September
2006
Clarke: NAACP forum was a waste of time
Today, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke had an opportunity to attend a 10:00am NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) candidate forum. Clarke said he had to leave early because he had to go to a parade. Forum moderator Joel McNally asked Clarke, "Can't you just stay for one question?" Challenger Vince Bobot commented to Clarke, "We all want to go to the parade, but it doesn't start until 11:00". Clarke simply left the forum by 10:15am.
The forum was attended by candidates Don Holt (Republican candidate for Sheriff), Vince Bobot (Democratic candidate for Sheriff), John Chisholm and Lorraine McNamara-McGraw (Democratic candidates for District Attorney) and Lew Wasserman (Independent candidate for District Attorney). All of the candidates stayed except Clarke.
Clarke arrived at the St. Francis Days parade twenty minutes early. He had asked St. Francis Days Parade Chairman Dave Berg to be put near the end because of the NAACP forum and Berg had accomodated his request by making him 47th out of 50th to march in the parade.
But Clarke said he didn't have time for the NAACP.
All the candidates for District Attorney were there. All the candidates for Sheriff were there. Everyone else stayed. They answered questions, then went to participate in the parade. Clarke left without answering one question.
One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, overheard Clarke tell a parade official, "There were only about 20 people there so I left — it was a waste to be there" (at the NAACP forum). Had Clarke stayed, he would have noticed the crowd swell to become standing room only by the time the forum ended.
Kennedy McGuigan, 10 (that's my boy), who attended the parade said Clarke was riding on a horse with three other riders. Under Clarke, horses have been brought back into service for the Sheriff's department but they are used for little more than parades and political posturing for Clarke.
Multiple other sources spoke to Watchdog but expressed reservations about speaking with us due Clarke's vindictive track record. They were unwilling to go on the record or to provide any quotes out of fear of repercussions from Clarke.
An elderly couple was enjoying the parade when Clarke passed by. "We're not going to re-elect that S.O.B." she was overheard saying to her husband. "Darn," she said, "I wish he'd have heard me say that."
The people attending the NAACP forum probably wished they'd heard anything from Clarke.
Jim McGuigan
Clarke Watch, Jim McGuigan, Watchdogging Campaigns
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The employees of the Sheriff’s Department have seen this type of behavior demonstrated for years. Prior to that, Milwaukee Police officers saw it as well. It is heartening to see the general public picking up on it now. People deserve to be treated with respect - whether it is deputies, police officers, or NAACP forum attendees. A true public servant would have stayed and addressed the NAACP forum, whether there was one or one hundred in attendance.
It is a shame and travesty that the Sheriff’s Department and Milwaukee County has had to endure this tyranical, rude and disrespectful behavior for the past several years. No thanks to former ACTING Gov. McCallum for this appointment. I hope this will finally all be rectified on September 12th and by January 1st 2007 things can get back on track and Clarke and his administration will be gone for the good of the citizens of Milwaukee County.
I Don’t think I have to add anything to this story except where are all the Clarke supporters now. I haven’t seen one try to overcome this one. Well if there were anymore nails that needed to be put in the coffin, the NAACP Forem was hopefully the one that creates it never to be opened again.
Ladies and Gentlemen, just remember Tuesday September 12th cast your vote and do yourself as well as the rest of the county a favor by Electing Vince Bobot as the Next Sheriff of Milwaukee County.
And just something that wasn’t stated is if everyone saw that wonderful mailing that Clarke’s campaign put out. Well I can assure you this there are at least 3 names on that card that I can tell you aren’t supporting Clarke. That is right ONCE AGAIN THERE ARE NAMES ON THAT MAILING THAT DON’T SUPPORT CLARKE. But of course they are there. Having fun trying to explain that one Mr. Clarke. That is of course if you stay at the next forum.
Who are the three?
Clarke seems to have forgotten where the majority of his votes came from in 2002. In the last election, the inner city, which is heavily influenced by the endorsements of the NAACP, gave him the victory. We can only hope that his disrespect for the NAACP will help those voters decide on the right candidate, and not just vote by race.
I have heard that at least one of the names listed in Clarke campaign literature as a supporter was submitted by someone else as a (cruel) joke. This individual is most definately not a Clarke supporter, but is an employee and doesn’t want to be put in the position of making an issue of it for fear of retaliation.
Two things 1) Back when Richaard Artison was sheriff. The mounted patrol was actually used to patrol the lakefront and other Milwaukee County Parks. When requested for parade duty. The county board put in a rule (And we know what Clarke thinks of rules) that outside sources were to pay for the horses appearance. It should be known that the “riders” get overtime pay for participating in the parades. Of course Clarke has reduced overtime pay for deputies.
2) I personally know one of those three “supporters” on the litarature. Yes they were put on the flier as a joke by a retired deputy. For shame on that person. The person in question I spoke to just yesterday and is torked. They are not a Clarke supporter.
You know, it’s hilarious to read all of the vitriol and hatred toward Sheriff Clarke. It’s solely because of this myopic hatred that I have chosen, now, to support him. You guys are complaining about ONE deputy and ONE mailing that may or may not have had a non-supporter’s name on it.
And regarding the NAACP forum, I was there, there was a handful of people there, at best, for the whole thing. Clarke left early because he was IN the parade, not just attending it and obviously had committed to that parade long before accepting the invite to the NAACP forum.
Gerry from the NAACP likes Clarke anyways.
By the way, you guys purport that Clarke either said or inferred that the forum was a waste of time…when did he ever say that?????? Oh I get it, it’s yet another one of your blanket statements with no fact to back it up that you like to use when referring to Clarke. Nice.