2026-10-14 - Finance & Personnel Committee

00:00.74] Marina Dimitrijevic, Chairwoman joined by my Vice Chairman Alderman Peter Bergalis, Alderman

00:05.48] Scott Spiker is here, Alderman Millele Cox is here as well, just there coming on in,

00:10.76] and Alderman Charlin Moore. That does provide us a quorum to continue our work here on the

00:17.15] Mayor's proposed 2027 budget. That's item 126001. Today we will hear from the Mayor's

00:24.78] Office, Department of Administration, and then at 1 p.m. we'll begin the Department

00:29.76] of Compliance and Engagement and the Department of Community Wellness and Safety. There will

00:34.94] be a break if we need one because we cannot begin until 1 p.m. so if DOA concludes at

00:40.46] that time. Also just want to remind everybody we'll see you on Saturday at the Mitchell

00:46.26] Street Library from 930 to 11 for the Finance and Personnel Committee's budget meeting

00:51.79] in our community. With that we'll now welcome the Mayor's Office, please come on up. First

00:58.22] we'll go to Budget Director Kovach, we'll have a brief presentation, and then we go

01:02.42] to the department head. So with that, good morning, Director Kovach. Good morning, Madam

01:06.66] Chair, committee members, Nick Kovach, Director of the Budget Management Division. Here to

01:10.66] present the slides for the Mayor's Office is Brian Reinders. Good morning, Madam Chair,

01:15.43] committee members, Brian Reinders, Budget Management Division. Just a note, on Monday

01:19.15] I wore this tie. Yes. The purse won, therefore I'm wearing the tie again, hopefully for a

01:23.07] similar result. Please wear it, yes, today and tomorrow please. The 2027 proposed budget

01:28.47] for the Mayor's Office includes $2.3 million. That is an increase of $148,000 or 7%. That

01:34.51] increase is related to changes in the salary budget. The first third of this $102,000 is

01:40.39] just related to 2026 colos carrying forward at 2027. The remaining two-thirds of that

01:46.51] increase is a budget transfer from the Department of Employee Relations to the Mayor's Office,

01:51.51] transferring one management training full-time position, currently budgeting DER but working

01:56.03] with the Mayor's Office and we're putting that position in the Mayor's Office in 2027.

01:59.73] So while it is an increase in the Mayor's Office, it is not an increase in the city

02:03.23] overall budget. The 27 proposed budget includes $57,000 for their operating expenditures.

02:09.63] That is no change from 2026. They have no equipment. They have no special funds. They

02:14.41] have no special purpose accounts. So like I said, the 27 proposed budget includes $2.3

02:19.89] million and about funding for 15.47 FDEs for the Mayor's Office. And with that, I'll

02:26.99] turn it over to Chief of Staff Desiado. >> Okay. Good morning, Chief of Staff Desiado.

02:30.31] How are you? >> Doing well. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good

02:33.45] morning, committee members. Nick Desiado, Mayor of Kevlar-Johnson's Chief of Staff.

02:37.21] I would note I did not wear a tie on the other Brewers games and I'm not wearing a

02:40.89] tie again today. With that being said, I will be very brief with our remarks. But

02:47.13] I also want to thank committee members. This is an important task and responsibility of

02:52.29] our common council. These are long deliberations. It's an important role. So thank you in advance

02:57.15] for your work on our budget. With that being said, as it relates to our state priorities,

03:03.02] its fiscal responsibility, public safety, affordable and healthy neighborhoods, climate

03:07.02] sustainability resilience, as well as building and growing our city citywide are the main

03:11.94] priorities of this office as it relates to our key performance indicators. They are mostly

03:19.49] similar to what we've done in the past in terms of our overall providing constituent

03:25.43] responses. Serving youth is a theme and a priority for this office, whether it be through

03:31.03] some of our signature programming like Camp Rise, Earn and Learn, Adopt a School, et cetera,

03:37.39] as well as outreach directly with different youth organizations. We certainly do a lot

03:42.51] of community outreach and meetings throughout the community, as do each of you. And then

03:47.15] finally as we had highlighted earlier, really made a concerted effort to do greater constituent

03:54.59] outreach as it relates to budget and we're very proud to have over 2200 responses to

04:00.51] our survey as well as direct outreach in people's neighborhoods, backyards, living

04:04.63] rooms and just being better informed of what our constituents want in preparation for this

04:10.23] budget. In terms of major updates, as Mr. Reinders has stated, we are converting a

04:16.48] long time management trainee position over to communications assistant. Since at least

04:21.24] 2014 and we believe before then this position has always been in DR assigned to the mayor's

04:26.64] office. It's just picking that position up and moving it over into our office. It's

04:30.92] always been somebody who has been assigned to the mayor's office and is budget neutral.

04:35.54] And then finally, that's our demographics, which we continue to be very proud of the

04:39.54] diversity of our office and 100% residency. It concludes my remarks and I'm happy to

04:44.55] take any and all questions. Thank you very much.

04:46.83] Thank you so much. That is an outstanding residency. Thank you. We will begin on my

04:54.38] right with Alderwoman Millele Coggs. I want to recognize we have some wonderful colleagues.

05:00.28] We always recognize we love having our colleagues here, Alderwoman Andrea Pratt and Alderman

05:05.17] Russell Stamper. Thank you for coming. Per usual, we begin with finance members and

05:09.98] go through at least one round and then we'll check in with our colleagues. So with that,

05:13.38] Alderwoman Millele Coggs. Thank you, Madam Chair. How has the city access to federal

05:26.20] infrastructure grants changed in 2026? And how can residents expect federal agencies

05:32.28] to partner with the city on infrastructure priorities in 2027?

05:39.08] So in terms of, does this also relate to like FEMA type relief? Yeah. So we've been

05:44.61] working with, obviously we've been opening on our emergency management director. It doesn't

05:48.55] mean we don't continue to do work in absence of that position, but also working with our

05:52.80] county partners, providing communication, something that we, I believe over the summer

05:58.28] had shared some of the information about how to apply for some of those grants. We've

06:01.84] administered them in partnership. We use a Milwaukee public school school to facilitate

06:08.60] some of the outreach as it relates to accessing some of these federal funds. We are working

06:13.28] almost every day at this point with the city attorney's office, as I know council members

06:17.08] are in trying to navigate some of the challenges with federal regulations, continues to be

06:21.36] a priority and we'll continue to do outreach to folks. We want people to use these resources.

06:26.44] They should be, if Milwaukeeans are harmed, they should be able to access all available

06:30.88] federal resources. So it's, it's a, continue to be communication. And as we have information,

06:37.04] we'll be sure to pass along because you have outreach that's unique to our outreach and

06:40.88] making sure people are equipped with these options. The city comptroller and budget director

06:47.03] have repeatedly discussed the city's structural budget issues tied to shared state revenue,

06:52.59] the expenditure restraint program and act 12. How does the mayor's office plan to advocate

06:57.83] for our fiscal solvency after the November 2026 election? Yeah, that's a great question.

07:03.64] And I, and I understand that's obviously a shared priority is, uh, as we don't know what

07:08.68] the iteration of our state legislature and state governor will look like. Um, but there

07:13.92] are really any options there don't change that one of our, if not type priority has

07:20.34] to be fiscal solvency. We know as it's been well reported that we'd be receiving over

07:25.31] $200 million more a year if we didn't have the, uh, stall in a growth of shared revenue

07:33.35] about 15, 20 years ago, which has placed us in an incredibly precarious position. Uh,

07:38.81] with that being said, we are optimistic that our shared lobbying in Madison will result

07:45.51] in a fair deal for Milwaukee. That's what we've all asked for. We are the economic

07:50.75] driver of the state and we believe that we have gotten the short end of the stick for

07:55.00] a very long time. With that being said, we are very proud of the collective movement

08:00.51] we've made to loosen up, uh, the increases in shared revenue. Obviously with act 12,

08:06.43] there are many pros and there are many cons, but that included the ability to have a local

08:10.15] sales tax, which has also been a critical part to remain solvent. It is a priority.

08:15.73] It is one of the highest priorities. It might be the number one priority as well as with

08:19.01] public safety, um, and other items with our upcoming legislature.

08:23.77] Do you think we're prepared on day one, say, uh, after, uh, whoever wins in November is

08:30.97] sworn in, in January. If there is the shift that some people think will happen, um, to

08:35.45] a much more favorable, um, towards Milwaukee, um, Madison, are we ready day one to go advocate

08:41.57] for the things that we, um, feel we need? Yeah. Our intergovernmental relations division

08:46.85] doesn't stop just cause legislature's out of session. Hence the similar with the legislative

08:51.17] affairs division rights, a year round assignment and responsibility for a reason. Uh, that

08:55.45] is something, and I'm glad you asked that, uh, that's what they've been doing in their

08:59.01] kind of quote unquote off season is preparing, is, uh, preparing those relationships, developing

09:04.01] those relationships, understanding there's a great unknown for it, but it is our expectation

09:08.73] that come day one where you're ready to hit the ground running. Absolutely. Thank you.

09:13.62] That's all I have at this moment, Madam Chair. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. All

09:17.38] the Roman cogs. We'll now move on to Alderman Peter Bergales. Thank you, Madam Chair.

09:21.68] Um, thank you for being here. The city has been involved in, um, a lot of different kinds

09:27.12] of litigation, uh, to recover damages, uh, do the city. Um, there are, there are a few

09:34.21] of these that are pending. There are a few that are still under consideration, but can

09:37.42] you talk a little bit about how the mayor's office is taking the lead in protecting the

09:42.48] wellbeing of the city, uh, in using litigation as a tool to recover damages, uh, for funds

09:49.50] for, um, uh, things that we're owing? Yeah, no, it's, it's a great question. And look,

09:55.86] sometimes litigation's a shield. Sometimes it's a sword, right? Sometimes we are saving

10:00.08] taxpayer money by taking cases as a defendant all the way to trial rather than settle. Sometimes

10:06.34] settlement is the more fiscally responsible option. I understand your question to be more

10:10.46] on the sword side of proactive litigation, right? Um, and you know, it's one of those

10:15.42] things that perhaps in closed session we can have more candid conversations because I understand

10:20.27] that council's also had conversations with council about some prospective plaintiff litigation.

10:24.43] But the reality is, is we have a new iteration of the city attorney's office. Uh, they have

10:30.06] been crushing it. Uh, they've been proactive as it relates to at the neighborhood level.

10:35.31] And that's something that in a past life of mine, I had an opportunity, uh, to spend

10:39.29] a lot of time doing proactive nuisance litigation, including with a number of alters that are

10:43.69] here today. Uh, we need to get back to that and do more of that. I know they're focusing

10:47.93] on that, but there's also ones where we, to your point where we are owed money, we matter.

10:53.19] Our residents matter. And to the end, to the answer your question directly, hell yeah,

10:58.50] we should be considering plaintiff litigation. Okay. Um, uh, we've talked a little bit about,

11:04.03] uh, the, some state mandates that require the city to do things or provide services,

11:09.24] uh, without any kind of compensation. Uh, is it fair that, uh, Milwaukee public schools

11:15.53] receives general counsel from the city attorney's office to the tune of hundreds of thousands

11:20.30] of dollars of litigation or legal services each year for no cost? Yeah, no, it's a nuance

11:28.85] question, right? State law is silent on who pays. We know that right. There is an obligation

11:34.91] as a city of a first class to provide those services absent. I believe there's four or

11:40.07] five exceptions to that. Right. Um, but in terms of for the cost of that, I think that's

11:45.00] something that still should be discussed. We have a amazing relationship with this superintendent.

11:52.28] We have a new found restored partnership with Milwaukee public schools that I still

11:57.60] think we've had in a long time. Uh, we created our adopt a school program where we have

12:03.74] city departments embedded in schools throughout the city, focusing on literacy, improving

12:09.50] those relationships. I also understand your question to be okay, but our city tax dollars

12:15.19] are going towards a resource that's not directly a city department, but I think the questions

12:19.75] more nuanced because these are also our kids. And so do I have a direct answer? Should

12:24.12] we be paid penny for penny? I don't have a direct answer for you to give you a direct

12:28.00] answer. Um, but I think it's a fair negotiation. I think it's a fair discussion that's been

12:32.51] out there for probably decades. When I was in city attorney's office 10 years ago, we

12:36.39] were having the same discussion and I know it's before us today. All right. Thank you

12:40.98] for that. Um, has there, when this term started act 12 was brand new and, uh, we were gearing

12:49.19] up getting ready to, um, start a proactive litigation to address questionably constitutional

12:58.16] provisions of act 12 that hasn't gone anywhere. Who's going, who's charges that to lead on

13:07.42] challenging act 12 better protect the city of Milwaukee. Well, there's a couple layers

13:13.70] to that. One is the easy pun, right? City attorney's office, but that's not the question

13:17.64] you're trying to get answered. Right. Um, there was a lot of work and I know there's

13:21.79] a lot of discussions in open and closed session as it relates to the viability of chart of,

13:26.55] uh, litigation in the wake of act 12. And to the extent that there were measures that

13:33.13] we felt were strong challenges and weren't strong challenges. I'm not going to discuss

13:35.97] that in open session, but this does go back to older woman cogs question about what happens

13:41.17] with the new legislature. I think that has to be one of the highest priorities. I still

13:46.17] think fiscal solvency is the number one priority, but reevaluating the policy elements of act

13:52.21] 12 that were disfavorable that I think everybody in this room shares that's on the, that's

13:57.36] on the menu for things to renegotiate. And I don't want to get into policy questions

14:01.60] during a budget hearing, but I appreciate the answers and the candor. Uh, uh, thank

14:05.52] you very much, madam chair. Thank you, mister. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thanks so much.

14:10.85] Um, I'm your alderman. So you can call me alderman. That's okay. No, okay. No, okay.

14:17.17] Whatever works. Um, so we'll keep moving on. I have a question, um, back to, I want

14:23.15] to kind of bring it back to the specifics of the department. Um, I know I've reached

14:29.22] out to your office, um, more times recently than in the past. The common council, um,

14:35.80] has seen an incredible increase of calls for service. Um, and we're trying to still

14:42.27] figure out some of these systems, whether it be a Cela, we were talking about flood

14:45.79] yesterday and how you can pull things from there or even like potholes and it's not

14:50.45] mirroring, um, other systems that departments are using. And it's certainly not reflecting

14:55.66] what I think is one of our most powerful tools, which is anecdotally calls to the office,

15:00.84] emails to the office, or we are out there every single day and we're like a walking,

15:05.49] you know, uh, town hall, right? Um, there has been, I would say 30 to 40% increase

15:11.89] in issues not being resolved. So I just want to know who, how do we elevate that? Um,

15:21.54] I don't always just go to the department head. I kind of wait and work my way up,

15:25.50] but which position specifically in the mayor's office, like, do you want us to use mayor

15:29.82] at Milwaukee.gov in your budget? Now I see you're moving kind of like, looks, it was

15:35.00] the management to communication, but, um, or maybe the other way around, but how do

15:39.73] you want us to handle those situations when we, when we see trends, um, potholes, streetlights

15:44.58] and they're not, and like, I guess what I called it in one of my communications to

15:47.97] you all was like complaints about complaints. Um, that's, that's what I'm seeing now and

15:53.56] you're hearing from other Alders that I hadn't really seen in the past. So how would you,

15:57.68] since you all are the CEO of the city, how, how can we handle that in our organization

16:02.42] a little bit better? Yeah, no, thank you. And I always appreciate the follow ups and

16:07.17] forwards, the diplomacy of it. We're just trying to solve problems, right? We all just

16:10.89] want to do best by residents. The easy answer is merit, Milwaukee.gov. Uh, it goes to enough

16:16.05] individuals within our staff, within our outreach team. Sometimes it's an outreach

16:20.17] answer. Uh, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's, it's a bureaucratic one, right? Sometimes

16:25.29] it's administrative as it relates to calls that we get to our office. Uh, we have our

16:30.57] internal system that involves logging every call and ensuring that every service request

16:35.41] is satisfied. We follow up with every single one of our calls and make sure that they

16:39.61] are satisfied. And that's an internal process that we have. Um, you know, not all responses

16:46.51] get received the same, unfortunately. Uh, and that's something that we've continued

16:50.67] stress with our departments, uh, that we are a customer focused industry in being a

16:55.27] local government and how you communicate with individuals, even if it's bad news, then

17:00.15] let's be direct, let's be timely with them and let's get back here to answers. So to

17:04.19] answer your question specifically, may or at is fine. Okay. Um, and we'll continue

17:08.43] to follow up. Yeah, I think, um, I, I was a little bit different experience than we

17:14.73] have because, um, I feel that much of my time is kind of, um, for lack of a better

17:21.17] word, chasing departments and like following that communication. So it could be a street

17:26.98] light outage. It could be a pothole. Um, just trying to think of those types of things.

17:31.32] Um, we had some leaf collection discussion, but we send it off there and then we're trying

17:37.99] on behalf of the constituent. And I think what pains me is that these constituents

17:42.51] will say, Hey, I've reported this, you know, five or six times and that's who we want.

17:47.55] These are like important ambassadors in our communities, but then they're not, I think

17:52.70] they're getting a response, but they're obviously not seeing it resolved. So that's the part

17:55.54] I just really want to see if we can maybe do better in 20, 27. Um, in customer service,

18:00.94] we've all been there. Usually the customer is not satisfied. Like the experience is important,

18:04.70] but they really want their problem resolved. And I feel that the common council has had

18:08.48] to expand and we're actually looking, um, in our budget and I hope you all will be open

18:13.42] minded, um, that we're, we're looking at, um, kind of reorganizing what's been like

18:20.18] our auxiliary aides. So like they were part time, they might have to be full time now.

18:24.62] We just can't, some, some of our districts can't get ahead. Um, and it's a new unique

18:29.98] use of resources, um, of call and email volume that's been up 30 or 40%. There's so much

18:35.93] energy. I would ask you to also consider like a constituent services person or contact

18:43.83] in each department. I feel a little bit badly going, you know, to hesmel all the time and

18:49.05] I don't overuse it, but each department in the org chart, we kind of all know our way

18:54.59] and our assistants that have been here, but really we could use, and I would actually

18:58.73] make this like a formal request. Who is the best person for constituent stuff when constituents

19:06.15] in each department? Cause I know we feel comfortable going to the cabinet heads, but

19:10.89] I also don't know if that's the best use of time. So that would be really helpful

19:14.97] if you could get that to us in writing. Yeah. Why don't we make a proverbial one pager

19:19.26] with departments and contact information and let's see if we can't help streamline

19:22.84] it. Okay. I think that would be, and I, I'm seeing my heads nod, but yeah, we've all

19:27.32] seen that increase. So okay, well thank you for that. Let's work on that. We'll now move

19:32.33] on to Alderman Scott Spiker. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. I guess I have

19:37.74] one question relating to the policy team you have in the mayor's office. So back with

19:46.13] Mayor Barrett, you had Aaron Shepinski who was kind of the policy head, then moved to

19:50.49] Mayor Johnson and you had folks in there and Molly King. And now you have a strong

19:55.81] team of three in there, Mr. Knapp, Ms. Dautke and Gabe who's last name escapes me. So that's,

20:04.96] you know, a tripling of the olden days. What work is that policy team typically focusing

20:14.65] on and how has the extra staffing allowed you to broaden maybe or deepen your policy

20:25.46] inquiries in that office? Yeah, thank you, Alderman. Good question. And that individual

20:30.88] was that position had moved from our outreach team into our policy team. So it was just

20:35.60] an internal shift and this happened last year. And when we brought on Gabe, one of

20:42.14] the things that we were really excited about is his expertise as it relates to processing,

20:48.11] producing and putting in a visual medium data. And that's one of the things that we're

20:53.64] really highlighting and prioritizing. And I think you'll see a lot more of that in

20:59.28] 2027 is outward facing data, which in part relates to some of the other questions that

21:04.76] have been asked about how people have access to information, access to solutions. We believe

21:09.84] that there's always an opportunity to increase transparency with city resources, use of resources,

21:16.16] et cetera. So that's one of the things that, for example, is focused out of his position.

21:21.16] But things like we, the mayor declared this year as a year of housing, that doesn't happen

21:25.92] overnight. The proposed policies that come out of it, the rental inspection program that

21:31.80] we're in Alderman Stamper's district, that stuff doesn't happen just overnight involves

21:36.08] a lot of planning and coordinating. And look, sometimes you're the fire extinguisher and

21:41.05] sometimes you're the arsonist. Sometimes you're just dealing with the latest emergencies

21:45.27] and resolving it, which is heavily part of the policy team. And sometimes it's being

21:49.69] proactive with new initiatives and partnerships. So whether it be focusing on our year of

21:54.69] housing, our adopt a school program, working with MPS and what we've called our kids cabinet

22:01.41] program, the rental inspection program, those are types of things that go through our policy

22:05.97] team. Sticking with the data driven angle, of course, for us to be transparent, we don't

22:16.78] have to just, must not just provide the data, but also put it in a form that's digestible

22:23.90] to the public and decision makers as well. So what, do you have areas of expertise in

22:34.79] that group, that small group, or whose job is it to kind of translate this into digestible

22:43.17] form for everybody? Or is that one of Gabe's great gifts?

22:46.61] Well, he's getting his PhD now and his focus on data. He is such a ray of sunshine for

22:53.94] our office, sees the world in a different way and presents information in a different

22:59.28] way. So we're very lucky to have him, but he is our resident expert, but like it's

23:03.28] team city, right? We have other folks that whether they're epidemiologists, whether they

23:07.91] have other programming expertise, which is an important way of how to get data out there.

23:16.24] We have partners in all the departments across the board that we work collectively with,

23:22.30] including a lot of folks that are in DOA right behind me that have expertise and data.

23:27.02] Well, not yet. So in my head, there's thousands of people behind me. It's packed, right? Everybody

23:33.06] is excited about this budget. You've been to a mall. You can't see that on TV. There's

23:42.46] thousands of people here. I took it as my former neighbor. And I do have a bunch of

23:57.98] questions that probably are more appropriately directed to do a. But I guess one question

24:04.37] for the mayor's office is the general approach to implementing AI tools into how we do governance.

24:12.05] So I know I.T.M.D. I know director of Innovation Bowl, had several conversations with them

24:18.69] about this. But I did see when the first while new library director was being considered

24:26.40] that her focus on technology and AI was maybe an attractive element there. So just wanted

24:33.24] to get your general take. I know we're government. We're not the private sector. We have to be

24:38.96] cautious in ways we can't just break things and move on. So but what is the general approach,

24:44.68] I guess, coming from the mayor's office on this important new technology? Yeah, thank

24:49.15] you. I suspect some folks in my office are laughing right now because I do prioritize

24:55.03] the use of AI as a tool. It does not replace the human experience. AI does not have a sense

25:01.31] of our community. AI has comments and responses that you kind of shrug because there it's

25:07.59] digesting data from multiple sources that don't necessarily reflect our interest and

25:12.15] priorities. With that being said, lots of data distilled into digestible data. That's

25:18.67] a really good use of AI. Being able to look through thousands of data points and putting

25:24.28] into something that's cohesive and understandable, that's that's helpful. It can be and it's

25:29.18] a silly thing to do be a thought partner of here's an idea spit it out. Here's 10 reasons

25:34.02] why this might be a good or bad idea. You still need a human element to confirm whether

25:38.58] it's a good or bad idea, but why not tap into those resources? I'm actually going

25:44.09] to be doing a we have a staff training on Friday and my portion of it is about how

25:49.41] AI can be a successful tool to supplement our day to day operations. So it's something

25:54.29] that I do value. I think there is an efficiency to it, but there's also a moral responsibility

25:59.09] to it. There's also a work product responsibility. You damn well be better be citing to your

26:04.35] sources and it better not just be from AI. I need to know where it came from. With that

26:09.11] being said, it is an incredibly valuable tool that if used well is an efficiency and

26:15.28] it's something that we celebrate in this office to use appropriately. And the last

26:19.19] question for me is is pretty speculative. I know you have the law background act 10.

26:27.96] So not act 12, but act 10 before the courts, something might happen there. We don't know

26:32.66] what might happen there. Have you kind of, has the office kind of gamed out the various

26:40.03] possibilities including that the unions that lost collective bargaining right suddenly

26:46.09] have it and that would change the world quite a bit. So not asking for you to speculate

26:53.07] on how the case is going to break, but are you all game planning for eventualities?

26:57.71] Yeah, there's a lot of iterations that could come out of that case, right? It could be

27:03.30] maintaining the status quo. It could be reversing entirely or it could just be changing who

27:07.94] is impacted by it. With that being said, one that returns some of the previous rights

27:15.67] of government employees pre act 10 would mean we'd probably have to step up, right?

27:20.69] It's a different responsibility. We currently have three recognized unions, but we also

27:26.89] like our employees that are part of asking me are real and I hear from them sometimes

27:33.08] three, four or five times a week and we work well together. We value our employees and

27:40.53] if we're all doing our jobs right, then their jobs should be really easy because they are

27:44.92] getting fair wages because they are having safe work employment conditions and because

27:51.46] we are listening to them. So we continue to operate very proactively and constructively

27:57.85] with our employees that work under that banner. We respect them greatly and their feedback.

28:05.85] If there is a change in terms of act 10 and the ability to unionize, it's a lot, but

28:14.65] it is out of our hands and we'll deal with it accordingly. But like I said, I think we'd

28:18.33] have to staff up because we have a world-class labor negotiator who is far superior than

28:23.64] her predecessor, but she can't do it alone. Okay, that's it for me for now. Thanks.

28:31.23] Okay, we'll go to Alderwoman Moore and then I'll open it up to our colleagues here in

28:34.87] case there's a second round. Alderwoman Charlin Moore. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Nick,

28:41.49] you talked a little bit about the adaptive school program. Exciting that you all are.

28:47.13] Our city employees are engaging in that opportunity. If I can get a data request though, how many

28:54.39] are just matrix of city staff that have participated, the number of schools that they've supported

28:59.65] and the number of hours served so that we can get a sense of, you know, is this an engaging

29:07.16] program if it's something that we can continue to tell other folks about, that sort of thing.

29:12.74] So that would be excellent. I wanted to talk about the, I think I'll start here, the lead

29:18.78] service lines. I know that we have a deadline for 2037 to, you know, meet the EPA's requirement

29:28.76] and we have an expansion of lead line replacements for 25 and 26. Can you talk to us to let

29:36.54] us know, are we on track for those requirements? Yeah, thank you for the question. Happy to

29:46.03] give feedback in the data. Obviously, you've been a champion of partnerships with youth

29:50.47] groups for a very, very long time. I know it's near and dear in your heart. As it relates

29:54.86] to lead service lines, so we saw about a 24% increase last year in our lead service line

30:00.26] replacement. We continue to ramp up. We continue to develop efficiencies the more we do it

30:04.74] just like anything that you do. Our goal is to finish at least on schedule, if not ahead

30:12.17] of schedule. It's one of those deals too that we've seen with different presidencies

30:18.14] that's changed what funding looks like. So there's a lot of speculation into the question,

30:23.86] but our folks in waterworks are acutely aware of the priority to get this done. The last

30:31.19] time I had a phone call on it was last night. It's six 30. So it's something that is still

30:36.59] it's very real. It was a larger thing when it was publicly, when it was new, but it's

30:41.90] still a whole lot of work, a lot of replacement needs to be done and we're going to be a better

30:46.83] city afterwards. So we continue to ramp up and our expectation is to be at least on

30:56.48] schedule, if not ahead. That's great. And do we know on the customer side, because I

31:03.02] know that, you know, there are probably a small percentage of residents that also have

31:09.40] had issues, like when those lines were replaced, it posed some challenges for the residents.

31:17.86] Have you all heard or have kept track about that sort of communication on the resident

31:23.18] side of the challenges? Candidly, I don't have a good answer for you. I'm not directly

31:28.68] in the loop with that feedback. We'd have to check in with folks in waterworks. Okay.

31:33.89] Okay. Well, I would just be making up an answer. Yeah. Well, let's make a note of

31:39.69] that for sure. Moving on to traffic calming measures. Love that there are bike lanes

31:47.97] and protected bike lanes that are going in. A lot of my residents, they love it and they

31:54.17] definitely want to see more. And I know that, you know, we're looking to, what is this,

32:00.22] have over 51 miles of protected bike ways under development by the end of this year.

32:07.09] Two things. Are we on track for that? And the other piece of, other part of that question

32:12.45] is because there's also the maintenance of it, right? How are we planning to not only

32:20.40] maintain it because, you know, they're paintings, they're, you know, they're things that happen

32:26.17] to these bike lanes as well as making sure that they're cleaned out because that was

32:30.79] another issue that we've received, you know, numerous complaints and calls about. How do

32:37.87] we also plan to make sure that we're maintaining that infrastructure and financially, how is

32:43.35] that going to work? Yeah. Thank you. I mean, I'm going to start

32:45.93] with the why it's providing a safe, if not at least safer environment for a bicyclist,

32:53.22] of course. It's also, as you had framed it accurately, a traffic calming initiative.

32:58.21] We've had a 19% decrease in fatalities. That's huge.

33:04.16] Yeah. But when you have, when you're adding infrastructure,

33:07.56] you now have more infrastructure costs for repair. So everything you said is spot on.

33:12.90] It hasn't slowed us down. I mean, we just announced, I want to say two days ago, an

33:16.36] extension downtown that connected to bike trails off of Jackson street. So we're going

33:22.69] to continue to move full speed ahead. But with that being said, yeah, part of the budget

33:26.89] is going to continue to be maintaining our bike trails and continuing to make them visually

33:32.57] appealing, right? If they look like a mess, why would you use them?

33:37.83] Absolutely. Right. So that's part of our planning and

33:40.03] budgeting, of course. Yeah, no, it's a yes. Okay.

33:46.42] We look forward to that because I think many residents in the city of Milwaukee uses that

33:53.07] infrastructure to, because, you know, that's for some of them, they love biking. That's

33:58.23] their main primary source of transportation. But when we create an infrastructure that

34:03.31] we can't maintain, it's also pretty challenging. And so I want to make sure if that we're building

34:09.37] something that we also have plans to maintain it. Thank you so much for that.

