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I was always curious why there were no comments on this website. I now know it is my fault for not properly setting some of the blogger controls. I believe I may have deleted all comments without ever having read any of them, although I hope this is not the case. So, continue commenting, and accept my apologies for apparently having ignored you all this time.
--Michael Horne

KAYE TO PAY IN TOSSED RICO SUIT -- Updated!

"Only a Fool has Himself for a Lawyer"
--proverb

A Milwaukeeworld Exclusive

By Michael Horne

On September 13th, 2005, Atty. Joe Kaye filed a lawsuit on his own behalf ("pro se") in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin alleging a violation of federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) by a number of entities, inlcuding the City of Milwaukee, Ald. Michael D'Amato, Julilly Kohler, Lincoln Fowler and others, claiming they conspired to wrongfully deny him the opportunity to buy and develop city-owned real estate.
The riverfront property at 1142-58 E. Kane Place was eventually sold to Kohler, who had been vice-chair of the City of Milwaukee Plan Commission.
On July 11th, 2006, U. S. District Judge J. P. Stadtmueller dismissed the case, finding it to be frivolous, and ordered sanctions against Kaye, including that he "reimburse the defendants for their reasonable and necessary attorney's fees."
Kaye made many allegations in his complaints, including behind-the-scenes machinations between Kohler and fellow commissioner Fowler; that Ald. D'Amato collaborated with officers of the East Village Association [EVA] to create a historical preservation district that would exempt Kohler's proposed development; that D'Amato, Kohler and others engaged in a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the EVA election; that a wire fraud scheme existed; that D'Amato stole a yard sign from a neighbor; and that D'Amato's actions constituted theft and extortion.
The allegations were contained in a rambling 19 page complaint riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, reminiscent of "Riddley Walker,"a post-apocalyptic cult novel of which Kaye is apparently fond.
His business address on court documents is listed as "Grooling and Smarling, 7355 N. Green Bay Av., Glendale." "Grooling and Smarling" are neologisms introduced in the novel, which is either gibberish or inspired, depending upon the reader. [Editor's note: It is gibberish.]
The city attorney's motion in November, asking to dismiss the suit, called Kaye's case "a rambling, disjointed and unsupported complaint that fails to state a claim.
"[Kaye's claims are] fatally deficient in every material respect ... [and are] linguistically and logically incoherent."
In other words, the sort of case one might find from a jailhouse lawyer, but not from a licensed attorney.
In the court's ruling yesterday, Stadtmueller said, "While we treat pro se litigants gently, a pro se attorney is not entitled to special treatment," the veteran jurist ruled. "Although the court liberally construes allegations in a pro se litigant's complaint ... the court does not apply this principle of construction to Kaye's complaint because Kaye is an attorney."
He added, "Kaye does not specify the many victims, the time frame involved, the five separate schemes or the distinct injuries. Kaye does not cite to any allegations within his complaint or to any exhibits.
"Kaye's RICO claims must be dismissed for another reason: Kaye has not properly pleaded the existence of an enterprise. ... Each of the RICO claims, therefore, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
"Kaye should have known that his RICO claims had no legal basis," he added.
The amount Kaye must pay in attorney fees is not known at this time, but it could be considerable. The city attorney, for example, hired Foley & Lardner, the state's oldest and largest law firm, to assist it. Kohler likewise hired an attorney.
If you would like to send some business his way, to help with the bills, you may contact him at the address above. Or, perhaps the folks who talked Kaye into filing this suit might ante up. But chances are you could stuff the tip jar at Wolski's with hundred dollar bills every day for a month and not have enough to cover the bills. (We'll tell you the totals as they become available.)
(See milwaukeeworld's original posting for more information.)
[Author's note: As has been mentioned before, I lived for many years in the adjacent property on E. Kane Pl. owned by Julilly Kohler and now incorporated into the proposed development site.]

UPDATE:

According to a news release from Ald. Michael S. D’Amato, legal fees in the case may top $50,000.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel got around to reporting the story on Wednesday, including this inaccurate passage:

“Stadtmueller did not state his reasons for granting the dismissal or the sanctions, which include an undisclosed amount for defendants' attorneys' fees.”

