Aldermen override Barrett’s budget vetoes

Milwaukee aldermen voted on Tuesday to override most of Mayor Tom Barrett’s 2018 budget vetoes.

At the heart of the battle between the Common Council and the mayor is how to fund $500,000 allocated for a racial disparity study. Aldermen added the money earlier this month when they approved the $1.53 billion city budget.

Barrett agreed to fund $500,000 for the study but used his veto powers to change how the review would be paid for, saying the aldermen’s plan would interfere with planned city worker raises. He also cut some police positions and eliminated funding for a neighborhood beautification program in budget vetoes he announced last week.

The disparity study would examine the extent to which minority- and women-owned businesses participate in contracts with the city when it comes to construction, professional services and goods and services.

On Tuesday, Ald. Russell Stamper, a lead proponent for the study, praised fellow aldermen for helping to fund it

“It was, and it is, the right thing to do,” Stamper said. “Milwaukee will be a much better city in the future, and we’ve all been blessed to be able to provide this paradigm shift.”

But Stamper insisted it wasn’t his intent to delay city worker raises to help cover study costs. He added that he and other aldermen respect city employees, and said they planned to freeze open positions rather than delay raises for current workers.

“We as council members can’t get everything we want for our districts, but to (pit) city employees against my amendment for a disparity study is disingenuous,” Stamper said. “It’s misleading. And, quite frankly, it’s a low blow.”

After the votes to override several of his vetoes, Barrett released a statement saying he was pleased “the Council adopted over 95% of the budget.”

But he also criticized the moves to block his vetoes.

“I vetoed items that were financed with increased borrowing and funds from the salary and wage accounts,” Barrett said. “These actions should serve as an alert to city taxpayers that there are members of the Common Council who would rather satisfy their own agendas by adding to the debt and disrupting the delivery of city services than addressing the long-term fiscal issues the city is facing.”

Barrett had previously used his veto power to try to block additional borrowing aldermen added to the budget. That included about $150,000 for a housing infrastructure preservation fund, which pays for exterior repairs to historic homes owned by the city.

Barrett also vetoed some spending on Milwaukee’s STRONG Homes Loan Program.

Those vetoes were also overridden. Barrett’s only veto that was sustained was one dealing with an amendment that would have cut the salary of the chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals by $25,000.

But later in the meeting aldermen voted to essentially cut the chairman’s pay to about $35,000, or a 30% pay cut.