By Milwaukee Courier Staff
State Rep. David Crowley
In WISN12 News’ Milwaukee County Executive Debate this week, State Rep. David Crowley, chairman of Wisconsin’s Black Caucus, stated “The next County Executive will have to walk into office ready to deal with three major things: getting everyone counted in the Census, addressing the coronavirus pandemic, and putting on the 2020 DNC Convention.”
In order for us to do those things, Milwaukee County needs an effective leader who can manage during a crisis. The issues facing Milwaukee County in the immediate future are not political, they are issues that directly deal with the daily lives of our residents. The county executive has to be a person who is able to put politics aside and do what’s best for the people of Milwaukee County.
Throughout his career, Crowley has shown time and time again that he has the ability to roll up his sleeves and work with other legislators to get things done, regardless of their political party. As the chair of the black caucus, the chair of the Milwaukee delegation and the co-chair of the black and Latino Caucus, Crowley is a proven leader. His campaign has been about the real issues facing Milwaukee County: bringing back resources, ending segregation, ensuring public safety, and making sure that all residents have access to opportunity, whether they live in the suburbs or in the central city.
Crowley’s opponent, long-time State Sen. Chris Larson, has shown just the opposite over his career.
During his short tenure as Senate Minority Leader, he was removed from his leadership role due to his inability to work with others. Most notably, Larson used his power to remove a Milwaukee elected State Senator from the Senate’s joint finance committee, leaving no members of color on the committee.
Larson has spent his career fighting, not for the people of this community, but with his colleagues.
The last two decades of county government in Milwaukee have been marked by constant infighting and political bickering. It’s time to turn the page.
The next Milwaukee County Executive will take over the lead of the county amid a public health crisis, with two major events happening immediately. We must elect someone who understands and has been through the struggles that this community faces, and that knows that the only way we can move forward is together. Crowley’s entire campaign has been built around the idea of “building bridges between Milwaukee County’s struggling and thriving communities.”
Crowley has earned the support of not only his colleagues in the legislature, but also from mayors and village presidents across the Milwaukee suburbs. His goal of bringing this community together is exactly what is needed in a Milwaukee County Executive. In a time of crisis, we need a leader that can unite all of us, and that leader is David Crowley.
