Common Ground Statement in Response to Corey Zetts

While we appreciate that Corey Zetts and the MMSD Commission finally announced an independent audit, we have several concerns.

• Zetts is short on details. She does not specify a timeline, scope, level of access, nor whether she will commit to publicly releasing the full report.
• Damaging public trust, Zetts and MMSD have zigzagged for weeks. First she attacked Steve Jacquart (whistleblower #1) after refusing to meet with him. Then MMSD Director Kevin Shafer said he was “totally confident in Veolia.” Then, last week, in response to the latest whistleblower, MMSD said they could not comment due to the procurement process. Now this?
• Zetts’ most recent announcement comes just one day before her and 4 other Commissioners (Julia Taylor, Milele A. Coggs, Mark Chambers, Jr., Kalan Haywood II) go before a Common Council committee (led by Coggs) to be confirmed for another term, with $10,000 stipends on the line.
• Veolia and MMSD’s mismanagement occurred for years under Zetts and the Commissioners’ noses.
• The number of whistleblowers has swelled to 26 and the severity of their claims have intensified.

Given these concerns, we believe the circumstances call for a higher authority, in particular, the State Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB), with its auditing power, technical expertise, independence, and credibility to conduct a full review of our wastewater treatment plants as run by Veolia and overseen by MMSD.

Note that LAB did an audit of MMSD in 2002. There is precedent for this approach.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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