Letters-Walker recall is justified

Dear Editor,

For the last year our state has been in a constant state of disagreement over Scott Walker. Here’s why I stood in the streets day after day collecting his recall signatures.

My concerns about Scott Walker go back to his days as Milwaukee County executive. His actions there shed a lot of light on his character or lack thereof. Over the last year, there have been 15 felonies and three misdemeanor charges filed against former Walker staffers for election law violations, embezzlement, misconduct, and it’s not over.

Two staffers have been charged with embezzling $60,000 intended for a children of veterans support organization. They used the money to pay for vacations, parties and a pro-Walker campaign website.

Other Milwaukee County staffers were charged with operating a secret e-mail network within Walker's county executive office. Allegedly, they used the secret network to coordinate political fund-raising for Walker’s gubernatorial campaign during work hours and on the taxpayer’s dime. All the while, Walker sat in the same office and now claims he knew nothing about it. Anybody that works in an office would find this almost impossible to believe.

Walker has to point to his days as an Eagle Scout over 25 years ago to validate his character. Wonder what his Scout leaders would now think about his lack of integrity and honesty? He was asked to leave Marquette University for, of all things, cheating in an election campaign; apparently skills he has finely tuned over the years.

I become actively involved in the recall effort because of the “wild pack” mentality that the state Republican Party developed when they gained complete control. At Walker’s direction they passed a bill stripping collective bargaining rights from government workers. In the process they blatantly ignored our state’s open meeting laws requiring a 24-hour notice of a vote. All throughout the process they acted as if they were above this law.

Then they attempted to lock the Capitol building, violating our rights under the Constitution to peacefully assembly and petition our government for a redress of our grievances.

Scott Walker has set all sorts of dubious marks. He has led the nation in job loss. He has rolled back access to the ballot. He has taken away rights of workers. He has eliminated wage protections for women. He has become the first sitting governor with a criminal defense fund facing a criminal corruption probe.

Barry Urbas, Hudson

Tags: opinion, letters, politics