UPDATE: Gerard Randall forced to resign as first vice chair of Republican Party of Wisconsin due to health issues

 

Photo:  Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership

Headline:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/30/2023

The resignation comes two weeks after Milwaukee Public Schools cut ties with Randall’s non-profit, the Milwaukee Education Partnership. School board members found it was unclear what work he had done with MPS funds, and Wisconsin Public Radio reported he appeared to falsely claim prominent officials were on his leadership team. 

Randall’s organization won contracts from MPS totaling more than $1.2 million since 2012. Several officials listed on his board of directors, including state Superintendent Jill Underly and Medical College of Wisconsin President John Raymond, have said they were never on the board. 

A source close to Randall said he was taking a leave to tend to health issues.

Original 11/18/2023 post, "Gravy train comes to an end for @WisGOP official in Milwaukee", starts here.

 

Photo:  Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership

Headline:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/17/2023

Randall's organization has won contracts from MPS totaling over $1.2 million since 2012. Several officials listed on his board of directors, including state Superintendent Jill Underly and Medical College of Wisconsin President John Raymond, have said they were never on the board. 

Randall had been scheduled to extend his contract with MPS in September, when Posley pulled it off the school board agenda because of questions raised. School board member Missy Zombor had noticed the organization used vague language about its work and had an outdated website without a working phone number.

According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of 'gravy train', as in  a much exploited source of easy money, occurred in 1914.

Other coinages from the same year include:

1. case study
2. ease and desist order
3. glide path
4. kablooey
5. master plan
6. penalty box
7. takeout

How we got to this point:

Wisconsin GOP official questioned over his no-bid contracts from Milwaukee Public Schools.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/9/2023)
MPS board to review contract with Gerard Randall's nonprofit, which has received more than $1 million from the district.  (11/15/2023)
What to know about Gerard Randall, GOP official who MPS paid for vague projects.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/16/2023)