Aldermen make raft of changes to Barrett’s budget

An amendment approved by the committee uses $1.1 million more from street funds to add two Fire and Police Commission risk management positions.

City officials agree Milwaukee’s 2018 budget is an especially difficult one.

But on Friday, members of the Common Council’s finance committee struggled to come up with a plan for improving it.

“It’s a budget that none of us is really proud of,” said Ald. Milele Coggs, chairwoman of the committee.

Facing tough budget times for Milwaukee, Coggs described aldermen trying to “nibble around the edges” to improve next year’s spending plan.

Barrett’s proposal includes eliminating 33 police officer positions and 75 firefighter positions and closing six fire stations.

The city’s Finance and Personnel Committee plodded through dozens of proposed amendments to Barrett’s budget Friday. The budget will go before the full council next Friday.

One amendment approved by the committee used an additional $1.1 million received in local street funding to add two Fire and Police Commission risk management positions, fund four residential inspectors and help pay for Milwaukee Public Library’s early childhood program. It would also fund programs focused on driver’s education, healthy food, early-voting sites and streetlight repairs.

That amendment, sponsored by Council President Ashanti Hamilton, Coggs and Alds. Russell W. Stamper II and Khalif Rainey, passed 5-0. The move came a week after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a report detailing how recent police misconduct lawsuits have cost the city at least $21.4 million.

Another amendment approved by the committee allocated $500,000 to the Department of Administration to conduct a community disparity study. A similar study conducted in 2010 led to some ordinance changes, but those changes were challenged in court.

“So we could be sued again,” Ald. Terry Witkowski said of the report.

He and Ald. Michael Murphy voted against the study. But Stamper, Coggs and Ald. Chantia Lewis voted in favor of the amendment, which passed 3-2.

Another amendment eliminated funding for the Milwaukee Police Department’s chief of staff position in favor of funding a “Neighborhood Investment Beautification Program” for the central city and other neighborhoods. That proposal also passed 3-2, with Murphy and Witkowski voting against it.

That was one of a number of proposals that called for eliminating police positions.

“I’m willing to accept a cut in order to save jobs,” Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said at one point during the more than eight-hour meeting.

Other amendments that won the committee’s approval included proposals to create a bilingual investigator position at the Fire and Police Commission and fund sexually transmitted disease and intervention work through the Health Department. Another called for helping to study retaliatory evictions in the city.

A number of proposals included redirecting money to fund police officer positions and save fire stations.

One proposal sponsored by Ald. Robert Bauman sought to use some $1.8 million to keep open a fire station at 424 N. 30th St. But Milwaukee Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing said he would ultimately decide which station would be saved if the department gets additional funding.

“It’s my job to look at the city as a whole,” Rohlfing said.

Bauman used the situation to vent about how the Common Council has “no power to do anything” when it comes to police and fire.

“This is 100% on the mayor,” Bauman said of the cuts, before suggesting aldermen vote against the whole budget.

That amendment failed.