Remember when he displayed an ill-advised absence of both judgement and decorum over a budget dispute by pulling his deputies from their role in providing Presidential security in Milwaukee?
Or his ranting about bus security, again to make a budget point - - to the detriment of bus riders and the system's viability, as Milwaukee Ald. Bob Bauman pointed out:
First, it is increasingly apparent that no tactic is beyond Sheriff Clarke’s reach, as he is now attempting to scare tens of thousands of daily transit users by asserting that the transit system is “horrible,” “intimidating” and “frightening.” Apparently he is now willing to vilify the transit system to advance his agenda and, as a result, further jeopardize the financial viability of this taxpayer-funded public service by driving away passengers and prospective passengers.So again you can wonder in the wake of a new uproar laid out by the Journal Sentinel if there is an end game to Clarke's behaviors other than playing to talk radio which hangs on his every word:
Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. said Tuesday he won't implement a deal in which the county pays the Milwaukee Police Department to take over patrols of the lakefront and county parks, even if the plan is formally ratified by the Common Council and County Board...Yes, every word: AM 620 WTMJ radio's Charlie Sykes, the medium through which Clarke often speaks, read Clarke's intemperate messages verbatim Tuesday, and posted them.
The sheriff tied the warnings to Monday's announcement that Barrett and County Executive Chris Abele had reached a preliminary agreement to have Milwaukee police take over patrolling county parks in the city and the lakefront and more of the 911 system. Clarke says Milwaukee police are already stretched too thinly to add park patrols.
"I don't really care what they have worked out," Clarke said in an interview. "It's not binding on me."
