County Exec Candidates at Odds on Union Rights; Stone Backs Walker, Abele Opposes Union Exemptions

Jeff Stone, a State Assemblyman from Greendale and a candidate for Milwaukee County Executive, said he helped the state push a reset button yesterday when he and the rest of the Assembly voted to pass Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill in Madison.

Stone’s opponent, business owner and civic leader Chris Abele, believes the bill did not do enough to help local municipalities.

met for an hour-long forum Friday morning at Milwaukee Area Technical College’s West Allis campus, an event sponsored by the West Allis-West Milwaukee Chamber Legislative Committee in partnership with the Wauwatosa, Greenfield and South Suburban Chambers of Commerce and attended by more than 50 people.

Each candidate was given three minutes to answer audience-asked questions that were submitted before the .

Still, Stone addressed the bill that, among other things, strips most collective bargaining rights from public employees and requires them, with the exception of police and fire personnel, to contribute more to their pensions and health insurance.

“The day of reckoning has arrived. And you’ve got to stand up and say we’re going to change this,” Stone said. “You’ve got to find something that works for the county and the state long-term. Yesterday was the day. We hit the reset button and we’re going to build a state and a county and a community that can move forward.”

Stone also accused Abele of not being supportive of the bill. Abele countered saying the bill should have included all public employee unions.

“My position on the budget repair bill has always been this: I support collective bargaining for all unions; I support concessions for all unions,” Abele said. “It’s the simpler position. It’s less divisive. And it’d save a lot more taxpayer dollars than the current bill.

“My biggest frustration is the missed opportunity in the repair bill when we exempted unions, the ones that specifically apply most directly to every municipality and every mayor that’s going to have to deal with the cuts in shared revenue. By exempting police and fire … the current bill is going to make the challenge that much harder.”

The candidates also discussed how the county and local municipalities can work together on economic development and pooling resources.

Abele said he is concerned about the unemployment rate and believes breaking down walls currently preventing coordination between the county and municipalities is one way to encourage economic growth that is mutual beneficial to both.

“People under duress are open to knew ideas and we’ll have a lot of opportunities to work together,” he said. “More importantly, we’ll have to. This is something I know we can do. It’s not just about eliminating waste, it’s about pooling procurement.”

Stone said development in southern suburbs such as Oak Creek and Franklin is what will continue to drive the county forward, but that not enough is being done in those communities.

“We’ve seen tremendous opportunities develop there, but we can do so much more,” Stone said. “That’s got to be a focus.” 

West Allis police officers were on hand but .