34:16.30] I'll tee up one last question. So, and I think my colleague, the alderwoman sort of

34:23.96] alluded to this when we talk about department's heads. I think my question really centers

34:29.39] around accountability. And so what is sort of the management style approach that the

34:38.89] administration takes when it comes to how we support our leaders, recruit our leaders,

34:46.52] and again, hold them accountable because, you know, when things happen, you know, yes,

34:52.44] we can reach out to, you know, has the mail or director Kreshki or, you know, but when

35:00.70] it comes to overarching things about that level of accountability, how do you all go

35:05.74] about holding your department heads accountable? Yep. No, I love that question. Organizational

35:12.66] behavior is a critical part of a mayor's office. It includes recruiting top talent,

35:18.48] but also understanding that sometimes you bring in people that are very high ceiling,

35:22.64] but they got some room to grow. What I mean by that is folks that have all the it skills,

35:27.08] but maybe not the technical skills. One of the things that we started this year was

35:31.56] a one week boot camp for all new leaders who had started in the last week and a half.

35:36.28] We Jim Ozarski, our city clerk, kindly was one of our presenters. We focused on kind

35:41.72] of the what is government one on one, and they got more nuanced. We had an entire day

35:45.84] committed to human resources, which is a very challenging field, especially for new

35:51.17] managers. We had a follow up six month check in cohort to continue those relationships.

35:58.21] That's something that we hadn't previously done, at least in this administration of

36:01.53] having concerted all day onboarding, because what's happens is you bring somebody in with

36:06.93] an amazing skill set and then they say, oh yeah, by the way, do a budget. Oh yeah. Make

36:11.57] sure you properly use FMLA. Oh yeah, make sure that you document this thing or file

36:16.89] this thing that way. We've done a concerted effort to have training on the front end,

36:20.61] but that is just a fraction of a fraction of what we've done. We also do monthly virtual

36:26.29] trainings where we focus on what are issues to sure that based on survey feedback from

36:31.50] our department heads, what are things they want to learn about? We also do quarterly

36:35.87] all day training on significant issues. We recently had one involving leadership where

36:41.07] we had folks in for our whole cabinet in for about six, seven hours, focusing specifically

36:46.27] on leadership, which is one of the things that they wanted more training and feedback

36:49.49] on. On top of that, we have regular in person check ins. Sometimes it's with the mayor

36:56.58] and myself. Sometimes it's just with me. That happens almost every single day I'm meeting

37:01.24] with a cabinet member on just regular check ins. On top of that, we also have every two

37:08.08] to three months we bring in our departments where they do give feedback on where the

37:11.32] progress is specifically as it relates to their KPIs because if you're going to measure

37:15.64] success, you need something to measure it by. That concludes at the end of the year

37:20.52] where we have them provide a brief recap of what they've done, but prospectively what

37:24.92] is your vision for the upcoming year? So we can have discussions about that. Really

37:29.04] you want KPIs to say similar because otherwise how do you measure them year to year, but

37:33.56] sometimes you need to adjust them, but we put a lot of focus on how do you measure what

37:38.28] success looks like? One of the things that I talked to our staff about is what is your

37:41.96] goal and how do you accomplish it? It's so easy to start with here's how I'm going to

37:45.48] fix it. I'm going to do this, this, and this, but what's your goal? What are you really

37:49.04] trying to do? Because if it's I want to process say permit applications. Well, I want 2,000

37:56.73] applications out of 1,500. Well, you're not, you don't affect that number. It's how many

38:00.54] people come to you. We want to do a more timely, right? We want them to be done accurately.

38:06.60] We want to make sure that people know how to access this service. That's what a KPI

38:10.88] is. So those are things that we focus on within our department heads as it relates

38:15.44] to accountability, as it relates to measurements, and as it relates to just making sure that

38:20.12] we're all pulled on the same side of the road. Our employee, um, like surveys, a part

38:26.68] of that, um, you know, so it, so, and the other part of that is, um, like looking at

38:33.14] formal evaluation. And I don't know if a formal evaluation equates to your KPIs. Um, but

38:39.94] I'm curious to know our, um, employee surveys to, you know, talk about or stat as well

38:47.14] as other staff surveys, um, to see how that individual is doing. Is that part of that

38:52.50] process? Yeah, I'm glad you asked that. So for our end of the year meeting with the

38:57.64] departments, one of the things that we added for this year was the results from the employee

39:01.68] engagement survey. And so, excuse me, you don't measure staff by what the results are,

39:07.91] whether they're high or low. You measure on what is your plan to address them? Because

39:11.82] people inherit all different conditions and environments with their staff. Uh, it's a

39:16.10] huge wealth of knowledge. The data points here, city clerk's common council also had

39:20.78] feedback from it. I would highly encourage, uh, for your department to take a deep dive

39:26.40] into those results. Those are a factor, but how you're addressing it. So whether it's

39:31.80] a higher low score is not whether you're doing a good or bad job, but I need to make

39:35.78] sure I see improvement where the low things are and I need to make sure you're retaining

39:38.90] where the good things are. So it is an explicit, uh, addition to our end of the year, uh,

39:45.44] meeting with the departments. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I'll pass it on. Thank you,

39:50.83] Madam Chair. Thank you so much. The committee, I want to open it up now. If, if there is

39:54.59] a second round before that, I want to check in with our colleagues, Alderman Stamper,

39:58.27] anything for the mayor's office? Yes, it is. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning.

40:04.49] How was, I'm thinking about training. How was the mayor's office working with employment

40:07.97] wonky to use every funding source available, uh, for training and partnerships, uh, with,

40:14.89] with, uh, different vendors with different organizations that provide training. Yeah.

40:18.45] Uh, you got plan for the future. Sure. I haven't talked to the executive director

40:22.25] since four o'clock yesterday. Uh, we have a great relationship with employee Milwaukee.

40:27.13] Ms. Kao is crushing it over there. So, uh, we work as a partner. Um, just yesterday

40:33.81] I met with a nonprofit and we're looking to partner them because they're focusing on

40:39.01] workforce of how they could incorporate that into some of the efforts from employee Milwaukee.

40:44.23] That's also just from yesterday. So we continue to have those dialogues. Uh, Ms. Kao sits

40:50.29] in our cabinet meetings. She's a part of our leadership decisions, even though she's

40:54.49] not an appointee of the mayor, but that, that program works, you know, we have to be

40:59.43] hand in glove there. And it's one of the things that all the women more, for example,

41:02.17] with earn and learn, right? Those are, those are partnerships that are great opportunities

41:05.61] for youth. You know, our theory of change is that we have a lot of day to day issues

41:11.51] that we have to address, but if we want a strong healthy city, we have to focus on

41:14.93] youth. And that means investing from people from very early on into their adolescence

41:20.65] and into their adulthood, which is one of the why reasons why four years ago we created

41:24.61] camp rise to address the proliferation of auto theft through Kia boys that people were

41:30.85] folks in 15 and 16 year olds. And we said, what about the 10, 11, 12, 13 year olds,

41:36.77] which is wild to think about, but we know like real talk, those individuals are beginning

41:41.57] to enter into a bad pathway. So we created a wildly popular and highly successful program

41:47.19] in partnership with employee Milwaukee to focus on youth and workforce at an incredibly

41:53.17] young age, the youngest program in the country. And it's fortunately getting some national

41:56.97] attention, which is great, but that doesn't happen unless you have a strong relationship

42:01.18] with employment. One of those barriers are on the waiting list. What are we doing to

42:05.94] remove barriers for the waiting list? Yeah. And I think there's perhaps something we

42:11.52] can, yeah, it's, I don't know the day to day operations of employment walking. So

42:16.34] I don't want to speculate on that, but what we do have is a relationship where we could

42:20.46] pick up the phone and say, Hey, what's going on? But the funding is strictly from the city

42:25.36] for employee Milwaukee. Oh, for the, no, it's a combination. There's a lot of philanthropic

42:30.74] money that's coming. Yep. Sure. Okay. Okay. Um, your lobbyists, I put a bunch of stuff

42:38.96] in from, for our lobbyists, but are they working together to improve the calculation

42:43.48] and structure for city of Milwaukee property assessments? And, uh, we need assistance

42:50.33] in getting the state to allow more time for individuals to appeal. It's too quick. So

42:57.23] I'm working with Calvin on that, but are you guys focused on the city of Milwaukee's

43:01.27] assessments and property value and how it's, uh, not in line with certain parts of the

43:08.58] neighborhood. Yeah. I'd have to follow up with you as it relates to anything that's

43:13.02] on our, our, our ledge package for assessments. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Please get back to me on

43:19.07] that. Uh, and then one more, um, all the women more touched on it. Uh, the lead ladders

43:28.71] to 24%. Is that in proportion to the goal of 3000 a year? Or is that higher than that?

43:36.71] Yeah. It's at half to again, get the actual, uh, KPIs, but I think it's about 4,000 actually

43:43.46] for this year. And we anticipate exceeding that this year. Now, is that funding separate

43:47.66] than the, uh, bump out and speed traffic slowing down funding or it's the same funding?

43:53.37] Different funding. Different funding. Okay. Now how many, um, more bump outs are we going

43:57.17] to do? It's a great question for public works. Are they going to be on every corridor? They

44:02.84] get in there. Uh, I don't suspect it'll be every corridor besides capital getting them.

44:09.57] I have to check with public works. Let me know how many more we got you. Yeah. I can

44:18.61] tell real quick on the staff training. Uh, I like to offer something and COVAC may be

44:25.34] a good candidate, but every alderman is different. Every district has priorities. If it would

44:31.13] behoove the department to receive training from alderman on their districts and how an

44:36.58] alderman's day is, I would welcome that. Yeah, we would love that. We did offer to

44:41.14] the legislative assistance training, uh, during, towards the end of recess. And we had a number

44:46.06] of LAs that attended that, um, understanding that relationship has got to work both ways.

44:51.06] And this goes towards one of the earlier questions from the chairwoman about having

44:54.52] access to solving problems and let's help provide, uh, information that might be the

45:02.03] same exact source. So a, a seller was referenced making sure everybody knows how to use them

45:07.21] both ways. So, cause it just adds more time when you have to follow up, pay with the status

45:10.93] and it's like, if you know how to use the system, you can just get the answer even quicker

45:15.17] than me. So those things are, that's why we intentionally created LA training this

45:19.61] year. And that was a great way for departments to dialogue directly, uh, with some of the

45:24.45] LAs. We're going to continue to do stuff, but in terms of the hearing from all of us,

45:28.29] yeah, I'd love to. Sure. Absolutely. One last question. I'm not sure. Uh, Kovec on the

45:35.22] budget, um, remind me when the department's budget is due to you. Second Tuesday in May.

45:42.99] Second Tuesday in May. That's state law, yeah. Okay. Do you present them with amount

45:47.07] of money they can spend and does you leave room for initiatives? Right. In March generally,

45:54.42] we issue instructions for requests and those instructions, um, since I've been here have

46:00.49] been pretty consistent and especially since act 12, they've been consistent because I

46:04.07] think my first budget first or second budget didn't have act 12 in it, but the instructions

46:10.07] are cost to continue. Okay. And then since act 12 we've said, but also submit a supplementary

46:14.60] 5% decrease from prior years adopted. That's provision of act 12. So that's instructed.

46:19.28] And this in recent years, we've also clarified that cost to continue does not mean complete

46:24.16] inertia. It means please be imaginative. If you want to restructure or reinvent your service

46:30.24] delivery model, try to make it budget neutral, you know, so we're not, we're telling you

46:36.39] don't, don't give us a budget that says we're going to increase services and it will cost

46:40.09] us much. Continue current services, which given the cuts that have happened over the

46:43.57] last 20, 30 years, often you can make an argument, well, residents need more services,

46:49.07] but with, with what money, right? So we, we, we do that partly to be realistic, but

46:54.09] we also do it partly because we want as apples to apples as possible. I think for historical

46:59.66] purposes to describe that gap, you know, I spent, I spent a lot of time in this year's

47:04.12] budget introduction and slides talking about the history of the gap. So that gap's not

47:08.20] always a precise number because, you know, we've cleaned some stuff up between May and

47:11.28] September, right? But generally speaking, I would say departments do a really great

47:15.14] job of following those instructions and those instructions are be creative, but in a budget

47:19.62] neutral way to provide current level of services. Excellent. But the increases, are they given

47:26.67] with the increases already calculated? Like we got a bunch of increases every year. Oh,

47:34.07] right. So it, when I say budget, well, that's a good point. I say budget neutral relative

47:39.79] relative to the inertia, so to speak, because basically if, if it's a department just says

47:44.91] no changes, literally no changes, just last year's BNB two, here it is again. But given

47:51.49] that we had a 3% raise, 4% for residents last year, given that on the operating side

47:56.49] contracts go up, construction inflation, et cetera. So the actual, we do our best to

48:02.33] estimate that. I mean, you don't know because this is between March and May when you're

48:05.21] doing these with salaries, you usually know, because we don't make that many salary changes

48:09.01] during the year, especially what we did for a while, but we don't plan to in the future.

48:14.28] So really it's that annual raise should be, but you have to factor that in, you know,

48:17.91] mayor's proposing 2% this year. We'll see, you know, last year that's what the mayor

48:21.36] proposed and the council changed it. So for instance, so last year that 3% is now built

48:25.52] in in March. When we send the letter, take your salary line and multiply it by 3 point,

48:31.49] whatever percent of your department is residents. And then also do your best to estimate fuel

48:37.05] costs, operating costs, all of that. I mean, these are estimates. They get refined over

48:40.65] the summer. We do our best to give you the latest and greatest by September, but you

48:46.07] know, we're making estimates about something that in some cases is 15 months out from when

48:49.59] we did it. I don't know. And then I should have said there's also one, um, one exception

48:55.44] to the cost to continue was police and fire given the other requirements of act 12. So

48:59.58] for instance, the fire department did requests 30 additional FTEs to staff to heavy apparatus.

49:07.22] And we told them that was okay to request that given act 12. We didn't tell them the

49:10.66] exact number, but we said, we understand that act 12 says you must increase. So feel free

49:15.62] to request an increase. So they requested to staffing for two additional heavy apparatus.

49:20.34] The proposed budget includes funding for one. So that was a cut relative to their request,

49:25.20] but that was not costing continue. Same thing. And then with police, it's similar. Yeah.

49:29.95] Thank you very much. Thank you, madam chair. If I could jump in briefly, um, uh, chief

49:39.44] of staff, that's how you mentioned that, uh, legislative aides were trained on how

49:43.79] to better use the cella, but our frustrations mostly come from the fact that departments

49:50.12] aren't using a cella correctly or marking things complete before they're even assigned

49:55.28] to a crew. Um, there are obvious technical limitations when we're using a vendor's platform,

50:02.19] but we customize it a lot. What kind of, um, what kind of technology upgrades are needed

50:10.21] to ensure that crews are using a cella correctly so that we all have that one repository of

50:16.51] up to date information because half, when I get a complaint that, Hey, I reported potholes

50:21.59] last week, last month, six months ago, I look at the, I can find the complaint by that

50:27.29] based on the address and I look at it's marked complete. I can't see who marked it complete.

50:32.77] I can't see when it was completed, but it's in the system. It's done. But on the roadway

50:38.63] in front of the constituents, how home it's not, there's a big gap. And you see, uh,

50:44.95] if you look across the table, there are a lot of nodding heads right now. Everyone experiences

50:48.51] that when you look for your, uh, concern or your complaint, the department has marked

50:53.94] it something that it's not. So, um, what, what has to happen for that? Acella training

51:00.05] to, to trickle down to the department and throughout the administration. Yeah. Admittedly,

51:05.32] I'm not an Acella expert. I was on a call with them a few months ago, uh, as they're

51:09.44] working on some upgrades. Uh, I think they just actually had a conference last week.

51:14.07] Acella did focusing on some of, uh, the work that they're doing. Uh, we have staff that

51:19.05] works actively with DNS on some of these technical challenges. So I don't have an answer

51:23.84] of what specifically of the bullet points you listed. Uh, but I do know that our office

51:29.56] has direct contact with DNS and direct contact with Acella and trying to clean some of the

51:33.72] stuff up. And just like not every DPW division uses Acella, uh, electrical services still

51:41.48] uses paper tickets for dispatch, which is incredibly inefficient, uh, especially when

51:47.74] streetlights are out throughout neighborhoods for a week or more. Just, uh, got an earful

51:55.21] from a constituent last night where streetlights have been out for 28 days out of the last

51:59.65] 30. To be fair, there was a crew working on that at eight o'clock at night up in the

52:05.83] air, trying to fix it, trying to get it to work. But when infrastructure has challenges

52:12.48] and every time it rains, streetlights go out and we know that's going to happen and crews

52:17.41] work hard to try to fix that. We need up-to-date information that we can, uh, share with our

52:23.30] constituents that constituents can go online themselves and find. It's not happening.

52:27.62] I wholeheartedly agree. It's continuing to be a priority is forward facing publicly

52:32.38] available data. Um, Acella is within the umbrella of systems that we've looked at.

52:38.32] So I don't disagree with any of your frustrations. Is there, is there a commitment to fix that

52:42.92] in a certain timeframe? I don't have a timeframe for you, but I do have a commitment that I

52:47.86] have staff directly working with DNS on Acella literally as of last week. There's some head

52:54.31] nods behind you too. That's good. That's the right answer. Um, but my constituents

53:01.69] are asking for a timeline. When can we expect this to be fixed? We'll have to get back

53:08.21] to you on what the timeline is. I, again, I would just be speculating on what that

53:11.41] timeline is. So then I'll ask for a better request or a memo on what the, what the plan

53:16.53] is. We're taking notes, something that we can share with our constituents. Thank you

53:19.65] very much. Yep. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for letting me jump in. Yep. All the women

53:23.93] cogs and I'll go to all the women prep. Um, I'll just talk about AI and the different

53:34.68] computer systems and all of that, you know, and it's ever changing technology that's

53:40.96] out here. Um, there are several municipalities that have gone, um, through security issues

53:48.55] with their cyber stuff, information being held for ransom and, um, stuff being corrupted,

53:55.58] all kinds of things. Um, with this rapid change in technology and our movements toward

54:01.77] more AI and different, um, systems, uh, are we taking a proper precautions cyber security

54:10.62] wise to at least try to ensure, um, the safety and security of, uh, utilization of all of

54:19.26] this technology. Yeah. No, thank you for the question. Uh, our city contracts with gov

54:24.83] AI, which is a closed loop system as opposed to, uh, other, um, public facing AI's that

54:33.04] are free or for charge. Uh, we use gov AI by design because it has additional safety

54:39.84] measures and maybe it's not as smart as other systems, uh, but it's pretty effective and

54:46.16] it's a lot safer. That was part of it. Cyber security remains a high priority. Uh, I suspect

54:52.00] every year it'll be increasingly more of a priority, right? We understand proliferation

54:56.76] of AI means, uh, more opportunities for people to abuse that technology. So we've really

55:02.70] ramped up our cyber security training. You probably get an email every few weeks to do

55:07.36] different training. A lot of it is focused on cyber security. It's something that our

55:11.88] city shop, uh, prioritizes. And if there are anybody, nobody's still behind us. Um,

55:17.60] but, uh, our chief information officer would be nodding his head. So yeah, those are,

55:22.77] those things are front of mind. It's a real concern. Absolutely. Uh, we do track what

55:28.00] other cities do. Uh, I'm not aware of them having circumstances that we feel a similar

55:32.62] risk to, but that is not a challenge to anybody who's watching. Um, you mentioned earlier

55:41.64] when you were talking about a ID, um, also importance of, um, employees not to have

55:47.47] us a whole reliance on it. Um, when they're submitting stuff or whatever, do we have

55:52.95] guidelines, um, for employees about AI utilization? It's being worked on. It was something that

56:01.02] as we continue to be pushing it out, um, we need to make sure that we have consistent

56:06.35] guidelines for that, for our use. Okay. Um, earlier you spoke about, uh, leadership.

56:17.21] It's funny, Ottoman spike. And I was just talking about this. Was it yesterday? Um,

56:22.76] I appreciate the fact of what you said about the training that you are, the bootcamp that

56:27.16] you all have started. I just would encourage you to continue to find ways, um, as you

56:32.23] bring on new leaders that had departments, had divisions, um, to assess where they are

56:41.86] at, um, but also create around them and cultivate around them opportunities for improving and

56:47.30] honing their leadership skills. I think too often we have great folks, um, who have multiple

56:54.33] responsibilities and may be good at some of them, but not all of them. And it's kind

56:58.65] of like a sink or swim, um, situation. And, um, I think as a city, we can't afford for

57:05.19] anybody to sink. Um, so it's important that where we can, we offer those opportunities

57:10.72] for leadership growth. Um, also, um, myself and Ottoman Perez had previously, um, done

57:20.03] legislation that the city attorney said we needed to tweak. So it, um, has not gone

57:24.43] through yet about having, um, commissioners and directors, uh, meet with council members

57:31.39] annually so that some of the stuff that Ottoman Stanford was speaking to about learning the

57:37.19] districts and expectations per district. Cause we're, though there are a lot of similarities,

57:41.75] there are a lot of differences too, um, that would give opportunities for one, for them

57:46.27] to share with us, um, things that their department or division have, um, done within our district.

57:52.67] Um, but two for us to share with our experience and what the experience of the residents,

57:57.03] um, that they've shared with us has been in, um, the, the utilization of the services

58:02.51] that that division or department, um, provides. Um, and we do expect to bring that legislation

58:09.47] back, but I just also want to say on the record, I appreciate the mayor's office willingness

58:14.99] to direct staff to have the means regardless of whether or not it was legislated or not.

58:20.79] And for those commissioners who did reach out to each of us, um, to have those meetings,

58:25.19] I think that's a critical piece of, um, that, um, education about some of the differences,

58:31.42] um, with our, um, districts. And I hope that continues whether the legislation, um, goes

58:36.38] through or not. Um, I think my last thing is just this. No, no, I have two things.

58:43.96] What was the thinking of the mayor's office when you put into the budget, the 2%, um,

58:49.88] cause I, you know, we've all sat at the hearing and have heard and will hear on Saturday.

58:56.13] I'm sure, um, demands for the $2, um, raise. Um, but it's a, it's a, it's a large difference

59:03.85] between the 2% and the $2. So I'm just wondering, you know, what was the thinking on landing

59:10.60] on the 2% in this proposed budget? Yeah. Thank you. Um, I appreciate your other comments.

59:17.08] The, there's a, about a $15 million Delta between 2% and $2, right? It's a very significant

59:24.08] number as it relates specifically to 2% and this is some of the director Kovac has said

59:29.57] before the mayor shares can't afford, you can't afford not to write if we are going

59:34.79] to be committed to our employees, it's more than just training. It's more than recognition.

59:39.19] It's also recognizing through salary. It's not lost on us that CPI is often higher than

59:45.96] 2%. It very much becomes a fiscal question. And after I believe 17 years of no raises

59:55.12] after 17 years of having at least one, if not one or two furloughs.

60:00.03] That was a priority for this Mayor to say okay we got to figure it out. And the 2% is done

60:08.75] in partnership with other efforts that we've worked on for our employees. Whether it be

60:15.70] from benefits which is very real and I can tell you when I first day I started here when

60:20.31] I had a lot less gray hair and much shorter hair, I didn't appreciate benefits the same

60:26.70] way that I do today. You don't appreciate a pension, you don't appreciate health care,

60:31.93] you know especially if you don't have kids or other responsibilities. That's part of

60:36.09] it as well. Also doing a massive market study that went before this body. You had hearing

60:43.20] after hearing after hearing after hearing for reclassifications of market studies. So

60:48.59] I'm answering the question that way because I think it's more holistic than just an annual

60:54.32] 2%. It's recognizing that we were out of date and out of touch with our market studies.

61:01.01] Understanding that anecdotally we had departments that might have had 5 or 6 people apply and

61:05.77] then after we made these changes had hundreds of people apply. There was a reference earlier

61:11.59] to data from our employees in the employee engagement survey and the number one positive

61:20.64] was that employees felt well paid which is wild to hear that from a government agency

61:25.04] that's just not common. And the fact that that was the number one most probative feedback

61:31.77] citywide is telling that we're doing something right and that is not an concession from

61:37.92] our employees saying don't pay us more or don't continue to do raises. But at least

61:44.19] it was a recognition that something very different happened over the last few years. So those

61:48.58] are things that we consider in the decisions for increasing salaries and as it relates

61:55.53] to the 2% a lot of it was very much fiscal. I've been at a lot of community meetings lately

62:05.42] and one of the common things and a couple of models there with me and a common theme

62:11.89] that comes out in the multitude of questions or concerns is many folks feeling that as

62:20.55] a city we pay so much attention to downtown and not enough attention to neighborhoods.

62:30.79] I guess my question is how does the mayor's office feel for the this 2027 budget that

62:41.20] there is attention being paid to the neighborhoods or investment being made and improving neighborhoods

62:49.11] that in a way that people can see touch and feel. Yeah. No I hear you. The neighborhoods

62:56.10] are a critical priority for the mayor. I think we can all appreciate that the economic

63:01.54] driver of any city is going to be its downtown but this is a city of neighborhoods right.

63:09.19] That's why we did the residential inspection program in Alderman Stamper's district that

63:15.95] we love for it to be wildly successful expand in other neighborhoods so we can have better

63:20.70] compliance from our landlords. That's why we just completed our third year of our adopted

63:25.95] neighborhood this past year was in Alderman Stamper's district. You can be mad at him

63:31.85] if apparently we're giving him too much love but that's actually one of the reasons why

63:34.53] we did uptown knowing that the data led us to the inspection program district being in

63:40.13] uptown previously in Arlington Heights and all the women cogs district and previously

63:44.60] in Silver City and all the women's amarepas district prioritizing 360 degree circumferential

63:51.43] approach to government support for at a neighborhood level. I suspect a lot of your feedback highlights

63:58.62] roads. We all know that roads are a critical challenge throughout the city and that is

64:04.49] heard most loudly in our neighborhoods which is why we've added the historically highest

64:10.09] amount of commitment towards resources towards roads understanding that we have a long long

64:15.81] way to go. So those are some of the things the mayor looks at we had a conversation just

64:20.35] the other day talking about plazas and the first thing he said was how can we get these

64:24.50] in the neighborhoods. That was from like two days ago so we are acutely aware of the impact

64:30.73] of our neighborhoods and you know maybe the heart of a city is the downtown but the arms

64:36.03] the legs the head all those things are pretty important too and that's our neighborhoods.

