County aging director should resign, DeBruin says

May 15 -- County Director of Aging Stephanie Sue Stein should resign, County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin said Friday.

She added, however, "In the end, that's a county executive decision if she goes."

Stein has offered her resignation to County Executive Scott Walker, but Walker refused it, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Stein not only failed for months to notify county supervisors of a growing deficit in the county's Family Care program, her handling of the matter will make negotiations with the county unions much more difficult, DeBruin said.

"If I was a union member, I don't know why I would trust an administrator at this point," said DeBruin, who represents Story Hill on the County Board..

The program ran a deficit of $2 million last year, which county supervisors did not know until after the spring election.

The Journal Sentinel reported the county might also have to repay $3.3 million to the state because of other problems in the program.

"This is huge," DeBruin said. DeBruin said the county may seek some sort of relief from the state.

Family Care is a state program operated by the county under contract.

Stein did not disclose to the unionized workers who run Family Care that the county would not compete for a new state Family Care contract until a day before agencies were required to notify the state of their intent to submit a proposal, DeBruin said. By then, it was too late to reverse the decision, which could cost dozens of union jobs.

"This just sets negotiations back leagues," DeBruin said.

"The fear of the unions is if they give an inch, they lose the whole shebang," she said.

Had the problems been disclosed before the election, "it would have had a political effect," DeBruin said, adding that she did not know if it would have been enough to keep Walker from being re-elected.