(H/T – Brian Fraley, who’s been keeping up the skeer on Lee “Thug” Holloway)
The Journal Sentinel reported in yesterday’s editions that 6 Milwaukee County board supervisors, Paul Cesarz, Dan Devine, Lynne De Bruin, James Schmitt, Joseph Rice and Ryan McCue, who were among 10 supervisors that asked for a special board session on Monday, February 20 to elect a new county board chair and were subsequently asked to resign by Monday, February 13 from various chair/vice chair positions by county board chair Lee Holloway, will not resign. In their letter to Holloway, they restated their position that Holloway step down as chair until his ethics case is settled, stated that they will continue to serve in their committee roles “faithfully and in the best interests of the citizens of Milwaukee County,… to whom we owe our allegiance,” and challenged Holloway to remove them if he disagreed with that statement.
The second part of the story deals with the legality of that election. After issuing a non-binding opinion that while the supervisors can hold the meeting, Holloway will continue to serve as chair unless 2/3rds of the supervisors vote to remove him for cause, Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel William Domina asked Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager for a second non-binding opinion. The group of 10 are contending that state statutes do not preclude removing a county board chair outside of the normal 4-year cycle with a simple majority.
This is going to get VERY ugly, and the ugliness will start tomorrow. I expect Holloway to remove all 10 supervisors from every committee they serve on, chosing to run county goverment with himself and the 8 supervisors that still support him.
