County reveals contract evaluators' names

Score one for the public's right to know.

Milwaukee County has reversed itself and released the names of those who evaluated proposals that led to the awarding of millions of dollars in social service contracts.

The county had earlier refused to provide the names to the Story Hill neighborhood website, but Gretchen Schuldt, who edits the site, reports:

County releases evaluator names

Dec. 27 -- Milwaukee County released the names of evaluators of proposals for millions of dollars in behavioral health contracts after storyhill.net raised concerns about the policy that kept the names secret.

County Behavioral Health Division Administrator Jim Hill said he had misgivings about releasing the names, but decided to do so in deference to "my strong, career-long support for the public's right to know the public's business."

The issue arose when storyhill.net sought records related to the award of a $1.2 million community service program contract to a division of Phoenix Care Systems Inc.. Phoenix officials are donors to County Executive Scott Walkers' campaign fund.

The names of evaluators are on the Story Hill website.. There appears to be no good reason they were not released in the first place.