Moore dubs lead programs ‘hot mess’
HUD official says city must do much more
Federal officials say they’re “disappointed” with the City of Milwaukee’s handling of its ongoing lead crisis.
An official with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development voiced his frustration with the city’s response to the crisis in a recent letter to U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee), prompting her to criticize the city’s lead poisoning prevention efforts.
“It was a hot mess ... to be candid,” Moore told the Journal Sentinel. “And I think sorting that out is a very specific skill set that I think may be needed in Milwaukee.”
Moore, who requested the federal review, stopped short of directing criticism at Mayor Tom Barrett and interim Health Commissioner Patricia McManus, saying she knows that both care “very deeply” about the issue.
But Moore suggested Barrett hire a “turnaround artist” to fix the widespread problems. The Milwaukee mayor has said his administration is working aggressively to address them.
The letter, signed by Len Wolfson, HUD’s assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental relations, said much more needs to be done by Milwaukee officials.
“The department has been disappointed that the city has not devoted more effort and resources to resolving its operational problems so that it can begin to control lead-based paint hazards in housing again,” the May 15 letter reads.
Based on an on-site inspection and a review of federal grant documents, the HUD letter provided a stark assessment of the city’s program aimed at preventing lead poisoning among Milwaukee residents, especially children.
“The department’s assessment indicated the city’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program has had significant turnover in leadership and key staff, with the atmosphere volatile and the program slow to respond to HUD guidance and learn from its own experiences,” Wolfson wrote.
McManus declined an interview request about the issue.
“At this time, Commissioner McManus does not have any comment on the May 15 HUD letter,” said Janalle Goosby,
a Health Department spokeswoman.
But McManus did acknowledge in a Common Council committee hearing earlier this month that the city’s lead programs are still facing serious problems.
“It’s a mess over there,” McManus told Alderman Michael Murphy during a Finance and Personnel Committee meeting.
Barrett said he has assembled a team, including top city officials, to assist McManus and the Health Department.
Barrett added that his administration is close to naming his pick to lead the troubled department, and he thanked Moore for her assistance.
“We’ve worked well with the congresswoman, and I think that all of her comments are said in a constructive fashion. I don’t take umbrage at any of the comments that she’s made,” Barrett said. “Obviously, we’ve known that there’s an issue, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure that we provide services for the people of this community.”
The federal review comes on the heels of damning state and city reports finding fault with the city’s childhood lead prevention program, once a model for the nation. Ex-Health Commissioner Bevan Baker resigned in January amid revelations about serious problems facing the city’s lead programs.
The city report blamed staffing shortages, inadequate training, high turnover and poor coordination, saying those factors contributed to the failure by the lead program to follow up with thousands of families who had lead-poisoned children — or at least failure to document that work.
The state’s top public health agency went even further.
State officials looked at 108 lead-poisoning cases reported to the city’s troubled lead poisoning prevention program from 2012 to 2017. It found that more than 90 percent of the cases were closed before the amount of lead in kids’ blood had dropped to levels deemed safe by the state.
Moore defended the work by Barrett and McManus, who was hired as the short-term commissioner by the Common Council in February.
“I don’t think it’s a lack of concern or care,” she said.
Still, Moore said, change is needed. Barrett has narrowed his search to two finalists to be the city’s permanent health commissioner: Sanjib Bhattacharyya, the Health Department’s laboratory director; and Jeanette Kowalik, a former Health Department employee who now works for a Washington, D.C.based public health nonprofit.
But Moore, who has represented Milwaukee in Congress for more than a dozen years, suggested the city look to hire someone who specializes in fixing dysfunctional agencies.
Alderman Murphy called the HUD letter “very disturbing.”
“This was a very strong letter which pointed out the Health Department has dropped the ball on a lot of key areas,” Murphy said. “And the people who they’re hurting are once again children in our community — generally poor children and people of color.”