County releases evaluator names

Dec. 27, 2005 -- Milwaukee County released the names of evaluators of proposals for millions of dollars in behavioral health contracts after storyhill.net raised concerns about the policy that kept the names secret.

County Behavioral Health Division Administrator Jim Hill said he had misgivings about releasing the names, but decided to do so in deference to "my strong, career-long support for the public's right to know the public's business."

The issue arose when storyhill.net sought records related to the award of a $1.2 million community service program contract to a division of Phoenix Care Systems Inc.. Phoenix officials are donors to County Executive Scott Walkers' campaign fund.

Among the records released was a letter from Paul Radomski, director of DHHS' Adult Community Services Branch, declining to make evaluators' names public because doing so would make it more difficult to recruit volunteers from the community.

Hill, in reversing the secrecy decision, identified the evaluators as county employees Todd Elmer, Cathy Kunze, and Paul Neymeyr; and volunteers Bob Rocke and Jim Sponholz.

"None of the five individuals has any fiduciary, employment, governing or consumer connection with any of the organizations whose proposals they evaluated," he said

Seven of eight firms that applied were awarded community service program contracts.

County keeping names of contract evaluators secret
Millions of dollars at stake in recommendations

Dec. 19, 2005 -- The county is keeping secret the names of people who evaluate proposals for millions of dollars in social services contracts, records show.

A county official said in a letter that keeping the names under wraps makes it easier to recruit people willing to evaluate proposals.

The practice also, however, prevents the public from being able to identify potential conflicts-of-interest among the evaluators.

The letter from Paul Radomski, director of DHHS' Adult Community Services Branch, said DHHS "has determined that the public interest of preserving the confidentiality of citizen volunteers outweighs any benefit of disclosing their identity."

"Disclosing the identity of public members jeapardizes our ability to assemble impartial panels and attract participants from the advocacy, adacemic and provider communities," he wrote.

Phoenix Care Systems shared in community support contracts
Walker donor relationship was questioned; firm is top-paid of seven

Dec. 19, 2005 -- Seven out of eight firms submitting proposals to provide community support programs to the county's Behavioral Health Division this year were given contracts to do so, records show.

One of the seven firms -- Bell Therapy Inc. -- is owned by political donors to County Executive Scott Walker. Bell was ranked sixth by evaluators, and won the biggest contract, worth $1.2 million.

The records also show that a County Board committee was informed that another $250,000 contract recommended for award to Bell was done so on a no-bid basis. Bell is owned by Phoenix Care Systems Inc.

Eye on Wisconsin raised questions about the propriety of the contracts awards to a firm operated by Walker campaign contributors after Walker criticized Gov. Doyle's administration for awarding a $250,000 travel contract to a firm headed by major Doyle campaign contributors. Doyle received $30,000 from employees and a board member of Adelman Travel around the time the contract was bid out and awarded.

Walker's campaign said recently that it would return $325 in campaign contributions from Phoenix officials because the money came around the time the $250,000 no-bid contract was awarded.

The records released by the county do not definitively answer whether Walker's camp exerted any political influence in the contract awards to Bell, and the blackout imposed on the evaluators' identities by the Walker administration makes that even more difficult to determine.

A county official said that urgency -- not politics -- was behind the no-bid award.

"The no-bid contract was recommended by staff "because Bell was in the best position of all potential providers to provide the crisis respite beds in the shortest amount of time," Behavioral Health Division Administrator Jim Hill said.

The county was experiencing critical backups in its acute care mental health units at the time, he said in an e-mail.

"It was essential that these additional beds be 'online' as soon as possible," Hill wrote in an e-mail. "The facility Bell owned was vacant and became operational within a matter of weeks after the contract was awarded."

The County Board's Health and Human Needs Committee was informed that the recommendation was sole source, Hill said.

Regarding the community support program contract, Hill said it was DHHS practice to award contracts to more than one proposer.

While Bell won a $1.2 million contract, the six other firms that received contracts are being paid from $240,000 to $518,000 for the services this year, according to a 2005 DHHS Contract Agency Directory.

"Although Bell's proposal did not receive as many points as five of the other bidders, this does not mean its proposal was unacceptable; it simply means that other bidders scored better," Hill said. "As the evaluation sheets show, all of the proposals, except for Ravenswood, were considered strong, responsible, responsive proposals from agencies with considerable experience in this critical service area. Each of the agencies whose contracts were recommended for renewal contributes high quality, essential services to our clients. Ravenswood was the only organization of the eight bidding which BHD did not recommended to receive a CSP contract in 2005."

The Behavioral Health Divisison strives to avoid changing providers "unless clinical staff and outcomes measures give us reason to be concerned that the provider's services are harmful to the clients' well-being," he said. "Changes in providers' work with clients are very disruptive and can cause many clients to become unstable and 'decompensate,' resulting in re-hospitalization."

County says it may end year with surplus
As long as $10.9 million is lying around to cover department deficits

Oct. 3,2005 -- The county could end the year with a surplus of up to $2 million, as long as $10.9 million in contingency funds can be used to cover department deficits, according to County Controller Scott Manske.

The "sort of" good news comes after most county departments took a mid-year 5% budget cut to avert a potential multi-million 2005 deficit.

County departments still are expected to run deficits totaling $8.9 million, but County Executive Scott Walker's office is counting on the contingent fund to cover that.

The biggest budget gap is in the Parks Department, which is projected to take in $2.3 million, or 12%, less in revenue than the $19.2 million budgeted.

Parks Director Sue Black, however, has avoided a deficit by slashing spending. She is expected to balance the revenue shortfall by cutting staff and services by the same amount.

Walker is proposing an identical $19.2 million revenue budget for the Parks Department next year.

The biggest deficit -- alomost $605,000 -- is expected at the County Zoo. The biggest surplus -- almost $3.9 million -- will come from the Department on Aging, according to projections.

To read Manske's report, click here.

May 31, 2005 -- The Milwaukee County treasurer's office discovered $750,000 worth of mistakes in how it categorizes investment earnings, according to county documents.

The errors mean that instead of having a surplus of $42,000 in general interest earnings that can be used to pay day-to-day costs, the county is projecting a deficit of $708,000, according to a report to the Finance and Audit Commitee from Treasurer Dan Diliberti.

The funds were mistakenly classified as general interest when they actually can be used only for specific purposes, Diliberti wrote.