Letter to the Editor
Capital Times
August 24, 2002

Our Wisconsin State Employees Union should think twice in response to A.G. Jim Doyle’s call to eliminate more than 10,000 state jobs. Again it is politically popular to point at state employees in the election campaigns, but when will a real leader step forward to redesign State government and reduce the multiple layers of management that robs the taxpayers of needed services?

If a candidate exists out there that has the courage to order a massive redeployment of State job assignments that also greatly reduces the numbers of contract workers the State never counts,, If a leader steps forward that understands that taxpayers pay for a good portion of former state employees now working for consultant firms, costing taxpayers more dollars for the same talent pool it had before recent retirements and departures.  If there is a person that can reduce State governments nasty habit of increasing the bureaucracy and reducing the numbers of service delivering positions, returning to serving the taxpayers, not the little kingdoms they create, then we will be hearing new ideas that will work if they are given more than just election year lip service. Cuts in the Administration of State services are desperately needed now to fix State government, not reduce services to the people they seem to forget we work for, the Taxpayers! Front line employees in State Service understand this because we deal with taxpayers daily in our jobs.

Then State employees and the thousands of voters connected to them will have thought twice and will vote to put a real leader in the State Capitol.

Ken Weaver
WSEU Local 758