Bice: Senator skips veterans home tour to judge baking contest

Forced to choose between visiting a troubled veterans home or to judge a baking contest, state Sen. Luther Olsen went with his gut.

Olsen — a Ripon Republican who is in a tough re-election bid — had a conflict on his schedule for July 8, according to records obtained from his office.

He had been invited by Rep. John Nygren, a fellow Republican from Marinette, to join him on a tour of the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King on that date. Initially, Olsen's staff said the senator was free and able to visit the facility, which is in his district.

But two weeks later Olsen begged off.

"Senator Olsen had another important obligation come up on July 8th, so unfortunately Senator Olsen will not be in attendance for the Nygren tour of King," Shelby Lemke, legislative assistant to Olsen, wrote to a Nygren staffer.

What could be more important than getting a firsthand look at the conditions at the King veterans home, which is now the subject of a legislative audit because of the problems there?

The Junior Bake-Off Contest at the Lodi Agricultural Fair.

Olsen was one of four judges evaluating cookies, sweet bars and tart pies made by children of all ages using primarily Wisconsin-grown or produced ingredients. He has five photos of the event on his Facebook page, including one showing he was accompanied by two of his legislative staffers on that Friday afternoon.

Olsen, who has been in state politics for more than two decades, acknowledged that he opted for tasting home-baked sweets over touring the nursing home for veterans.

But he said he sees it another way.

"It wasn't what I was doing (at the fair), but whether I keep my word or not," Olsen said.

Back in January, during the Cambria Chamber of Commerce dinner, Olsen agreed to serve as one of the judges in the bake-off. But that event wasn't on anybody's radar when Nygren set up the tour of the veterans home.

Olsen said he was offering to accompany Nygren, co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, as a courtesy because the veterans facility is in the senator's district. Olsen said he could take a look at what is going on at the King veterans home anytime he wants.

"We thought we could squeeze both (events) in, and we couldn't," he said. "And we had made this commitment seven months ahead of time."

But Democrats aren't buying it.

Brandon Weathersby, spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said Olsen has acknowledged that he has been aware of staffing issues at the King veterans home for some time.

"But when given the chance to survey the campus himself," Weathersby said, "he chose a pie-baking contest over Wisconsin's veterans."

Just to be clear, it wasn't just pie. There were also cookies, cookie bars and just about any other baked goodie the kids wanted to make.

But the point is the same.

The King veterans home, which is in Waupaca County, is the largest state-run, skilled-nursing home where veterans can get 24-hour care. The facility, which has 721 beds, is rated as a five-star facility by the federal government — a status given only to 15% of all veterans homes.

But a recent Capital Times report painted a very different picture of the place.

And it's not pretty.

That story quoted patients, their families and past and current King staff members describing widespread neglect and long-standing mismanagement as well as staffing shortages and shoddy conditions, such as moldy walls and outdated medical equipment.

That was followed by a federal investigation that found a "substandard quality of care" at the facility, pointing particularly at an incident in which a 94-year-old resident died when nursing staff there failed to administer CPR or life-saving measures after discovering that he wasn't breathing.

Also this month, a five-page state report documented reports of injuries to patients, including broken bones and unsanitary conditions that led to outbreaks of various illnesses.

Despite all these apparent problems, King continues runs a budget surplus. Top Democrats and Republicans have routinely transferred the extra money from the veterans homes at King and Union Grove to the Veterans Trust Fund and other purposes.

Olsen is quoted in the Cap Times story saying had heard concerns about staffing issues during his 12-year Senate career. He said he had brought those issues to Gov. Scott Walker's attention.

“I have talked to (Walker) about the concerns that have been raised to me about King and he said that he was going to investigate it,” he said. “I would welcome an audit of King to make sure that our veterans are getting the care that they deserve.”

His opponent  in the November election — Waupaca Mayor Brian Smith, a Democrat — has accused Olsen of being MIA on the problems at the King facility.

Olsen dismissed the criticism, saying he has been an advocate for the King veterans for years. He said he expects someone to try to smear him by writing a headline that says, "Olsen eats pie as veterans die."

But Olsen made clear he was glad he went to the Lodi festival, calling it standard fare — or fair? — for politicians to go to such events in "campaign season." He said he enjoyed trying out the treats and interacting with the kids during the hour he spent as a judge.

"It was all good," he said. "These little kids made stuff, and their grandmas helped them and their mothers helped them. And there's a little audience around there. Kids really liked it."

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.