Democrat Dan Cody has announced he’s planning to take on entrenched incumbent Lynne DeBruin — one of the ideologically weakest members of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors who despite the fact that she poorly represents her district, has managed to hold onto a seat for over 15 years.

It’s time for a change.

The republican led pension scandal which happened in part from a vote in 2000 swept out most of the democrats from the Milwaukee County Board. Instead of standing up for her principles, DeBruin instead chose to leave her once strong democratic credentials at the door and has been seen with increasing frequency on right wing talk shows spouting GOP rhetoric.

Years back, when I served with her on the County Board, DeBruin told me “the Charlie Sykes show is the only thing saving me”, referring to her concern that she would be tossed out of office were it not for her alliance and appearances with the right wing talk radio show host. One thing the public does not understand is that Sykes requires his guests to agree with most (not all) of the things he espouses before they come on his show. Essentially it is an advocacy show veiled in the guise of a legitimate talk show.

An interesting side note here is that DeBruin was on the committees which oversaw the scandalous pension legislation and has opportunities to ask questions of staff members which members of the board not on the committee do not have the ability to do unless they want to attend all committee meetings (which would result in them being ineffective jacks of all trades and masters of none). When it reached the board floor, DeBruin voted against it because it was not generous enough to the County employees. She did not share any other reasons.

Cody on the other hand is smart and energetic. He is both tech savvy and articulate without finding a need to pontificate on issues he knows nothing about. All of these contrasts make him vastly more qualified than the incumbent. While DeBruin may know more about the goings-on in Milwaukee County government, years of sloth have marginalized her effectiveness. The district, as all districts do, deserves to have a representative who will be both effective and respected. They deserve someone who shares their values and Cody could very well fit that bill.