We all of course already know this, but spread the word to those that don't. Race is way too close to call, so no time to be lazy. Let's get busy.
----------------------------------------------------
Daniel Bice, the Journal Sentinel's watchdog columnist, holds politicians and the powerful accountable
Mary Burke's predecessor at Commerce called her "a disaster"
Mary Burke's predecessor as chief of the state Department of Commerce had a three-word description of her performance back in 2006:
"She's a disaster," Cory Nettles told a top aide to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle on Sept. 3, 2006.
Nettles, who was Doyle's commerce secretary from 2003 to 2005, said Wednesday that he doesn't recall sending the email to Aaron Olver, his former adviser at the agency, or calling Burke a "disaster."
Nettles said the note does not represent his current view of Burke's two-plus years running the commerce agency. The email was provided as a result of an open records request.
"Let me be clear, I have a lot of respect for Mary Burke," Nettles said Thursday. He has not endorsed in the race between Burke, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, and Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
Nettles included the remark when forwarding an email from John Torinus, the former chief executive officer of Serigraph Inc., a printing company.
Torinus was describing his frustration with Burke after sitting down with her in connection with a meeting of the Milwaukee 7 regional economic development group in 2006. Torinus had wanted the state to pump money into a biotech project and a printing center.
"She sees a continuing need to have a war chest to help individual companies for political reasons, but doesn't really believe that many of these projects are justified," Torinus wrote Nettles.
Reached ahead of a speech in Madison on Thursday, Burke told Journal Sentinel reporter Jason Stein that she had acted properly in her role as secretary and didn't see anything in the email that showed otherwise. She was first shown the email after a meeting with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters Wednesday.
"My reaction is that I will continue to make the choices that I believe are in the best interests of moving Wisconsin's economy forward and making wise use of taxpayer dollars," she said. She added that the email didn't suggest anything untoward: "I didn’t see anything in what I reviewed indicating that at all."
Furthermore, Burke said that Nettles’ email to Olver didn’t contradict her previous statement that there wasn’t significant infighting or strong tensions at the commerce department during her tenure.
She made that comment late last month after a top official at Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. denounced the way the agency is run, saying in emails that another leader -- a former top aide to Walker — is causing WEDC "lasting harm."
Walker and lawmakers created the WEDC in 2011 as a replacement to the Department of Commerce.
Joe Fadness, executive director of the state Republican Party, used the Nettles email exchange to launch an attack on the Democratic nominee. The party also put out a radio ad on the subject Thursday afternoon.
"Mary Burke likes to talk a big game on ethics, but she made it clear in the business community that she stashed tax dollars in a war chest to be used for political favors," Fadness said. "Maybe this embarrassing lack of ethics explains why both her predecessor and a successor as commerce secretary agreed that she’s a ‘disaster’ and haven’t bothered donating to her campaign."
Nettles and Olver, however, dismissed any talk that Burke had any such war chest.
Olver served as the No. 3 official at the Department of Commerce under both Burke and Nettles before being named secretary in 2010. He is now the managing director at University Research Park.
"I have no specific recollection of that email, but I can say that Mary Burke took a businesslike approach to her job," Olver said, "and that didn't always endear her to people politically."
Olver said he didn't want to speculate on what Torinus or Nettles meant but was confident that nothing improper had occurred.
Nettles agreed that Burke had a no-nonsense style that upset some in the business community.
"She was very, very tough," Nettles said. "People take umbrage at that."
Nettles suggested that this might explain the "disaster" remark.
"I don't remember this whole 'she's a disaster' thing, but I certainly may have conveyed to Mary and to others that, you know, if you're trying to build friends in Milwaukee, it's important that we tell them no in as constructive a way as we can," Nettles said. "That sentiment I can image having conveyed."
But he said he never considered her to be political.
All commerce leaders are accused of squirreling away funds with which to do political favors, he said. But he said there is no truth to what Torinus said. Nettles suggested that Torinus may have been speaking out in frustration.
"That's just ridiculous," Nettles said of the war chest. "It's patently false."
Asked to respond to Fadness' point about his not giving to Burke, Nettles said he is barred from making large contributions to politicians because he operates a private equity fund that has sought to manage public venture capital funds. He said anyone involved in politics should know this.
His statement matches up with what he told the Journal Sentinel in December 2012, long before Burke got in the race for governor. Between 2001 and 2010, Nettles and his wife gave more than $28,000 to Democrats, including Doyle and Walker opponent Tom Barrett.
But Nettles said he hasn't contributed to state candidates since the federal securities regulators put in place a 2010 rule meant to keep money managers from contributing to candidates and then receiving public investments in return. He is founder and managing director of Generation Growth Capital.
"That's just stupid," Nettles said Thursday of criticism that he hadn't given to Burke.
Torinus, a former Milwaukee Sentinel business editor, hasn't responded to emails or calls.
He recently wrote a post on his blog in which he offered measured praise and criticism for the jobs plans of both Walker and Burke.