64:41.33] All right lastly on the lighter note but serious nonetheless I think our website is

64:51.81] very dated and I think it needs to be improved functionally but even worse out in functionally

64:59.83] there Milwaukee is a great city yes it's a lot of work we got to do but it's a great

65:05.69] city and it is unlike any other city in so many ways I feel like we do not take enough

65:12.37] advantage of shouting out those great things today we talked about the trails it's some

65:19.90] historic stuff about our trails and no other city has the connectivity of them all but

65:24.46] you wouldn't know that looking at the site you know we will soon be doing negotiations

65:28.90] for the summer fest leaves you know that's a festival that's the largest outdoor festival

65:35.22] in the country but you wouldn't know it we have the best King Drive in the nation nine

65:40.54] hundred cities have a King Drive but we got the best but you wouldn't know that from

65:44.62] watching we have the only Holocaust music it's so much stuff that's uniquely Milwaukee

65:50.23] I was watching a TikTok from this week I think we'll be having the African-American

65:55.63] tourism travel summit black travel summit that will be here in the convention center

66:02.35] and all of that and one of the folks from it may happen to make a TikTok about the

66:08.11] conference and it was about Milwaukee and it was like there's one city that has this

66:12.55] and this and it was saying all this stuff it really even being from here it's like

66:15.79] oh who are they talking about like this sounds great but it was Milwaukee and she was saying

66:20.47] all the great things you know about Milwaukee that people wouldn't normally think that

66:24.75] African-Americans might be proud of but it's crazy that on our own website which the reliance

66:32.27] that people have on digital media is huge so on our one website it's not really a push

66:38.45] of that our best thing going digitally is the TikTok for the library that's not even

66:43.75] highlighted on our website so it's just stuff like that I'm like man this is low hanging

66:48.31] fruit for helping to grow the city and help people think of it a little differently and

66:54.91] better and I just it's unfortunate to me that we're not utilizing that one space to help

67:02.79] to sell the city better so that would be my little side note that's a little you know

67:08.95] less a priority but I think still an important thing so I'm so happy you brought that up

67:15.79] my office is very nervous right now because I talk about our website all the time we

67:20.38] did present to CMIC before recess some of the changes that we are going to be making

67:26.30] it's due for a glow up we look at cities around the country for what they're doing

67:30.79] one of the big priorities and this has been alluded to several times is outward public

67:35.71] facing transparent data and highlighting that and we have done a lot of work on that kudos

67:42.31] to our policy team especially Gabe on this we are making more visually appealable which

67:49.23] seems cosmetic but still is relevant to people wanting to go to get information it needs

67:54.87] to look like it's current and up to date for people to use it being more timely with information

68:01.27] having access understanding that access to social media is a part of some of the changes

68:06.71] that we're making there are making it easier just to find things on the website having

68:12.90] a search box so you can just type in like normal human being hey I want to find this

68:17.22] how do I find that and then of course part of that makes makes means that we have to

68:22.19] be current with the data that's in the website because it's easy for stuff to just get stale

68:27.18] right and so those are things that we've put a lot of work on there's been a work

68:31.26] group working on this whole price for eight or nine months and hopefully after the new

68:36.14] year we'll be able to roll out some of those improvements we always want feedback we did

68:39.78] a survey in the beginning of the year to get people's feedback on this we do track

68:44.10] what people click on when they go to the website for your very point if people are

68:49.98] consistently checking on I don't know what's going on with Leafs which is obviously a big

68:57.20] issue right now that better be really accessible on the main page so those are some of the

69:01.92] data informed decisions that we make as it relates to the website some that we're really

69:06.32] excited about moving forward on and I think the team's really excited for me to stop

69:10.20] pestering them about it just don't forget to brag about good points that's all I say

69:15.73] this often that I don't want to be lumberjacks where we are cutting down trees and if nobody

69:20.37] hears the tree didn't make a sound if you're doing good things be loud be a loud tree

69:24.87] let people hear about the good work that you're doing a hundred percent agree with

69:28.96] what you just said thank you that's all right okay thank you for waiting alderman Andrea

69:35.42] Pratt thank you this is going back to department heads and that kind of question around accountability

69:41.62] because I have the same issues with follow through for service and ending up elevating

69:49.31] it to the department head which I don't think I should have to do and that residents when

69:54.97] they're complaining to me they come to me instead of even putting it into instead of

70:01.12] complaining themselves because they figure nothing will happen with they complain they

70:05.04] think calling me is elevating it however it is not it took me three months to get

70:09.95] a branch cut in front of my parents house so my question is about accountability for

70:17.36] department heads and I know you said you did a boot camp and that was is that for

70:21.68] that was for current all current departments it's for anybody within the administration

70:27.12] start within the previous about a year and a half it really was how do we fill a room

70:31.88] with and then we work backwards in terms of recency and but that's just one of we

70:36.68] do monthly trainings and we do quarterly trainings so I'm outside of trainings I would urge

70:41.44] you to do audits audits and assessments of programming that comes out of those departments

70:46.08] to see the effectiveness of those programs I mean how we measure effectiveness if that's

70:50.88] through exit surveys if that's through our life that's through whatever it is so I don't

70:56.40] think that's happening and it needs to I think there isn't a lot of accountability

71:00.52] when it comes to department heads because you're assessing from the top and it would

71:05.04] be it's imperative that you talk to the people who report to them and how they engage with

71:10.24] them as well because I think that's being lost in the conversation if you're assessing

71:16.32] them just from how you interact with them it's completely different with how they interact

71:19.92] with the people who report to them for sure yes and I think that was it for me but mostly

71:27.63] around accountability for department heads I currently don't know how it exists or if

71:33.06] it does should be more robust and I mean the only means that we have to have anyone

71:40.54] answer to us is when it comes to confirmation and I don't want it we learned yesterday about

71:46.16] people who lose their jobs during probation and how often that happens we'd never hear

71:51.40] about department heads losing their jobs and we know how often if we were doing write

71:55.75] ups who would hold that personnel file you know and so that's what I have to say about

72:04.09] that but I just want to make sure I'm expressing that and that going forward that you do some

72:10.05] assessments and audits of programming or events out of out of all these departments thank

72:14.73] you okay common theme there I think too we could benefit collectively from like a metrics

72:25.83] alignment because I get concerned when we're not all all sharing the same metrics this

72:32.79] has been kind of a recurring theme around the week three here and I've even offered

72:36.64] feedback to departments on some of kind of their metrics and KPI will never be on the

72:41.95] same page if we if we have different metrics so I'm not sure what that looks like it's

72:46.71] like a summit it's not quite a boot camp but I think that's part like what we're experiencing

72:52.56] every day and that really rang true to me all the room and Pratt because it ends up

72:59.63] spreading really quickly the people in the neighborhood are like oh you want to get

73:03.35] that done call your all the person we become like a default department head and this is

73:08.94] going on more than I've ever seen before it's good kind of because it's good to be

73:13.73] needed and wanted but then if we can't deliver we're held accountable in a different way

73:17.09] as well that people think I can fix a pothole or a streetlight or things like that and

73:24.28] I wish I could but that's not in my talent box there so let's go yep I'm gonna go back

73:32.28] around we just heard from all the women cogs we went to colleagues so this will be the

73:38.00] final round of questions beginning with all the women more oh thank you and good good

73:43.96] timing because I wanted to really expound on what Alderman Pratt just shared I would

73:48.92] love to know and understand because obviously there's some departments that are really

73:53.88] large and so there's many mechanisms of supervisors managers right this sort of ladder however

74:01.85] those departments that are small or newly formed that the department head serves as

74:09.65] that primary sort of contact for every staff person how is accountability how do you all

74:20.95] for example provide that level of oversight for those sorts of departments where that

74:29.13] staff person if that staff person has an issue with that department head or whatever

74:33.81] you know again that department head is the only one that could facilitate conversations

74:39.87] with that employee how do you all address those situations especially if they're challenges

74:46.82] yeah it's what does that oversight look like yeah so it's sort of a it depends answer because

74:53.29] it depends right if it is a personnel matter that's what we department employee relations

74:57.45] right if it is a performance management performance management issue then that falls within the

75:04.29] this office and candidly falls on me as their direct supervisor if you're an appointee of

75:10.35] the mayor it's a combination of things sometimes it's just looking at we talked about KPIs

75:17.82] some of them are internal KPIs that are personnel related some of them are very external KPIs

75:24.15] fixing replacing led service lines right so there's a full range of what that looks

75:30.15] like understanding dynamics within departments can be a challenge we have over sixty three

75:35.79] hundred general city employees that doesn't include our sworn departments getting feedback

75:42.68] from things like the engagement survey that you would refer to that was really critical

75:46.63] it breaks it down into two hundred and sixty two divisions and departments because it could

75:52.59] be the early shift of that police district it could be this area within this area of

75:58.07] public works so it's very nuanced and it goes to two sixty two because if it was less

76:02.76] than five respondents then it's so small you could desegregate who the individuals

76:07.40] are and identify through demographics who the people were so it's five or more by having

76:14.58] it that granular which is more granular than we did three years ago it allows us to understand

76:19.18] at a division level what's going on there too look the it all goes to the top eventually

76:28.33] with criticisms and and responsibility for solving problems but that also means that

76:35.22] our department heads need to understand their managers and who they manage and downstream

76:39.44] especially for large departments there could be six lines of supervision right from employee

76:43.28] bosses bosses bosses bosses the commissioner so that's one of the tools of understanding

76:49.84] what the feedback looks like and not all feedbacks the same maybe they're the employee

76:55.28] survey was because they don't like benefits they're employee benefits I'm picking on

76:59.36] something that's neutral to the department versus concerns about management that's directly

77:04.24] related to management so we can break it down let me pause you really quick Nick so

77:09.72] if you can just really focus on like I really want to hear more about the smaller departments

77:17.20] that has they're the primary source of contact for everyone else under them just again simply

77:24.32] because of their size right yeah and so if I'm the department head and everything all

77:29.78] these folks are under me and I'm going to fire I'm a pick on you Marina I'm a fire

77:34.54] Marina I don't I don't have anybody to tell me otherwise I can just be like well I don't

77:40.74] like her black and white today and I'm just gonna let her go and she's in her probationary

77:45.06] period and I don't there's no checks and balances there because I'm the department

77:50.89] head I get to make that decision who who I don't who do I do I say you know what there's

77:57.81] no policy on place like oh my goodness I have to go I have to let me talk to Nick

78:01.81] about this before I make this decision I can make that decision so I need you to sort

78:06.57] of talk through because this is about this you know from the conversation that we had

78:12.21] yesterday with DER it's just like this it's not it's just not fair and so what does that

78:19.53] look like or maybe that's just conversations for you all to have with DER to say you know

78:25.37] what we need to put some new policies in place because if I can just make that decision

78:29.89] and again department heads gets to make that decision but if there's no checks and balances

78:34.83] because with the larger departments they're layers they're multiple layers right with

78:40.38] the small ones they're not so what could again what does what does that look like

78:45.78] moving forward for you all yeah they're thank you for the question sure especially for smaller

78:51.59] departments I'm their direct supervisor so I'm the person you should meet with and let's

78:57.72] have a candid conversation what is that happening yeah I get feedback from Alders for sure but

79:04.43] like I said we have whether it be through our key performance indicators which sometimes

79:09.65] are related to which is in your budget survey sometimes they're not sometimes it's you

79:14.65] got to have a good understanding of the culture of different city departments right and sometimes

79:19.26] that's very hard to measure but the feel thing sometimes I'll hear from staff so it

79:24.68] is a combination of factors in assessing the performance of our department heads but we

79:29.12] take it incredibly seriously that's why we have scheduled structured check-ins we take

79:37.01] the responsibility of appointments very seriously as does this body we do we expect the best

79:45.14] out of our department heads and if they are not reaching that level I want to know I

79:49.80] want to know the why and let's figure out together what's happening yeah and the reason

79:53.82] why I'm drilling in on this so heavily is because we actually had two small departments

80:00.53] fire two different individuals with no you know both on their probationary periods there

80:06.70] was you know a lot of things that were let's make things up oh you came five minutes late

80:11.98] oh you know it was just like things that were made up and in the end I knew both of

80:20.05] these individuals very well and thought they were an asset you know to the department but

80:26.73] when they were let go with no recourse because the department head you know just said well

80:32.25] we no longer want you here you know I brought this up yesterday one had was about to go

80:38.06] on surgery the following she was almost a year from her probation had never been written

80:42.83] up never been talked to but all of a sudden a week before she was she had she was completed

80:49.93] with her one year and she was having surgery for cancer the following week she got terminated

80:57.19] and one of the reasons that she was told that she was terminated was because oh you

81:02.78] were five minutes late and she was she's a what do you call it a salaried staff another

81:09.94] reason was oh you were supposed to have this item for this set up like they were pulling

81:15.58] straws and it was in it and Nick it was sad it was really really sad the other other

81:21.51] individual you know again not naming names the other individual that was working for

81:27.27] a very a different newly formed department like or area you know things were just if

81:34.10] they were just made up and I don't I don't want us to have people working for institutions

81:41.10] that I would have just prefer for them to have been honest to say you know what we've

81:45.28] decided to go another direction and you know we no longer want you here instead of making

81:50.32] up things for again personnel files we're just you know making things up so what all

81:56.87] the women Pratt shared yesterday as far as things being time stamp we just want things

82:01.31] to be fair and equitable and if and if the departments are going to let people go there

82:08.85] should particularly the small ones that have nobody above them but you right they should

82:14.54] they should reach out to say this is why I want to let someone go let's and you could

82:19.34] talk through well what are the reasons extra have you written them up well what what's

82:23.30] on paper etcetera there has to be a process and a policy in place so that we can do things

82:30.46] fairly and equitably I'll leave that there thank you absolutely I expect to see better

82:36.92] because we get the calls we get the emails we are hearing about it and we have to put

82:42.92] appropriate policies in place so that we don't continue to see things that are unfair

82:48.84] because I'ma leave it there because it really really upset me the the last question no I

82:56.05] know it's my turn okay I was about to say I forgot she came to me thank you the last

83:01.69] question I have okay two questions really the Innovation Grant I went I attended the

83:09.97] Wisconsin municipalities League of municipalities conference I'm learning I'm getting that name

83:16.41] just recently from you know different folks from all over the state wonderful conference

83:23.26] learned that that we have a really amazing Innovation Grant that there's a second round

83:33.65] that is currently happening do you know why we have there's like over two hundred million

83:38.93] dollars left in this pot of money that you know like the city could coordinate with

83:47.10] another municipal has to be another municipality on an opportunity something innovative do

83:55.16] you know why we have not applied for this opportunity yeah thank you the we have tried

84:01.59] and earnest a few iterations of what would be a valid application for this we are currently

84:09.68] developing a possible partnership with some other municipalities this was alluded to in

84:14.27] the Wisconsin policy forums executive summary it's something that we do take very seriously

84:19.47] we've seen our neighbors just to the west have effectively utilized the Innovation Grant

84:24.27] as you said there's a current window there's another one in the beginning of the year

84:28.55] that we have our eyeballs on that's the one nobody's here yeah for what do you get that

84:34.72] you're you're folks here with you know leaving me out it'll come up in their performance

84:39.24] reviews yeah but they're at will sixty two which is a statute right yeah so the that's

84:53.18] a great question for innovation director I just thought all right we got you I don't

84:59.15] even know if she'd call herself a fan we love we love Daniel the it's something that

85:06.70] I think they'll talk about okay but I just had a conversation with Jim yesterday yep

85:10.80] for like 25 minutes which for Jim and I hope he's listening as a short conversation but

85:16.16] it was on the Innovation Grant so it's it's certainly currently been in we've been actively

85:21.36] discussing maybe a month or two ago had a conversation Department of Revenue some of

85:26.44] the metrics of how it could apply these things are complicated but it means they're still

85:31.56] doable and when I hear complicated I hear it's worth it right and so we have one that's

85:37.00] being baked up I don't think it's ready for prime time but the idea is let's tap into

85:43.34] these resources and save some city money I mean yep we just put over a million dollars

85:48.44] on the tax levy for the Department of Community Wellness and Safety and so you know a clear

85:53.93] partnership could be between us and Milwaukee County I mean there's so many great opportunities

85:59.89] that we can think of that we can utilize these fund this funding for so thank you

86:05.61] for sharing that my last question is centered around I 794 there's a group you know that

86:15.55] is collaborating or an external group that is that really wants to remove the the ramp

86:29.04] for 794 and you know sort of bring it to grade so that we can have more opportunities

86:35.22] the mayor at one point supported it he's all of a sudden had a trick change of heart

86:40.45] can you share a little bit why the mayor has back tracks on his thoughts of removing

86:46.95] 794 as the state is deliberating what they'll what they want to do with this portion of

86:52.73] land yeah thank you and I would say it's all of a sudden it was over the course of

86:56.93] several years of discussions sure getting the DOT data getting the DPW data understand

87:03.69] he did support it at one point correct in the very beginning he was in support of the

87:08.17] concept but that's why we are data-informed not data-driven we want more information and

87:14.20] then we take that information with other priorities and concerns to make informed decisions

87:19.90] right so we all do the reality is is with a new governor coming in we don't know what

87:27.61] a new Department of Transportation will look like so I don't know if that keeps things

87:32.26] on the same timeline I don't know if it moves it forward I don't know if it makes it go

87:36.10] slower probably slower just because it'll be a transition of power with that being said

87:43.15] the mayor did what he does best and that was listen and he listened to residents listen

87:49.43] to our businesses listen to our organizations broaden folks on all sides of the spectrum

87:54.99] it wasn't just pro removal or pro keeping up and replacing kind and understanding the

88:01.95] competing interests felt as though a middle ground was the appropriate position for him

88:07.45] to take and it's the mayor's position it's not an official city position it's the mayor's

88:11.96] position but he felt as though once he had gotten enough information he felt comfortable

88:17.42] with that is to say it out loud so folks that were on whatever side of the coin knew

88:24.37] where he was at and we weren't having disingenuous conversations when the mayor had in fact

88:29.47] reached a decision so once he got to that point we felt it was appropriate to say it

88:32.65] out loud and it is again it's a hybrid it's understanding the impact on our neighborhoods

88:38.13] of diverging traffic diverting traffic if it was completely removed it's understanding

88:43.88] that there is a wealth of development opportunities and growth for this city that we would lose

88:48.48] out if it was replaced in kind so those are some of the factors but it was based on getting

88:53.83] more information more discussions with all sorts of individuals and organizations with

88:59.95] the OT with advocates with our own team that's how I got to that place and he felt that

89:05.37] that decision was the middle ground even as you stated knowing that there's a new administration

89:11.38] coming in he felt that it was important to make that decision now he felt it was once

89:16.28] he reached a decision he owed it to all the advocates across the spectrum for them to

89:21.52] know his position was on this were there conversations with like other city residents

89:27.28] about this or only particular individuals such as like summer fest or the people I

89:32.20] think maybe older woman Demetrievic I think I don't know if your community I'm trying

89:36.72] to figure out the the neighborhood that this impacted I think it might be yours as far

89:42.85] as the community that uses that stretch of 794 I can't remember whose specific community

89:50.52] it it reaches but were there conversations or open sessions with those communities I'm

89:56.56] not I'm not sure I haven't heard of any that that was had I try to keep up with my email

90:02.24] and I haven't heard of anything so if you can expound on that a little bit as far as

90:06.64] what that outreach was like yeah we had folks come in the office had conversations with

90:11.31] different groups people aren't shy about sharing their opinion on topics like this

90:16.98] and it extends far beyond just one old dramatic district of how it would affect traffic patterns

90:27.01] both north south and west everywhere but east right yeah so it was more than just

90:31.92] businesses or groups that were just downtown it was in conversations with individuals which

90:37.25] is similar to our approach with this budget and those are some of the factors he considered

90:41.80] but also the data that I'd refer to was a big part of his decision making yeah I just

90:46.61] I wasn't privy to to any of it because you're correct it's not just a downtown decision

90:52.86] or you know just specific to all the matic districts this was a city-wide I mean it'll

90:58.18] impact the city and I they're just for me I didn't see a concerted effort by the mayor's

91:05.92] office to pull other folks in to have a broader conversation if I could just add to that

91:11.54] TPW and DOT did a number of public conversations as well public works was directly impacted

91:19.31] on that and public works was also a their feedback was a big driver and the mayor's

91:24.93] information that he received okay I'll leave a pit in it there thank you thank you madam

91:29.45] chair okay thank you very much we have alderman spiker has one and then alderman burguelus

91:34.82] yeah just a really small ball thing um when alder burguelus was mentioning the big issue

91:40.58] of um us getting reports from constituents that they still have an outstanding issue

91:47.96] and then it's marked as close to nacela this has been an issue for years and I think there's

91:52.44] a workflow issue because for the departments who use it in that way I think completed means

92:00.07] assigned rather than done interesting and there's nothing else in the workflow to for

92:07.78] them to mark follow-up and say oh well no it's completed not just assigned but the

92:13.10] job has actually been done so that's an area for digging in for more but um it's been

92:19.58] an issue for years so thank you yeah I thought there would thank you I thought there was

92:22.86] a primer nacela from before but I might just be making that up either way I'll follow

92:26.62] up thank you I uncovered this yeah the public doesn't have the primer right when they see

92:32.02] completed they think it's complete yeah yeah we'll follow up I have a possible solution

92:36.66] for this um because I uncovered this as well because it wasn't lining up with our anecdotal

92:41.08] experience and because we had so many calls I felt like it was as good as a survey um

92:45.96] I think we need more public facing dashboards so we have them here and there but this is

92:52.09] a way because I think there is not a great interfacing of like a cilla and like I said

92:58.15] with the cases being closed it wasn't and we were checking on it and they weren't and

93:02.33] it wasn't talking to like DPW system but hear me out real quick on this is um some

93:08.13] of it is a little bit of an uncomfortable conversation that I think that we just can't

93:14.92] get the problem resolved as fast as the public would want so one thing is not communicating

93:20.97] correctly and effectively another one is for a while we thought it was a seven to ten

93:26.39] day turnaround um but it turns out it was more like I guess I don't know where the memo

93:32.32] was in that but it was like a month so um that delivering that bad news is never going

93:37.32] to be comfortable but that's why I thought potholes streetlights are unique given the

93:41.90] circuit um but some kind of dashboard where folks can see because they're just feeding

93:46.78] into the system that then they never see the other side of it um and I think if we're

93:50.89] honest about it and you see the dashboard go I mean we did it on COVID and things like

93:54.29] that up and down like hey there's been an increase and now it's taking four weeks but

93:59.83] they're like getting it through us that's not the most effective way so I think these

94:04.03] kind of public facing dashboards um rather than like internal KPIs and a true discussion

94:11.94] for example you all are stating that this budget is the biggest investment in road

94:16.94] replacement and repairs that we've seen in a while great but what does that mean to the

94:22.15] average constituent does it mean that they're going to get the pothole fixed in five days

94:26.07] rather than seven does it mean I think we calculated out it's like 50 I don't even

94:31.37] want to quote it but the like blocks per mile or that whole stat that we use which

94:36.41] most average Milwaukeeans don't think that way they want to know how is this going to

94:40.59] impact me and that we need to articulate better as an organization so those are some things

94:46.07] I'd like us to consider um that I'm willing to work on as well um Madam Chair just to

94:51.37] wrap up the question there um so and what we're finding is when um there are there's

94:59.52] bad news it maybe isn't communicated as well out as could be so hey we're this far behind

95:07.60] record potholes it eventually got into the news but it didn't seem maybe as intentional

95:12.36] as some other things um so what we're doing is we're playing whack-a-mole and trying

95:16.90] to educate constituents one at a time that's right there are networks if there was something

95:21.42] more yeah um globalized and intentional about the approach to level set expectations that

95:29.27] would create I think less conflict and less frustration right I think that public dashboards

95:33.72] way to go we have a lot coming okay a lot of dashboards let us know about it too because

95:38.46] we can't we will okay uh Alderman Coggs and I have Bregelis waiting through I had a budget

95:43.99] town hall and I talked to some staff um I think when and you might already do some

95:51.63] of this but it's obviously not happening to the degree that at least that staff recognize

95:56.07] it um you know I chair public works so the whole pothole thing has come before us in

96:02.77] multiple forms um with different communication files um but I think that as you attack solutions

96:11.74] for what becomes a major citywide issue that you should uh talk to the staff who's actually

96:18.46] doing the work because what what we said there are public works and listen to you from the

96:23.64] commissioner and the engineer and all of that is real difference from what the actual staff

96:29.40] who actually fill the potholes said to me and what they shared with me what the problem

96:34.56] is and I know that we may not be able to do all the things that staff would want to

96:38.96] do um but I think it's some low hanging fruit and some things that could help to um improve

96:44.98] it from a month uh to being um a shorter some of that stuff with the pose one of the

96:52.15] employees brought up the need for more mechanics to be able to fix the equipment because half

96:56.75] the equipment is down um all the time they also spoke to the lack of staff who are trained

97:01.60] properly on the equipment those are all things that were not brought up by the department

97:05.86] when the communication file came to us but all things I think we could address um that

97:10.90] could also help they were talking to us about putting people on overtime and all of this

97:14.66] kind of stuff you know whether or not the asphalt company was open on Sundays and having

97:18.42] people work on weekends whereas the actual employees who are out here doing it are like

97:23.17] saying um be careful about the overtime because you got to make sure people are awake and

97:27.20] alert and whatever whatever um the training of the actual people on the actual equipment

97:32.44] of course they want more equipment but even a lot of the equipment being broke often

97:37.04] and not having enough okay all of that kind of stuff which were different angles than

97:41.41] what I think the department heads were were coming at it and some of that I know is extremely

97:46.97] expensive like the more equipment but fixing that equipment we got making sure we got

97:50.67] enough staff to keep it going um training people properly on it so that more staff

97:54.77] are able to I think those are things we can address and can attack um to help attack

97:59.09] the overall issue of this backup of um Pahoe so whether it's Pahoe's or whether it's a

98:04.75] different um issue whether it's the street lights and all that kind of stuff I just

98:09.29] think if you talk to the real people who are on the ground level doing the work it

98:12.65] may be some different solutions that come up that we might be able to help pursue

98:16.33] to attack the issue and again I'm not saying y'all don't talk to staff I'm just saying

98:20.97] what I'm hearing as an honor person when we do files on it to get more information

98:26.09] is real different from what actual staff people are saying so I just would hope people

98:30.43] will work more together so that we can address the issue for the people we all serve yep

98:34.25] I agree with everything you said I think managing up is an important part of responsibility

98:38.61] of every employee yep I agree and to the question the chair had asked earlier which

98:44.11] is a bit related to what Alderman Cox just mentioned about you know potholes and how

98:47.33] do you fill them and how do you know that your investments don't matter I mean public

98:51.31] works is tomorrow so we can go into more detail there about their metrics because

98:54.83] there was a request you know not just for the dollars but for the lane miles and I

98:58.43] think we can we're able to say outputs but not outcomes you know we're able to say this

99:03.47] increased proposed investment in high impact paving will get you this many more lane miles

99:07.71] we're able to say that this pothole patcher or this uh asphalt warmer and the staff to

99:12.99] do them should get you this many more potholes filled per day what you don't know though

99:17.99] is how bad pothole season is going to be in the spring right so you to predict the

99:21.11] response time so there's the weather you know there's a climate versus your response

99:24.79] to it so to speak as a metaphor so I don't know that we can predict what our pothole

99:28.88] response will be in spring but we can predict that we will well we can predict that by

99:34.16] the spring of 28 if the 27 investments are made in high impact paving there will be that

99:38.00] many less roads that need potholes filled because they just got smooth and the roads

99:42.00] that do have potholes will have this many more resources to fill them so our response

99:46.72] will be more robust whether it will be actually quicker to the resident will depend on how

99:50.68] many potholes and how fast we get okay let me yes and I and I've said this to the engineering

[100:01.55] stuff um I do think this pothole thing is huge and we need to attack it as such because

[100:07.79] part of the reason for the potholes is because of the um increase in flooding because of

[100:12.71] the rains or whatever and I don't believe that this year was a outlier I think that

[100:18.60] this year is probably gonna be the floor and I think that because of climate change

[100:22.67] and a whole bunch of other stuff we may see work worse years in the future so although

[100:27.43] this is our worst pothole year it feels like an outlier I think it's likely to get even

[100:32.91] worse so we don't figure out next time it won't be a month it'll be two months it'll

[100:36.63] be three months and then we start looking at liability issues with people's vehicles

[100:40.79] and a whole bunch of other stuff so I do think we gotta get our hands around how to

[100:45.27] make it a more reasonable amount of time whatever that is we may never get back to

[100:49.35] the 72 hours but I think we can all agree that a month is is a really long time um

[100:55.89] so that I just want to put that out there I don't think this is like an issue for 2026

[101:00.25] I really think this is gonna be an ongoing issue um given the flooding and all that

[101:05.51] kind of stuff that is likely to um the rains and stuff that will continue to happen thank

[101:12.58] you that's all I have Mr. Chair. Thank you so much Alderman we have um I think let me

[101:16.94] just do a check Alderman Bergellis has been waiting patiently anything else you get one

[101:20.22] last last one um Alderman Peter Bergellis um briefly on the pothole filling machine

[101:27.66] uh the mayor wanted to purchase one more uh the ones that are currently in inventory

[101:33.38] are either out of service or not being used why do we want to keep buying more pothole

[101:37.64] filling machines if we're not using them a new more nuanced answer is going to come

[101:44.74] from public works but I don't think it's an argument to not buy more materials um when

[101:52.90] we have a need for it we are trying to be responsive to our constituents highest priority

[101:59.26] which is related to street maintenance um and so helping to provide tools to public

[102:03.93] works is part of our priorities yeah but but buying something that takes two years

[102:08.21] to get when we're not using the pieces of equipment that we already have doesn't make

[102:15.37] sense to me well it's the same argument as the fire engines in reverse yeah it takes

[102:20.77] two years but if you don't buy them now you'll have a hole in two years I think it's better

[102:27.13] for look I don't want to give you an answer that misses the mark I think we should just

[102:32.21] have public works answer it but but yeah so that was that was the priority fair enough

[102:37.04] um can you since you wanted to talk about fire trucks um I didn't want to talk about

[102:41.70] fire trucks I love talking about thanks Nick can you share with us the mayor's thought

[102:49.92] process on how the proposed budget for fire equipment was developed yeah there's only

[102:55.84] so many coins in the couch cushion we have an extremely pressing and challenging budget

[103:01.20] you're all acutely aware of that every department has needs that exceed what we can fiscally

[103:06.78] afford and so we're pulling levers inherently by providing more funding to one department

[103:13.19] we are taking less funds or giving less funds to another department absent other decisions

[103:19.83] like borrowing which have its own challenges so there is no doubt that our fire department

[103:25.66] as well as other departments have very real needs but that doesn't mean that we don't

[103:29.98] have other departments that we have to co-equally prioritize that's not gonna be the same and

[103:34.18] by co-equal doesn't mean every year every department gets the same amount it's a measurement

[103:38.62] of what the needs are what the environment is and what our constituents are asking for

[103:44.33] so as it relates to our department we want them to buy trucks and we are very optimistic

[103:50.37] with our P that they'll have an opportunity to buy more we would love to provide them

[103:54.40] more but we have limitations with our budget all right and I'm sure we'll talk more about

[104:01.39] that on budget amendment and who gave you an energy drink the workday project has been

[104:10.87] multiple years in process about a year overdue significantly over not the initial budget

[104:17.23] but the projected budget that previous councils were working with are we gonna be ready for

[104:24.15] on pay period one to switch over yes all right the next person here is director Danielle

[104:31.36] Rodriguez she has taken the reins as the project manager along with an executive team includes

[104:37.03] the guy who brought the fire trucks this is a huge priority for this administration

[104:42.47] I've gone through many IT projects in my almost 15 years with the city they all have

[104:46.55] challenges this one is probably the biggest challenge that I've seen in an IT project

[104:52.99] it is an enormous priority for our administration to see this one through okay thank you very

[104:59.10] much thank you madam chair is that why the proposed 2% raise is the seventh pay period

[105:03.86] is that because of workday or was that just to work day tighten the budget a little bit

[105:07.46] nope no we did recognize the savings in the budget because that we were criticized for

[105:11.94] not doing that last year but that was not the motivation so if we wanted it before

[105:17.04] pay period so I should have asked us yesterday but it went so long if we wanted it before

[105:21.42] if the city wanted it before the pay period seven it would be impossible because of work

[105:27.50] day correct that's correct that's good so thank you although I have all the women more

[105:34.74] lined up and then all the men's biker and I do want to get going if we can wrap it

[105:38.50] up by 11 or so because we've been on this one for two hours so no problem just trying

[105:41.74] to put it out manifested out there I got nothing all day we got we have another department

[105:45.54] so seven p.m. all the women more yeah I know but I gotta keep the train listen I love

[105:51.46] it thank you madam chair the only thing that I wanted to request was I know that you all

[105:57.34] have about 17 staff for the primary lead staff if we can just get a description of

[106:02.54] what they do I know some people and I know some of the things of what they do so if

[106:08.14] we can please get for the for the council these are the folks in the mayor's office

[106:13.74] this is what their primary responsibility is just if if we have issues to talk through

[106:18.90] with different people whatever we know what each person does because they're frankly

[106:23.04] some people that are there I have no idea what like yeah or chart yeah or chart would

[106:27.04] be great but but I just want to know a description of what what these people are responsible

[106:31.60] for that's all yeah yeah I believe it's like a weird number because one of them's a part-time

[106:36.80] intern so it's like 15.47 or something yeah but just I'm not talking about those positions

[106:42.80] but yeah yeah I'm not talking about our interns I'm talking about those primary just generally

[106:47.93] speaking and I will get you an org chart we divide into our communications outreach

[106:52.61] policy and administration so our outreach is going to be your traditional outreach meeting

[106:57.83] with different organizations constituents responding to the constituent feedback working

[107:03.07] on outreach like our newsletter for example our communications team is a small but mighty

[107:09.21] team of two and that's where for every year the management trainees just been assigned

[107:13.89] to the mayor's office sure that's why it's just pick up and drop the person in our department

[107:17.69] every year it's in our office sure and that does you know traditional kind of press secretary

[107:23.65] stuff but also our social media which I think everybody here can appreciate is an increasing

[107:28.73] expanding and very critical role to communicate to our residents I know we talked about our

[107:33.41] policy team earlier and then we have a back office folks we have one of the superstars

