MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen calls it a compromise, but he’s still getting his “political retribution” while hitting taxpayer resources three times as hard.
Bowen, who wrote the county’s “living wage” ordinance with Service Employees International Union-affiliated officials and has received numerous campaign contributions from SEIU agencies, is moving forward with a request for an audit of the county-contracted Supportive Homecare Options Inc.
The company’s owner, Sally Sprenger, has been a vocal critic of Bowen’s living wage law and refuses to cave in to SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin’s demand that her entire staff join the union.
In a move that helps hide his political motivation and gain more support, Bowen is now asking for audits of the two other firms contracted with the Milwaukee County Department of Family Care — tripling the taxpayer resources needed for SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin’s ultimate goal of inspecting Supportive Homecare Options’ books.
“This is a friendly compromise to ensure that we are looking at the full picture,” Bowen said at Wednesday’s Health and Human Needs Committee meeting.
Bowen’s substitute resolution calling for the audits will be considered Thursday by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
The resolution authorizes the county’s Audit Services Division to perform audits on the three companies contracted with Family Care — Supportive Homecare Options, New Health Services and Temps Plus — to determine how the firms use their money.
SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin President Dian Palmer and some SEIU representatives asked for the audit of Supportive Homecare Options at a meeting of the Health and Human Needs Committee in July. They were concerned about Sprenger using administrative fees to pay for an attorney to represent her in collective bargaining negotiations with the union and whether she provided “fair wages” to her employees.
But Family Care Director Maria Ledger has said county staff reviewed the three firms’ payroll records in April and found no issues. It also looks at cumulative service expenditures four times a year.
Supervisor Deanna Alexander on Wednesday called the audit request a wasteful and unethical action in the guise of accountability. She says she’s seen no evidence Bowen’s proposal isn’t fueled by “a baseless desire to make a strategic move aimed at political retribution.”
