Conservative aldermen ask Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to step down as mayor if he decides to run for governor

Aldermen Robert Donovan and Mark Borkowski sent out a letter yesterday  to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett calling on him to resign as mayor if he decides to run for governor.and shared with the public.

The letter was also sent to the public in a press release.

Barrett announced last week that he's considering a fourth race against Scott Walker for the state's highest office.

Barrett and Borkowski are both considered right-wing candidates, and both have opposed Barrett on numerous issues. Donovan ran against Barrett in the last mayoral race.

Barrett has run — and lost — against Scott Walker three times in the past.

The letter follows:

Dear Mayor Brrett,

We have watched with interest and concern your open deliberation of another run for the office of governor. It is not our intent to opine on the wisdom of such an attempt.

However, we believe very strongly that, should you decide to run for governor, you should at the same time step down as mayor.

Too many agencies of this City’s government have been roiled by scandal and mismanagement in recent months for this community to be able to afford a mayor with his mind and energy divided between the duties of his office and what promises to be a bruising political campaign.

The Milwaukee Health Department has only begun to pick up the pieces of a shattered lead program that, at a minimum, failed to notify dozens of young people and their families that they had been exposed to dangerous levels of lead. The Department of Employee Relations and our own staff have yet to complete their investigations into how great the problem is and how it occurred. Responding to their findings will demand time and attention.

Your defense of former Chief of Police Edward Flynn and many of his ill-considered policies has left the Milwaukee Police Department in disorder. We are hopeful that Chief Morales can set matters to right, but your recent decision to fire Ms. MaryNell Regan even as she was working with the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners to improve transparency and accountability does not inspire confidence.

Despite repeated urgings, you have proven singularly unable to improve relations with the current administration in Madison and the leadership of the state legislature. This even as the City finds itself in desperate need of new tools and approaches to deal with its financial challenges. A gubernatorial candidacy would certainly make matters no better.

During the best of times, this City needs and deserves a full-time mayor all of the time. In these more difficult days, should you choose to run for governor, we ask respectfully that you step down.

Ald. Robert G. Donovan, 8th District

Ald. Mark Borkowski, 11th District