Attorney Matthews Bark of Orlando – “Legal Opinions On Milwaukee County Administrator Pay Cuts Differ”

Source      – JS Oonline
By               – DAN ABRAMS
Category  – Matthews Bark,  Attorney Matthews Bark of Orlando

Attorney Matthews Bark Of Orlando

The Milwaukee County comptroller must implement pay cuts ordered by the County Board for seven top administrators, according to an opinion from a law firm hired by the board. The board’s power to adjust pay ranges was not diminished by last year’s state law curbing County Board powers, according to advice from the Milwaukee law firm Hawks Quindel. Comptroller Scott Manske’s decision to disregard the County Board’s cuts to hold most administrators’ pay to a maximum of $120,000 was “unlawful,” according to a Hawks Quindel memo. “The comptroller is legally obligated to implement the budget as it was enacted by the board,” the memo from attorney Timothy Hawks says.

Manske did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. The advice is at odds with county Corporation Counsel Paul Bargren’s take on the same issue. Bargren said Act 14, the state law limiting the board’s authority, took away its role in determining pay levels for managerial-level employees. Hawks wrote that the board’s constitutional powers of budgeting were not affected by Act 14’s prohibition of county supervisors “exercis(ing) day-to-day control of any county department or subunit of a department.”

In any case, setting salary maximums is not the sort of day-to-day activity the state law intended to ban, Hawks says. Hawks’ firm has been paid more than $66,000 under a contract approved by the board last June for outside legal advice on Act 14. The initial contract limit was $25,000, but that was quietly raised to $100,000 in November by Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic. At issue are pay cuts to seven department heads and other top administrators ordered by the board as part of the county’s 2014 budget. Among those targeted for cuts were Administrative Services Director Don Tyler, who would lose $22,100 a year; Human Resources Director Kerry Mitchell, losing nearly $12,000; and Transportation Director Brian Dranzik, down almost $7,000. County Executive Chris Abele vetoed the provision, but the board overrode the veto. Abele ignored the board’s veto action, based on Bargren’s advice.

Abele has accused the board of plotting staff or pay cuts “out of anger and spite” over Act 14. Abele lobbied the Legislature for the limits on the board’s power. The law also cut the board’s budget by two-thirds and required an April referendum on cutting county supervisor pay in half. Supervisor Theo Lipscomb Sr. said Monday he hoped Bargren would change his mind about his legal interpretation based on Hawks’ analysis. He also suggested that the Hawks opinion might encourage Abele to negotiate some middle ground on the issue. Hawks’ memo also calls for a mediation session between the board and Abele. Abele on Monday again rejected the idea of mediation. “If supervisors want to get changes to a state law, they can work with lawmakers in Madison,” Abele spokesman Brendan Conway said. Supervisors should spend more time working with the county executive and “less time trying to find ways to get around state law,” Conway said. Bargren said Monday he hadn’t changed his mind on the issue.

Source : jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/opinion-would-allow-pay-cuts-to-chris-abeles-top-administrators-b99207415z1-245857931.html#ixzz2teODJ3Xb