For years, County Supervisor Steve Taylor failed to disclose financial ties to The Rock
For years, Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Steve F. Taylor omitted his financial ties to the popular yet controversial, Franklin-based golf and entertainment facility, The Rock, in his ethics filings, records show.
But following questions from the Journal Sentinel, Taylor, late Friday, amended his disclosure with information about his job, which are required by county ordinance to be filed with the Milwaukee County Ethics Board as a county official.
"This is clearly an oversite (sic) on my part and after speaking to the Executive Director of Milwaukee Ethics Board my (statement of economic interest) SEI has been amended," Taylor told the Journal Sentinel. "I am not sure why I mistakenly omitted where I work, and I am not making any excuses for doing so."
"I don’t like making mistakes nor do I like making the same mistake twice. Moving forward I guarantee that my SEI will be filled out correctly," he said.
The supervisor, whose district includes parts of Franklin and all of Oak Creek, played a key role in the board's approval to sell county land to ROC Ventures in order to develop The Rock in 2017.
At the time, Taylor, who was both a county supervisor and Franklin alderman, called the development a “big win for Milwaukee County.”
In April 2018, Supervisor Patti Logsdon beat Taylor for his supervisory seat in District 9. He later announced his new employment as the executive director of the ROC Foundation, a nonprofit tied to The Rock, on Dec. 5, 2019. He returned to the board in 2022, winning the seat for the newly-created 17th district, and has abstained on votes involving ROC Ventures and Ballpark Commons.
But, until he was notified by the Journal Sentinel, Taylor had failed to disclose his employment in his last two statements of economic interest, according to records revised by the Journal Sentinel.
Taylor has been anything but shy about his ties to The Rock and groups linked to its development and leadership. He lists his employment in his county supervisor biography, his LinkedIn profile, ROC Ventures staff page, as well as his campaign website used to seek re-election in 2021.
He earned $65,000 for his role as executive director for ROC Ventures, according to the nonprofit's tax filings for 2021. He received an additional $4,296 for health benefits, contributions to his employee benefit plans and deferred compensation.
He told the Journal Sentinel he disclosed this conflict in a letter dated May 13, 2022, sent it to the county executive, County Board, corporation counsel, county clerk, Ethics Board and Audit Committee.
County Board supervisors are part-time, a position in which Taylor makes $27,482 annually. Taylor currently serves on county committees relating to finance, parks and culture, intergovernmental relations, and a fourth that handles community, environmental and economic development issues.
Voters depend on public officials to disclose potential conflicts of interest in their financial disclosures.
For instance, former Milwaukee County Register of Deeds John La Fave took $1,364 in freebies, mostly tickets to Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs games, from a county contractor, per his personal ethics statements. The FBI later investigated him and in 2022 was ordered to serve two years' probation and pay $89,000 in restitution to the county in a false invoicing scheme.
More recently, Milwaukee's Deputy City Attorney Odalo Ohiku, who may face criminal charges after working for his law firm while on the city clock, had submitted personal financial statements for three consecutive years that did not report whether he had any income from his private practice.
Taylor is also subject of a state ethics complaint, in which former Franklin Mayor Stephen Olson alleges Taylor requested $700,000 from the City of Franklin that would partially secure votes from fellow county Supervisor Felesia A. Martin on key Franklin-area projects.
What are the County's rules around financial disclosures?
Financial filings require supervisors to disclose the "identity of every significant fiduciary relationship, organization associated with and the offices and directorships held by him/her or his/her spouse," according to the Milwaukee County Code of Ordinances.
County ordinance also dictates that supervisors must disclose the identity of each non-stock corporation — also known as nonprofits — with which they or their spouse "holds an office or position and the title of the office or position; and which is doing business with the county or operating in the county."
When asked by the Journal Sentinel about whether Taylor had violated SEIs filing requirements, Adam Gilmore, the executive director of the county's ethics board, said on Sept. 28: "The role of the ethics board has to play here is custodian. We don't accept the SEIs and then vet them."
The auditing firm Baker Tilly reviews statements of economic interest, according to Gilmore.
He also noted that the public is able to view the SEIs and request a cross-reference if they have concerns about the information filed in the records.
If the ethics board determines a code violation, it can result in a fine between $100 and $1,000 for each violation— which would appear to mean in Taylor's case, if he had not amended his SEI, he could have been fined up to $2,000.
ROC Ventures and Mandel Group donate to Taylor's supervisory re-run
The Rock owner, ROC Ventures CEO Michael E. Zimmerman, had donated $1,000 to Taylor's bid for his current supervisory seat during the April 2022 election, according to campaign finance reports.
ROC Ventures' Chairman and Partner, James "Jim" Pekar, also donated $750, as well as Mandel Group Inc.'s vice president of development, Ian Mortin, who donated $500.
Mandel developed Beláy Apartments, a four-story, 18,000 square-foot Adventure Rock climbing gym and luxury apartments, located on The Rock's grounds.
Ongoing controversy with The Rock
In 2017, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors approved the sale of the land to ROC Ventures on an 11-7 vote. The Rock is located in a Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) district.
In 2021, the Journal Sentinel reported that the Rock Sports Complex owed Milwaukee County tens of thousands of dollars, according to officials, but appears to be up to date currently.
"Based on an advisory legal opinion from Corporation Counsel, there are no outstanding amounts owed to the Rock Sports Complex," the Comptroller's Office told the Journal Sentinel.
The Rock's website has the Milwaukee County Parks logo listed at the bottom of the page, noting that the Rock Sports Complex is a joint initiative between Zimmerman Ventures, Milwaukee County Parks and the City of Franklin.
Milwaukee County's Comptroller's Office disputed the website's statement that there is a joint initiative.
In an email to the Journal Sentinel, Deputy Comptroller Michelle Nate said the county Parks Department has a long-term lease with The Rock for the ski hill in Greendale and an ongoing funding agreement for the methane collection and monitoring system but nothing amounting to a joint initiative.
A study carried out by Resource Systems Group Inc., and later presented the County Comptroller's Audit Services, resulted in county supervisors calling for possible legal action against The Rock to address decades-long noise complaints.
Taylor previously called the noise and light study "a waste of taxpayer money and staff resources" and trumpeted the legally binding developer's agreement with Franklin to back his opinion.
In a comment on Facebook Taylor also said: "I read the proposal and talk about gigantic waste of time ... nothing will come from this study ... As a matter of fact it will backfire because the sound coming from The Rock, Umbrella Bar, Franklin Field and Milky Way is far below the agreed upon level. I think we ought to crank it up a notch."
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Vanessa_Swales.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Supervisor Steve Taylor failed to disclose ties to The Rock
