The AFSCME PEOPLE Committee has endorsed State Sen. Lena Taylor for Milwaukee County Executive.
“I love this place [the County], and I believe we can do better,” Taylor said Dec. 13 from an empty kitchen at the H.A. Todd Jr. American Legion Post 537 in West Allis seconds before she was to address AFSCME Local 80’s year-end member meeting. “That means that we have to be the change that we want to see.”
What needs to be changed? Taylor cites “inexcusable” cuts to the county court system, “detrimental eliminations” to public transportation and park closings, to name a few. And the “we can do better” message is one Taylor’s been shaping shaping the past dozen years.
She’s served the community as a public defender, a lawyer in private practice and as a state lawmaker. She’s been a tireless working-families advocate who counts children and education among her passions.
And as Milwaukee County Executive, Taylor, whose candidacy the AFSCME PEOPLE committee already has endorsed, would bring her message-shaping (and sending) skills — along with her characteristic work ethic, energy and hope — right along with her.
“We can’t just be mad,” Taylor says. “We have to be able to create the change we want to see in Milwaukee County.”
Taylor’s always identified with the collective approach to change agent-ing. She grew up in a union family on the city of Milwaukee’s north side. Her father worked at the former A.O. Smith Corp. — “I’m the seed of a steel worker,” she told Local 80 members — her mother at the similarly erstwhile American Motors Corp.
In 1984, Taylor graduated from Rufus King High School where, as she told Local 80 members, she “did not do well.” She credits her mother for keeping her on the college track until “the light bulb went on” when Taylor turned 20 as a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student. In 1990, Taylor received a bachelor’s degree in English from UWM.
Of ills & ‘isms’. Taylor’s drive to make a difference was picking up speed. Law school — away from home, she figured — would be a smart next step, an important learning experience. So she entered the law degree program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. In 1993, she earned her degree and with it, a clearer sense of where she planned to put her difference-making skills to work.
“Carbondale taught me the value of Milwaukee,” she says. “I realized the grass is not always greener. I started thinking about what it would take to change the ills I was seeing in my community.”
Initially, Taylor set her sights on being a prosecutor, but then-District Attorney E. Michael McCann “didn’t hire me,” as she puts it. Instead, Taylor served for more than two years as a public defender, representing indigent citizens in need of legal services.
“I wanted to help rid the world of its ills, and I found out the ‘isms’ existed,” she says, self-deprecatingly.
In 1996, she entered the private sector, opening Taylor and Associates Law Office, a general practice firm on Milwaukee’s north side. For the next eight years, Taylor she practiced law and invested in area real estate. She also continued to participate community service projects, served on boards, ran a free monthly clinic were she provided legal consultation, and spoke with young people about the importance of education.
Along the way, she noted how the justice system worked (and didn’t) ... and recognized that for her to make an even bigger difference, she needed to be part of the solution from a different angle: the law-making side. Taylor decided it was time to throw her hat in the political ring.
A long way in a short time. In April 2003, Taylor won a special election in the 18th Assembly District. While in the State Assembly, she served on the Assembly Criminal Justice, Economic Development, Tourism, Urban and Local Affairs, and Financial Institution Committees, and quickly made her mark in state Democratic circles.
So when State Sen. Gwen Moore opted to run for U.S. Congress, observers looked in Lena’s direction. So did Moore.”Gwen Moore said, ‘You an do it, Lena,’” Taylor told Local 80 members. “I said, ‘Yeah, I can do it.’”
And she did. On Nov. 2, 2004, Taylor was elected to the 4th Wisconsin State Senate District, becoming only the second African American woman to serve in the Senate.
The work Taylor’s done in the State Legislature the past three years has only served to cement her reputation as a working families champion. She continues to fight for access to quality education, economic development, improvements to the justice system, and health care access for all, with a special interest in women’s health.
And as a member of the Joint Committee on Finance, she helped to bring millions of new dollars to the Milwaukee County — specifically for education, public safety, and transit services.
The County’s five-year losing streak. But something told her that wasn’t enough. She could make more of a difference in the community she’s known and loved, she decided, by setting her sights on the County Exec post.
“After five years of the current County Executive Administration, Milwaukee County taxpayers are in an unwarranted position,” Taylor writes on her campaign Web site. “Two-thirds of Milwaukee County residents believe that County government is on the wrong track.”
At the Dec. 13 Local 80 meeting, Taylor characterized the reason for throwing her hat in the ring a bit more directly: “I’ve looked around. Our country is going to the gutter. I can’t take it. Our stellar parks, a stellar transit system that is recognized nationally — look what’s happening to them. We don’t have anybody thinking out of the box. ... I’m saying it’s time for a change.”
And that she’s the person to help make it happen.
For one thing, Taylor believes her experience with the JFC shows that she knows how to create budgets that maintain public services.
And, just as she’s done as a state legislator, she would as Milwaukee County Executive work to reform the pension system, restore fiscal accountability, fight for the county’s fair share of property tax relief from Madison and, again, maintain the services Milwaukee County residents deserve.
Dialogue, Taylor knows, is crucial. So is consensus building. To that end, she’s spent time and energy building relationships with her Democratic colleagues in Madison.
She’s also tried to build bridges to the Republican side of the aisle — something that’ll also have to happen in Milwaukee County, even though the County Exec race is, in theory, nonpartisan, politically speaking.
“I intend to make the office of County Executive one that is accountable to the community — not just partisan politics,” Taylor says.
She’s also learned to take nothing for granted.
“I can’t do this without you,” she told Local 80 members. “[But] I want to earn your vote.”
She’s on the road to doing just that, if the reception she received on this night was any indication. Taylor gave (and got) quite a few hugs as she, clipboard in hand, worked the room in search of signatures needed to run for office. A few Local 80 members also wore “Team Taylor” t-shirts to the event.
Nevertheless, this “change” challenge will be just that — a challenge, particularly given Walker’s well-financed campaign.
A compassionate consensus builder. But if anybody can rise to it and deliver on the “We have to be the change we want to see” promise, it could very well be the consensus-builder Taylor, some observers believe.
For starters, Taylor actually has a message. And it’s one she says she’s committed to keep on delivering.
“I’m doing this — what are you doing?” Taylor asks rhetorically in that Legion Post kitchen following the Local 80 meeting, although her question works literally, as well. “It’s something we all have to ask ourselves. It’s about taking action.”
The general election will be held April 1. For information on how you can help make a difference this election season, check out Taylor’s Web site (www.lena2008.com) or call 414-344-4529.
