Some Connections Mean More Than Others
One Wisconsin Now’s investigation into Michael Gableman’s record has prompted many troubling questions. Unfortunately we are only getting political spin from the Gableman campaign.
OWN’s investigation into Gableman’s appointment revealed that although he was not a part of Governor McCallum’s appointment process, Gableman was allowed to leap frog over 6 local applicants to get the job. The only contact to be found between Gableman and McCallum during that time came in the form of campaign contributions and fundraising.
Yesterday the Gableman Campaign claimed that 4 of the 6 people that applied for the Burnett County position were not from the county. What the press release conveniently avoids is that 3 of the four lived in adjoining Polk County (including one that was the Burnett County Family Court Commissioner). The fourth lived in Superior but practiced extensively in Burnett County. There is only one person that had no connection to Burnett County and that was Michael Gableman. Even though he lived nearly 300 miles away and was not part of the process, he got the job. Michael Gableman certainly had ‘connections’ in 2002, but unlike the other applicants none of them were to Burnett County.