Reporter Gina Barton pulled that sentence out of the air, since Judge Stadtmueller, as readers of milwaukeeworld know, had plenty to say about his reasons.

JUDGE STADTMUELLER’S REASONS

We’ll throw a couple more reasons at you, quoted directly from the court’s decision, signed by the judge:

“Kaye has not properly pleaded predicate acts of racketeering or a pattern of racketeering.”

“Because each of Kaye’s RICO claims requires that Kaye plead a pattern of racketeering activity, … he fails to state a claim against the City of Milwaukee Defendants.”

“Kaye describes conduct that does not constitute predicate acts.”

“Kaye does not sufficiently allege a predicate act of wire fraud in connection with the purported EVA election fraud.”

“Kaye is required to plead allegations of fraud with particularity … Indeed, Kaye does not allege, and Exhibit 56 does not reveal, who sent the document, when it was sent, or to whom it was sent. … Because Kaye fails to plead allegations of wire fraud with particularity, the court does not consider wire fraud to be a properly alleged predicate act.”

“Kaye does not specify the many victims, the time frame involved, the five separate schemes, or the distinct injuries. Kaye does not cite to any allegations within his complaint or to any exhibits.”

“Even if this court accepts Kaye’s allegations as true, the alleged predicate acts of bribery do not constitute a pattern of racketeering and Kaye’s RICO claims must be dismissed.”

“The moving defendants also argue that Kaye commits ‘the cardinal sin’ of alleging an enterprise. … If Kaye committed a cardinal sin in drafting his complaint, he is unrepentant in his response brief. Kaye improperly pleads the existence of an enterprise by describing the enterprise’s alleged purpose rather than its structure, duration or organization.”

“Kaye should have known that theft is not a predicate act under RICO; that the complaint does not allege facts that constitute extortion; that he must plead fraud allegations with particularity; that the alleged bribery scheme does not constitute a pattern of racketeering; and that a RICO enterprise is defined by its structure, duration and organization, not by its purpose and conduct.”

The above makes one wonder whether reporter Barton simply read the judge's order and not his decision and his many reasons for ruling against Kaye and for imposing sanctions.

--Michael Horne

HIRE THE HANDICAPPED

HIGHLY-PAID EXECS SCORE ON LINKS

By Michael Horne


All work and no play make CEOs very boring guys, so some of Milwaukee's highest-paid executives can be excused for making their way to their second offices in the verdant country clubs of the area.
Milwaukeeworld decided to take a peek at the Handicap Index of our beloved duffers and their peers, using as a guide the list of Highest Paid Executives of Publicly Held Companies published in the 2006 Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee Book of Lists.
We will list the golfer's name, his or her (his) club affiliation and most recent golf handicap index and most recent score as calculated by the Wisconsin State Golf Association, the official body for such ratings. The listings are in descending order according to total compensation for the most recent fiscal year, including salary, bonus, and exercised options.