[107:38.33] of the entire city of Milwaukee to quail at our front desk you cannot have her to quail

[107:42.93] is amazing to quail is amazing is an understatement yeah and we have in our office manager scheduler

[107:52.33] you know your traditional kind of administrative position so that's how our office is broken

[107:56.49] down but we can get you an org chart yep and just again just a short description of

[108:01.44] those primary the primary folks of what they're charged at doing you may have met amber too

[108:05.92] she works I don't know who amber is no amber is amazing we love amber thank you thank you

[108:14.72] so much thank you madam chair thank you alder and scott spiker I was just gonna say something

[108:20.18] about the workday that last year the council did do a move which DER said would be extremely

[108:25.54] stressful indicates was able to be done it was extremely stressful I do believe them

[108:31.21] that with respect to the workday implementation that would be more than just a challenge extremely

[108:38.77] hard so if if not impossible so yeah I was just gonna note that the timing's kind of

[108:46.84] worse now but yeah that so when you say impossible you really mean impossible you don't just

[108:52.24] mean people will rebel people will yeah it's more than a hassle and look workday is incredibly

[108:58.80] complex program it's an industry leader I think we're all confident it was the right

[109:03.87] decision but that doesn't mean it's it's a lot of work it's a lot of strain and stress

[109:09.43] on individuals and we and when it launches it's not going to be at fully a hundred percent

[109:15.23] that was never the plan it was have it to a make sure it's viable and then we'll continue

[109:20.63] to improve as we go there and there's going to be some bumps and lumps along the way

[109:24.83] that has to be baked into the equation but the the pay period seven was by design and

[109:31.32] there was an extra position discussed yesterday I think for DER to handle some of the the

[109:36.84] post yeah absolutely yeah it's real but it's gonna be a huge efficiency for this city for

[109:43.03] everybody it's a real if you haven't done the training please do the training please

[109:47.47] do the training I just didn't catch what I was just saying it would be good to communicate

[110:02.39] out what those efficiencies are just so the public can know why we spent this much money

[110:07.27] on something because it is a lot of money so all right thank you okay we're getting

[110:13.28] into conclusion here Alderman Andrea Pratt yeah my only had one suggestion for engagement

[110:18.48] for employee surveys is so if it's possible to offer healthy rewards points I think that

[110:24.73] would make people engage a lot more if you got a healthy rewards point to do it yeah

[110:29.60] oh yeah there I know we had that discussion DER is gonna be mad at me because I'm probably

[110:36.87] just making this up but I thought there was something about the anonymity of it and applying

[110:40.55] that to your healthy rewards and that's why we intentionally did not include it okay yeah

[110:46.24] so that was a consideration and healthy rewards are a great benefit and as somebody who hadn't

[110:52.60] used it a number of years and years this past year it was it was really game changer we're

[110:57.78] looking at that I know I have no problem putting it out there it's something I'm going to be

[111:01.70] looking at for a possible amendment so my thing is to share everything out as much as I can

[111:06.47] put out there so everybody hears at the same time okay great any other outstanding questions

[111:12.37] comments or feedback I do want to check with all the woman Larisa Taylor I want to check with our

[111:17.81] virtual colleagues anything outstanding all the woman Taylor on the mayor's budget okay hearing

[111:30.91] and seeing no other questions or comments this department has now concluded we thank you and

[111:36.75] have a wonderful day thank you everybody excellent next up is department of administration

[111:48.77] we're actually going to take a five-minute break thank you we've now concluded with the

[111:55.51] mayor's office and we're on the department of administration at 1 p.m we will begin with

[112:02.57] department of compliance and engagement and department of community wellness and safety

[112:08.22] and speaking with the director of doa my plan here is to have the overall presentation

[112:16.73] historically we had kind of each division or office come up separately in order to maximize

[112:23.00] questions what we'll do is have them come up as questions present themselves so I'm not going to

[112:28.28] formally have them come up but I believe probably everybody will be touched somehow today via

[112:35.00] questions okay that's the game plan so with that we'll now go to budget director Nick Kovacs want

[112:42.52] to make sure everybody heard that we're going to have the presentation overall of doa and then

[112:47.53] please members and colleagues prepare your questions for any specific division or office

[112:52.57] and they will come up so hope you're nimble and ready to jump up quickly stretch out do what you

[112:58.24] need to do okay great director Nick Kovac thank you madam chair community members uh good morning

[113:03.24] still uh Nick Kovac director of budget management divisions here to present the department of

[113:07.24] administration budget slides before turning it over to Danielle and Steve and the team is Sarah

[113:11.64] Osborn all right Sarah good morning good morning madam chair members of the finance personnel

[113:16.20] committee Sarah Osborn budget and fiscal policy manager here to present the 2027 proposed budget

[113:21.64] for the department of administration um so overall the department is up about 10 percent from last

[113:28.72] year's adopted budget um almost exclusively or the majority of that is on the operating line

[113:34.78] looking at just salaries and positions so there were a number of FTEs reduced in this year's

[113:40.59] budget so much of that actually represents just shifting a lot of operations and consolidating

[113:46.03] operations with other departments so there's a training and development position that'll be

[113:49.23] moving to DER the early childhood initiatives program is being consolidated with the library's

[113:55.78] early literacy programming so that's moving to the library and then there are as was presented

[114:00.74] during the health presentation last week there are some the dual funding is proposed to be moved

[114:06.02] to the health department along with the three positions that were funded in OAAA would be

[114:13.76] moving to health as well there was also a business finance officer in eco that was unfunded last year

[114:19.22] the position authority is being removed here just based on the fact that they don't plan on filling

[114:24.42] it there's also a sustainability coordinator in eco reduced here that was previously under

[114:29.78] a grant that's ended it's now vacant so that position also slatted for elimination here

[114:35.86] otherwise there are a couple positions in eco that shifted onto the levy so that's also some

[114:40.42] of the shift from non-ONM to O&M a couple positions as their grants are ending or the

[114:46.51] funding reduced moving onto the levy there are three positions in CDGA that were eliminated the

[114:53.50] field moved into other positions so those were funded previously by the continuum of care grant

[114:58.89] which the city is no longer the lead on there are also two ERP specific auxiliary positions

[115:06.61] that are ending at the end of the year one was in purchasing one in ITMD and in ITMD there's also

[115:13.93] a shift here where we've added a telecommunications manager offset by two reductions a communications

[115:19.37] facility coordinator and a telecommunications engineer operating in equipment so 25 percent

[115:26.83] increase here that's almost exclusively in ITMD which is the largest section of DOA

[115:33.14] so a few of the things that are represented in that increase renewing the acela contract

[115:38.58] there's also some expanded use of that acela contract and features that are being added

[115:44.13] some of those costs are being supported by other user departments but the majority of those costs

[115:48.85] would be incurred by ITMD there's traffic controller management software being moved

[115:54.05] to ITMD they will be purchasing neighborly for NIDC the 9/11 and dispatch backup system

[116:01.93] call center recording and records retention data loss prevention services server maintenance

[116:07.55] de-duplicating Microsoft services and an expansion of Canva licensing there are also some reductions

[116:16.20] included in that increase as well including UCC the unified call center temporary staff

[116:26.63] and then on the equipment line that's just the equipment line for DOA is in ITMD for computer

[116:31.51] equipment that will probably be fully expended this year but a lot of that was for a one-time

[116:36.47] expense so typically should be closer to 20,000 special funds and special purpose accounts

[116:43.46] obviously there are a lot of these in DOA so vision zero here is proposed at the same level

[116:48.98] it was funded in 26 although 26 had a lot of carryover from 25 there should be at least a

[116:54.42] little bit of carryover going to 27 the office of african-american affairs effectively their

[116:59.65] operating budget again they they've been spending down prior your carryover might have a little bit

[117:03.73] of that still available in 27 but no changes to the proposed budget the Milwaukee Parenthood

[117:09.67] initiative here is asterisk because so historically they've had a Milwaukee fatherhood initiative

[117:15.89] they've also been doing a lot of programming for the mom's symposium and have had a lot of

[117:20.57] expenses for that so they'd requested a Milwaukee motherhood initiative so here we're just going to

[117:25.21] consolidate both of those programs into a single or the proposed budget proposes consolidating both

[117:31.11] of those initiatives into a single line item so they have a little more flexibility and it's a

[117:35.95] little more than doubling that budget so $40,000 the request had been to represent that it's two

[117:43.30] different kind of initiatives being supported here the youth entrepreneurship program was added

[117:50.47] the 2025 budget via amendment and is not proposed for funding in the 27 budget the early childhood

[117:57.81] initiatives special fund as previously stated is going to be that those operations are moving to

[118:03.09] the library climate action planning fund a slight reduction here there may be a little bit of carry

[118:10.84] over there as well to supplement a continuum of care as also previously stated the city is no

[118:16.71] longer the lead on continuum of care so it no longer needs the special fund however there is

[118:21.79] a new fund in here the winter warming special fund um so previously the city had been supporting

[118:28.99] winter warming shelters through grant funds that were covid grant funds those grants have ended

[118:34.99] um so there is a new special fund in here just to represent this is not the full cost for that

[118:39.63] this county also contributes um some other stakeholders i believe do as well um but to

[118:45.23] provide warming shelter space for um unhoused individuals during the during the winter season

[118:51.90] enterprise resource management slight increase just sort of inflationary here um the computer

[118:59.17] maintenance and upgrade no plan changes e government payment systems no plan changes

[119:04.05] and then this children's savings account um so those services are provided through other partners

[119:09.17] that account has not been spent down the past couple years so not proposing that in the budget

[119:14.21] but those services are provided is that being carried over um it would not be carried over

[119:20.20] because it hasn't been spent in several years i mean if the department requests it for carryover

[119:24.44] that request would be assessed um but the in general that has not been the actual like

[119:32.45] children's savings account operations shifted to i think united way um and the wisconsin ed best

[119:41.04] um i'm sure the department can answer more questions about that but uh hasn't been spent

[119:47.17] in the past couple years yeah oh sorry go ahead sir no you're if you want well um it's been a

[119:54.95] recurring theme and i'm trying to understand some of these like unspent i realize you're saying

[120:00.07] The committee is struggling a little bit with unspent carryover and then not spending in

[120:10.71] 27, so that's kind of the nature of the questions.

[120:13.31] I think that's a really good question, I mean not to, I don't want to get down the question

[120:17.91] for you too much now, but I guess sometimes an account is not spent, we obviously talk

[120:22.09] to our departments, there's plans to spend it, they have anticipated sometimes like there's

[120:26.65] anticipated carryover because they're still working out the logistics of how they're going

[120:30.97] to spend it or they haven't been invoiced yet or you know there's a variety of reasons.

[120:36.97] If an account is not spent because they have like no plans to spend it, they say we don't

[120:42.01] need this money anymore, then we probably wouldn't carry over money that a department

[120:45.85] has no plans to spend, but we also, we wouldn't, I mean departments have to request carryover

[120:51.94] in order for us to carry it over.

[120:53.50] But where would it go then, the 25, okay.

[120:57.82] You don't have to spend money that doesn't get carried over would lapse to the general

[121:00.02] fund.

[121:01.02] Okay, I'm going to want to officially request citywide, because this is like the fourth

[121:05.91] or fifth time I've seen this now and I realize that 25,000 in the over billion dollar budget

[121:11.40] may seem small, but I feel that I've seen this four or five times now in different ways,

[121:16.39] so formal request in writing where we're at as of today in mid-October of unspent.

[121:25.54] We don't always like get those reports that are not being specifically unspent, may or

[121:31.44] may not be carried over, but they're not being funded in 2027, is that kind of clear?

[121:37.00] So like a program that, this example, particular example, where it's unspent, no plans to

[121:44.74] carry it over, I think, unless I've missed that, or either way, I guess yes or no, and

[121:51.00] then that it's not being funded in 2027, does that make sense?

[121:55.00] Sure, and would that be fully unspent or just not fully spent?

[121:58.50] I like your second one better, yes, I like that one, not fully spent.

[122:03.76] Well, okay, most accounts have not been fully spent since we're not done with the year.

[122:08.92] Okay, how about the first one, like this one in particular, and I'm telling you, I've

[122:14.16] seen this at least four or five times now, 100% unspent, and then you're basically discontinuing,

[122:19.68] what you're saying to us is you're discontinuing that program.

[122:21.82] Yeah, I think what I, it's already been, it's not discontinued so much as the operations

[122:26.35] shifted to another vendor, which hadn't been reflected yet, I think, because, you know,

[122:31.83] I think there's just been a lot of transition and leadership in DOA, so I think it kind

[122:35.15] of, because it's such a small account, hadn't been like a focus of a lot of attention,

[122:39.82] but it is another example, Sarah, like one that's the opposite of this would be DOA,

[122:45.91] where it was zero spent, which was unfortunate, and it's being carried over like times two.

[122:50.79] So that, that I'm not so concerned about this, I want to take a deeper dive into.

[122:55.67] I'll formulate it.

[122:56.67] Yeah, because there, we try to, with these charts, we try to highlight each of them

[123:00.23] as we go through each department, and there's often backstory and context that the analysts

[123:04.11] try to provide, so to actually put all that comprehensively into one, I'd want a more

[123:08.30] specific question, otherwise I'd just be repeating everything we already put in the

[123:11.42] slides.

[123:12.42] I'll work on it.

[123:13.42] I just don't see how the council and this finance committee is then understanding,

[123:18.21] you know, how and what and when goes to the general fund, like you said.

[123:22.56] Well, it is a sort of a two-step process.

[123:25.20] So there are times when we, for lack of a better word, presume something that will likely

[123:29.09] happen and carry over, which is a presumption, right?

[123:31.93] We could say this account has 100,000, they only spend 50, therefore we're only going

[123:35.85] to fund it at 50 because we plan to carry over the 50, and then the council could deny

[123:39.93] carryover in the spring, or the mayor could change his mind, you know what I mean?

[123:43.66] So it's not a done deal, so to speak, so the way it works is, you know, we're budgeting

[123:49.78] now for 27, we have a guess about, or I shouldn't say guessing, some guessing, but projections

[123:55.37] based on actuals up to this point, combined with discussion with the department, are

[123:59.38] there late bills or is there some seasonality here?

[124:02.10] So then you have that number.

[124:04.30] We won't know till the spring when we're finishing our books and the comptroller is

[124:07.82] beginning to prepare the act for the total amount available for carryover, so we don't

[124:14.03] know that yet, we have projections.

[124:16.56] Then in spring we'll know the amount available for carryover, we will suggest some amounts

[124:21.32] to be carried over, some not, the council will vote on that, and then the comptroller

[124:25.22] will put together the act for, then we'll know how much money is available in the 26th

[124:30.36] year fund for TSF withdrawal in the 28th budget, and repeat that the following year.

[124:36.28] Those are the steps.

[124:38.96] Okay.

[124:40.91] Sounds good.

[124:42.29] Thank you very much.

[124:43.96] Okay, please continue.

[124:44.96] Sure.

[124:45.96] So revenues, the major decrease here, so last year the budget included a one-time sale

[124:51.72] of 16 IP addresses, so that was not kind of anticipated for being repeated this year.

[124:58.54] There's also some shifts in auction sales from purchasing, like the revenue going from

[125:03.50] purchasing to being booked under DPW instead, so there's some reduction here from that

[125:07.78] as well.

[125:11.59] Capital expenses, so kind of the main highlights here, since there's a lot of accounts in

[125:18.34] here, almost all of which are ITMD, so the ERP system replacement, this is, knock on

[125:24.27] wood, the last year will be doing that, so that account is not proposed in 2027, although

[125:30.03] there is a new line here for workday integration upgrades, just recognizing that there are

[125:34.43] going to be some ongoing costs as we implement.

[125:38.87] The corporate server and storage replacement, there will be a little more discussion of

[125:43.53] this when ITMD presents, but we are planning or proposing a consolidation of servers and

[125:48.45] storage -- or servers and server storage across the city, so there was a -- this is

[125:52.85] the request for DEC and ITMD, this will probably be a multi-year process and account, but

[126:01.77] would hopefully represent long-term savings.

[126:07.47] Budget by service, you know, generally the largest section here is ITMD, obviously, every

[126:12.85] other section of DOA is under $2 million on operating an SPA, and just a clarification

[126:21.02] for this 22.5 under CDGA, that obviously is not only being spent on CDGA administrative

[126:27.09] costs, most of those expenses go out into the community and are spread by other departments

[126:32.53] as well, and with that, I will hand the presentation off to director Daniel Rodriguez.

[126:40.33] >> Good morning.

[126:41.33] I had to double-check.

[126:42.33] Thank you.

[126:43.39] Welcome to what will be your first presentation, right, before this Budget Committee?

[126:46.63] >> Absolutely.

[126:47.63] >> Yes, absolutely.

[126:48.63] >> As DOA.

[126:49.63] >> As DOA director.

[126:50.63] >> Correct.

[126:51.63] >> Okay.

[126:52.63] >> All right.

[126:53.63] Well, good morning, Madam Chair and committee members.

[126:54.63] I am Daniel Rodriguez.

[126:55.63] I am the newly appointed director of Department of Administration.

[127:00.03] We're going to start off on this slide, because I think this is a slide that some of you

[127:04.03] will be somewhat familiar with.

[127:06.39] We made a couple updates to it, but it does show the core services of each of the divisions

[127:12.29] within the Department of DOA.

[127:15.47] As well as in the center, you'll see that Office of African American Affairs, Innovation,

[127:20.59] and Vision Zero are the offices that are under the office of the director.

[127:26.03] And then the Department of Administration, which you saw on the previous budget slide,

[127:32.79] comprises sort of the leadership and the technical support that branches out to each

[127:39.28] of those divisions and offices.

[127:42.35] So they support the entire department.

[127:47.14] This org chart, I won't get too into detail, but I wanted to make sure that I pointed

[127:51.98] out and highlighted what my vision for the organization looks like, how I want the Department

[127:58.57] of Administration to run, and what the hierarchy and chain of command is.

[128:10.17] And then I'll just talk briefly here.

[128:12.53] Sarah did mention these already.

[128:14.13] As far as the major operational changes, we are consolidating early literacy programming

[128:19.73] under MPL.

[128:20.73] I believe you heard from MPL yesterday, but I'm happy to answer or take any questions

[128:25.17] that you might still have regarding that.

[128:27.67] We will be transferring smoking cessation operations to Health Department.

[128:32.05] That's three positions, eliminating some temporary positions in the UCC.

[128:37.53] And then Sarah mentioned consolidating the ITMD servers.

[128:41.61] And then there's one bullet that's not up there, but I want to make sure I point out

[128:44.65] we are moving one training position out of the Office of Director and into DER.

[128:52.19] Citywide I am focused, as Nick Chief of Staff Desiado pointed out, I'm focused on

[128:58.67] the workday project and assuring that we have good leadership and project management

[129:03.71] of that.

[129:04.95] And believe it or not, we're already talking about the 2030 census.

[129:08.27] Obviously, that's vitally important if we don't have a good approach and good organizational

[129:14.34] structure to pull off this census.

[129:17.02] It does affect what type of federal funding we can get.

[129:20.82] And then the last bullet is just evaluating our readiness to be a data-centric city.

[129:25.14] We talk a lot about it at every single department.

[129:28.22] But there are still a lot of challenges with getting there.

[129:30.62] And what I want to do is really get into the details about how ready we are with our

[129:34.50] data and to actually present it and not just present it, but story tell with it.

[129:40.14] Because I think that is one of our missed opportunities.

[129:42.50] You can go to the next one.

[129:49.10] And I am going to fly right through these because I know that you all want to get to

[129:53.94] questions.

[129:54.94] But I also want to make sure that each of the divisions and offices have their due.

[130:00.34] So for Vision Zero, in 2027, our Vision Zero efforts will continue focusing on reducing

[130:05.80] traffic fatalities and serious injuries and making Milwaukee streets safer for everyone.

[130:11.78] Since adopting the Vision Zero Action Plan in June of '25, we've implemented 43 percent

[130:17.38] of its 102 recommendations.

[130:19.98] The focus now is on advancing the remaining recommendations and identifying resources

[130:24.96] needed to support the implementation.

[130:27.02] We'll also continue monitoring opportunities at the state legislative level to advance

[130:31.94] traffic safety initiatives, including potential legislation aimed at reducing dangerous driving

[130:38.22] behaviors and improving roadway safety.

[130:41.30] Some of our next steps will also depend on the outcome of the November elections and

[130:45.66] our capacity to expand education and outreach.

[130:49.14] Overall, the priority is on moving from planning to implementation, strengthening accountability,

[130:54.50] and continuing to make measurable progress towards safer streets.

[130:58.77] In innovation in 2027, we will continue to focus on work across all city departments

[131:03.81] and divisions looking for opportunities to modernize city services, strengthen partnerships,

[131:09.37] and identify new ways to improve how we operate.

[131:12.94] Working with ITMD will update the city's AI policy and advance improvements to our

[131:17.52] public website.

[131:19.12] We'll also pursue state innovation grant funding and use Bloomberg City's Assessment

[131:24.14] of Camp Brize to identify program improvements and future funding opportunities.

[131:29.96] Other priorities include expanding high school apprenticeship opportunities in partnership

[131:36.04] with DPW, MFD, MPS, and MATC, and exploring additional employee workplace clinic locations

[131:43.44] with Milwaukee County.

[131:44.76] Overall, the focus is on turning innovative ideas into practical improvements, leveraging

[131:50.24] partnerships and outside resources, and finding new ways to better serve residents and city

[131:55.16] employees.

[131:57.58] For Office of Early Childhood Initiatives, by now, as I said, we heard from MPL regarding

[132:03.46] this proposal.

[132:05.14] In 2027, we recommend moving the Office of Early Childhood Initiatives back to the Milwaukee

[132:09.90] Public Library, creating a strategic partnership that strengthens the collective impact on

[132:16.50] Milwaukee's youngest children and their families.

[132:20.10] Both organizations, Office of Early Childhood Initiatives and MPL, have very, very strong

[132:25.54] reputations and deep community connections.

[132:28.88] By bringing them together, we can leverage their established presence in the literacy

[132:32.58] and early childhood space, as well as expand networks, improve access to resources, and

[132:38.18] better align the city's efforts to meet the needs of children and families.

[132:42.85] In our African American Affairs Office, work will continue to focus on strengthening neighborhoods,

[132:49.21] understanding opportunities, and connecting residents with resources.

[132:53.21] A key priority will be developing a more data-driven approach to understanding the

[132:57.45] challenges facing underserved communities, specifically beginning with zip code 53206.

[133:04.96] We'll work with community stakeholders and our epidemiologists to better understand the

[133:09.16] underlying factors contributing to poverty, crime, and rescindivism, and identify where

[133:16.87] the city can specifically make meaningful impact.

[133:20.89] We'll also build on the success of our MOM Symposium, which served more than 450 families

[133:26.15] this year, by expanding transportation access and offering smaller sessions throughout

[133:30.81] the year, alongside continued fatherhood engagement, and finally expanding the literacy program

[133:37.03] opportunities for high school students to help them prepare for important financial

[133:40.99] decisions after graduation.

[133:44.53] In Budget and Management Division, they will continue to focus on modernizing the budget

[133:49.37] process and continuing to strengthen public engagement.

[133:53.45] A major priority will be completing the transition to UNA and Workday, improving how we develop,

[133:59.33] manage, and coordinate budgets across city departments.

[134:02.73] We'll also build on this year's efforts to make the city budget process more accessible

[134:06.65] and understandable to residents through continued outreach, through neighborhood meetings, town

[134:11.65] halls, and expanded budget education presentations.

[134:15.57] An important part of that work will be incorporating community survey feedback into the development

[134:21.33] of future budget recommendations and overall focusing on improving the internal budgeting

[134:26.49] tools, increasing transparency, and creating more meaningful opportunities for residents

[134:31.41] to understand and participate in city budget process.

[134:36.28] In our environmental collaboration office in 2027, we will focus on practical sustainability

[134:43.15] initiatives that benefit both our neighborhoods and city operations.

[134:47.55] That includes expanding solar energy projects, advancing our $18 million electric vehicle

[134:52.95] charging initiative, and working with DCD on piloting an all energy, energy star home

[135:01.27] through the revive portion of the raise and revive initiative.

[135:04.97] This will help developers understand what's possible in the sustainable building space.

[135:10.55] We'll also begin implementing a $2 million healthy homes grant while working with forestry

[135:15.91] to replace unnecessary pavement with additional street trees.

[135:20.24] Beyond these projects, we're looking at how we can better incorporate sustainability

[135:23.88] into future development, support neighborhood environmental programs, and take advantage

[135:29.24] of available tax credits to maximize our investment.

[135:33.50] While focusing on leveraging outside funding, strengthening our neighborhoods, and making

[135:37.90] meaningful progress towards city sustainability goals.

[135:42.65] In community development grant administration, their priority this year is to make the best

[135:47.33] use of available funding and help our community partners responsible for changing funding

[135:53.47] priorities for housing needs of our most vulnerable populations.

[135:58.09] With HUD shifting its funding priorities and the unsheltered community having higher

[136:03.07] acuity needs, we're maximizing our existing resources such as ESG and home ARP funding

[136:11.23] to focus on multiple strategies that address housing instability such as the creation

[136:16.31] of supportive housing and dedicating more than $2 million in home ARP towards rental

[136:22.78] assistance.

[136:23.78] We're also looking forward to strengthening the nonprofit partners and city department

[136:28.62] colleagues through grant writing assistance, training, and federal compliance support.

[136:34.05] In procurement for 2027, the team will focus on leveraging work day to modernize purchasing

[136:40.55] processes, improve efficiencies, and expand opportunities for city contractors and small

[136:45.65] local businesses.

[136:47.65] Key priorities include implementing recommendations from 2526 purchasing workflow assessment

[136:53.43] study that was undertaken and establishing new KPIs to measure progress in reviewing

[136:58.67] purchasing thresholds to increase revenue and streamline processes.

[137:03.23] Business outreach and collaboration will also remain a top priority building on efforts

[137:07.31] that began in 26 this year.

[137:10.47] The team will continue exploring opportunities to collaborate with Milwaukee County, introduce

[137:15.39] quarterly how to do business with the city workshops tailored by industry, and partner

[137:20.05] with the city's Department of Compliance and Engagement and its SBE program to host

[137:24.99] the 27 vendor fair. Intergovernmental relations for 2027 will

[137:31.46] focus heavily on strengthening Milwaukee's financial position and will look to secure

[137:35.98] additional resources from the state to help address the city's projected budget gap while

[137:40.78] also identifying opportunities to diversify the state revenue sources.

[137:45.06] We'll be closely monitoring changes in state leadership coming up in November to hopefully

[137:49.84] position Milwaukee to take advantage of new opportunities while also preparing for potential

[137:54.94] changes.

[137:56.00] Lastly, we recently welcomed a new governmental relations manager, Shania Bao, who will help

[138:03.21] lead and coordinate these efforts.

[138:05.25] And as always, Milwaukee is building strong relationships at the state level, advocating

[138:09.53] for Milwaukee's financial needs, securing more sustainable funding for the future,

[138:14.13] and returning local control to local government.

[138:17.17] And lastly, for ITMD, the major priority for them again remains Workday, which truly,

[138:23.79] truly is a city-wide initiative, not just an ITMD or a DOA project, although we take

[138:30.59] major roles in its implementation.

[138:33.22] The focus will be on supporting a successful implementation and transition, addressing

[138:38.30] issues during the stabilization phase and establishing a modern platform that can serve

[138:43.14] the city for decades to come.

[138:45.22] The ITMD team is also advancing several permitting and licensing improvements to make the process

[138:51.79] easier and more transparent for residents, business, and city staff.

[138:56.11] So for example, they will be updating a CELA's current civic platform, a public portal version,

[139:01.73] to a more user-friendly experience called Public Portal.

[139:06.01] Open Counter will help applicants with pre-application guidance and proactive status information

[139:11.21] on their applications.

[139:13.19] And then also ePermit Hub will improve DNS electronic plan review processes.

[139:19.54] And then this year, for City Clerk's Licensing Division, they will migrate to the CELA platform.

[139:24.78] And then finally, ITMD will explore opportunities to coordinate the servers, as Sarah mentioned,

[139:30.86] as the focus is on modernizing city systems, improving the customer experience, and building

[139:36.28] a stronger technology foundation.

[139:41.32] When I read this yesterday, it was 9 minutes and 50 seconds, so.

[139:45.32] All right.

[139:46.32] We're almost there.

[139:47.32] We're almost there.

[139:48.32] We're almost there.

[139:49.32] We haven't breathed, so let's go.

[139:50.32] Right, right.

[139:51.32] I wanted to make sure I got it all out for everybody.

[139:53.84] Worried about you?

[139:54.96] I was worried about me.

[139:56.32] I want to make sure that everybody gets their due.

[139:58.44] But as you see here, last slide, Department Demographics, 80% residents, 20% non-residents

[140:05.12] overall.

[140:06.15] Okay.

[140:07.15] All right.

[140:08.15] Fantastic.

[140:09.18] Anything, Mr. Mahan?

[140:11.17] I'd be happy to answer questions.

[140:12.17] Okay.

[140:13.17] But as you can see, we timed it so that we could stay with the parameters.

[140:15.65] I like it.

[140:16.65] Oh, man.

[140:17.65] He told me 13 minutes.

[140:18.65] I'm sorry.

[140:19.65] I have my own KPIs, which is everybody staying on task.

[140:23.05] Yeah.

[140:24.05] I haven't had a gavel yet, so things are going as planned so far, but I really appreciate

[140:30.40] it.

[140:31.33] We've been able to maximize questions.

[140:34.78] So with that, like I mentioned, just now that we have everybody here, we have many

[140:40.74] divisions and offices.

[140:42.12] Ms. Rodriguez gave that overview, so please kind of say the name out of what you have

[140:47.28] your question on.

[140:49.92] It's going to be a little awkward because members, like you might have to come and go.

[140:54.35] It's just the way it's going to be.

[140:57.17] So say, you know, you might have a number of divisions or offices, so just come back

[141:01.33] up.

[141:02.33] Another member might have different ones.

[141:03.33] That's just the way we're going to give it a try here.

[141:04.69] So we're due to start with Alderwoman Charlyn Moore.

[141:08.60] We'll go through finance, and then my wonderful colleagues here, please prepare yourself

[141:13.16] too.

