbers. I had no idea my lump-sum payment would be over two million."
Yeah. Right. Sure you didn't, Tom.
We here in Raleigh, NC are part of a petition campaign to force a new mayoral election.
We only need 25,000 signature however.
Our new mayor (Rat, and I DID NOT vote for him) as of last Nov lied to us about finishing building our new hwy. and possibly about raising taxes. Hopefully we'll be as successful in our results as Milwaukee has been.
MKM
From your fingers to God's ears, redskin! (and with any luck, before we're saddled with light rail nobody will ride).
It's a lovely thing to see.
Kudos to the recall committee.
I can't BELIEVE noone posted the website link yet:
Click on the banner for details.
-archy-/-
That piece Charlie Sykes aired on Ament is precious . . .
Might as well see what you can do about the rest of these folks who are in public office and keep a close eye on the others to make sure they never get in.
If I was signing one petition, I wouldnt think anything of signing a second while I was at it...
Milwaukeeans are doing Wisconsin PROUD!
Just wish there was someway to include E. Michael McCan't, and the rest of the Ament buttkissers on this thing?
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