Cut Public Spending? Not If A Conservative's Budget Is Involved
Milwaukee's righty talkers were siding with Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke last week over trims to his budget proposed by County Exec Chris Abele.
Clarke is talk radio's second-favorite elected official - - Scott Walker being the permanent #1 - - so the takeaway here is that small government and cutting budgets is absolutely, positively mandatory - - except if sought from a conservative office-holder, and that's the end of the world.
Clarke claims constitutional authority to do pretty much whatever he wants, right down to a constitutional right not to submit reports, as he said in a public letter:
He does not run the Office of the Sheriff, and I do not take orders or directives from a county executive. Case law is very clear that the sheriff alone decides how to carry out his duty and responsibility. His budget is an obvious attempt to micromanage my office. I am independently elected by the voters of Milwaukee County...I'm still looking for that constitutional provision about reports. If anyone finds it, please report it to me.
He may think that he can require me to submit reports, but again, the state constitution is very clear when it states that no county official can require a sheriff to submit reports. He can create any study group that he wants and they can make any recommendations they want. Again, I will refer the county executive back to the state constitution and case law that show that the sheriff alone decides how to carry out the duties and responsibilities of his office. My advice to him is not to hold his breath, because he’s not getting any reports....
Chris Abele ran for county executive, not sheriff. If he wants to be in charge of my office, he’s going to have to run for sheriff in 2014.
9 comments:
Did you happen to hear the sheriff's conversation with Charlie Sykes last week? I did (though I almost never listen to Charlie), but I do not recall if he mentioned or elaborated on not having to submit reports.
Uhm, yeah, David, we're uhm, we're putting cover sheets on all TPS reports now. Did you get a copy of that memo?
Here is what Clarke said on Sykes:
"It says, and I’ll quote the constitution, no county official, supervises the sheriff’s work nor can require reports from him, he alone decides how to carry out his responsibilities."
The Constitution creates the office of County sheriff in Art. 6, Section 4 and that language is no
where there.
He's probably referring to this:
"Within the field of his responsibility for the maintenance of law and order the sheriff today retains his ancient character and is accountable only to the sovereign, the voters of his county, though he may be removed by the governor for cause.
"No other county official supervises his work or can require a report or an accounting from him concerning his performance of his duty. He chooses his own ways and means of performing it. He divides his time according to his own judgment of what is necessary and desirable but is always subject to call and is eternally charged with maintaining the peace of the county and the apprehension of those who break it..."
It's questionable as to whether that relates to budget cuts.
When it comes to their insecurities -- defense spending, ridiculous immigrant round ups, prisons, etc -- the sky's the limit.
@gt: Oh, a court ruling. That's the same thing as language in the State Constitution, right?
@Jim As I read it, SCOWI has held that sheriffs have constitutionally protected powers that derive from common law.
So Clarke is probably right in the sense that the county can't dictate where he makes cuts (which is probably why Abele's plan is "suggested.") But unless those common law powers include levying taxes, he's probably SOL on not swallowing cuts at all.
It's interesting how Clarke the fake DEM runs to mama Sykes when he wants a shoulder to cry on.
Post a Comment