[141:14.16] We'll come to you after the first round.

[141:16.04] So Alderwoman Moore.

[141:17.32] Thank you.

[141:18.32] Okay.

[141:19.32] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[141:20.32] Thank you for that presentation.

[141:21.32] Danielle, good to see the team here.

[141:24.40] So you're new to the department.

[141:26.72] Can you share with us a little bit about what have been some highlights for you moving

[141:33.24] into the role as well as what has been some challenges?

[141:37.28] Sure.

[141:38.28] Absolutely.

[141:39.28] Thank you for that question.

[141:40.28] It's really good.

[141:41.28] And it's exciting because I get to talk more about the things I'm really passionate about,

[141:44.68] which is the strategy in building, quite frankly, a foundation in DOA by which to move into

[141:52.64] the future.

[141:53.84] So some of the things I immediately started working on, as I mentioned, trying to just

[141:58.40] make sure that we're successful with our workday launch and implementation, making

[142:03.40] sure we have the right resources available, the right people working on it.

[142:07.32] I have actually reassigned a number of people in my office to work primarily on workday

[142:14.13] to make sure that we're just meeting our mark, you know, and it truly is a citywide

[142:18.85] effort.

[142:19.85] It really is.

[142:20.85] I mean, there's a great executive committee that's already been in play.

[142:23.77] They've been working tirelessly for the better part of three years on this.

[142:26.97] So I'm just coming in to try to lend a hand, not take over.

[142:30.77] I'm here to get things out of their way and make sure they have the resources they need

[142:35.01] to land the project.

[142:37.02] The other big thing I'm doing is really just trying to understand the culture and where

[142:40.62] DOA is at right now and what we should look to.

[142:44.75] Quite frankly, I feel even though there are a number of divisions within DOA that are

[142:51.15] rightfully appointed by the mayor and confirmed by you, I think I heard you talk a little

[142:55.75] bit with Chief of Staff Desiato, who do they report up to?

[143:00.55] And I wonder if in the past it was gray.

[143:04.75] And certainly right now I think we have great cohesion.

[143:08.31] I mean, if you're a division head, you answer and talk to me.

[143:12.55] I help get things out of the way and make sure that you have the resources you need

[143:16.55] to do the things you need to do.

[143:18.39] But also they're executives.

[143:19.59] So they speak directly with Chief of Staff Desiato as well.

[143:24.11] And I don't think that's out of bounds or out of pocket or unusual, if you will.

[143:29.11] I think in an executive environment, there's many times gray, but I want to make sure

[143:34.27] I'm establishing better boundaries and making sure that every single office and division

[143:41.65] within DOA are operating on the same SOP standards as far as finance, HR, SOPs, process,

[143:52.10] how they work with their teams.

[143:54.46] And based on that, have you thought about are there any things that you want to implement

[144:02.44] to do differently, or is it just a learning phase for you right now?

[144:07.56] It's still very much the learning phase.

[144:09.28] I'm about six, seven months in.

[144:11.24] I have some ideas.

[144:13.40] But I also want to get to know, recently at my last staff meeting, I asked, in fact,

[144:18.92] all the division heads and office heads to create a SWOT analysis of their own areas

[144:27.28] as well as where they see the opportunities, what they need help with, what are their biggest

[144:31.72] problems that they think they need to get out of the way, maybe one of the smallest

[144:35.42] ones that have just been sort of lingering but we just can't seem to land.

[144:40.04] That information, I'll start meeting with them at the end of this year.

[144:44.69] And that will help me develop the holistic plan.

[144:48.03] Got it.

[144:49.12] Okay.

[144:50.12] So the current proposed 2027 budget proposes about a $2.1 million increase, despite the

[144:59.32] transfer of two offices out which, you know, the early childhood, like, that to me completely

[145:05.76] made sense.

[145:08.28] Predominantly funding for information technologies service increased by approximately $1.5 million

[145:14.92] with salaries and fringe benefits increasing by approximately $538,000.

[145:21.65] Keeping that in mind, what factors are driving the department's overall budget increase,

[145:26.89] particularly the significant increase in information technology and why has salaries and fringe

[145:32.45] benefits despite the reduction in authorized positions, why has that increased?

[145:38.22] Yeah, I'll let Dave get into the details of the IT increases but I will just say from

[145:44.02] my perspective, it shows an investment in our future and laying down a really solid

[145:49.70] foundation for the tech that we're using.

[145:52.14] I'm, you know, I'm personally coming from a space in DPW where we still had some paper

[145:57.94] and pen processes that we really were desperate to get, you know, computerized.

[146:02.82] And some of the work day processes that are being implemented right now are actually

[146:06.86] helping to accomplish that.

[146:08.30] And so just from my perspective, I think if we want to be the data centric city that

[146:14.38] we say we want to be, it does come with some investment.

[146:18.34] And then in regard to the change in salaries, I mean, I guess I would defer maybe to budget

[146:22.30] but I believe the majority of that is probably just change in the recent market studies

[146:27.84] because I'm not proposing any additional staff or changes in that regard.

[146:33.02] Yeah, so the salary and position increase, or I guess not position, but the salary increase,

[146:38.58] a good chunk of DOA was affected by the HR BISOP study, both obviously budget and management,

[146:44.30] you're seeing most of those positions, even, you know, community development grant administration,

[146:48.42] a lot of those positions, obviously, most of that is absorbed by grants, but they did

[146:51.86] have with between ARPA ending and lose it, there is like a little bit of a shift onto

[146:56.42] levy and CDG.

[146:57.42] I mean, it's a small shift, but they would be affected by that salary study as well.

[147:03.10] And that I would say is the main driver as well as, as I also share during the, you

[147:07.50] know, for eco, there is also a slight shift onto the levy as grants are ending, though

[147:12.18] not a huge, it's like one in a, or like, I think about one FTE or so, cumulatively.

[147:18.09] Okay, thank you for that.

[147:20.73] Good morning, David Hinkie, Chief Information Officer with the Information and Technology

[147:25.83] Management Division of DOA.

[147:28.27] So in terms of the software expenses and increases, there's several factors to that,

[147:32.85] one of which is a number of our contracts have built in escalators between five, seven,

[147:39.35] 10% that are built in in the contract every year.

[147:43.93] One of the contracts, when they expire, we will expand our services for other departments

[147:49.49] like our GIS platform or our CELA platform is coming due next year.

[147:53.93] You've seen a number of the enhancements we talked about, or Danielle talked about

[147:58.01] regarding CELA with regard to the open counter initiative, the public portal.

[148:03.49] So those are some new systems that are coming on board.

[148:06.93] And there's also items that will come off of capital accounts, several of the items

[148:11.09] there about like Neighborly and some of the other programs that we have that we do capital

[148:15.35] investments or grants that to establish new softwares that as they become established

[148:20.57] end up on the operating budget as well.

[148:23.11] And so those end up being IT expenses, but benefits to the entire city and not just IT.

[148:30.35] Yeah, and in regards to that, Director Hinkie, the position for the telecommunications, so

[148:37.57] you all changed that position for it to be a manager, manager position of telecommunications.

[148:46.10] What was the premise for moving because I think you all took two positions out, changed

[148:51.14] it to that one.

[148:53.60] What is the goal of that particular position?

[148:56.75] So if I can take a minute to explain that, that was my prior position back when I became

[149:05.23] CIO in 2010, or I'm sorry, 2020, and at the time that was prior to some of the market

[149:11.39] rate analysis.

[149:12.39] We did attempt to refill that position, didn't find any sufficiently qualified candidates.

[149:17.07] So that position was eliminated from a budget prior to Act 12.

[149:22.71] And now that Act 12 has come into play, some of the market adjustments have been made.

[149:29.60] We also inherited from the police department as part of the 911 restructuring the three

[149:37.57] telecom positions from the public safety telecom section.

[149:41.85] And so while I was managing, kind of acting as a manager in the absence for several years,

[149:49.14] now that this also covers not just the city telecom, but the public safety telecom as

[149:53.14] well, there's really a need for a manager in that department over the last two years

[149:57.54] or so as we've absorbed that department and looked for efficiencies.

[150:05.99] We've had a vacancy that you see that we haven't filled so that we can utilize some of those

[150:12.71] savings to make the staff more efficient and also be able to have a manager which that

[150:20.67] section really needs, particularly with the addition of the public safety group to that

[150:26.38] group.

[150:28.31] Thank you.

[150:30.07] And I'll wrap up my line of questioning, just really centered around sort of just

[150:35.98] understanding special funds.

[150:39.05] When we have particularly special programs, are there, what are the premise to say, okay,

[150:45.89] this is going to be put on the levy versus we may need to have sponsorship for, you

[150:53.38] know, these particular events versus, you know, putting them on the levy.

[150:58.83] Is there a metrics or that you all decide what gets put on the levy?

[151:03.69] Again, these are for like the some of the special events that happen yearly.

[151:08.49] So certainly, you know, I guess specific to events and stuff, they do seek sponsorship.

[151:13.56] There is a contribution account at least to support the fatherhood initiative.

[151:17.90] I think for some of the longer, more established events, there's maybe a longer history of

[151:21.86] sponsorship that is sought.

[151:24.00] I guess I would say for some of these other events, as a practical matter, there are

[151:27.10] expenses to the city.

[151:29.14] OAAA specifically has been for the past couple years spending down, we did like sort of

[151:34.94] that ARPA substitute for -- so they've been continuing to spend that down but have had

[151:39.66] a little more flexibility out of that account to cover some of these, you know, maybe expenses

[151:45.53] that were known during budget development last year.

[151:49.17] Moving into 27, that is -- there should still be at least a little bit of carryover out

[151:52.89] of that account but would expect to need to budget for, you know, at least some of

[151:57.81] the costs of those events and the city in order to maintain those operations.

[152:03.42] But they do continue to seek sponsorship opportunities.

[152:06.16] I think that those events have been a priority for the mayor's administration and for the

[152:12.89] department.

[152:14.82] And then I guess some of these other -- certainly I would say winter warming.

[152:17.58] We had a lot of discussion over the summer trying to find -- figure out if there was

[152:20.58] another way to fund that and just I think -- you know, there's a lot of factors that

[152:24.93] go into the proposed budget but just had a lot of concern about the potential impact

[152:31.06] on the -- on house population if that wasn't in the budget.

[152:34.06] So that was -- definitely kind of a last step, seeing what we could squeeze out.

[152:38.89] No, something like that is definitely -- I mean, we have really harsh winters and so

[152:45.65] that was a smart -- that was a smart move.

[152:48.94] In reference to the ARPA dollars, if they're not spent down by the end of this year or

[152:54.19] encumbered would -- So it's not -- it's not ARPA dollars per

[152:58.83] se.

[152:59.83] So a few years ago we did sort of a big sweep -- I think we tried to use better terminology

[153:04.95] than sweep at the time.

[153:06.59] But looked for ARPA dollars, we were concerned might not be encumbered in time and sort

[153:11.95] of substituted levy funds for those specific items.

[153:15.67] So there had been a $400,000 allocation of ARPA to the Office of African American Affairs

[153:21.75] that -- you know, we were concerned might not be spent down in time so swapped it.

[153:26.07] We've been carrying that over for the past two years to -- you know, as they've continued

[153:32.59] to -- it was for remodeling the space and for operational.

[153:36.25] So they've continued to be doing that work and spending that down.

[153:40.23] The only time limit on that money is just like state laws around carryover, but I -- it's

[153:48.97] been getting spent down.

[153:50.49] So there's not an ARPA imposed expiration on that money.

[153:55.99] >> Got it.

[153:56.99] Okay.

[153:57.99] Thank you so much.

[153:58.97] Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[154:00.11] >> All right.

[154:02.00] Moving on to Alderman Speicher.

[154:03.00] >> Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[154:04.00] I guess as long as we have ITMD at the table, I'll ask a couple of questions there.

[154:09.51] I guess Budget had pointed out the $3.8 million investment in the consolidation server and

[154:18.60] that was mentioned as an expense that's going to be expected to continue for the next --

[154:23.34] >> I would expect -- so, I mean, David's had more experience on the contract itself

[154:27.74] so I can give him the mic for that, but I would anticipate that there'll probably be

[154:31.82] some expenses to continue that consolidation next year or how much that's going to be,

[154:38.14] I couldn't say, but I think, you know, part of figuring out what we were going to budget

[154:43.81] this year, the understanding was that the contractor that'd be executing the process

[154:49.37] of consolidation was willing to split those costs across a multiyear period.

[154:53.33] So if we had to expense everything the first year, that would have been quite a big increase

[154:57.77] on the capital budget from what had been requested.

[155:00.73] Obviously, don't have a lot of space to increase from the request as we're developing the capital

[155:05.05] budget, so just -- I would anticipate that there will be expenses next year as well.

[155:10.13] >> And what are we expecting to be the total contracted amount to do this work, the server

[155:17.88] storage replacement?

[155:18.88] I mean, is that going to be $10 million, is that going to be?

[155:25.89] >> So the intent is I don't have all of the numbers right now.

[155:35.88] I do have a number for the hardware.

[155:37.52] We're still getting quotes on some of the virtualization software, some of the backup

[155:42.12] solutions, but I would say within $10 million, absolutely, the initial build -- some of

[155:49.44] the background on this is that ITMD's servers that we support for the city are ending warranty

[155:58.00] and maintenance, reaching end of life, as well as Department of Emergency Communications.

[156:03.52] And rather than just set up our own servers and storage as we've done historically in

[156:09.44] other departments with their own servers, I asked the vendor to do an analysis of, you

[156:14.88] know, are there cost savings that are more efficient to set up a single server and storage

[156:19.60] environment, private cloud, if you will, that ITMD manages for all the departments?

[156:23.68] The thought being that that's an enterprise service that doesn't really necessarily take

[156:28.00] specialized knowledge that are some of the IT services in the individual departments,

[156:32.20] so -- and the answer was yes, that separately -- this is solely for the hardware, so it's

[156:37.60] not a complete cost, but a refresh was quoted as $17.2 million if we just normal did everything

[156:44.56] our own way, and then there's a couple of options to do so for between $5 to $9 million

[156:52.08] if we do them combined.

[156:55.35] Now the challenge with that is each department has different times when their hardware will

[157:00.63] expire.

[157:01.63] But the analysis was that most departments have some refreshes that will be due by 2028.

[157:06.72] And for the $3.84 million figure in the proposed budget for corporate server and storage replacement,

[157:14.31] how exact of a number is that?

[157:16.27] Is that something, you know, that could be adjusted $100,000 here or there without an

[157:22.91] immediate impact, or what would be the impact?

[157:27.08] That would be the number to do, as quoted today, that would be the number to replace

[157:33.13] the ITMD hardware and the DEC hardware, the intent would be if others wanted to join

[157:38.77] next year and had capital funds because they were planning it anyway, could contribute

[157:41.81] towards a larger build, or as has been described, it would have a multiyear build.

[157:47.40] Over time, hopefully, probably, I think a better approach would be to have a continued

[157:53.36] enhancement expansion rather than big chunks every five or six years or whatever the server

[158:00.31] cycle replacement is.

[158:01.51] The other challenge is that the environment for computing right now is very volatile,

[158:06.95] costs going up continually.

[158:08.99] So what is quoted today won't last more than 30 days.

[158:12.58] I can't get a commitment more than that, and it's probably only going to go up.

[158:15.98] So it's a difficult thing to put a pin in.

[158:20.08] Okay.

[158:21.33] We're shifting gears just slightly to the workday.

[158:24.49] There was the magical October date that we would have a final answer.

[158:30.03] Everybody's been saying, "No, it's going to happen," you've told me.

[158:35.04] Are there, if it weren't going to happen, if December wasn't going to be the go live,

[158:43.36] would we know right now?

[158:47.26] We are on path to go alive in December and doing everything in our power to make that.

[158:51.34] There's a critical path with a number of items.

[158:54.78] One of the critical path items for October was to finish testing and to complete a snapshot

[159:06.34] of our current environment for HR in PeopleSoft and the financials in PeopleSoft.

[159:12.78] We have those, and we're working on those right now to the Accenture.

[159:18.60] Our partner is working to develop those right now into a format that can be imported into

[159:22.98] our what's called a gold tenant, the gold tenant, which is what will be our production

[159:26.94] tenant.

[159:28.26] That's going to start at the end of this week.

[159:31.28] Then there's a number of critical paths along the way to validate the data, migrate the

[159:35.70] configuration, load the data, moving into the production environment, just a whole slew

[159:41.84] of things along that way, all of which we need to hit, but we have plans and intend

[159:45.50] to hit to go live by December 20th.

[159:47.66] Yeah.

[159:48.69] But is there anything critical this month that could still happen that would say, "Oh,

[159:52.21] that answer was not the one we were looking for.

[159:54.37] That's way out of bounds, and so we're not going to go live."

[159:57.25] At which point are you reaching 100% confidence that we're going to go live in December?

[160:07.50] 100%?

[160:08.50] December?

[160:09.50] The confidence is high.

[160:11.06] There's like a green, yellow, red, and we've been in the red for a while.

[160:15.46] I think knowing that we have those migrations, we can get to yellow in the next week or

[160:21.58] two as we do some of our data validation and migrations.

[160:25.64] Everything is currently on track.

[160:29.18] With respect to, it was mentioned, some permit and licensing enhancements.

[160:35.93] I think DNS is going to come to CIMC and show us some of the permit stuff.

[160:45.13] What do you – well, let me shift to this because I only have a limited amount of time.

[160:53.03] The GOV AI training, how has that been going?

[160:55.67] How has that been rolling out?

[160:56.99] I know there was an attempt not just to get the department heads some sort of familiarity

[161:02.83] with it as well.

[161:05.19] There was something in August relating to that.

[161:07.67] Is that something that is getting traction?

[161:12.76] I know we've talked about it at CIMC and what it would take to get traction.

[161:16.66] But what's a very brief status report on that?

[161:19.84] Mr. Chairman, Jim Bowl, Innovation Office, and then my office is assisting ITMD in collaboration

[161:28.97] with some of the training mechanisms.

[161:32.33] We've continued to shuffle out some of the individualized training opportunities that

[161:36.89] are provided by ITMD recently.

[161:39.45] There was one that was for purchasing.

[161:42.61] So we continue to try to see those and share those.

[161:47.73] Right now, in about three weeks from now, and then two weeks apart, there's going to

[161:53.13] be another fall series of trainings.

[161:57.10] One of the problems that I think that we had with the early general trainings that had

[162:02.47] taken place is we relied on outreach by sending it to department heads and having that so-called

[162:09.84] filter down.

[162:11.68] We saw that there were some departments that just didn't have presence in the early trainings.

[162:17.97] So we're going to make a concerted effort of using an eNotify and more broadly getting

[162:22.77] that out because we don't want to squander the opportunities that we do have for that.

[162:28.08] And then another thing more recently that was relayed is just last month we helped

[162:32.44] to facilitate with the training that Chief of Staff Desiato had alluded to for an executive-level

[162:38.76] training that was provided by an outside consultant.

[162:43.32] Because as we've alluded before in the past, the effort really is to have a bottom-up

[162:49.79] and top-down approach being taken jointly where we're providing knowledge on an executive-level

[162:56.36] to department heads because we want to actually provide that level of encouragement coming

[163:02.93] from the department heads who have familiarity and a desire to have it implemented at the

[163:08.17] same time.

[163:09.17] We're trying to continue with the opportunities on the bottom level up.

[163:12.71] And then as far as measuring uptake, have you worked with DER or other partners to try

[163:20.13] to get out some sort of survey or something through the departments to see how many of

[163:26.67] their employees are using it and what capacity?

[163:29.57] That might be a useful thing to gauge as we go along to see whether our efforts are

[163:35.53] succeeding, how slowly it's being adopted, or if there's pockets where it's being adopted

[163:40.25] and if we can identify why and how that is.

[163:44.97] So is that something that both of you would handle, or would you work with DER on it if

[163:51.38] we wanted to get that information?

[163:52.70] I do know, and David may want to jump in, I do know that that information is accessible

[163:58.82] to us at management level, I believe to David, at the very least.

[164:03.02] On the folio level, we have the ability to actually see how many employees are signed

[164:08.02] up, what the level of usage is, and whether or not that has actually incrementally gone

[164:13.20] up.

[164:14.20] And would you be able to segment that report by department so that you can see, hey, in

[164:18.08] this department, we see X many employees?

[164:20.80] Yes, we can do that, I haven't looked at that recently, but I also think your suggestion

[164:25.92] of reaching out to employees who may not have adopted it, and that tells you who has

[164:30.08] adopted it and what they're using it for, but reaching out to employees who haven't

[164:33.20] to say, you know, this is available to you, is it something that you're interested in?

[164:36.84] It would be interesting to know why folks aren't...

[164:40.96] There's big sections like the police department where there's SOPs that forbid the use of

[164:46.16] AI, use without the chief's approval, so there's sections there too that have unique

[164:52.17] circumstances.

[164:53.12] Yep, very interesting.

[164:57.88] I guess, quickly, because a lot of questions on a lot of different things, but I think

[165:03.20] I'll stop with this one.

[165:04.80] For the innovation office, I know we've had a couple of reports, we had one in September

[165:10.40] of some of the gains in the innovation office, also had, I think, the biennial report in

[165:15.12] July.

[165:18.80] There's a lot that's been accomplished here, but I saw on the budget it looked like, so

[165:24.90] the innovation office is a mean and lean team of two, but in the budget, it looks like

[165:30.36] it becomes a lean and mean team of one.

[165:33.99] So the innovation policy analyst position, which I think is Sreelash Srinivasan's current

[165:40.53] position, is zeroed out, not just, I know there was special funding related to that.

[165:48.37] Is that the 12 o'clock test?

[165:52.03] It could be a test.

[165:55.06] I have an exception for the 12 o'clock test, but the city has an exception.

[166:11.42] Okay.

[166:12.42] And continuing, so is that position, as the green book seems to indicate, eliminated,

[166:17.57] and if so, in order to have an innovation office, I would think you would need more

[166:23.99] than just you, and I thought Ms. Srinivasan has been contributing greatly, so I guess

[166:33.00] I can ask the budget office why the proposed elimination, but then to your office what

[166:39.97] work has been made possible through that collaborative approach.

[166:44.13] Thank you for the question.

[166:45.92] I don't know if you want to defer here.

[166:47.48] I'm happy to take that.

[166:48.48] Yeah, I can just say that Sreelash is a fellow, not a -- currently the office is one FTE.

[166:54.75] There was a second FTE last year that was eliminated via amendment that was requested

[167:00.95] and not included in the proposed budget, given constraints on the budget and the salary

[167:05.95] increases trying to -- other positions that were requested and not granted, but just

[167:10.93] the person in question is not currently -- that's not her position.

[167:15.92] Right.

[167:16.92] So that was the position that was moved in last year's budget or eliminated in last

[167:21.16] year's budget, but I guess the more general point is should it be an office of Jim Bowl

[167:27.64] forever or would there be an advantage on having folks such as Sreelash's position in

[167:36.29] the office on a funded basis if whatever funding runs out?

[167:40.73] Is there work that she's enabled you to do in your office that wouldn't be done otherwise

[167:45.85] and is it important?

[167:49.40] Thank you for the question, Alderman.

[167:52.14] Srila Srinivasan is a two-year fellow that is with us from a collaboration that we reached

[168:01.67] out to and have with the Bloomberg Foundation through Bloomberg Harvard.

[168:06.54] And so it is actually Bloomberg Philanthropies that pays for her entire salary on fellowship

[168:13.66] and hence she is not on the city's ledger.

[168:17.41] She joined us a year ago in August, so her two-year fellowship will end in August of

[168:26.73] next year.

[168:27.77] And so in terms of her level of expertise, I will tell you that we have more than enough

[168:34.59] work for two individuals and then some.

[168:38.41] There's a lot of outside expertise that she does bring to the position.

[168:43.03] She particularly has a really innate knowledge around AI and there's a number of other policy

[168:49.73] areas.

[168:50.73] I know that you've seen even her presentation here earlier this year before this committee

[168:55.35] a couple of months back.

[168:57.67] I think she's invaluable.

[169:00.47] When she does leave, I did explore the opportunity with Bloomberg Harvard because that is an

[169:07.05] ongoing program, albeit the one difficulty that we do face is that is a two-year program

[169:13.18] program.

[169:14.21] They will not grant the authority for municipalities to apply and receive an award of a potential

[169:21.76] fellow if you're in a year's time or so of the mayor's being up for re-election.

[169:31.21] And so as of next August, we're in that year's time, which means we were unable to apply.

[169:37.81] And so ultimately her tenure will be up in August and at this point here we will resort

[169:43.03] back to an office of one.

[169:46.05] But it sounds like you've been able to do more with an office of two.

[169:50.07] If there is an appetite to if the Bloomberg funding is going to go away and so the position

[169:58.50] with it, then you would be able to accomplish more if you could have somebody on staff with

[170:06.19] alternate funding.

[170:07.23] I'm very grateful to have Sherela with our office because she's a tremendous asset and

[170:12.19] there is the work.

[170:14.57] And again, one last end of this question, and then I'm done, I have other questions

[170:19.74] on other divisions but I'll ask them later.

[170:24.45] When the Office of Innovation was first proposed, it was supposed to be something that, you

[170:30.05] know, the amount we spend on one position here could result in, you know, hundreds

[170:36.16] of thousands of dollars of savings over time and just improved efficiency in how we do

[170:42.71] gov and we've worked on some issues together such as the habitual parking offender ordinance.

[170:50.73] But are we in a similar position as we were from zero to one where when we're looking

[170:58.16] at one to two positions of the amount of savings that potentially could be reaped to the how

[171:05.58] we do city government is greatly what it would cost to hire somebody in that position or

[171:16.82] is that too optimistic?

[171:18.58] You know, Alderman, the thing that holds true is, you know, we do a plethora of, tackle

[171:25.36] a plethora of projects.

[171:27.20] Some of them will be revenue enforcing.

[171:30.83] Some of them will be efficiency.

[171:32.19] Some of them will be looking at finding ways to establish collaborations.

[171:37.55] There's no guarantee in anything.

[171:39.55] I like to think that the office itself has a significant return on investment for the

[171:45.03] city, I think that that's been borne out over the last two years.

[171:50.05] I can't provide you a guarantee that if you provided us five positions that we'd save

[171:53.73] you ten times as much money.

[171:55.81] I do believe that the office does provide a return on investment both in terms of revenue,

[172:01.33] in terms of savings, in terms of overall efficiencies and improvements of services.

[172:06.01] I think that's been borne out over the last two years.

[172:08.45] Yeah, I mean, it might have been a one off, but the habitual parking violator or offender

[172:13.73] ordinance, we just had a report in public safety that said they collected like one and

[172:18.39] a half million thus far as a result and more in the courts and more, even if that wasn't

[172:25.01] the intent or the goal that was an out impact.

[172:29.53] So, all right, I promised I would, that's it.

[172:33.05] So thank you, Madam Chair.

[172:34.05] I'll have other questions for later.

[172:35.57] Oh, definitely.

[172:36.57] Yes.

[172:37.57] Madam Chair?

[172:38.57] There will definitely be a few rounds because we have so many divisions and offices to

[172:40.85] go through.

[172:41.85] Madam Chair?

[172:42.85] Oh, well, he's up.

[172:43.85] And I think, Jim, have you thought about opportunities such as public allies who use as AmeriCorps

[172:49.13] members for a term of a, I think it's probably a year or maybe a little bit, maybe it's

[172:55.69] 10 months of service.

[172:57.89] Have you ever considered that opportunity?

[173:00.89] I have not.

[173:02.85] I certainly would be open, all the women.

[173:05.97] The one thing that I think is true is there is a definite learning curve.

[173:11.26] You see this even coming as an alder, you know, your level of experience and you're

[173:15.06] ready to tackle things two years in is significantly higher than when you were first brought in.

[173:20.26] And so, you know, I think, like, even from our standpoint, the investment of time into

[173:27.54] an individual in the first six months just to get them ready to essentially, like, lay

[173:32.64] one or two projects and then they're out the door is one of the gravest challenges

[173:38.13] in that regard and something that's shorter term.

[173:40.89] Yeah, thank you for that.

[173:42.05] Thanks, Madam Chair.

[173:43.41] Thank you.

[173:44.41] Thank you.

[173:45.41] Alderman Bergelles is just excused for a few minutes, but he'll be back.

[173:49.24] So we're moving on to Alderman Miele Cox.

[173:54.78] Question for ITMD.

[173:55.77] A similar question to when I asked the mayor's office, you know, with the ever changing

[174:07.12] technology with us buying new software systems and onboarding everyone with the push towards

[174:15.23] more AI usage.

[174:19.19] Do you feel like our cybersecurity, that we are also heightening our security the way

[174:26.17] we should to protect the city?

[174:31.98] Yes, I guess we can never be 100 percent and never be perfectly secure, but we've done

[174:39.52] a number of activities in that regard.

[174:43.46] Late last year, about a year ago, we started our cyber liability insurance finally and

[174:49.67] getting that onboard.

[174:50.67] That has been a valuable asset to have that protection.

[174:54.31] It's not just insurance.

[174:55.43] They also provide reviews and scanning of our systems that started out with vulnerability

[175:02.55] scans and things we've received from other vendors, but every different aspect provides

[175:07.23] a different input, and so they've identified several items off the start and continue

[175:11.91] to find things if there's an issue for us to patch and manage.

[175:15.67] We use those services quite a bit.

[175:17.47] More recently, they've been involved in reviewing some of our policy exposures, like with regard

[175:23.23] to privacy policies and what we need to do to be compliant with various state, federal,

[175:29.95] international laws, so we're currently reviewing that with city attorney's office.

[175:34.89] We have, in the capital budget, $200,000 that we've had for a number of years for

[175:42.17] security, and those have gone to things such as, right now, we'll be doing an internal

[175:51.12] penetration test that's helped fund things like those to review if someone's in our

[175:55.08] system and gets in, what can they access, how do they do that, and how can we tighten

[175:59.72] that.

[176:01.52] Over the years, there's been state grants.

[176:03.80] We're in year three that we just applied for out of four years for things that we've

[176:09.44] bought like additional endpoint protection or improved endpoint detection, which is

[176:14.08] basically like antivirus on a computer, just more powerful than just an antivirus on endpoints

[176:21.06] to detect things.

[176:22.18] It comes with a 24/7 monitoring service that will inform us if there's an issue, so that's

[176:28.54] always been beneficial.

