$2 Million Worth of Additional Problems Unearthed At O'Donnell Park Garage

There are jaw-dropping details in the Journal Sentinel's Sunday story updating the O'Donnell Parking garage accident that document deficiencies in the troubled ramp beyond the decorative concrete exterior slabs that were improperly installed -- one of which fell and killed a boy on June 24th.

From the story:

"The $2 million included in estimates for repairs not connected to the decorative slabs included money for resealing the ramp driving surfaces, patching numerous cracks, repairing damaged expansion joints and fixing leaking and detached drainage pipes inside the structure...

"It's clear the building isn't worthy of a clean bill of health," said County Auditor Jerome Heer. "Lots of work needs to be done." A report by Heer's department on the condition of O'Donnell Park and other county buildings is expected in about a month.

Was this due to years of incompetent inspections?

Deferred maintenance?

A culture of indifference?

Something else?

And if the buck stops with Milwaukee County Executive-since-2002- Scott Walker, as he belatedly said, can he explain why was the ramp was allowed to deteriorate to the point that two millions of dollars are need for repairs not related to the concrete slabs that were improperly installed?