Aldermen called ‘misogynistic’
Fire and Police Commission director Griselda Aldrete criticizes meeting.
Griselda Aldrete has taken a lot of heat in her first six months as executive director of the city Fire and Police Commission.
But Aldrete is now pushing back, calling a couple of aldermen “misogynistic” in their questioning of her and another female city department head at a Common Council committee meeting last week.
“What happened last Thursday was more than unprofessional — it was outright grotesque and misogynistic,” Aldrete wrote to Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton.
“What happened during that committee was classic blame-shifting and name-calling with veiled threats from elected officials,” she continued. “Rather than rationally asking questions and even the right to question the answers given, two women who lead key departments for the city were accosted.”
Aldrete didn’t name the “select alders” or the other city department chief she had in mind.
But anyone who watched the last Steering and Rules Committee meeting knows exactly whom she was calling out. The other department head was Maria Monteagudo, the employee relations director for the city, and the Common Council members were Aldermen Bob Bauman and Rsussell Stamper II.
This is how tense it got: At one point, a beleaguered Monteagudo snapped, “I’m stupid then, thank you.”
Later, Bauman started laughing out loud while she described the problems she has in sharing an office — with many confidential files — with the Fire and Police Commission.
“I don’t think it’s funny, alderman,” Monteagudo said.
“It’s hilarious what you’re describing!” Bauman roared.
“It is not,” she countered, adding, “You are being so disrespectful right now.”
“You’re assuming we’re idiots,” Bauman said, as he threw up his hands.
Hamilton acknowledged this week that he had talked to Stamper and Bauman about their behavior in the committee meeting, which Hamilton chaired.
“They have agreed to tone it to allow the process to work,” Hamilton said via
text. “The council, however, remains steadfast in pushing for the reforms that are necessary to improve the operation of the FPC. And I hope the administration will continue to support us in that effort.”
But Bauman showed no signs of dialing it down when contacted by the Journal Sentinel.
The veteran alderman said he had no idea who Aldrete was referring to in her letter because she didn’t name anyone.
“I don’t know who it’s about,” Bauman said of the letter. “I don’t know what she’s up to. But (it’s a) free country. She can send a letter to anyone she wants.”
Pressed on the point, Bauman said he didn’t believe he was particularly obnoxious at the committee meeting.
“I’m asking hard questions. That’s my job,” he said. “I’m a good questioner.”
Stamper did not return calls.
Both Aldrete and Monteagudo declined to comment on the letter or the hearing.
The Fire and Police Commission is a civilian oversight board for the city’s fire and police departments and is one of the oldest and most powerful in the country. The commission’s responsibilities include recruiting and testing police and fire employees for hiring and promotion.
The agency has been marked by staffing and other problems since Aldrete took over. More than a half-dozen workers have quit or been fired in recent months.
One longtime inspector said the current management team had “demonstrated a frightening ignorance of FPC operations, shown no apparent knowledge of industry norms for public safety oversight investigations, and worse, fostered an environment of mistrust and cronyism.”
At the four-hour-long Common Council committee meeting, there were several heated exchanges.
At one point, Monteagudo explained that she was planning to hire a human relations expert to do an organizational analysis of the Fire and Police Commission. She has used the outside expert in the past.
The inspector general is also going to conduct an audit of the agency.
But Bauman wanted Monteagudo to find an independent person to do the organizational analysis, making the point repeatedly and forcefully. Otherwise, he said it would be nothing more than “the fox guarding the henhouse.”
“I have no confidence in the effectiveness of that approach,” Bauman said.
“He’s insulting me and my profession,” Monteagudo said to Hamilton. “I won’t stand for it.”
Stamper wanted a promise that she would put out a formal request for proposals for the HR expert. Monteagudo said that would slow the process.
“I’m concerned about the employees,” she added.
Stamper said, “So are we.” Monteagudo then half-whispered, “I’m not sure.”
Stamper then said several things under his breath, including, “Yours is suspect.”
Later, Bauman expressed the frustration that Fire and Police commissioners don’t have city phones and offices, making it difficult for the public to reach them.
“You can go to the Legislature then,” Aldrete said, noting that the structure of the commission was set up by state lawmakers in Madison.
Bauman then said: “This is an absurdity that the most powerful Fire and Police Commission in the country is standing out there naked. Naked. They have no support. They have no apparatus underpinning their activities, except an apparatus that is totally beholden to the mayor.”
“That wasn’t directed towards you,” Hamilton said, trying to reassure Aldrete.
If not, then that would have been a first.