[176:35.88] We have, the other grants that we've put in our four in year two was for improved multi-factor

[176:45.55] authentication through badges, so that the 9/1 system where operations are really important,

[176:49.59] you can just badge in, and that's how you do your security.

[176:52.11] In fact, in the next year, Microsoft is requiring, since we've implemented multi-factor authentication,

[176:58.03] anyone that uses a phone call for a voice call to get a number or SMS text messages,

[177:05.99] those are considered less secure.

[177:07.67] They're going to start restricting the use of those, so by February, we're investigating

[177:11.35] how to migrate to some more secure technologies to do multi-factor authentication.

[177:16.95] The grant that we're applying for this year and would supplement funding through the

[177:21.19] capital project is for our replacement of our firewall that will reach end of manufacturer

[177:27.56] support in 2028, but we want to be ahead of that in 27, so that we have a plan and funding

[177:32.40] in place that we can do that before that happens in 2028, and those are some of the

[177:40.07] notes I took from the discussion this morning.

[177:43.59] Thank you.

[177:45.31] How many social media accounts do we have in the city?

[177:52.64] I don't have that number off the top of my head, I'd have to go to our Milwaukee.gov/connect

[177:58.72] site to take a look, but it's many dozens, maybe many dozens, there's quite a few out

[178:08.35] there.

[178:10.05] I'd love to know, even if it's later, if you can give me that information.

[178:15.19] Of the many dozens, do you know how many are monetized?

[178:20.42] I guess I'm not aware of any that are monetized.

[178:27.09] I know we heard from what was at the library yesterday, and I asked them about, because

[178:32.17] I would assume one of our most popular with their TikTok, so I asked them if they had

[178:36.77] been monetized, if they could be, and if they had been monetized on any of their platforms

[178:44.88] and they said they are monetized on Facebook, and that they're consulting with the city

[178:49.40] attorney about some other platforms, and if they can be monetized.

[178:55.58] So I guess my question, whoever needs to answer it, even if it's not true, is how

[179:03.16] many and which of our social media sites at the city are monetized?

[179:09.27] And my next question, maybe this would be for budget, of those that are monetized, what

[179:14.83] happens to the money?

[179:16.90] I would think that would just be revenue into the city, so that just gets processed.

[179:21.34] It would be booked to the library.

[179:22.46] I don't have the library department, so I'm not 100 percent sure how that specific revenue

[179:27.10] is.

[179:28.10] They told us that they use it to continue to promote, but I'm thinking, at one point

[179:33.94] we had 99 pages out here, so let's say 10 percent of them are monetized.

[179:39.22] It's not just the library then, potentially.

[179:41.60] I want to know what they all are doing with those funds or whatever.

[179:48.38] We can follow up with you.

[179:49.76] Yeah.

[179:51.07] I do have a suggestion for the Office of Innovation.

[180:00.13] Currently with the Council Lead Transformation Fund, we set aside $600,000 for the use for

[180:09.86] a participatory budgeting type of process so the residents can promote or propose different

[180:18.86] usage for the fund and when they vote to see who should get the funds.

[180:24.04] Currently it's still in its steering rules planning stage with the committee that the

[180:29.44] Council created but I'm sure over the next several months proposals will come in and

[180:37.58] all of that and I'm sure we will have nowhere near enough money to fund all of the great

[180:43.90] proposals that will come through but I would encourage the Innovation Director to look

[180:49.76] at those proposals because regardless of the ones that we're able to fund, it might

[180:54.68] be some great ones in there that might be worth finding other ways to pursue to benefit

[181:00.96] the city.

[181:07.16] Next question is for the Office of African American Affairs.

[181:26.49] Good afternoon.

[181:29.72] So when we created the Office of African American Affairs years ago, I remember the

[181:37.47] Alder who started it, Alderman Rainey, I remember he was a county supervisor when

[181:42.30] he wanted one at the city, the county, and he wanted one at the state too and I remember

[181:47.61] talking through it all with him and what he was trying to do and then when he came

[181:50.89] over to the city, him helping to create the office here.

[181:54.85] I know that one of the goals always was to change and improve the conditions in the

[182:04.45] city of Milwaukee for African Americans so that saying we have some of the worst zip

[182:10.90] codes or the highest incarceration rates or worst place to raise back children, all

[182:15.30] the things that we often hear about with different measurements people have that that

[182:22.39] would somehow change through the focus on specific stuff to try to help change those

[182:29.39] conditions.

[182:30.39] I've been to the office, I've been to celebrations, I'm aware of the programming.

[182:37.57] I guess for the director and whoever else I deal with, I guess my question is what

[182:44.57] are your measurements of success with impact for the work that you're doing and how do

[182:51.48] you think you're doing with those measurements?

[182:56.79] Thank you, good question.

[182:59.17] We are still establishing baselines as you would know just being there a little bit

[183:03.25] over a year, many of the programs are still fairly new and I can be completely transparent.

[183:09.97] Some of the programs did not work.

[183:12.73] We lost some of the programs through funding with some of our outside organizations but

[183:18.33] then also we are still trying things and trying, we had to pivot in some of the different

[183:24.05] things that we wanted to do, it was kind of what Jim Bull said when you get into something

[183:28.85] you got all of these ideas but when you're in it you have to understand there's only

[183:32.45] so much you can do.

[183:34.05] We have an office of three excluding the dual staff member so we are trying to work

[183:41.13] through some of the challenges with what you're saying.

[183:45.78] If I can be honest even in the sense of working with 53206 that was something that we wanted

[183:51.30] to look at.

[183:52.30] We've got the data, we've got a few stakeholders that will be coming to the table to address

[183:56.90] some of the root causes of why that is one of the most incarcerated zip codes in the

[184:03.10] US.

[184:04.10] So we do have plans that is was on the slide to move forward with that but we also have

[184:08.42] to be honest and say with the current administration we have to be careful about how we approach

[184:12.98] certain things and so that put us at a pause as well to try to rethink how we're going

[184:18.22] to approach some of those issues.

[184:21.36] Okay, I have a question for intergovernmental, that's all I have.

[184:41.15] Thank you.

[184:42.15] Hi, Jordan Primico, Intergovernmental Relations Director, good to see you all.

[184:44.94] Thank you.

[184:46.12] Similar to a question I asked earlier of the mayor's office, are you prepared for

[184:55.65] a potential and hopeful shift at the state that might be a little more Milwaukee friendly

[185:03.63] to advocate day one for some of the statutory changes and other considerations that would

[185:13.37] benefit us as a city?

[185:17.77] Absolutely.

[185:18.77] Not only we're prepared but we've been preparing all summer long really since the session

[185:22.21] ended in March preparing for a new horizon, a new development mountain Madison.

[185:27.05] Now the situation, the way I look at it is we don't know what November is ever going

[185:30.81] to bring us but what we do know is that there is new leadership across the board.

[185:35.33] We're going to have a new governor, we're going to have a new senate majority leader,

[185:37.97] we're going to have a new assembly speaker and that creates new opportunities no matter

[185:43.65] how that shakes out.

[185:45.05] I think many of us in this room are optimistic about what November will bring us and certainly

[185:50.01] we have one of our own sons that's running for governor that would bring a perspective

[185:55.41] to the east wing of the city of Milwaukee that we have not had there quite frankly since

[186:01.05] Governor Schreiber.

[186:02.25] And so it's a tremendous opportunity and so yes I've been doing significant preparations

[186:07.11] to make sure we're ready for that, maintain strong relationships with County Executive

[186:12.21] Crowley, the team around him both in his county office and on his campaign team.

[186:18.31] Many colleagues have now gone to work on the campaign and have stayed close with them

[186:22.65] and stayed in communication with them again not wanting to interfere with the job that

[186:27.05] they have in front of them in the next couple of weeks but we need to be opportunistic when

[186:31.17] it comes to new opportunities out in Madison but the same goes for potentially new leaders

[186:36.09] in the caucuses in the legislature.

[186:39.85] Danielle did mention we've just brought on a new lobbyist who came previously from the

[186:45.65] legislature.

[186:46.65] She worked for minority leader Gordon Hintz for a long time and is well known in the caucuses

[186:51.21] out there.

[186:52.21] We're going to have a lot of work to do.

[186:54.13] The way I've always looked at it is the two north stars for my division are to bring more

[186:59.49] resources to bear for you all and the mayor to choose how to use and to remove the handcuffs

[187:05.25] that the state has put on the city of Milwaukee over time and return local control to local

[187:09.05] officials.

[187:10.25] Those are not easy lifts.

[187:12.01] Those are not light lifts and so we've had significant preparations including conversations

[187:18.25] with some of the larger municipalities around the state because quite frankly we are not

[187:22.31] Chicago to Illinois, Milwaukee is not of the size where we have legislative control from

[187:27.41] just the people that we send out there in our delegation and so we're going to have

[187:31.37] to figure out ways of working with Madison, working with Green Bay, Racine, Sheboygan,

[187:37.25] some of the other large communities around the state to advocate for the economic centers

[187:43.45] that these big cities represent.

[187:45.91] And I think one of the things that I know I talked with Director Kovac on putting together

[187:51.75] is we need to do a better job of telling our economic story to the state of Wisconsin.

[187:55.85] I think this is going to be, and no matter what the partisan makeup of Alton Madison

[187:59.57] is, we have a really amazing economic story to tell and part of that is due to what we

[188:05.33] all accomplished in Act 12 and with the sales tax because for the first time in our history

[188:10.81] with the 2% sales tax, we know how much money that raises in the city of Milwaukee.

[188:14.77] I mean the last time I spoke to the budget office, it brought in about $218 million

[188:20.39] last year, so 1% is $109 million, well the state collects a 5% sales tax in the city

[188:26.53] of Milwaukee.

[188:27.53] That means each year the city of Milwaukee alone, just our municipal boarders, are sending

[188:32.25] $545 million to the state of Wisconsin and we received back about $260 million in shared

[188:38.97] revenue.

[188:39.97] So if I'm anywhere else in the state of Wisconsin that's a pretty darn good deal, unfortunately

[188:44.37] for us that's not a good deal.

[188:46.81] And again that's not to say we are the economic engine of the state.

[188:50.69] I think a lot of us are comfortable with the things that we do here, the opportunities

[188:56.61] that business have here in Milwaukee are going to benefit the metro area and the greater

[189:00.65] statewide area, but it allows us to tell an economic story next session of an investment

[189:08.29] in Milwaukee is an investment in the state of Wisconsin and we haven't always had that

[189:12.61] economic data at our fingertips to tell that story and to tell what it's like being the

[189:18.41] county seat in the city of Milwaukee, what some of the other large cities as county

[189:21.81] seats, Madison to Dane, Green Bay to Brown, what we bring to not only our own communities

[189:27.73] but our metro area and if we can start closing the financial gaps that we have and the ongoing

[189:34.29] structural budget deficits that we have, just imagine the additional resources we'll bring

[189:39.09] to bear at the state.

[189:40.78] And so yes, to going back to your question, Alderwoman Coggs, stand very prepared, very

[189:45.52] ready for a hopeful outcome for November, but prepared and ready to make a big push

[189:50.34] no matter who is in leadership out in Madison.

[189:53.30] Thank you.

[189:54.30] And in my budget town hall, and director Kovac might recall this, the city workers

[190:00.72] who were there, one of the things that they impressed upon us is that they recognize

[190:06.30] some of the restraints that the city has due to the state and that they stand ready and

[190:11.42] willing to go with us to the state to help fight.

[190:15.87] So I would hope as you stand ready with the new regime, whatever it is, at the state

[190:22.49] to fight for Milwaukee, that you find those ways that you also could invite along some

[190:29.54] of the city staff who are willing to also testify and lobby, as well as making sure

[190:36.22] that we as council members, and I know we got our own lobbyists too, but I'd like

[190:40.14] to thank y'all, the whole team, who may have interest in particular issues or whatever,

[190:46.42] and be willing to also have those opportunities to go up there with you.

[190:49.70] I guess my point being that this is a full court press to me and opportunity in a moment

[190:56.10] in time, hopefully, that we could really shift some stuff.

[191:00.14] And so we should do it together.

[191:02.94] So I would just encourage you to one, work with the lobby, the council, but also to

[191:09.44] extend those opportunities to council, as well as to staff where necessary.

[191:14.56] Appreciate that feedback.

[191:15.75] Thank you.

[191:16.75] That's all I have at this moment.

[191:18.47] Okay.

[191:19.47] Next up is Alderman Bergellis, and then with myself, that'll complete the first round

[191:24.15] from committee and then we'll go to colleagues.

[191:26.27] So Alderman Bergellis.

[191:27.27] Oh, I wish your intro was a little bit longer.

[191:30.56] So my question is about leases of facility leases that the department has.

[191:39.16] Can you talk about why we're leasing office space and not using city square footage floor

[191:47.15] plants?

[191:48.18] And it's clear that there might be an inherent need and benefit to the community for being

[191:57.33] out in the community, but is that the only place that we're leasing, the department is

[192:03.88] leasing space?

[192:05.90] Stephen Mahan, deputy director of department administration.

[192:10.81] The city currently, we do a proper does not have lease space.

[192:20.09] But in the past, and as in the recent 12 months, there were some lease spaces that were made.

[192:26.81] And that was the department of community wellness and safety on south 13th street.

[192:34.12] That was a, that was strategically, they were always in a space that was outside of

[192:42.59] the city hall structure and namely because of their, their activity, which can be very

[192:49.22] sensitive to citizens and the work that they do working with a number of other agencies.

[192:59.25] But so that lease space was determined to be needed because of the space needed for

[193:05.15] that reason.

[193:07.07] There are a number of, we do have currently DCE, department of equity and compliance is

[193:16.24] seeking lease space.

[193:19.00] If you've been to the sixth floor where most of their staff is, and that's not all the

[193:25.77] staff.

[193:26.77] It is also spread out throughout a few other departments.

[193:31.67] It's it's, it's tight for the business that they do.

[193:35.59] So they work with business, they work with businesses and small business.

[193:39.45] They work with RPP.

[193:41.95] It's always been kind of tight.

[193:45.15] They actually, when I first started with the city, they were located on the first floor

[193:49.70] where licensing is and so they were active there and accessible.

[193:57.02] So there is a need for open space for people to come in just like licensing to be able

[194:02.07] to address a number of issues, but yes, so lease space has been looked at and it's not

[194:07.95] just a shot in the dark, even the lease space they're looking at right now was formerly

[194:12.11] occupied by the Milwaukee police department.

[194:17.01] And so we are trying to find places that are accessible and make sense.

[194:22.78] Well, and that's a different department will they're on a different agenda, but the so

[194:29.91] the leases that do a has 27 page seven of the presentation, $79,000, the lease payments

[194:39.81] went up $7,000, $9,000 revenues.

[194:43.43] Oh my goodness.

[194:46.47] So that's making money and that's mostly I T leasing.

[194:50.11] It's not like space leasing, um, got a center of leasing, uh, I might, well, no, I, uh,

[194:59.15] I should, what is it?

[195:01.39] It's like, uh, I don't know yet, David, I can advance that really quickly.

[195:05.46] Those are cellular antenna leases.

[195:07.34] So they're typically not, I mean, although they're under it and we, we manage them there,

[195:11.42] they're in buildings like, you know, health department buildings or, um, the top of the

[195:16.06] municipal building, other various locations around the city, um, their antenna, antenna

[195:21.22] leases to sell company from sell companies.

[195:23.14] Okay.

[195:24.43] So there are no other leases that the DOA has other than office to add to what David

[195:29.47] is saying.

[195:30.47] Uh, the office of African American affairs also has revenue from leases from partner

[195:36.83] membership organizations that rent space in that field, the city owns that building.

[195:41.55] That is correct.

[195:42.67] There's also a solar now lease, um, that goes to eco, um, that I wouldn't be super

[195:49.90] equipped to speak to, but that's another item that's going into that calculation.

[195:53.58] Excellent.

[195:54.58] I appreciate that.

[195:57.21] Um, uh, thank you very much.

[195:58.21] The, um, last year when there was consideration to remove some offices and make them separate

[196:03.91] departments, we heard from the previous leadership of the department, uh, that absolutely not,

[196:08.83] if someone, if an office is now a department, they're on their own, um, we're not here

[196:12.51] to help them, which was concerning, right?

[196:15.96] Um, in subsequent conversations with new leadership in the department, um, that hasn't been the

[196:20.92] same tone.

[196:21.92] How are you helping support as the department of administration?

[196:24.68] You're kind of an umbrella, um, and how wide open is your umbrella for these other departments

[196:30.80] that have limited staff, limited resources?

[196:32.96] Are you, uh, able to set up a structure or have you been able to set up a structure

[196:36.64] where you're still supporting those employees, uh, with, be it HR or payroll, payroll or,

[196:43.49] or other, um, administrative needs, um, or are they still on their own?

[196:47.99] Sure.

[196:48.99] Absolutely.

[196:49.99] Yes.

[196:50.99] So my approach and tone is a little different.

[196:51.99] Um, we are definitely supporting the other departments, um, in a way that helps them

[196:58.59] and their leadership become independent.

[197:00.11] I mean, ultimately their department, um, one of them isn't even onsite with us, but as,

[197:06.15] first of all, as colleagues, um, we talk often, I offer my advice, my thoughts, I've

[197:12.45] been with the city 30 years, so I have lots of thoughts, maybe not great advice, maybe

[197:17.65] some good advice, it really depends.

[197:20.21] Um, but our staff also are there to lend a hand to quite frankly, any department that

[197:25.57] needs it.

[197:26.57] Um, my small office of administration that works under the office of the director, um,

[197:32.81] they are super flexible and, and nimble and can accomplish a lot of different things coming

[197:39.17] their way, juggle a lot of priorities, but ultimately, I mean, they are a department,

[197:43.99] so we want to help them be independent, right?

[197:47.90] Uh, their own independent source, but that takes time that, that is not something that

[197:52.90] you just, you know, turn a light switch on and suddenly they have all the resources

[197:57.96] in the world.

[197:58.96] Um, there's certainly some capacity issues while they figure out what their staffing

[198:03.08] should look like.

[198:04.08] Um, we're still navigating some of our capacity issues and, and what that looks like.

[198:08.92] So it's a little bit of a rocky road, but we're, we're, we're navigating it together.

[198:14.83] Thank you very much.

[198:15.83] And in a similar light, um, uh, being an umbrella for a broader community, I wanted

[198:20.43] to ask eco about, uh, the charging infrastructure project and how that, uh, is benefiting the

[198:27.10] city because not all of the charging locations are on city property.

[198:30.91] Not all of the charging locations are in the city of Milwaukee, even, um, so I wanted to

[198:36.69] kind of, uh, better understand what the methodology is between, uh, of, of using city resources

[198:43.09] and grant funding that we've worked for and earned outside of the city.

[198:47.79] Uh, yes.

[198:49.01] So I'm Eric Schambarger.

[198:50.01] I'm with the environmental collaboration office or eco, um, about, I don't know, two years

[198:55.53] ago we applied for and one, a federal grant under the, what's called a CFI program charging

[199:01.99] and fueling infrastructure program.

[199:04.03] Uh, it was a $15 million federal grant, which required a local match, um, bringing the

[199:09.00] total to $3 million.

[199:10.80] Uh, the, the local matches set up to be provided by a private sector provider that we would

[199:17.67] select through an RFP where they would get the revenues from the charging and then, uh,

[199:22.31] pay for the local cost share.

[199:25.77] So we have funding from that grant for a total of 53 sites.

[199:29.65] Um, in the initial council resolution, we said the common council will approve the locations

[199:35.58] for all the sites, but we, um, put in there that six of those 53 could be in communities

[199:42.76] that are in Milwaukee County, but outside the city.

[199:45.72] So six out of 53.

[199:47.52] And the rationale for that is that we are a Metro area.

[199:50.72] Anybody who is an EV driver doesn't only stick in the city of Milwaukee.

[199:53.92] So the lion's share of the charging infrastructure is in the city of Milwaukee, but we do have,

[199:59.91] um, a little bit of flexibility to work with partners outside of the city.

[200:04.03] Currently the only two that we've selected outside of the city are Shorewood, uh, who've

[200:08.79] been participating in a lot of the sustainability work that we've done as well as, uh, Wauwatosa

[200:14.75] on in the, in the village area, not included anything in Greenfield, for example, um, uh,

[200:20.59] so far.

[200:22.19] So, uh, of those locations so far, we have the initial 13 were in, uh, libraries and

[200:29.65] county parks.

[200:30.65] Um, those are the first 13 that we got federal approvals for, uh, environmental approvals.

[200:36.62] We then got common council approval a couple months ago to do for the next, uh, 28, which

[200:42.34] are currently doing environmental reviews.

[200:44.46] Um, we hope we have, we had discussions with, um, well, I should take a step back.

[200:51.23] The federal government, uh, it's, it's all being litigated about whether we even see

[200:56.43] the construction money for all of this.

[200:58.11] Um, we do have access to all the engineering money, but we currently, uh, don't know if

[201:03.44] we have access to the construction funding.

[201:05.20] It's being litigated by several states, attorneys, generals, but we have been in discussion

[201:10.73] with with Scott, uh, for them to potentially fund the first 13 sites.

[201:17.14] Okay.

[201:18.42] Uh, and those, the first 13 or the last 13 sites, the first 13 sites that were approved

[201:24.79] by the common council.

[201:25.79] So that's seven libraries and six, uh, county parks.

[201:29.41] Um, so that'd kind of be an intermediary.

[201:32.02] Yeah.

[201:33.27] So right while the, the federal funding under this grant was up in the air, um, the Trump

[201:40.70] administration did give the state more flexibility on how it uses its, uh, funding.

[201:45.50] So there was two buckets of funding.

[201:46.82] One was supposed to put high speed charging along the interstate system every 50 miles.

[201:51.89] Right.

[201:52.89] Milwaukee County got one, um, location out of that $70 million grant.

[201:56.49] Yes.

[201:57.49] Although there was one, I'm not sure if that's the one you're thinking of.

[201:59.29] They recently announced one at on first street, um, the mobile, yeah, the mobile there.

[202:05.72] So that one was announced and then they said we could, you know, uh, there were, they

[202:10.39] put out a subsequent RFP last September's that said, if you had already gotten your

[202:14.75] federal environmental reviews and they would consider using nevy funding for that.

[202:18.35] So we are still waiting.

[202:19.67] I think I feel pretty good about it, but it's not, I haven't gotten the letter saying

[202:23.23] you've been approved for funds.

[202:25.77] Thank you very much.

[202:26.77] Thank you.

[202:27.77] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[202:28.73] Thank you.

[202:29.73] Um, I believe I will be the one that concludes round one.

[202:32.25] Obviously we got a lot to go through here.

[202:35.01] Um, my question is on early childhood.

[202:40.55] So early childhood, unless I'm missing something is not here because they're now moved to

[202:46.55] right.

[202:47.55] So moving, they're moving the library.

[202:50.93] Thank you.

[202:51.90] I'm like, it was in my brain.

[202:53.21] They used to be in DOA and they're now in library will be, but they're proposed to be

[202:58.52] in, in the library for 20, 20 something.

[203:00.98] Cause it was just like awkward cause you presented on them.

[203:04.71] But then we also kind of heard about what, and I get it, what, um, what, what their

[203:09.76] goals may be in the library.

[203:11.12] So, okay.

[203:12.12] Just want to make sure I'm understanding that.

[203:14.54] Um, and again, I may have asked this yesterday, no change of funding.

[203:19.85] It's just like literally picking up and moving, I guess it's more for director Kovac, right?

[203:24.79] All right.

[203:25.83] Um, well, I think there is maybe some change of funding.

[203:29.72] I'm not sure exactly what ended up in the library budget, but there was, um, I think

[203:33.68] some of the expenses under OECI were determined like, at least when I was part of the negotiations,

[203:38.68] um, I think the library was going to be able to absorb some of those costs, such as some

[203:42.64] of the marketing costs.

[203:44.00] Um, so I, I, my understanding is that there was a slight reduction to the, like we didn't,

[203:50.53] at least I didn't propose moving the entire special fund, um, just out of recognition

[203:55.73] that they could absorb some of the costs.

[203:57.01] I don't think there's a proposed reduction to the service.

[203:59.61] Right.

[204:00.61] It's being absorbed by the library, but the library has resources there.

[204:04.37] And then there's, yeah.

[204:05.37] And then there's an existing lease costs that will be ongoing into 27.

[204:08.77] And it was part of the budget.

[204:11.38] Yeah.

[204:12.76] I, that's what I'm saying.

[204:13.76] They like all the room and cogs.

[204:14.89] So we're not, this is not like a savings.

[204:17.94] It's not a savings.

[204:18.94] Okay.

[204:20.19] I'm just going to say it in a straight way, like a straight up way is we're not using

[204:23.71] library funds for this.

[204:25.55] Correct.

[204:26.58] Okay.

[204:27.58] Okay.

[204:28.58] Madam Chair.

[204:29.58] Yes.

[204:30.61] All the way.

[204:31.61] Yesterday the library said that when I asked them about space, and it's something you

[204:32.61] did not mention here today.

[204:33.61] Um, cause I know that they have space cause it's in my district.

[204:37.61] Um, that the library said, I think she said they, she thinks they negotiated one more

[204:43.49] year of that space before it comes in house to the library.

[204:47.65] So she said they'd evaluate it as the year goes on in, in terms of what the plan would

[204:51.72] be.

[204:52.78] But yeah, there's no plan on January one to move out of the, the, the wellness space

[204:56.40] or the money coming out of the, I mean, we moved money in the proposed developed proposed

[205:04.04] budget development process to the library to cover her lease, um, and you know, other

[205:09.96] miscellaneous operational.

[205:11.24] Okay.

[205:12.24] Thank you.

[205:13.40] Um, next up, I have a question for IRD.

[205:17.04] And after that, um, community grants.

[205:19.44] So for IRD, um, on your slide, you're saying from 2026 to 2027, the 18 million to 75 million.

[205:30.69] That's quite a, uh, bold proposal there.

[205:34.47] Um, is that what you think can be brought in its rightful home from the surplus?

[205:40.99] Um, no, that's what I hope we can achieve in new revenues to the city of Milwaukee.

[205:45.83] Okay.

[205:46.83] And I, we have a ongoing hundred million dollar budget deficit, um, that our only opportunity

[205:53.59] to close that, uh, with the constraints that were given from the state, our additional

[205:57.15] revenue sources from the state, whether that be shared revenue or new diversified lines

[206:01.55] of revenue.

[206:02.55] Uh, uh, obviously that is an ambitious goal.

[206:05.35] I hope to quite frankly get more than that, um, because again, if we have a hundred million

[206:09.83] dollar structural deficit, we need to provide you or the state needs to provide you all

[206:14.23] the resources to close that gap so that we can continue to provide the services that

[206:19.15] our constituents deserve.

[206:21.11] Um, and that we know again, as I mentioned before that our resources that we're sending

[206:25.39] to the state indicate that we can obtain.

[206:27.99] Um, so that goal is certainly an aggressive goal.

[206:31.99] Um, but as, um, we've already had a discussion, I think there's going to be new opportunities

[206:36.59] out in Madison.

[206:37.59] Uh, and I hope to very much, and we, my division will work very hard to lean in and obtain

[206:42.91] new revenue sources from the state of Wisconsin that help, uh, you all in the mayor's office

[206:47.95] and the administration close the ongoing deficit that we have.

[206:52.17] Is part of that strategy seeking what I would think should at least be proportional of them?

[206:57.06] I'm saying multi because I don't even know where it is now, multi-billion dollar surplus.

[207:02.24] So I think that will obviously play into it.

[207:05.00] I think the challenge with the surplus is that that a lot of that is one time money.

[207:10.80] And what we need to sustain moving forward is ongoing revenues, not one time revenues.

[207:16.48] Now I think there are opportunities, uh, much like we saw with ARPA funds that came into

[207:21.52] the state County and our own government, um, which are one time funding.

[207:25.64] It is not always great to plan, sustain spending on that.

[207:28.56] And I'm looking at the budget team, they can probably explain these things better,

[207:31.36] but with the $3 billion surplus at the state, are there opportunities for them to assist

[207:36.20] in some capital costs that we have?

[207:37.88] I don't have to tell this committee the importance of, of, uh, public safety equipment or road

[207:43.52] infrastructure.

[207:44.88] Those are one time funding things that I think more than that our state is overdue to have

[207:50.56] local investment in.

[207:51.68] It shouldn't only be on the local taxpayers backs and property taxpayers back for those

[207:56.08] things.

[207:57.08] So I think we'd look toward that $3 billion surplus on more one time capital funding

[208:02.76] things and figure out what mechanisms we can work with the state on to further diversify

[208:08.08] permanent revenue streams or, uh, revenue streams that we currently get a tied a little

[208:13.52] bit greater to inflationary costs.

[208:15.68] Okay.

[208:17.09] Yeah.

[208:18.09] That surplus is like their TSF.

[208:19.09] I mean, their rules are different on it, but it's, it's, you know, it's just one

[208:22.69] times or it's a surplus in their current biennial budget.

[208:25.93] And I think it's going to be an ongoing challenge.

[208:28.25] One of the, uh, the challenges that we'll have at the state is unfortunately, um, over

[208:33.09] the last couple of decades, the state has fun underfunded a number of different entities.

[208:38.05] I don't have to tell this committee that, um, schools are not getting sufficient resources

[208:41.85] from the state.

[208:42.85] Uh, I look at you and, and Alderman Berg Ellis, I don't have to tell you the county is underfunded

[208:47.29] from the state.

[208:48.29] Um, there are going to be a lot of, uh, of entities and areas from local governments

[208:54.05] to school systems and whatnot, across the state of Wisconsin, going to a new legislature

[208:59.24] and a new governor saying we've been starved for decades.

[209:02.38] It's time to get our fair share.

[209:04.22] Um, we're going to have to get in that line and figure out the opportunity.

[209:07.54] I think the strength that we have as a local government is that all of us can sit here

[209:11.84] and talk about direct resources.

[209:14.14] We provide our residents, uh, police, fire, trash, recycling, infrastructure, um, job

[209:20.46] training.

[209:21.46] That's all direct things that we provide.

[209:23.36] Um, but it's going to be a challenge.

[209:25.73] Okay.

[209:26.70] Alderman Berg Ellis had a quick question.

[209:27.70] I just wanted to jump in since you wanted to talk about fire trucks.

