Finley steps in it; talkers turn on him

It didn't take long for Dan Finley, heretofore darling of the radio talkers, to get himself into trouble once he decided to leave his office as Waukesha County exec.

Finley hadn't even had time to start drawing his $180,000-plus paycheck yet when he boldly proposed a new regional cultural district, to oversee several attractions, including the Milwaukee Public Museum, which will soon head.

The Regional Journal Sentinel, of course, liked the idea right off the reel, as Lee Dreyfus used to say. It likes everything regionalized. Baseball stadiums, water rights, culture, you name it. Well, maybe not sewers. But for the most part, all things regional are in vogue.

But the conservatives were having none of it. Charlie Sykes talked and wrote about it, and Jeff Wagner also chimed in on TMJ. (I assume Mark Belling had something to say, too, but since I haven't heard him for about 10 years I can't really say.) And Dad29 piled on, too.

When you say "regional authority" or "district" or anything of the sort, what people hear is T-A-X in the form of another taxing authority.

Finley carefully didn't say that, but he didn't need to. From the JS story:

Racine County Executive William McReynolds proclaimed the cultural district "dead on arrival . . . because all you're talking about is a new tax for the region, and I won't support a new tax. . . . It's a Miller Park tax."

Finley did not specify how such a district would be financed, but said: "This is not about suggesting a new tax."

McReynolds scoffed at that comment, saying: "Sure it would (require a tax). If you're talking about a new district, you need a new tax. How else are you going to pay for it?"

State Rep. Steve Nass, a fellow Republican, joined the chorus in a story today.

Finley said when he accepted the job at the museum that it was unlikely he would ever return to politics. At this rate, it won't even be an option.

And his wife, Jenifer, a rumored candidate for Finley's county exec job, can't be too happy he's driving up the family's negatives.