Resign, "Gatekeeper" McGee

In "Time to Resign," The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board, in all its wisdom, has called for Ald. Michael McGee to resign immediately.

I agree that McGee must go, but hearing it from the JS Editorial Board is too little too late.

After McGee's victory in the recall election in April, the JS Editorial Board gave a pep talk to McGee.

Cynics will say the voters got what they deserve. That's not only a cheap shot but probably inaccurate. The majority of the people who voted for McGee probably did so because they honestly felt that, despite his many personal foibles and outrageous behavior, he was not only listening to them but had their interests at heart. Especially when they felt he was challenging the establishment.

Shaking down business owners can hardly be seen as having the interests of the people at heart.

Was it right for the JS Editorial Board to look the other way and gloss over McGee's "personal foibles and outrageous behavior"?

Don't standards of decency and integrity matter?

Was it acceptable for a leader to call police officers "faggots"? Was it OK for him to call the former Milwaukee D.A. a "dumb ass"? Was calling for the lynching of community leader Leon Todd just business as usual?

Apparently, none of that mattered because the people had spoken and the Board didn't want to second guess the people.

Now, it is second guessing itself in today's editorial.

Although details are still emerging, what is known about the case should be highly disturbing to all Milwaukee residents and in particular the 64% of voters in the 6th Aldermanic District who gave a resounding vote of confidence to McGee in an eight-way recall election April 3.

McGee is accused of using his position to solicit bribes from businesses in his district with the promise of using his influence in city licensing matters.

McGee must be presumed innocent until proved guilty, but this latest development does not occur in isolation. There has been a steady accumulation of embarrassments. The current charges are so grave that the alderman cannot continue to effectively serve his constituents. He should resign immediately.

...We supported the recall against McGee because we believed it was time for the district to move beyond the myriad problems of McGee's own making that kept him from being the alderman he should be.

...Last month, we agreed with one of the candidates McGee defeated that despite his personal foibles and outrageous behavior, McGee appeared to have the interests of his constituents at heart.

Perhaps we were wrong, but if McGee truly does care about his constituents, he should step down.

"PERHAPS we were wrong?"

No, no, no.

The Editorial Board WAS DEFINITELY WRONG.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

There's no question about it.

Good public servants don't practice extortion.

Engaging in bribery and extortion aren't personal foibles. That's criminal.

It's good that the Board wants McGee to resign.

I just wish it would have taken responbility for being among McGee's enablers and admitted that, for its part, it failed the community by giving a thug the benefit of the doubt.

Details are still sketchy with the state case being sealed, but the criminal complaint in the federal case gives an idea of the extent of McGee's alleged abuses.

Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee solicited bribes from business owners in exchange for help in getting or keeping liquor licenses and other matters, according to federal charges filed Tuesday.

The complaint says that for at least the past year, McGee has traded his power for cash, extorting from $500 to $2,500 from each of several business owners.

Calling himself the "gatekeeper" for new businesses in his district, he told one owner his help would cost "a pretty penny" as he demanded a bigger bribe, the nine-page criminal complaint says.

The complaint also says McGee extorted business owners to donate to his recently successful campaign to beat back a recall. A liquor store owner said McGee pressured her to donate to his gun buy-back program.

In addition to federal charges, McGee faces state counts related to a suspected threat. And prosecutors said there could be more charges.

If convicted of the federal charges, McGee, 37, would face up to 30 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, said U.S. Attorney Steven M. Biskupic.

"According to the evidence in the complaint, Mr. McGee corruptly solicited cash from business owners in exchange for favorable treatment on city licensing matters," Biskupic said.

...Mayor Tom Barrett called the charges "very serious."

"They go to the core of our democratic system. There is no place in city government for corruption," he said.

The charges are beyond "very serious." I would call them explosive.

McGee, the "gatekeeper," has imploded.

For the sake of the 6th District and the city of Milwaukee as a whole, I hope McGee's reign is over.
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Here is an oldie but goodie from Eugene Kane (May 2006):

Despite the overheated rhetoric from media pundits who view McGee as some dangerous virus that needs to be excised from the body politic, I prefer to consider him a young, hot-headed black politician still finding his way.

Clearly, he needs to understand that living a public life can be embarrassing when you constantly put yourself in the spotlight.

McGee was rightfully criticized for using anti-gay rhetoric that demeans the homosexual community. But his frequent homophobia doesn't erase his standing as often the lone maverick vote at City Hall standing for or against policies that impact young black and Latino males. He voted against a discriminatory anti-loitering ordinance that would have put too much pressure on cops to pick and choose who they thought was a gang-banger and who was not.

He's also been in the forefront of community protests against the beating of Frank Jude Jr.

The reason McGee - with all his flaws - is necessary in this city is that he is the embodiment of representative government. He stands for a group of angry young black people everybody else ignores. These are young African-Americans who have chosen to participate in the system partly because of his presence.

Much of the front-page news about McGee in the past few weeks would be minor league stuff if he weren't an alderman named Mike McGee or Michael Imanu Jackson.

The more some voices denounce him, the more his support grows. In fact, I know some blacks who love McGee simply for the way he gets white folks so riled up.

The people who hold his future are voters in his district, and no one else.

No doubt, there will be more chances to write about McGee - his Wauwatosa municipal court trial for resisting arrest during an incident at Blockbuster is coming up - but hopefully it will be about his advocacy for his constituents instead of his personal conduct.

My sincere wish is that McGee's recent attempt to face up to his personal troubles allows him to follow the path of another angry young black politician I admired.

During my college days in Philadelphia, this former city councilman was known for his militant protest marches, fiery speeches and even a fistfight in City Council chambers. The firebrand black politician eventually learned from his mistakes to become a respected veteran in political circles.

Today, John Street is the mayor of Philadelphia. I'm not saying that's where McGee will end up, but at least one of the Mike McGees I know has some of the same stuff.

Amusing, isn't it?

Kane is an apologist for McGee -- "a young, hot-headed black politician still finding his way."

He's found his way right into an orange jumpsuit.

I think it's a safe bet to assume that McGee isn't going to be mayor.

When he's sitting in prison, McGee won't have an opportunity to be the sort of "firebrand black politician" that Kane admires so much.