Records, Reputations Trashed On Walker's Watch

Team Walker is setting a perverse record for managing hiding Open Records - - fitting nicely with their lust for secrecy:

* Darlene Wink, the former Milwaukee County constituent services [Sic[ manager for Scott Walker who pleaded guilty Tuesday to performing campaign work on public time, is helping prosecutors look into the possible destruction of electronic records, according to Jan 27th remarks by Dan Bice, the Journal Sentinel columnist and lead staffer on John Doe probe:

But today we learn for the first time that prosecutors are looking into evidence tampering and the destruction of records. Wink had some evidence along these lines that she shared with prosecutors, and she has agreed to testify in future prosecutions or proceedings.

* Speaking of this subject: Walker, staff, records, destruction of...did entire file cabinets of records in Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's office suite self-destruct when he left that office to become Governor?

From a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story 13 months ago:

The thorough housecleaning of the Milwaukee County executive's office when Gov. Scott Walker left late last month has left his successors wondering whether any records are missing...

A tour this week of the sparsely staffed offices revealed banks of empty file drawers, save a set of various bureaucratic forms, county budget books and one stack of papers on various issues left in the office of Fran McLaughlin, who was Walker's county spokeswoman.

The empty drawers, coupled with the absence of any message or memo telling the whereabouts of Walker's office documents - and at least two bins of shredded paper left by Walker staffers - were perplexing, [incoming County aide Harold] Mester said.

"There was nothing left," Mester said. "There was no communication from the previous administration as far as where anything was."

* And there's this fascinating tidbit in a Journal Sentinel column last Sunday:

The John Doe investigation of Walker's tenure as county executive has taken many odd twists and turns.

But what to make of this?

Last week, Frank Busalacchi, head of the county Transportation and Public Works Department, was asked by investigators for a particular county Dumpster.

"All they asked was if I could move it, and we did," Busalacchi said Thursday. "I think they wanted to look through it."

Was it full or empty?

"I have no idea," he said.