Dane County Exec Kathleen Falk’s Tenure Should End

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has joined the let’s-set-up-police-roadblocks-(sobriety checkpoints) bandwagon.

See, Falk—she of the let’s-cover-our-asses-fast reaction to the Dane County 911 Center’s widely reported screw-ups leading to the murder of Brittany Zimmermann—says she wants to change the attitudes towards and culture of Wisconsin drinking.

Gee, changing the culture, that's an interesting if unenlightened, proposed role for politicians and elected officeholders.

Anyway, let’s set up “checkpoints,” she advises our governor.

After thinking you see, Falk “… quickly realized that steps must be taken on the level of state policy to help curb the tide of alcohol abuse," Falk writes to Gov. Doyle, it is reported in the State Journal (Matthew DeFour) this morning.

A “tide” in the culture that we must address by draconian measures like "checkpoints" and criminalization?

Is this the precise, sober analysis that we can expect if we reelect Falk?

How about some checkpoints between Kathleen's Falk's administration, Dane County citizens and the 911 Center; you know that emergency thing that is supposed to work during, like, emergencies?

What I see from Falk is a tide of incompetence and bad judgement that led to a young woman’s murder, and now proposed opportunistic police measures better suited to the roadblock-loving folks of Indiana and the Fourth Amendment-hating Bush Department of Justice.

Maybe she’s hoping her tough-on-drinking stands will cover her incompetence and that of her lackey, Joe Norwick, her political appointment, whom she handpicked to run the 911 center in the first place. But Falk says her opponents should not make "political hay" of the Zimmermann tragedy.

Falk, a liberal with whom I generally agree on policy stands, is displaying either an ignorance or apathy of the propriety of checkpoints and criminalization (we need more people in jail), but I think her long screw-up on the Zimmermann case alone earns her the boot.

And I wish the Zimmermann family well in its wrongful death lawsuit against Falk, which I'm sure Falk will go to considerable lengths to dispute. It's Falk political career that's really important, don't you know?

In any event, much as I despise Nancy Mistele’s (Falk's likely opponent this spring) policy stands and am appalled at the thought of at seeing Mistile for four years in the Exec's seat, it’s time to dump Kathleen Falk, because what's really important is the death of a young woman and the liberties and safety our community exists to defend.

On that score, Falk has fallen down on the job.