"Neither plan is remarkably bold, but both draw heavily on what has been learned in the last two decades about what works and what doesn’t for job creation," Torinus wrote. "So, the serious side of the campaign, as expressed in the two economic documents, is far more encouraging than the dispiriting, superficial, negative, gotcha stuff that shows up on the air waves."
Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
"She's a disaster," Cory Nettles told a top aide to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle on Sept. 3, 2006.
Nettles, who was Doyle's commerce secretary from 2003 to 2005, said Wednesday that he doesn't recall sending the email to Aaron Olver, his former adviser at the agency, or calling Burke a "disaster."
Nettles said the note does not represent his current view of Burke's two-plus years running the commerce agency. The email was provided as a result of an open records request.
"Let me be clear, I have a lot of respect for Mary Burke," Nettles said Thursday. He has not endorsed in the race between Burke, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, and Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
Nettles included the remark when forwarding an email from John Torinus, the former chief executive officer of Serigraph Inc., a printing company.
Torinus was describing his frustration with Burke after sitting down with her in connection with a meeting of the Milwaukee 7 regional economic development group in 2006. Torinus had wanted the state to pump money into a biotech project and a printing center.
"She sees a continuing need to have a war chest to help individual companies for political reasons, but doesn't really believe that many of these projects are justified," Torinus wrote Nettles.
Reached ahead of a speech in Madison on Thursday, Burke told Journal Sentinel reporter Jason Stein that she had acted properly in her role as secretary and didn't see anything in the email that showed otherwise. She was first shown the email after a meeting with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters Wednesday.
"My reaction is that I will continue to make the choices that I believe are in the best interests of moving Wisconsin's economy forward and making wise use of taxpayer dollars," she said. She added that the email didn't suggest anything untoward: "I didn’t see anything in what I reviewed indicating that at all."
Furthermore, Burke said that Nettles’ email to Olver didn’t contradict her previous statement that there wasn’t significant infighting or strong tensions at the commerce department during her tenure.
She made that comment late last month after a top official at Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. denounced the way the agency is run, saying in emails that another leader -- a former top aide to Walker — is causing WEDC "lasting harm."
Walker and lawmakers created the WEDC in 2011 as a replacement to the Department of Commerce.
Joe Fadness, executive director of the state Republican Party, used the Nettles email exchange to launch an attack on the Democratic nominee. The party also put out a radio ad on the subject Thursday afternoon.
"Mary Burke likes to talk a big game on ethics, but she made it clear in the business community that she stashed tax dollars in a war chest to be used for political favors," Fadness said. "Maybe this embarrassing lack of ethics explains why both her predecessor and a successor as commerce secretary agreed that she’s a ‘disaster’ and haven’t bothered donating to her campaign."
Nettles and Olver, however, dismissed any talk that Burke had any such war chest.
Olver served as the No. 3 official at the Department of Commerce under both Burke and Nettles before being named secretary in 2010. He is now the managing director at University Research Park.
"I have no specific recollection of that email, but I can say that Mary Burke took a businesslike approach to her job," Olver said, "and that didn't always endear her to people politically."
Olver said he didn't want to speculate on what Torinus or Nettles meant but was confident that nothing improper had occurred.
Nettles agreed that Burke had a no-nonsense style that upset some in the business community.
"She was very, very tough," Nettles said. "People take umbrage at that."
Nettles suggested that this might explain the "disaster" remark.
"I don't remember this whole 'she's a disaster' thing, but I certainly may have conveyed to Mary and to others that, you know, if you're trying to build friends in Milwaukee, it's important that we tell them no in as constructive a way as we can," Nettles said. "That sentiment I can image having conveyed."
But he said he never considered her to be political.
All commerce leaders are accused of squirreling away funds with which to do political favors, he said. But he said there is no truth to what Torinus said. Nettles suggested that Torinus may have been speaking out in frustration.
"That's just ridiculous," Nettles said of the war chest. "It's patently false."
Asked to respond to Fadness' point about his not giving to Burke, Nettles said he is barred from making large contributions to politicians because he operates a private equity fund that has sought to manage public venture capital funds. He said anyone involved in politics should know this.
His statement matches up with what he told the Journal Sentinel in December 2012, long before Burke got in the race for governor. Between 2001 and 2010, Nettles and his wife gave more than $28,000 to Democrats, including Doyle and Walker opponent Tom Barrett.
But Nettles said he hasn't contributed to state candidates since the federal securities regulators put in place a 2010 rule meant to keep money managers from contributing to candidates and then receiving public investments in return. He is founder and managing director of Generation Growth Capital.
"That's just stupid," Nettles said Thursday of criticism that he hadn't given to Burke.
Torinus, a former Milwaukee Sentinel business editor, hasn't responded to emails or calls.
He recently wrote a post on his blog in which he offered measured praise and criticism for the jobs plans of both Walker and Burke.
"Neither plan is remarkably bold, but both draw heavily on what has been learned in the last two decades about what works and what doesn’t for job creation," Torinus wrote. "So, the serious side of the campaign, as expressed in the two economic documents, is far more encouraging than the dispiriting, superficial, negative, gotcha stuff that shows up on the air waves."
Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
