Dan Bice: 'Major Walker Contributor' and No-Bid Contract

Dan Bice, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has a BIG story.

"Major Walker contributor got no-bid contract"

When staff members for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker needed to find an engineering firm to inspect county buildings to make sure none poses a safety risk, this is what they did:

They gave a no-bid contract to a major Walker campaign contributor.

Just recently, the county hired Graef-USA, a politically active engineering firm, to conduct emergency inspections of many county buildings to look for any safety hazards. The firm is to be paid up to $300,000 through the end of August.

The move came after last month's accident at O'Donnell Park's garage. A 15-year-old Greenfield boy was killed and two others injured when a 13-ton concrete panel fell from the parking ramp near the Summerfest grounds.

Campaign records show that Graef officials have donated nearly $15,000 to Walker's campaign fund since he was elected county exec in 2002. Any contributions from this year won't be made public until later this month.

Walker's spokeswoman downplayed any political connection between Graef and her boss' campaign. Walker is running against former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Neumann's campaign declined to comment on the no-bid contract.

"The selection was based on Graef's familiarity on working with the county and timeliness in putting together inspection teams," said Fran McLaughlin, Walker's director of communications.

She said the decision to select the Milwaukee-based firm initially was made by county Public Works Director Jack Takerian, who was not available Friday. Takerian had discussed the matter with the county's Architecture and Engineering Division.

"Jack did inform the county executive before he took action," McLaughlin said. "The county executive said if that was the recommendation of (Architecture and Engineering), he was good with the decision."

Ooh! Not good for Walker! A major contributor to Walker got a no-bid contract.

Wait a minute.

"Graef officials have donated nearly $15,000 to Walker's campaign fund since he was elected county exec in 2002."

But there's more....

It takes a while for Bice to get around to disclosing this:

But it's not as if Walker is the only beneficiary of Graef's campaign largess. The firm likes incumbents on both sides of the aisle.

Over the years, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle has received more than $40,000 in political donations from Graef employees, who have received a variety of contracts from the state. Graef officials did not return calls last week.

Executives with the engineering outfit also have begun taking notice of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the all-but-certain Democratic nominee in this fall's governor's race, giving his campaign about $4,000. Barrett appointed Graef Chief Operating Officer John Kissinger as board chairman of the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board. Clearly, in politics, you have to pay if you're going to play.

I question the choice of headline for Bice's column.

Why not say "major Doyle contributor"?

And certainly, Barrett has benefited from Graef contributions as well.

Very misleading. Intentional? I think so.

Bice is concerned about Graef's ability to do an "independent and thorough review of the county buildings given its ties to Walker's campaigns."

Really?

Is Graef a reputable firm and qualified to do the job? That's what matters most. Graef certainly would have no interest in doing a sloppy review. Not exactly good for business.

Moreover, why would Walker and the county intentionally put citizens at risk due to unsafe structures? What's in it for them?

How would such carelessness help in Walker's bid to be Wisconsin's governor?

Graef can't make enough political contributions to make tragedies like the one at the O'Donnell Park structure worth it.

Good grief.

I wonder. Has Bice been in touch with the Mark Neumann campaign?

I wouldn't be surprised if Neumann "contributed" to Bice's story.