After having $50,000 bond posted for him in State court, Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee Jr. was transferred to Federal court yesterday for an initial appearance.  At the conclusion of the Federal proceeding, McGee was ordered detained without bail until a hearing on July 9th.

     The State charges against McGee relate to alleged vote buying during his recent recall election and threats of violence against individuals in the community.  If these State charges constitute "troubles" for the Alderman, the Federal charges are what might be best described as "troubles with hair on them".

     According to public court documents, McGee has been the subject of an ongoing Federal investigation for several months into allegations of extortion and bribery.  When an indictment is ultimately returned by the grand jury (presumably on July 10th), I would not be surprised if it represented the most exhaustive series of public corruption charges in Wisconsin history.  While an individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty, it's not too often that a defendant in Federal court can beat charges based not only on direct testimony from individuals who claim to have been extorted but also on wiretapped conversations and in-person meetings with undercover agents.

     To me though, the most interesting aspect of McGee's intial appearance in Federal court was the fact that he was represented by a Federal public defender!

     In this country, those who do not have the resources to hire an attorney are entitled to have one appointed for them at taxpayer expense.  Despite his current incarceration however,  Michael McGee Jr. continues to serve as a City of Milwaukee Alderman and continues to draw a salary of $71,506 a year ( plus benefits)!  At the risk of stating the obvious, how in the world can anyone continuing to earn north of $71,000 a year possibly be considered to be indigent?

     During the hearing yesterday, my former colleague - now Magistrate Judge - Patricia Gorence indicated that she had not determined whether or not McGee qualifies to have a public defender?  Let me make this really easy for her.  The answer is "No, No, Hell No"!

     If McGee had any class, he would have resigned his position when these charges first came out.  Recognizing however that his time feeding from the public gravy train is quickly coming to an end, McGee is showing no inclination to hop off a day before he absolutely has to.  Moreover, Common Council President Willie Hines, recognizing a political hot potato when he sees one, has no intention of forcing McGee out of office.  As such McGee will continue on the public payroll for at least a few more months.

     Fine.  Let him continue to draw his salary while the criminal matters play themselves out.  At the same time, don't insult the taxpayers further by expecting them to not only continue to pay McGee's salary but also pay for his defense in Federal court.  

     On another matter, when it comes to McGee, some in the community will never miss the opportunity to play the race card. These people therefore choose to interpret the fact that McGee is still in jail as evidence of racism.  The truth though is that McGee is in jail because of the severity of the charges against him - nothing more and nothing less.

     It's true, for example, that former Milwaukee Alderman Jeff Pawlinski remained free on bail until the time he was sentenced.  Pawlinski's crime however was taking money voluntarily donated to his campaign by contributors and spending it on himself.  This is a far cry from the type of extortion that it is alleged McGee engaged in.

     I expect that by this time next year, Michael McGee Jr. will be very old news.  I'm also afraid that between then and now, the public will be in for a very bumpy ride.  At the very least, we shouldn't be expected to pick up the legal tab for the guy whose conduct has caused this mess in the first place!