Newsmakers: Government Accountability Board Report Card
The Government Accountability Board, created in January 2008 to enforce ethics and elections laws, had its toughest year in 2011. The panel of six retired judges had to deal with nine recall elections for state senators, the first statewide recount of a Supreme Court election, a change that restricted its rule-making authority, and decided how strictly it must review signatures on petitions asking for a recall election of Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Judge Gordon Myse, who served on the board from 2008 until April of this year; attorneys Mike Wittenwyler and Rick Esenberg, and Jay Heck of Common Cause in Wisconsin graded GAB’s year in a Newsmakers program taped Dec. 22. Despite call in the Legislature for GAB to be reorganized, the four panelists said it has generally worked.
