Monday, February 25, 2013

African American Leaders Speak Out Against Abele's Power Grab

As I had alerted the gentle reader over the weekend, Milwaukee African-American leaders stood up on Monday and spoke out against Chris Abele's power grab:
State legislation that could lead to cutting Milwaukee County supervisor pay by half and the County Board's budget by two-thirds would harm minority representation, a group of African-American community leaders said Monday.

"This legislation would effectively silence the voice of the low-income community, particularly communities of color," Supervisor Russell Stamper said at a news conference at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.

The measure would cut the authority of the County Board and boost the power of County Executive Chris Abele, upsetting a balance of power between the two branches of county government, Stamper said. By curtailing pay and resources for supervisors, only the well-to-do could afford to serve on the board, Stamper and other local leaders said.

"We can control our own house; we don't need anybody else watching our house," said Gregory Lewis, pastor of St. Gabriel's Church of God in Christ. "The little people need a say."
Predictably, Abele blew off the concerns of the "little people," pointing out that African American candidates were running in a predominately African-American district, thereby confirming their point.

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