Fire and Police Commission picks to go before public

Cocroft, Gielow hearings will move ahead after third candidate pulls out

Two of Mayor Tom Barrett’s picks for the city’s Fire and Police Commission will take questions from the public next week, but a third has withdrawn from the process.

Mariana Rodriguez, whom Barrett nominated to replace Commissioner Marisabel Cabrera, has withdrawn from consideration, Jodie Tabak, the mayor’s spokeswoman, said Thursday.

Barrett’s decision not to reappoint Cabrera had drawn criticism from Common Council members and residents who praised her independence on the powerful civilian oversight board.

Cabrera, an immigration attorney, is running for the 9th Assembly District against incumbent state Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee) in the August election.

The public hearings will move forward for the two remaining appointees, Everett Cocroft and William Gielow, who are retirees from the city’s Fire and Police Departments.

The meetings are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, with the first session at Journey House, 2110 W. Scott St., and the second at Villard Square Library’s Community Room, 5190 N. 35th St.

Terms over, but still serving

Several members of the powerful civilian oversight board have terms that ended this month.

State law says those commissioners can continue to serve until a replacement is appointed and confirmed.

Barrett chose Cocroft to replace Commissioner Kathryn Hein and Gielow to replace Commissioner Ann Wilson.

Hein resigned when her term ended, leaving her post vacant for now. Wilson, whose term officially ended last summer, has said she will serve until her replacement is confirmed, according to the mayor’s office.

Tabak, the mayor’s spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to a question asking if Barrett will name another replacement for Cabrera before the August election.

The city’s attorney office, at the request of Ald. José Pérez, released an opinion saying it appears Cabrera could continue to serve on the board if she is elected to the state Assembly.

The “two offices do not appear to be incompatible, though we cannot predict how a court would ultimately rule in any particular case,” City Attorney Grant Langley wrote in the letter dated June 29.

Needs Common Council approval

Appointees to the Fire and Police Commission must appear before Common Council’s Public Safety and Health Committee before being approved by the full Common Council.

The committee’s last regular meeting before the August break is July 19, but a special meeting could be called to take up the matter.

Cocroft worked for the Milwaukee Fire Department from 1980 through 2012, when he retired at the rank of lieutenant.

Since then, he has worked as a temporary background investigator for the Milwaukee Police Department and part-time as a hazardous materials technician.

Gielow worked for the Milwaukee Police Department from 1959 through 2000 when he retired at the rank of deputy police chief.

He has since worked as a law enforcement analyst and consultant in Wisconsin and Illinois.