The hypocrisy of men who call themselves public servants and public officials while concealing their misdeeds from the public is nearly boundless. Milwaukee County offers a recent example. Since Lynne De Bruin revealed the immoral utilitarianism of Milwaukee bureaucrat John Chianelli, where he exposed female mental patients to risk of sexual assault in mixed gender wards, some Milwaukee County supervisors have wanted to censure her for telling the truth about official policy.
Milwaukee County supervisor Lee Holloway and his ilk have proposed a censure motion against De Bruin for revealing Chianelli’s policy. Since she revealed that policy, reports and inspections have revealed abuse after abuse at the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that a possible De Bruin censure advances to full board since a board judiciary committee deadlocked 3-3 on whether to advance the motion:
….De Bruin said she had no regrets over releasing the letter. Closed-door remarks April 14 of behavioral health Administrator John Chianelli were so outrageous they deserved disclosure, she said.
Chianelli suggested in the closed session that dangerous male patients were housed in the same units with female patients as a trade-off, De Bruin’s letter said. The trade-off was acceptance of some sexual violence against female patients as preferable to violence an all-male ward might cause, the letter said.
De Bruin also justified releasing Chianelli’s letter because she said he lied to supervisors during the April 14 session on the extent of sexual assault among patients at the county’s Mental Health Complex.
Chianelli wasn’t at Tuesday’s meeting and has declined to comment on De Bruin’s account. Two supervisors have verified Chianelli’s remarks as reported by De Bruin….Censure actions elsewhere are reserved for grievous legal or ethical violations, not for disclosures like hers, De Bruin said. No censure attempt of a county supervisor has been done for at least several decades, according to county officials.
“I am not a saint, but I have done nothing – absolutely nothing – wrong in this situation,” said De Bruin, an 18-year board veteran….
Supervisor John Weishan Jr. said there were no legal grounds to censure De Bruin, noting that no law or county rule bans disclosure of closed session remarks.
Holloway and other supporters of a closed-door, conceal-from-the public approach surely know that a censure effort is politically risky. It’s sure to generate, at least initially, more publicity and support for those seeking reform of the Milwaukee County mental health system. What they must hope, I’d guess, is that if censure succeeds, they’ll be able to taint De Bruin, and distract people from the many failures, abuses, lies, and excuses under administrator Chianelli.
It won’t work. Too much has been revealed, there’s a pending lawsuit against the county (and more on the way, I’d guess), and normal people see how disorderd and neglectful Chianelli’s leadership has been.
This insiders’ effort will be unavailing. There should be, and will be, no compromise with Chianell’s policy, no turning away from the injuries he’s inflicted, and no end to principled advocacy against his detestable policy and those who have flacked and defended that policy.
I’ve posted about Chianelli’s policy, and the tragedy that is conduct at the MHC, before. See, A Milwaukee County Bureaucrat’s Immoral Utilitarianism, Update: A Milwaukee County Bureaucrat’s Immoral Utilitarianism, Update 2, Update 3, Update 4, Update 5, Update 6, Update 7, Update 8 and Update 9.