Jeff Bleustein, the Chairman of Harley-Davidson, Inc., earned $46,912,414 last year and is a member of Brynnwood Country Club, where he shot a 97 on June 24th, earning him a handicap of 13.7.
Don Davis, Jr., the retired Chairman of Rockwell Automation, Inc., pulled in $21 milion in his final year at work. Retirement has served Davis well. His score of 83 on June 25th at Milwaukee Country Club indicates why he is worthy of a 9.8 handicap.
R. Lawrence "Larry" Montgomery, Kohl's Corp. CEO, ($8.8 million) is a member of Ozaukee Country Club, where he scored an 88 on June 12th, his most recent outing. He has a 11.7 handicap.
Dennis Kuester, the Chairman and CEO of Marshall & Ilsley Corp., ($7.2 million) is another Milwaukee Country Club member. The busy banker has only played one game this year, on May 27th, when he shot a 91. He handicaps at 11.5.
Jim Wigdale, the retired chairman of M&I ($5.9 million) also calls the links of Milwaukee's oldest and most exclusive country club his home, but he has not played this year. His handicap is 24.2, and his lowest score was a 99 back in August, 2003.
Charles Sprague of Fiserv has lots of titles behind his name at the financial services company which paid him $4,091,788 as "Executive vice president, general counsel, chief administrative officer and secretary." Those responsibilities were not enough to keep him away from the MCC links this year, where his four games in 2006 included a 94 on June 15th. His handicap is 17.8.
Jeffrey Joerres, the Chairman, President and CEO of Manpower, Inc., ($3.8 million) is busy building his new headquarters downtown, so it is understandable that he hasn't made his way to Range Line Road this year to test the MCC's links. His last game was played on August 14th 2005, when he shot a respectable 87, helping him to retain a decent 12.1 handicap.
Watch out for Curt Culver, the Chairman, President and CEO of MGIC ($3.0 million) -- he has already played at least 20 games this year. The Blue Mound CC member shot a near-professional 76 on June 25th atRainbow Springs, which helps to explain his enviable 3.2 handicap, the lowest in this survey.
John Shiely, the Chairman, President and CEO of Briggs & Stratton Corp. ($2 million) is another Blue Mound member. He shot an 89 on June 14th, for a 16.2 handicap.
Keith Nosbusch, the President and CEO of Rockwell, earned $1,879,947 last year and is a member of the Milwaukee Country Club where he does not have any scores posted, and therefore has no handicap.
Bob Arzbaecher, the President and CEO of Actuant Corp. is probably concerned about the dump his stock has taken recently. The $1.5 million executive is a member of Westmoor Country Club, but most recently golfed at Kohler, not once, but twice, on the same day, June 9th, when he shot a 95 at Black Wolf Run and a 91 at Whistling Straits. He has a 10.4 handicap.
John Koss, Jr. is the vice-president for sales at the eponymous Koss Corp. where his income was shy of a million dollars last year. He's worth his weight in gold at the Miolwaukee Country Club, where he has played at least 20 games this year, most recently on June 23rd, when he shot a 90, helping him to maintain a 7.2 handicap.
Doug Kiel, the president of Journal Communications, made $925,687 last year and must be allowing the press of business to distract him terribly from his golf game. He hasn't shot a round at Blue Mound since August, 2001, when he scored an 89. His handicap remains frozen at 24.9.
Stephen Marcus, the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Marcus Corp. ($827,801) has been shooting horribly this year, failing to break 100 in three outings. His most recent score at Brynnwood was 104 on June 17th, helping to boost his handicap from 16.2 to 18.1. This man owns golf courses, for goodness sakes!
Dick Abdoo retired from Wisconsin Energy Corp. in April 2004, but still drew a $742,580 paycheck from the electrical company. He retired even earlier from golfing, it seems, with his last game at Milwaukee Country Club being shot in September, 2002, when he scored a 124. (He got a 108 in 1999.) His handicap is 28.5. Maybe he's found another sport.
Paul Bonaiuto, the Executive Vice President and CFO of Journal Communications ($708,144) has made it to the links 18 times this year. The Ozaukee member shot a 95 on June 25th, leaving him with a handicap of 21. If only his company's stock could reach such a high number!
Also from the Journal company, retiring Senior Vice President Keith Spore, a former reporter who went over to the dark side, made $684,050 last year, and has made it to the links at least 10 times this year. The Tripoli Country Club member has played at Bridges and Devil's Head Resort. His most recent score was a 93 on June 16th; his handicap is 16.1.
We will end this survey with Ronald Massa, the Senior Vice President of A.O. Smith Corp. ($584,179), since people who make less than a half-million dollars a year hardly seem suitable as golf companions. Massa is a member of North Shore Country Club, Mequon's second best club, after Ozaukee (and far, far ahead of Mequon Country Club, which will let anybody in.) Massa scored a perfect 100 in his last outing on June 9th-- oops! Wrong sport! This leaves him with a 17.3 handicap.