This is a crosspost BY DAVID PATTERSON, AFSCME.
It’s not what you know, but whom you know in Wisconsin state government, apparently. That would explain why a longtime crony and aide to Gov. Scott Walker landed a new state job that pays her 31 percent more than what her predecessor made last year.
Cindy Archer was selected as chief information officer for the State Public Defender’s Office at a salary of $113,459, which last year would have made her the sixth-highest paid Information Technology manager in state government. Her predecessor earned $86,278 salary last year.
“What does Cindy Archer know about IT other than the email system she set up for Walker at the (Milwaukee County) courthouse?” asked Marty Beil, executive director of AFSCME Council 24, Wisconsin State Employees Union. “This is a clear case of cronyism that allows Walker devotees a payoff for their loyalty.”
Most Wisconsin state employees earned a 1 percent raise in 2014 and continue to pay a larger percentage of their health care and retirement benefits since the passage of Act 10 in 2011.
Archer is best known for having her home raided in September 2011 as part a John Doe investigation that led to six convictions of former Walker aides and associates. She was Walker’s administrative services director in Milwaukee County, and after he became governor she held a series of jobs in various state agencies.
Archer did not apply for the position but was selected over other candidates who did, said Randy Kraft, a spokesman for the public defender’s office. However, Archer’s new job is considered a civil service position, which means that under state law it is supposed to be awarded based on merit without any political considerations.
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