[209:30.86] Um, no, sorry, um, lobbying and legislating, um, there's very little that we can do as

[209:38.14] one entity, uh, one, one city, uh, from the executive branch of the legislative branch

[209:43.66] working together.

[209:44.66] Um, that's still a limited reach in Madison in the legislature talking with assembly

[209:50.24] and the Senate.

[209:51.59] Um, how effective is being a member of a larger organization like the league of Wisconsin

[209:59.12] municipalities, does that give us the leverage we need?

[210:03.04] Is it effective leverage?

[210:05.12] Is it helpful?

[210:06.11] Um, and you know, we've been a member of that organization for a very long time.

[210:10.48] That gives us, that opens the door to being a member of the national league of cities,

[210:13.56] which certainly is very valuable that we take full advantage of, uh, lobbying in DC.

[210:19.35] But if we're lobbying alongside, um, smaller, I don't want to name anyone, any particular

[210:27.50] small communities out loud, but, um, Milwaukee has needs that are very different than every

[210:33.55] other municipality across the state of Wisconsin.

[210:38.11] Is it worth it to be lobbying alongside West Dallas and, and, uh, Chano and Green Lake?

[210:48.78] We have different needs.

[210:50.28] Should we be holding hands and seeing the same song?

[210:55.01] So I will, oh, I'll begin with this.

[210:57.85] I don't think there is any better advocate for the city of Milwaukee than the city of

[211:01.45] Milwaukee.

[211:02.54] Uh, and I think history has played that out where we, if we are not our own champion,

[211:06.26] we can't expect any other organizations or any other parts of the state to be our champions

[211:10.90] out in the capital.

[211:11.90] Uh, we are best served when it's our voices at the table.

[211:15.10] Um, we have been members of the league of municipalities for a long time.

[211:18.58] The city of Madison, uh, some years ago did decide to leave.

[211:22.18] Um, it is valuable out in the capital to have, um, associations that you're a part

[211:29.15] of that can bring different conversations to the forefront that might have different

[211:33.23] access to out state legislators, Republican or Democrat that we don't naturally have

[211:38.83] as city of Milwaukee residents.

[211:40.57] Um, that being said, the league of municipalities is, um, certainly in a difficult position

[211:45.59] where I think they have 600 some members, um, and one city of Milwaukee, uh, and a

[211:52.81] handful of other larger communities around the state.

[211:55.89] But quite frankly, even the city of Madison is less than half the population of Milwaukee.

[212:00.08] Um, so the vast majority of their membership are going to be communities between 10,000

[212:06.00] and 25,000 constituents, uh, which would be a quarter to a half of an Aldermanic district.

[212:12.56] Um, which again is, is, is, and bears very little resemblance in the challenges and opportunities

[212:19.56] that we have here in Milwaukee.

[212:21.32] Um, so I think there's always value in relationships.

[212:25.58] Um, that being said, it is, uh, it's coming upon this committee, the common council and

[212:30.71] the mayor to determine the position we're going to be in moving forward whether we're

[212:34.63] members of the league of municipalities.

[212:36.35] I know we had talked about this previously.

[212:37.95] I did take a look.

[212:39.31] You can join a city like Milwaukee can join the NLC independently from what I understand.

[212:44.17] Um, there was a fee associated that it is lower than the fee that we pay for the league

[212:47.87] of municipalities.

[212:49.34] Um, and there's pros and cons.

[212:51.46] We use the league of municipalities.

[212:53.14] Our city attorney's office use them for continuing legal education.

[212:56.34] There are assessor's trainings.

[212:57.78] There's things of that nature that they put on that we are a part of.

[213:01.74] I also believe those trainings are many times it's $25 for members and $35 kind of making

[213:08.02] up that number, but like you can still attend them even if you're not a member for an additional

[213:11.90] cost.

[213:12.98] So those still would be available to our personnel in departments that might have access

[213:17.94] to those trainings.

[213:19.58] Um, but they have a very difficult balance of how they're going to advocate on behalf

[213:25.44] of all of their members.

[213:27.04] Uh, and that puts us in a challenging position from time to time.

[213:32.38] Okay.

[213:33.35] Thank you very much.

[213:34.35] I appreciate the answer.

[213:35.35] No, that was really helpful.

[213:36.35] Um, okay, and then on your all your division, um, you have a vacancy.

[213:45.47] I do not have a vacancy.

[213:46.87] Okay.

[213:47.87] Was there an exception?

[213:48.87] Uh, as of Monday and new employee Shenya Thaos began, um, she will be joining, uh,

[213:53.63] she has joined us, uh, again, as of what day is today, Wednesday as of Monday.

[213:57.15] Um, so she is here.

[213:58.31] I'm planning to formally introduce her at the upcoming Judd leg.

[214:01.35] Okay.

[214:02.35] Um, but she, uh, very excited to have her on a team.

[214:03.87] She comes from a strong advocacy background as experienced in the state capital.

[214:08.15] Okay.

[214:09.24] And that reminds me along with, we had some questions with like, oh, a, a, oh, oh, wait

[214:15.11] office.

[214:16.11] Yeah.

[214:17.11] Okay.

[214:18.11] Oh, and, um, there's one other department that came up or division, you know, I was

[214:22.60] talking to, uh, Mr. Lee here historically I've had it in the letter, but I think I just

[214:27.63] left it out.

[214:28.62] I do want to make a formal request that we have an org chart historically.

[214:33.87] We had those like with every presentation.

[214:36.31] Um, so we just need an org chart, not just for DOA, but for everybody.

[214:40.39] Um, I don't want to like it came up with the mayor's office.

[214:44.59] So I figure it's not, I don't want to create like busy work, but we do need an org chart.

[214:49.47] All members want to have them.

[214:51.15] Yeah.

[214:52.15] So Kathy, if you can and Chris communicated out, the best thing would be to just get

[214:55.83] it to Chris and he'll populate it like, you know, to all of us, this is for everybody

[215:00.57] beyond DOA.

[215:02.33] So I should have had it in there.

[215:03.47] We've historically, we've had it with every presentation.

[215:05.75] It is much easier when you have it and you can see it.

[215:08.46] Um, and we learn a lot from it.

[215:10.44] So, okay.

[215:11.44] Thank you, IRD.

[215:12.44] Uh, for me, my last one will be community grants office.

[215:14.92] I had two questions.

[215:17.26] Um, number one, I was a little concerned to see, but maybe it seems like it might be

[215:22.92] more to the story on the, um, continuum of care.

[215:26.26] Can you tell us a little bit about that?

[215:28.16] Cause it's that three positions I'm worried about how we're going to continue our outreach

[215:32.68] and our work with the unhoused when it looks like we're losing three positions, that's

[215:36.84] pretty significant.

[215:37.84] Sure.

[215:38.84] I'm chair Mario Higgins with the director of community development grants administration.

[215:42.32] Thank you.

[215:43.38] Um, yeah.

[215:44.38] So, uh, with the continuum of care grant that when the city was operating that, so

[215:48.90] we were the sort of the facilitator and collaborator with the CLC board.

[215:54.13] So we didn't have any outreach efforts.

[215:56.53] Our staff didn't do outreach.

[215:58.33] That's pretty much solely done by Milwaukee County.

[216:01.53] So our role is as the collaborative applicant was to apply for and work with all the funded

[216:08.41] agencies on getting their grants and, uh, submissions in for that, um, for that notice

[216:13.37] of funding opportunity, which is a huge undertaking every year, usually took about three months

[216:18.17] just to even get that thing completed.

[216:19.89] Um, so in that and facilitating, uh, committees, uh, for the board, for the CLC board, um,

[216:27.57] strategic helping them with strategic direction and things like that.

[216:30.81] So we did not have like outreach, um, uh, staff for that.

[216:35.31] Um, and so we didn't necessarily, even though we're not operating a grant, we're still in

[216:40.15] a pretty strong position and influence.

[216:42.19] Um, I'm on the board of CLC now.

[216:45.19] So we weren't voting members before.

[216:46.83] We're more like staff, um, as far as how we were represented on the board with the

[216:51.66] CLC board.

[216:52.66] Uh, so now I'm on the board and I do have a voting position.

[216:56.50] We still have staff that attends all committee meetings, um, that the, that the board undertakes.

[217:02.30] Um, so we're still intimately involved in all of the, the, the work that the CLC board

[217:07.86] does.

[217:08.86] Will that have any connection or lack of to like our warming shelters?

[217:11.42] Uh, no.

[217:12.74] So we, we're still pretty much the primary funder of warming shelters.

[217:16.66] However, um, they're making a lot better efforts in order to get other stakeholders

[217:22.55] involved.

[217:23.55] So it sounds like they may have some funding that they've been secured to some of our

[217:27.51] local foundations.

[217:28.51] Um, and so, which hopefully starts to lessen our burden.

[217:32.19] I mean, there was a time where we were spending over a million dollars on winter warming because

[217:36.67] we're footing the whole bill.

[217:38.31] And that's just really started to pull back, uh, some of that started to pull back because

[217:42.27] we let them know, like we're going to have to get efficiencies.

[217:46.15] It's a board initiative, a CLC board initiative.

[217:50.46] And so we made sure that you guys are going to have to bring, uh, some funding sources

[217:54.62] to the table.

[217:55.62] So they've been working on that pretty strongly over the years, but what are those three

[217:58.36] positions do?

[217:59.36] I mean, to me from afar, it looks like we're stepping back from supporting housing.

[218:04.05] And I know the year of the housing was, it was this year, but I don't want to be three

[218:07.66] positions last next year.

[218:09.38] I don't know if it's also, was that levy funded?

[218:12.25] It looks, looks from afar, like, like we're reducing funding to the continuum of care,

[218:17.53] which, which does deal with some, doesn't that deal with some housing need?

[218:20.62] Yeah, they were all, they were all planning, uh, positions though.

[218:24.80] So like the planning grant, it was all based on the planning grant and even the positions.

[218:29.88] Again, those positions work directly with the CLC in order to do all of the, to implement

[218:36.36] all the programs that they wanted to help implement.

[218:39.04] So we didn't have, like I said, we didn't have any outreach or anything like that.

[218:42.36] And those couple of those staff actually moved to the new, uh, to the new grant provider

[218:48.11] as well.

[218:49.11] Um, so, so no, I don't, we didn't, it just really lies about that on any money or resources.

[218:54.19] No.

[218:55.19] Okay.

[218:56.22] I did want to ask that cause that, that was kind of a big change.

[218:58.98] Um, okay.

[219:00.84] I may have to come back to that.

[219:02.60] Um, my last thing for you, Mario is, um, okay.

[219:08.10] So it's my understanding that the position that was being proposed by the mayor and

[219:14.11] the department of compliance and engagement, which we'll be talking about next to be combined,

[219:19.13] um, with the ERC specialist as well as the, uh, disability specialist, why I'm bringing

[219:25.79] this up to you is I, I'm hearing that it's partially grant fund or CDBG grant funded.

[219:32.10] So can you walk me through that a little bit here?

[219:35.54] Is that a, can you show me the reduction?

[219:37.58] How much money do we save?

[219:38.58] Yeah.

[219:40.50] You know what I'm saying?

[219:41.46] Oh, Mario.

[219:42.46] Sure.

[219:43.46] Yeah.

[219:44.46] So that was already a position that was being funded to the department.

[219:46.74] So this is a show in any of these slides.

[219:49.74] So they, before it was for the, um, equal rights for them to, uh, to support the equal

[219:56.29] rights, um, commission, uh, for that board.

[219:59.78] Um, so that's what that position was doing and now they're, it sounds like they're combined.

[220:03.34] They want to combine that with, um, with the ADA.

[220:08.80] Correct.

[220:09.80] Correct.

[220:10.80] Yeah.

[220:11.80] Yes.

[220:12.80] And so the funding was already there through CDGA, uh, through our, through our process

[220:14.95] when we fund our, do our funding allocation plan.

[220:18.09] But if the idea was to con come, and again, it's not my idea, it's the mayor's idea.

[220:21.89] And again, I'm going to ask it in the DC thing too.

[220:25.55] So shouldn't there be, uh, I'm trying to understand what inspired this.

[220:29.07] It's CDBG money.

[220:30.07] So, uh, they've gotten, we think it's $150,000 out of CDBG the past several years.

[220:36.26] Um, I mean, there's some, it has to be for eligible activities, but they have some flexibility

[220:40.60] in what that funds.

[220:41.90] So I, I don't manage the budget anymore, but like, I assume what they were saying is

[220:46.62] that they would be leveraging their CDBG sub award for maybe a different position than

[220:52.25] they were using it for in the past.

[220:54.05] Um, but it wouldn't show up anywhere in here as a reduction because it's, they, they're

[220:58.32] continuing as far as I'm aware to get the same planned sub award out of the same amount

[221:03.72] of money out of CDBG funds for section three compliance and equal rights, I think.

[221:10.57] That makes it slightly more perplexing to me, but I will, cause I thought it was to

[221:14.29] like save money to then reallocate it within CDBG, but you're saying it's still staying

[221:19.97] in that office.

[221:20.97] I'll save the rest of that for the department, but it was because I had found out that it

[221:24.41] was CDBG money.

[221:25.41] I wanted to ask you about it.

[221:26.41] Okay.

[221:27.41] Sure.

[221:28.57] So, okay.

[221:30.05] Um, thank you.

[221:31.46] Those are my three areas that I was going to ask about.

[221:33.22] We're now on our second round, but before I did that, I did promise to check in with

[221:37.52] colleagues, all the room and Pratt, anything on any division or office in DOA, I have

[221:42.28] a question for it.

[221:43.28] Okay.

[221:44.28] Thanks.

[221:45.63] Mario.

[221:46.63] And then we got it.

[221:48.45] Okay.

[221:49.45] Make sure everybody's awake.

[221:50.45] I got it.

[221:51.45] Get loud.

[221:52.45] Okay.

[221:53.48] Um, so the question is just, uh, I know that we've had things come up in regards to licensing,

[221:59.29] um, and, um, issues with licensing and where we ended up having to pay money back.

[222:05.06] So I'm wondering if we are, do we do regular audits or something that would alleviate

[222:10.93] that cost that we have with our licensing to kind of be in a skew sometimes.

[222:16.88] Um, it was like a Microsoft licensing.

[222:20.48] It's something we talked about in jet lag.

[222:22.40] Oh, okay.

[222:23.49] And how the licensing product and how it's shared and, um, them doing the audit to see

[222:28.53] where we're using it, how we're using it, and if we're using it correctly.

[222:32.53] And when we, when we aren't, we are incurring costs.

[222:35.69] Correct.

[222:36.69] So, um, yeah, I'm just asking how on the front end are we working to make sure that

[222:41.05] maybe we can, uh, get those costs, not have those costs in the end?

[222:45.98] Absolutely.

[222:46.98] Yes.

[222:48.01] The, um, I was kind of surprised that there was an audit from Microsoft on our use of

[222:51.21] licensing.

[222:52.21] Um, we need to be accurate in our account and I believe if we do that, uh, the distributed

[222:55.89] nature of some of the IT makes that complex and just the licensing model of Microsoft

[223:00.57] makes that very complex.

[223:02.09] Uh, and, and so we've been moving over time to more simplified models and I think that

[223:07.53] will help in that case.

[223:08.93] Um, as far as I know, our, our licensing is within their 5% window, but that's something

[223:15.55] to be developed and something we definitely keep an eye on.

[223:19.10] Thank you.

[223:20.10] Absolutely.

[223:21.10] Thank you.

[223:22.10] Office of African American affairs.

[223:23.10] Okay.

[223:24.42] Office of African American affairs.

[223:25.90] Hello again.

[223:32.11] All right.

[223:33.17] All right.

[223:34.08] All the room prep.

[223:35.32] Yep.

[223:36.32] Thank you.

[223:37.32] Um, so I know that the plan now going forward is to use, uh, data to help drive some of

[223:40.68] the planning out of the office.

[223:43.24] I know previously it was vibes, um, so, uh, going forward, I know like this office as

[223:52.14] Otterman Cox said, the plan had a robust plan.

[223:55.24] I know it's been a building out of that plan.

[223:57.18] There's been some difficulty in doing that obviously.

[223:59.90] Um, but it has felt like, um, an event planning office with social service agencies doing

[224:09.60] programming.

[224:10.60] So I know you plan on doing programming for going forward.

[224:13.72] I know the part, the parenthood initiative will be the connection of mom's symposium

[224:18.20] and the fatherhood initiative.

[224:19.60] That is correct.

[224:20.60] Okay.

[224:21.60] And then it's also going to have, in addition to the symposium, there'll be summits and

[224:25.04] other things to wrap around, to create an entire program as opposed to an event.

[224:30.32] Um, with that, in order to do programming, we know that we have to start with a needs

[224:34.12] assessment and with the evaluation.

[224:35.88] Do you intend on doing that?

[224:37.40] We actually have, um, polled and, um, completed a survey with the women and the men.

[224:43.24] So whenever we complete the fatherhood summit and the previous mom's symposium, we have

[224:47.48] surveyed the women and men and we took that information and basically are we trying to

[224:51.84] build the programming out from that.

[224:53.52] Okay.

[224:54.52] So my other question, cause I was able to attend the mom's symposium as well as donate

[224:58.16] to it and, um, what are the wraparound services available?

[225:03.94] Because I know when I was there, it was a quite emotional event.

[225:06.46] Lots of women were, um, had been in sessions where they were very upset and there was,

[225:12.14] um, I'm not sure about the follow-up and I've spoken with some people who I represent

[225:16.58] who attended and did not get follow-up.

[225:19.14] Um, and I know like they're separate resource tables that also do follow up as well, but

[225:23.66] in those larger rooms where it gets emotional, um, and traumatic quite honestly, um, I did

[225:30.71] not see wraparound services, uh, on site and it concerned me.

[225:35.07] Um, and then that follow-up that was needed for wraparound services as well.

[225:38.79] So do you intend on implementing that or?

[225:41.15] Absolutely.

[225:42.26] But I guess I'm not clear with the wraparound services.

[225:44.86] We, that was the whole intent to start the quarterly sessions.

[225:48.22] Okay.

[225:49.22] Um, we did have organizations in the room and they were there and ready.

[225:52.78] Um, for example, we had a grief counselor there on the panel discussion and she was

[225:58.34] there and ready.

[225:59.54] And so I'm not for sure if people just missed the connection there.

[226:02.98] We just wanted to serve as a connector.

[226:05.18] Yeah.

[226:06.18] So, um, there was nothing in particular we could do to provide those services, but we

[226:09.54] wanted to connect the women with those services.

[226:12.22] So I can definitely, this is the first I'm hearing of it.

[226:14.50] I can definitely go back and kind of take a look and talk to the same team and see if

[226:19.18] we did indeed drop the ball and if that is the case, we're ready to fix it and move

[226:23.42] forward.

[226:24.80] Okay.

[226:25.80] Is your office open every day for the public?

[226:26.80] Yes.

[226:27.80] Okay.

[226:28.80] And what are they able to do there?

[226:29.95] I'm sorry.

[226:30.95] What are they able to do at your office?

[226:31.95] So we have several collated partners in the building.

[226:34.03] We have Employed Milwaukee, which has two programs there.

[226:36.55] They have Reentry Services there as well as the GOE MKE program that services the

[226:41.55] young people, um, who have had interaction with the juvenile justice system.

[226:45.75] We have Dry Hooch there.

[226:46.91] They service the veterans.

[226:48.23] Um, Greater Milwaukee Urban League has a satellite office there as well.

[226:52.59] They provide a driver's license permit classes.

[226:55.89] Everything we do is for free.

[226:57.39] We also have Mr. Dole Sprouer that provides a part in session classes there and so many

[227:02.75] other things.

[227:03.75] Those were just a few.

[227:04.75] Um, we also have a partnership with True School, even though they are not in the building.

[227:09.27] They also provide services through our office to support our young people.

[227:12.95] Okay.

[227:14.04] Great.

[227:15.87] Um, with, uh, the driver's ed class with Urban League, are those classes full?

[227:22.86] Um, they can top off at 15 and currently the lab, I believe the last cohort had 12.

[227:29.66] So understanding everybody that signs up, they don't show up.

[227:33.30] So um, they have a capacity of 15 and they, they average right around anywhere between

[227:38.22] 10 to 12.

[227:39.16] Given the great need for a driver's ed, how are you getting the word out?

[227:42.38] Um, cause I don't know if people even know that's there.

[227:44.66] Well, Greater Milwaukee Urban League actually offers them at their other office as well.

[227:49.86] We run it through our Facebook page as well as, um, promoted every once in a while on

[227:54.50] the radio.

[227:55.66] But um, that those are primarily the two ways that we get the word out.

[227:59.42] Okay.

[228:00.45] And for the, the organizations I have programming inside the building, do you keep metrics on

[228:05.16] them as well?

[228:06.16] So how many of that source are by dry?

[228:08.32] We do have that information.

[228:09.32] I don't have it in front of me, but we do keep a sign in sheet because we do report

[228:13.08] out to the mayor's office quarterly as to how many people are coming to the building

[228:17.16] and how many people are receiving those services and resources.

[228:20.24] Yes.

[228:21.24] So are you counting visitors and the people who receive service?

[228:24.08] Absolutely.

[228:25.08] We even keep a log of who calls in because as I stated, we want to be a connector.

[228:30.04] So we have a lot of people calling in for services.

[228:32.84] We keep a log of that as well so that we can track who we're referring to who.

[228:37.45] Okay.

[228:38.89] Yep.

[228:39.89] That's it.

[228:40.89] Thank you.

[228:42.17] All right.

[228:43.17] Before we go to our second round of members, perfect timing for Alderman Stamper.

[228:47.01] Any questions?

[228:48.42] Oh, sure.

[228:49.44] What?

[228:50.44] Did you have something?

[228:51.44] This, well, before Melissa moves at Stanford, did you need a second to, if I can, you have

[228:59.10] something for Melissa?

[229:00.10] Correct.

[229:01.10] Okay.

[229:02.10] Your next in line, but let's, that's fine.

[229:03.10] If she's up here.

[229:04.10] I just wanted to just ask while she was here in regards that there was a thank you, um,

[229:09.82] Interwoman Pratt for some of the questions that just sparked some of just follow while

[229:15.46] you're here, um, in regard to the partners pay rent for leasing their space.

[229:19.18] We do have three partners that will, to that pay rent, Employ Milwaukee, and then we also

[229:23.72] have bid 54 that has office space in the building, but Employ Milwaukee has two different

[229:29.60] programs.

[229:30.60] They have the go MKE and the reentry service.

[229:32.70] So Employ Milwaukee pay rent bid 54, anyone else?

[229:36.74] That's just the, those are the two.

[229:38.24] Those are the two.

[229:39.24] Um, and please let us know when the, I try to keep up with, um, um, just information

[229:45.14] that you all send out.

[229:46.58] So like for the, I think the drivers ed program is one of those things I would love to share

[229:50.66] it out when the time, um, when you all are recruiting for that, um, also going back

[229:55.54] to the surveys, um, I thought that was, um, interesting as well because I've always wanted

[230:01.32] to know it, I've been to the last few and, um, they've just been really powerful.

[230:06.22] Um, you all have done a really good job, um, understanding like, you know what, this

[230:10.98] is, this is a good location and you know, they are some partners, et cetera.

[230:15.06] Uh, so that has been for the moms, uh, particularly for the moms event.

[230:19.30] Um, I'm particularly interested, um, just to follow up with all the women's prats,

[230:23.62] um, comments hearing just around, um, um, what you all are getting from the surveys.

[230:31.45] Uh, and you know, I hear that yes, we'll, we plan on doing some follow up, but I'm

[230:36.03] just insured in some of those metrics, um, to be just shared out with us just so that

[230:41.27] again, you know, we can sing praises or just, you know, see how, um, you know, moms are,

[230:48.36] are being, are being supported.

[230:50.12] So I would love to, you know, have a little bit more data, um, centered around that.

[230:54.44] Um, and the other thing that Alderman Pratt, you know, sort of shared was, um, the, the

[231:00.62] support.

[231:01.62] So yes, you had a grief counselor, I was just thinking, uh, making sure that, um, participants

[231:08.47] are aware that someone is in the room.

[231:11.03] So typically if I go to a, uh, a conference that, uh, is expressly around something that

[231:18.35] may be a traumatic for people to talk about, you know, whether it's suicide ideation,

[231:23.07] whatever, they'll say, Hey, we have some therapists here, you know, that you can talk

[231:26.75] to.

[231:27.75] And so, you know, just, I think having that sort of service specifically for attendees

[231:33.07] that just, you know, may need it, um, that's the, that was the only thing that really

[231:37.67] sort of popped into my head, but, um, just wanted to just we can, we can definitely

[231:42.70] be more intentional.

[231:43.70] Um, we had her actually on stage and so we, yeah, we probably can be a little bit more

[231:48.94] intentional and maybe mention it more throughout the day, um, what resources and services

[231:53.92] and who is there to help the women so we can do that.

[231:56.80] And I think you all had a, I can't remember if there was materials like here's all the

[232:02.11] sessions or if it was a QR code, I just, yeah, I'm maybe just a little asterisk in

[232:06.79] there to just say, Hey, if there's support that's needed, we have it on, we have services

[232:10.99] onsite.

[232:11.99] And we can definitely get you the data from the surveys as well.

[232:14.75] We can get you that.

[232:15.75] Perfect.

[232:16.75] And then really quick, how many staffers again are, we have a total of four currently for,

[232:21.83] because I know there were some that got transferred and that's including the one that will be

[232:25.47] transferred over, so it'll be three.

[232:27.49] So there'll be a total of three remaining.

[232:29.67] Yes.

[232:30.67] And that includes you.

[232:31.67] No.

[232:32.67] Four with me.

[232:33.67] Including yourself.

[232:34.67] Okay.

[232:35.67] Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

[232:36.67] Alderman, you might've been out for a second, but I did formally request org charts of

[232:40.27] every division.

[232:41.27] I heard that over here.

[232:42.27] I love that.

[232:43.27] Yeah.

[232:44.27] And I think it was my bad because historically I put that in my letter.

[232:46.88] So we just, we just need that to conduct our business.

[232:49.44] Yes.

[232:50.44] Thank you.

[232:51.44] Going forward from, and it wasn't just DOA.

[232:52.44] It was our buddy.

[232:53.82] Alderman Sandberg, should we keep Melissa up here?

[232:55.58] Thank you.

[232:56.58] Okay.

[232:57.58] Okay.

[232:58.58] We went down to D.C. and that's where Alderman Rainey and I got the idea from.

[233:11.80] And one of the highlights was people in the community could just walk in and get some

[233:17.67] services.

[233:18.67] So I like the wraparound services available, but specifically around jobs, training, black

[233:25.22] business support, black business development support, investing in the black community.

[233:32.74] Are you able to do that with your current budget?

[233:37.12] And if not, what's stopping you from doing that?

[233:40.40] And what is the biggest barrier from you being funded properly to put more focus on

[233:47.56] the success of black people in black neighborhoods?

[233:52.01] So to the job placement, we do have Jason Thompson is in the building and he, we just

[233:57.13] had a career fair just a few weeks ago and we, it was a huge success.

[234:02.45] And we're actually planning a second one at the end of the month.

[234:05.13] So we are working on that at the office or somewhere else at the office, at the office

[234:10.81] to your next question.

[234:13.17] Entrepreneurship has been an actual struggle for us.

[234:15.25] We have Maurice Wentz from bid 54.

[234:18.45] He has the office in the building and we've been kind of relying on him to help us get

[234:23.13] some things started with that.

[234:24.61] And we've actually have had conversations with the licensing department as well, because

[234:29.09] what we've discovered is a lot of people, they'll go buy the buildings, but don't understand

[234:34.53] that they have to be coded for certain things.

[234:36.53] You need a license for this and you need all of these things.

[234:39.49] And so we've been trying to work with Maurice and come up with a plan of how we can better

[234:44.65] support minority businesses.

[234:47.25] What that looks like, I can't tell you at this moment because we're still in the development

[234:51.05] stage.

[234:52.17] That is the one pillar that we do need to work on and we're cognizant of it.

[234:56.09] Actually we have a meeting scheduled tomorrow to talk about what that looks like for next

[235:00.33] year.

[235:01.33] Sure.

[235:02.33] So mainly, so the need would be.

[235:03.77] I don't think it's a funding thing.

[235:05.21] I don't feel like it's a funding issue.

[235:07.17] I think it's just a planning issue.

[235:09.21] Okay.

[235:10.21] Okay.

[235:11.21] So individuals will be able to go there and learn how to open up business.

[235:14.42] Absolutely.

[235:15.60] Okay.

[235:16.60] Okay.

[235:17.60] And then you're going to meet with the young people.

[235:18.60] Is that, is that, are they developing any t-shirts?

[235:20.60] I haven't seen any Sherman Park, Metcalf Park t-shirts.

[235:23.26] So, so we, I knew this was going to come up.

[235:25.48] True School has, we subcontract, yep, we subcontract with them.

[235:30.20] You have to let me know what your needs are and go from there.

[235:33.86] They do have, I did tour it, you can do that.

[235:35.80] They have an amazing program there, how the way they support the young people, they develop

[235:40.96] the business plan with them and they walk it completely out and deliver the t-shirts.

[235:46.36] So yeah.

[235:47.76] It was supposed to be a moneymaker for the city though.

[235:50.80] So this predates me, this predates me.

[235:55.16] So from my understanding, it was supposed to be like a t-shirt type thing.

[235:59.48] $33,000 is not a sufficient amount of money to make that happen because you have to factor

[236:04.68] in equipment, you have to factor in instructor insurance and all of those things, which

[236:09.24] is why we went the route of subcontracting.

[236:11.56] Yeah, the subcontracting is fine because they have an operation, but it should be a way

[236:18.76] to develop t-shirts and sell them.

[236:20.86] That was the goal.

[236:21.86] And I mean, the $33,000 came from negotiation with Steve, he would only give me $33,000.

[236:26.98] Uh-oh.

[236:27.98] That's cool, though, what True School is doing.

[236:35.98] I saw it.

[236:36.98] So is there a way to make money?

[236:43.27] Stephen Mayhand, Deputy Director.

[236:45.73] I'm going to take the director a little bit off the hook here.

[236:52.59] The intent and purpose, yes, that could have been something that could have been a moneymaker,

[236:58.41] but the dollar amount that we put in does not address also what needs to happen with

[237:04.49] the building.

