Officer grant stalls; lead funds veto overriden
The ongoing debate over accepting a nearly $10 million grant for 30 new police officers in the City of Milwaukee will last another month after the Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday to hold it another cycle.
Ald. José Pérez asked to hold the item, saying he has several unanswered questions on the impact of accepting or not accepting the grant.
“I believe this is an opportunity to really figure out how we continue to work with the administration and the Police Department on some real change as we move forward in this discussion and look at some reform,” Pérez said.
The hold comes as the department is already slated to see a 120-position drop in sworn strength through attrition next year due to the city’s budget challenges.
The department recently cleared a hurdle to receiving the $9.7 million three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ said it would still grant the funding even though the department would no longer agree to an element of the grant related to immigration enforcement.
Tuesday marked the second time the measure had come before the Common Council in its trek from one committee to another committee to the full council, back to committee and then again back to the council.
Common Council President Cavalier Johnson said he did not believe that holding the grant would cause any problems. The decision means the measure will come before the council again at its Dec. 15 meeting.
Council overrides one Barrett budget veto, upholds other
The council also overrode one of the two budget vetoes from Mayor Tom Barrett.
The budget was adopted by the Common Council Nov. 6.
Barrett vetoed two measures, one aimed at addressing the city’s lead crisis and the other making neighborhoods safer. But his veto letter directed that alternate funding sources be used to replace the sources he rejected.
On a vote of 11-4, the council overrode the veto of an amendment that redirected $500,000 from two housing initiatives he had proposed to a new SafeHomes Lead Abatement Initiative.
Barrett had cited the approximately $9 million available in 2021 for the lead program and said he was directing the Health Department to include the initiative in its strategic plan for lead abatement.
Given other measures approved by the Common Council, the measure’s lead sponsor, Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, said it seemed clear that there would be an increased need for abatement efforts.
“For the administration to suggest that we have enough (funding), I think is just difficult to understand because how would we know that we have enough funding for abatements if we don’t even know how many inspections, assessments and more houses that we’re going to be remediating?” Dimitrijevic said.
She also argued that the program would be an economic stimulant and urged her colleagues to support the override.
Barrett also vetoed funding an Alert Neighbor Program with $150,000 in police overtime and instead planned to fund the initiative with part of an estimated 2020 budget surplus of $700,000 in the City Clerk’s Office. The surplus resulted from federal CARES Act funds and “effectively managing vacant positions,” Barrett wrote.
The council unanimously upheld the veto after sponsors Alds. Milele Coggs and Russell Stamper II said Barrett’s proposed funding source would get the money to the program quicker than their proposal.