County rehires 24 workers

Workers
Serving
Milwaukee

County rehires workers after upkeep concerns
March, 2004

    Parks Superintendent Sue Black recently announced that Milwaukee County is recalling 24 maintenance workers by March 29. She indicated that full-time, well trained, employees are preferred over part-time seasonal workers because professional workers have the experience and know how to keep the parks operating efficiently.
    "We are happy when any laid off workers are recalled, but until the County recognizes the need to stop its efforts at privatization and begins recognizing the value of all County workers, the insecurity and mistrust will continue," said District Council 48 Executive Director Richard Abelson.
    The 24 recalled workers are in addition to the 19 employees rehired last January. County Executive Scott Walker laid off 102 front-line parks workers last fall in an attempt to patch holes in a leaky County budget. Walker was in favor of bringing back less experienced part-time workers this spring to help with maintenance, but now says he's on board with Black's decision to bring back a combination of full-time and seasonal employees to get the job done.
    Milwaukee's County Park System is considered by residents and visitors to be the jewel of the County. It has 140 parks and parkways that cover nearly 15,000 acres for citizens to utilize for recreational enjoyment.
    Parks workers are responsible for cutting grass, garbage pick up, snow plowing and equipment maintenance and other duties that keep the parks functioning.
    It is believed that the decision to bring back the experienced full-time workers was made due to complaints from residents about deteriorating services at the parks.
    According to a March 3 article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, County Supervisor Lori Lutzka told Black, "Thin staffing had hurt parks maintenance and created an atmosphere that attracts vandalism." She cited a recent graffiti attack at South Shore Park in Bay View that occurred last month during daytime hours as proof. Lutzka went on to say, "The reality of it is our parks do not look good."
    Black, Walker's new appointee overseeing Milwaukee County Parks, reportedly denied hearing of any negative impact to the parks caused by last year's layoffs.
    AFSCME Local 882 President, Chris Pegelow, said he was ecstatic the jobs are coming back and believes it was a mistake to cut 102 jobs last September in the first place.
    Union leaders warned Walker last September that the layoffs would lead to the deterioration of the parks. Some County Supervisors were complaining last fall that services were not being met.
    Parks workers traditionally mowed the grass once a week, but after the layoffs last fall mowing occurred on a 15 to 20 day rotation. Also, some bathrooms have had to be closed due to staffing issues and many other maintenance needs are not being met.
    Lutzka is also critical of Walker’s plan to merge to merge Milwaukee County Parks and Public Works Departments, saying the plan has been poorly thought out.