[237:05.79] And that affected HVAC also.

[237:09.37] To do it at the level and what should have been done, it would have to have a vending

[237:13.57] system.

[237:14.57] So that's why, if you recall, we brought you on to True School to get the okay with

[237:20.29] that way to go about it, but it's a bigger picture to look at production.

[237:26.19] And so we would be open to looking at how that looks at, looks like, but that building

[237:32.77] does not open up for that because of the airflow that would be needed to do that type

[237:38.52] of work.

[237:39.55] And I'll follow up.

[237:40.55] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[237:41.87] Anything for anything else in DOA at this time?

[237:45.76] I mean, I had Mario up here, but if you have some question last time, you want to do one

[237:51.56] more quick one?

[237:52.56] Real quick, I just wanted to update on Workday and how was Workday operating?

[237:56.78] Okay.

[237:58.67] Producing.

[237:59.77] Did y'all talk about Workday already?

[238:01.54] Kind of.

[238:02.54] Okay.

[238:03.54] I'll get the notes.

[238:05.07] No, I mean, it's, you had the floor, you were waiting, it was, it went Pratt and then

[238:08.82] you, and then I'm going to go, and then Charlene's back.

[238:19.17] I just wanted to know the status of Workday and is it, is it working yet?

[238:24.33] The Workday.

[238:25.33] It is David Henke, Chief Information Officer, again with the Information and Technology

[238:27.65] Management Division.

[238:28.65] Workday is set to go live on December 20th for a payroll and January 1st for the financial

[238:35.73] portion.

[238:36.73] And it is in active development, a lot of people around the city, a lot of contractors,

[238:41.59] a lot of resources are being poured in at the moment to make sure everything is running

[238:45.77] and working properly.

[238:46.77] We have, at this point we have extracts from PeopleSoft which will be, have been taken,

[238:52.37] are going to be used to build the production tenants and because there's time between

[238:58.02] now and the end of the year, during, once that production tenant is built, there will

[239:01.94] be a couple of weeks of catch-up transactions for both HR and Finance where we take the

[239:06.74] last couple of months and get them all migrated in, either automated where possible or by

[239:12.36] hand over a two-week period and then we go live in December.

[239:16.50] Awesome.

[239:17.46] Will agencies in the Black Grant Office be able to know where they are in their application

[239:23.32] process or know where they are when they submit invoices or know where they are when

[239:27.36] they're missing information?

[239:28.93] I know that grants are a big part of the Workday development, we've been working closely

[239:33.46] with them, but for those specifics I'd talk to the grant manager.

[239:37.76] Yeah, well I mean, does it have that capability though?

[239:42.22] There's certain capabilities built in and there's some third party software as well.

[239:46.46] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[239:49.75] Hello Director.

[239:50.75] Mario Higgins, Director of Community Development Grants Administration.

[239:55.31] So yes, right now we're still working with the grants portal.

[240:00.42] of everything so that's going to be one of the last portals that gets taken care of.

[240:06.10] So yeah our hope is that we'll be able to do applications and we're doing some of that

[240:10.68] now through a different vendor so hopefully though once we get the grants portal up we'll

[240:17.22] be able to be able to create dashboards, be able to for organizations to be able to go

[240:21.70] right in to the system and most of them can do that now though even with our current provider

[240:27.54] Neighborly so we may be doing some expand out either of Neighborly and/or whatever the

[240:32.90] grants portal that comes with the enterprise system with Workday also because that one

[240:41.11] was bought out by EUNA, started off with eCivis, there was a collaborate some kind

[240:46.71] of buyout so now we have a different product than when we first started so we're still

[240:50.65] trying to figure out completely what all the products can do.

[240:53.65] Alright so whenever it's ready I like to see from the consumer side how it looks like

[240:59.44] when they report stuff or they're looking for a report or looking for where their funding

[241:04.01] is or if they're missing some information they can say hey well you didn't get paid

[241:08.50] yet because you haven't submitted this.

[241:10.83] Sure.

[241:11.83] There are trainings right?

[241:12.83] There are trainings that are out right now.

[241:13.95] Yeah it's not quite fair for the grants portals part of it but.

[241:17.69] Yeah so they know what to do.

[241:20.29] Yeah okay.

[241:21.45] Alright thank you.

[241:22.92] Okay thank you so much.

[241:25.24] We have concluded one full round of members, we had our colleagues too.

[241:30.78] We do have two departments waiting for us so we're going to do the second round of

[241:33.96] members for sure.

[241:34.96] I just at this time have to suggest we be a little more poignant and kind of just really

[241:39.20] get to the questions so and less in between so we can maximize it.

[241:42.67] So Charlamore and then Alderman Spiker.

[241:44.39] Yeah I think.

[241:45.39] Yeah.

[241:46.42] What do you mean?

[241:48.17] I'm saying we gotta so we did one full round of finance members on this depart on DOA.

[241:53.95] Okay.

[241:55.11] And we did our colleagues.

[241:56.11] So you included.

[241:57.11] So you're saying in the interim.

[241:58.11] Now I'm going to wave again.

[241:59.11] Oh I got you.

[242:00.11] But I'm reminding folks politely that we've got two more departments out here waiting

[242:03.83] on us.

[242:04.79] We were scheduled to end this one at noon.

[242:06.63] Yeah we were supposed to end this one around noonish so I gotta give that warning.

[242:10.43] I could have told you that one going to work.

[242:12.75] You've been on finance a minute I could have been told you that.

[242:19.25] Okay.

[242:20.25] Thank you.

[242:21.25] I was messing with you.

[242:22.25] That's why I make you a polite reminder.

[242:24.25] I see.

[242:25.25] I see.

[242:26.25] So with that Alderman Charlamore but I also politely was reminding people if we can like

[242:32.69] just be really strict to the questions strict to the answers so shorter shorter and we'll

[242:35.41] do two or three each.

[242:36.41] Alderman Spiker.

[242:37.41] Okay thank you so much.

[242:38.41] I actually just only have a couple.

[242:41.09] This one is actually for Rhonda just because I need to thank you so much Mr. Hinky Rhonda

[242:46.29] just really just really quick because I you know we get these sort of messages all the

[242:50.73] time about purchasing and you know the older people have all this power you know and direction

[243:00.25] to pick who we want and I just need Miss Kelsey to just you know and I'll probably

[243:05.99] have you say this every year if I'm over here.

[243:09.19] Please tell us how when when you all do purchasing or contracts sort of just really briefly

[243:15.94] in a nutshell Miss Kelsey how that works because some you know we get the email saying

[243:20.94] oh you know because you're on finance or because you're an older you get to use you

[243:26.14] get to pinpoint who goes to what department and you have a say so in that and I just

[243:32.46] want to set the record straight.

[243:35.14] Please share with us how those contracts work.

[243:38.02] For the record good afternoon Rhonda Kelsey purchasing director for the city real high

[243:43.70] level overview so a department will submit a requisition to the purchasing division requesting

[243:50.74] to purchase let's just say rock salt I use that as an example.

[243:57.25] After that requisition is submitted it is reviewed by the Department of Compliance and

[244:04.41] Engagement their SBE program to ensure that it is reviewed for her potential participation

[244:12.78] by small business enterprise firms so there's that layer of review that we want to ensure

[244:19.58] is a part of the process after that my staff the purchasing agents will work with the

[244:26.38] user department to develop the specifications to make sure that all of the requisite information

[244:32.46] is included in that specification and then put that bid out on the street for businesses

[244:40.70] to respond to that goes out via the city's e notify system so that's that's what a bid

[244:47.14] looks like.

[244:48.14] I should just quickly add that every requisition submitted by a city department to us is posted

[244:54.90] on the city's website so all of that information is posted on our website all of historical

[245:00.78] awards are posted on the city's website is as well there are numerous layers of review

[245:08.22] there is no you know selection process by the F and P committee to select contractors

[245:15.35] obviously we have that process where single and sole source contracts and no all the

[245:20.23] person is on those okay correct but there but that is not the process for the record

[245:27.10] for the public that's it is it the same sort of process if we're looking at also

[245:32.11] consultants are are we are any of the alders involved in the process if a department wants

[245:39.91] to you know bid out for a consultant or I know if it's above a certain amount or you

[245:45.63] know whatever are we typically involved in that process typically you are are not the

[245:51.86] the non professional service contracts IT contracts and things of those nature things

[245:58.83] of that nature I'm sorry come before this committee again for approval some of those

[246:06.35] are waivers and you're familiar with that process but there is no direct selection

[246:11.39] process whereby an alder person is saying should not be saying hey this is the contractor

[246:17.70] we want a department to move forward with that is that is perfect I will be recording

[246:24.86] this and playing it back to those people that continue to email me about that thank

[246:29.52] you so much miss Kelsey feel free to direct questions to our yeah you've been amazing

[246:36.42] thank you so much my last question just in regards to you know just staff and Danielle

[246:41.34] because I know that until things change for us to move out of our you know this new normal

[246:48.82] of just being in the hole of so you know yearly budget deficits require for us to figure

[246:56.87] out how to cut and move and things of that nature when when when those sorts of things

[247:02.90] happen and you know I'm looking at the sort of the organizational chart that you provided

[247:08.66] us with when those sorts of things happen do you do you are you looking at each sort

[247:14.62] of I call it a division to say you know what you may have to cut this person or you may

[247:19.85] have to you know scale back I don't know can you talk to us a little bit about how

[247:25.45] sort of those decisions are made to you know let people go or or make a reduction thank

[247:34.40] you sure make a reduction because I don't we we we tend to not actually let people go

[247:39.68] at the city which is I think a good thing we usually use like an attrition process

[247:45.00] and that's typically at least from my perspective how I like to look at things you know once

[247:49.92] you see a natural or at least there's layers right if you see a natural turnover or break

[247:55.12] then maybe you have a vacant position it's your opportunity to review that position and

[248:00.04] determine are these exact services still need needed in this way is there perhaps

[248:06.08] a way to be more efficient or effective in some other way as a leader I usually have

[248:12.30] probably 10 or 15 contingency plans sort of working in my mind that are going at any

[248:19.78] given moment if this happens could I capitalize on this that or the other sure and that is

[248:24.34] sort of part of why I wanted the division heads in the org chart to do a SWOT analysis

[248:31.86] and part of that SWOT analysis is a succession planning talk to me about where are our gaps

[248:38.82] where are our risks if this person leaves how risky is it does anyone else know this

[248:44.38] work I mean there's I think right now we're in a really unique position I'll make this

[248:48.44] so brief but at the city there has been a lot of turnover I've been like I said here

[248:53.28] 30 years and when I look that is what I'm seeing a lot of new management a lot of new

[249:00.08] department heads leaders and they don't have the benefit of 20 or 30 years under their

[249:04.84] belt they have to learn very quickly so just finding ways to support the growth quicker

[249:10.84] no I really appreciate that and and and just for a point of clarity because I asked this

[249:20.56] prior to the mayor's office you know because of the fact you're at the head of this if

[249:27.16] a staff wants to you know terminate a position whatnot does that go through you or does the

[249:34.52] division head make that you know make that determination the division head makes that

[249:39.20] determination I will be putting to get permission from you moving forward they will start to

[249:45.15] work with me because I think I need to be more in touch with the division's strengths

[249:52.51] and weaknesses things they may because they're in the day to day every single day they may

[249:57.75] not see it right and so I think as a leader it is part of my responsibility to just understand

[250:04.47] more about their operation understand more about the struggles they may be having or

[250:09.31] the things that you know they may see as a problem I may not yeah it basically just

[250:15.47] helps create a balance balance I don't know that they have seen that in the past I can't

[250:19.75] speak to that but I also allow that I don't want to micromanage either no no no but also

[250:25.99] with Workday that is presenting the opportunity because there's a chain of command for certain

[250:31.23] things to be approved or not so it's not a matter of a piece of paper with a signature

[250:36.43] anymore now there truly has to be a succession and a chain and it has to be followed like

[250:42.80] we the technology doesn't allow you to skirt that I think that's probably one of the reasons

[250:47.22] why I'm really excited about Workday is because you know we I think we have to get to a system

[250:52.78] where we're doing things more fair and equitable and it's like you know it what are the documentation

[251:01.26] what are the like Workday I'm hoping you know lives up to oh all the pieces are here

[251:07.26] so that if there are issues we can say well it's the same for this person as it is for

[251:11.30] this person like we're collecting the same you know sort of information for each individual

[251:16.22] person and so I'm hoping that that proves to be successful but I love that I love to

[251:22.54] hear that those sorts of things you'll have a little bit more oversight over that just

[251:27.94] again because I think we need to get through just a layer of just transparency and just

[251:33.97] equity and so I look forward to seeing that madam chair I don't have any further questions

[251:39.13] thank you so much okay for anyone to do it for right now I'm good yeah all right I'll

[251:43.33] conclude okay don't can you we'll go to Alderman Spiker then thank you madam chair I guess

[251:49.25] for the folks who haven't been to the table yet so budget and management division now

[251:54.92] I do have a couple real quick questions there the UNA new budget module system what are

[252:04.02] the major changes there that we need to know about and introduce efficiencies are you

[252:08.91] getting rid of an old model yeah we're getting rid of the Excel word format you have in

[252:14.07] front of you there we still think our expectation is you'll get something a lot like that but

[252:18.37] it's going to be produced in a totally different way okay and so that will add efficiencies

[252:22.81] to your office or just currently there's a lot of different forms we collect from departments

[252:31.52] there's nothing that syncs those together we have to do they departments and we have

[252:34.64] to do a good amount of work to cross reference all of those so in the new system all of

[252:39.32] the requests get submitted in the electronic system and should flow into your reports

[252:44.17] should flow into publication so hopefully that should create efficiencies I'm sure

[252:51.16] we did kind of a first round of testing with departments this year on operating and that

[252:55.64] went pretty smoothly we'll be doing personnel waiting for kind of getting work day to a

[253:01.01] position to do the personnel side which is a little more complicated but hopefully it

[253:04.29] all figures crossed smoothly as well okay and then I've seen it pop up at various conferences

[253:11.56] and I think it was in the memo from Alex from the LRB last year about incorporating

[253:17.68] AI technologies into budgeting that was I think one of the things besides the permits

[253:24.05] process and some of the DPW stuff budgeting was way up there is that something that anybody

[253:31.33] on your team or in DOA in general is tasked with looking at what other cities are doing

[253:37.41] with this whether there's efficiencies that could be a change there achieved there obviously

[253:44.14] you're working with tons of data you're trying to present it in a package form that is intelligible

[253:50.18] to the public and to policymakers is that anything that anybody on the squad is I think

[253:57.24] I would describe it overall less as efficiencies gained and more hopefully more as value add

[254:02.34] you know from the work we're doing might produce better more interesting more transparent

[254:07.65] documents and data displays because I mean whether you're doing it in a database through

[254:12.24] a budget module created by you know or doing it in a spreadsheet created by Excel I think

[254:18.02] the work of the I don't think we're just going to automatically hit a button and say

[254:21.34] do next year's budget you know there's still going to have to be the kinds of discussions

[254:24.66] that we're summarizing for you now over these weeks but takes us months where each

[254:28.18] analyst will have to talk to each department go through the budget line item by line item

[254:32.50] go through options so that process a lot of the actual person hours the work I don't

[254:38.45] know that will be reduced but I hope there'll be some reduction in some like some efficiencies

[254:44.38] on the analyst side but I don't think I can suddenly it but then to your other question

[254:48.68] about are we looking at other cities we are we've been talking for a couple years now

[254:52.84] actually even had a retreat we discussed you know reimagining the budget book a little

[254:57.38] bit we looked at some other cities that we think do a nice job some websites that are

[255:01.26] great so I think some of it you'll see the dashboard Gabe Terrell we talked about earlier

[255:05.58] in the mayor's office is working on Terrell last name true yeah sunshine ray of sunshine

[255:11.85] yes he's a ray of sunshine the so I certainly if there's ideas if there's other cities

[255:20.33] budget books you've looked at your conferences and you're like why don't you do it like

[255:23.21] this maybe we can we're certainly willing to this is a chance to reinvent the budget

[255:27.53] book so we'll you know I don't want to promise for next year because we also just got to

[255:32.26] take the thing work in our first year but I think there's also an opportunity to both

[255:37.24] present budget data and but then even outside the budget book which is a one-time manual

[255:41.38] document I think more useful to the public would be real-time performance data on a website

[255:47.09] on a dashboard okay Vision Zero hasn't had a chance if you wouldn't mind coming on down

[255:55.24] just a quick question there I know there's been collaboration between

[256:04.64] your office and DPW on the the high injury high pedestrian injury network and I think

[256:18.12] I've asked a version of this question in the past but I've also wondered whether there's

[256:21.96] been work with MPD and there's any sort of buy-in from them in terms of traffic safety

[256:30.03] unit deployments which right now either an elder will contact them or a resident will

[256:37.40] contact them through the website and say hey we need help here but if you're actually

[256:42.20] seeing injuries why that whether vehicle to vehicle or pedestrians or cyclists that

[256:50.86] would seem to be data that would be important and maybe would inform MPD's deployment in

[256:57.08] a way that they might not be figuring out in-house so is that a place where you could

[257:03.58] see a way for your office to collaborate with MPD and if you do are there any obstacles

[257:12.80] that I could help with certainly that's a good idea and we have shared the high injury

[257:19.00] network with put a little closer just a tad closer Jessica Weinberg Vision Zero policy

[257:24.16] director so the high injury network has been shared with the TSU staff that helps analyze

[257:32.36] locations for enforcement I have not gotten reports out on exactly what that is resulting

[257:38.58] in or how it's being used but that has been shared and I'm happy to check in with them

[257:42.76] okay and I guess a note for LRB maybe a future communication file or at least a meeting

[257:47.04] with you me MPD and seeing how that relationship could be more fruitful and we could see results

[257:53.58] of them deploying that way should they should they do so not that we can tell the chief

[257:59.99] what to do but we can say what might be a good idea might be helpful again trying to

[258:07.58] be respectful of folks time eco had a quick question there regarding so is eco still in

[258:16.22] the house there so I know we had a recent events in my district with the solar field

[258:25.12] up at the airport I think it was 4.6 megawatts additional power and that's we can ostensibly

[258:34.05] power 80 city building am I remembering that's right yes okay with that so is that something

[258:42.03] we've kind of reached our threshold I know we have the what is it the mukwanago location

[258:48.50] mosquito Caledonia I was getting there so have we kind of reached capacity on what we're

[259:00.96] looking to do or how where are the areas where we can still grow our efforts towards

[259:08.46] clean energy for city facilities yeah first of all thank you for supporting the project

[259:15.01] so you're referring to the 4.6 megawatts of solar that we added to the landfill at

[259:20.81] the city owns next to college avenue bringing the total to 6.8 megawatts over there it's

[259:25.09] pretty impressive to see so yes we have 80 city buildings powered by renewable electricity

[259:29.57] 46% of the city's electricity electrical needs now powered by renewable energy 46% not counting

[259:37.34] the waterworks so that's 46% of our buildings and streetlights electrical usage okay so

[259:45.03] thank you for supporting those projects we are trying to see if we can pull something

[259:50.84] off there's a city-owned site next to the Job Corps on Briggs Avenue where we are talking

[259:59.19] to developers and we energies but we would before we would bring that to the council

[260:02.63] for approval I need to make sure it's a viable project so we are looking for additional

[260:06.23] sites in order to get us to 100% is the goal yes okay and if that is a goal when is the

[260:14.63] goal for 2030 is what the previous common council resolution yeah well we can resolve

[260:22.26] but we can't resolve reality so is that a realistic goal given current trend lines

[260:27.02] or is that might need to be adjusted it may have to be adjusted the federal tax credits

[260:32.22] for solar are prematurely expiring thanks to the Trump administration so that'll make

[260:36.58] it a little bit more challenging and on top of that we have all kinds of issues with

[260:40.02] data centers and they're very hungry electricity needs and things like that so yeah there's

[260:46.82] a lot changing in the energy environment but we are working as hard as we can and

[260:50.42] eco to try to find a path forward yeah those are two big changes that have happened since

[260:55.02] we we resolved and I guess this isn't a data request this is a personal ask request if

[261:02.13] you could write up some of the results of the work at the airport landfill and stuff

[261:08.53] I'd be eager to communicate that out to the residents to see what the city is what we're

[261:13.84] doing and making progress towards our clean energy goals absolutely I would like to just

[261:18.48] quickly say that we have a great dashboard on our website so all of our renewable energy

[261:22.28] projects including dashboards you can check the energy production use is at Milwaukee

[261:27.96] dot gov slash renewable electricity okay very good and accessible easily through the ego

[261:33.88] page yep as well yep okay very good thank you I think this might be my last question

[261:39.28] for ITMD well really quick Madam Chair really quick while Eric is here okay you asked the

[261:44.84] other day was it the other day about the library yes the other day about the library

[261:48.56] and the EV can you just state if that is a project that's still looking to move forward

[261:54.35] yeah so I alluded to that one for Gellis's question so we are still I'm submitted for

[262:00.49] funding from the state so I have two potential pots of money one is tied up in a lawsuit

[262:05.16] and the other one I'm hoping that the state will fund okay thank you but I do want to

[262:10.12] just congratulate the the library they've been great partners on sustainability especially

[262:18.31] with the geothermal and the solar MLK and we're in communications with them about doing

[262:22.11] sustainability at the midtown library project and then for ITMD I had a question about the

[262:32.50] seven temporary UCC positions that would be cut and I believe that was explored last

[262:39.56] year as well are these positions cut because of the new system that we're onboarding for

[262:50.40] the AI agent not agent oh no back that up the what is it called the virtual assistant

[262:59.03] yeah virtual assistant there you go I know those are that as this as you noted that

[263:04.89] was introduced in the last budget and we didn't have an assistant at the time that

[263:08.73] that's a budgetary consideration obviously the ability in the last year to have stood

[263:15.25] up a virtual assistant that's handling depend depending on the day between 40 to 50 percent

[263:22.29] of all calls and can handle some of the parking enforcement call or handle the parking some

[263:27.57] of the parking enforcement calls and night parking requests directly makes that makes

[263:33.37] that an easier transition or better supported transition should those positions not be right

[263:40.21] the virtual assistant is still in its infancy and right now it's just handling informational

[263:46.57] call if if you need an actual request you still need a person and it refers it to the

[263:51.41] person now that's going to potentially change that's changed as of a couple of weeks ago

[263:57.93] we are handling some of the top top call request types and that also includes requests

[264:05.94] for night parking those are automated to be answered by the by the agent unless there

[264:11.70] are additional concerns or someone specifically requests a live agent which case they will

[264:16.42] be connected to it so this that that solution is intended to be service enhancing providing

[264:23.50] multilingual services providing a quick response where you otherwise might be on hold while

[264:28.06] still allowing for the option to talk to a live agent and then for the seven temporary

[264:35.63] UCC positions director Rodriguez was noting that at the city we don't typically do layoffs

[264:40.75] we do attrition but aren't those UCC positions ones although temporary that have been occupied

[264:48.56] by the same folks for a number of years or is that am I misinformed they are they aren't

[264:55.88] city positions per se they're a contract through contracted through either manpower

[265:01.32] or PS companies but you are correct that a number of them have been in their role for

[265:07.36] for an extended period yes so could you get me information about the their tenure their

[265:12.63] incumbency how much information experience we might have walk out the door if that if

[265:18.36] that holds true yes and then lastly the this is for director on with the top dog the so

[265:29.82] your predecessor director Cole had a procedure in place for aldermanic contacts and things

[265:37.69] like that we've worked together over the years in your previous roles you have able

[265:44.29] deputy and deputy may hand how would you like things to proceed at what point should

[265:49.31] we be reaching out to you versus your deputy versus you have the fiefdom and that there's

[265:57.71] several cabinet members in on your team to which we feel you know no reluctance about

[266:03.91] reaching out directly how would how would things be done most efficiently and cheer

[266:08.03] liking as the new head of the department absolutely actually thank you very much for

[266:12.95] that question I think obviously everybody has already developed some really great relationships

[266:19.10] with the office directors and the division head so no change there unless you feel that

[266:25.78] you are not getting a hold of someone or there's maybe a different answer that you're

[266:31.78] not quite sure if you've got all the information I mean really I guess what I'm trying to

[266:36.74] say in the easiest terms is I am always available you don't have to do some chain before you

[266:44.58] get to me I assume that all of you if if it warrants and you feel like there's something

[266:52.08] going on and I need to know about it call me if you want to talk to Steve first that's

[266:58.72] fine I would not stand in the way of that these to your point the majority of these

[267:04.12] people are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by you they are all phenomenal they take

[267:10.50] their job seriously I expect that they will be available and answer any questions or

[267:17.02] concerns you have but I would never question your ability or desire to escalate something

[267:24.63] to me absolutely so snow we still know I'm just sorry so thank you thank you for the

[267:35.82] answer thank you madam chair thank you I'm gonna pass over myself for now and go over

[267:40.05] to Alderman Bregelis and Alderman Cox thank you very much a couple oddities in the requested

[267:46.59] budget the proposed budget starting at page 110.3.7 administrative services manager last

[267:58.07] year was at 116 and change and is now was requested 121 and jumped up to 152 which there

[268:08.49] are a number of administrative positions in the office of the director and then also

[268:16.20] procurement that are much higher than what was even requested in the budget which is

[268:22.69] kind of unusual the other ones are 110.20.10 business analyst is up $11,500 110.20.14

[268:32.46] the procurement manager went from 91 to 124 or I'm sorry yeah 91 to 124 talk to me a

[268:45.04] little bit about how these requested increases got to be so much more than what you asked

[268:49.80] for just very quickly the business analyst position or sorry budget analyst positions

[268:55.21] and the purchasing positions were included in the HR bus op study so we tend to try

[268:59.01] and reflect what people are currently making in department budgets to the extent possible

[269:03.53] so that there's so that study came between the request and the proposed that's why you

[269:07.17] see what was approved by 91 to 124 which position are you looking at 110 20.14 110

[269:17.20] 20.14 I mean it just 110 20.14 the procurement manager right if that was what was in the

[269:33.22] study yeah but indicate I mean the the salaries that are in the budget are based on what

[269:40.26] people are currently compensated generally I'm there the answer to the first question

[269:46.65] is slightly different so why so typically when a compensation study comes through and

[269:51.29] we had this yesterday with a couple positions in DER also right when a compensation study

[269:56.05] comes through we get that report and finance and personnel and we can review that independently

[270:00.41] when was that sent to the committee that I don't know when was what sent to the

[270:05.11] one was the HR bus op study when did that pass sometime this summer I'd have to go back

[270:11.75] and check me you know it was on you can check a legislator we can send that to you but it's

[270:15.36] in there all the details in there it just attached it's I understand there's there's

[270:19.96] a long delay in from when budgets are requested in May right but this is this is a lot of

[270:30.04] this is a lot of different a lot of difference it should all match what was in the DER report

[270:35.82] which was probably a fifth you know they're they're lengthy and we like we say we're

[270:39.18] hoping to not do we think they're done now you might see occasional technical one-offs

[270:43.87] or duties job duties changing but they market you know these re-classes took us three and

[270:47.87] a half years and some of them were really long and made significant changes were any

[270:53.75] of the job descriptions or job duties adjusted to better fit the op study not to my knowledge

[271:04.30] but that would be really a question for DER since they determined these rates of pay

[271:09.97] were any were any DOA job descriptions adjusted to better align with what came out of the

[271:17.60] study not to my knowledge knowledge okay I will leave it there and pass it along thank

[271:27.68] you very much for that older woman Cox forgive my ignorance but for the example that he

[271:34.62] proposed was it a person in that position who went from the 91 to 124 or was it just

[271:41.11] this the salary once the study so both it depends on whether the position is vacant

[271:47.40] or not and so part of the those compensation studies there's a change in the recruitment

[271:52.30] rate that they develop there's also these matrix placements they'll do based on longevity

[271:58.71] so it could end up being a little bit higher like the actual placements are sometimes a

[272:03.35] little bit higher than the recruitment rate if the person in that role has been at the

[272:08.47] city to pay based on the amount of time that they've been at the city I don't it so it

[272:15.41] at least in terms of how I would do budget development I mean I'll check what people

[272:19.85] are currently getting compensated in HRMS generally like towards the end of finalization

[272:26.01] and then for vacant positions I would use the recruitment rate so this probably is a

[272:31.47] person who's already if you're which position are you looking at the one procurement manager

[272:36.29] that is a that's probably shouldn't say but yes that's a person and it is someone I know

[272:45.50] has been at the city for a long time so I wouldn't be surprised if the placement was

[272:49.34] a little higher any other questions from committee members or our colleagues yes thank you did

[272:59.76] you guys discuss the eco office as I've been discussing already okay I just had a question

[273:08.18] regarding solar and our relationship with we energies what's up man how you doing good

[273:20.13] how are you good uh now that I see you are we still pursuing building houses with net

[273:26.40] zero net zero are we still doing that sort of we have this is one of the we had ARPA

[273:37.39] funding the council reallocated it and then we had a 3.4 million dollar federal grant

[273:42.31] which Trump administration tore up so I don't have much money to do it we are trying to

[273:48.79] work with DCD and the raise and raise and revive program so we have a I least want to

[273:57.04] get one of these houses piloted next year so in our climate planning and program fund

[274:03.25] I've we included in the RFP that if we get a developer to do it we would put in $40,000

[274:08.25] out of our climate planning and program fund to help you know show we can do this okay

[274:14.47] can we still target that same location at least this no no unfortunately no but I would

[274:23.22] be happy to talk to you about because I still believe in the concept of the idea unfortunately

[274:27.06] we've had all these ups and downs with the funding but yeah I'd like to get more houses

[274:30.12] built all right maybe you can answer this I'm met with the leadership over at walnut

[274:35.32] way and from my understanding the city pays we energies extra every year for solar on

[274:41.60] city land can you explain that to me yep so with when I spoke about we at first all

[274:49.70] we have renewable energy goals so getting power from coal and electricity which or coal

[274:54.19] and natural gas which is where most of our electricity comes from contributes to climate

[274:57.83] change so we have we approach to we energies because there are electric utility and barring

[275:06.70] some major change to state law that's who we got to work with and we said look guys

[275:12.97] you are a power provider we need find some ways to get renewable energy from you so

[275:17.41] it's there's been a couple stages in this process but in 2020 we got common council

[275:25.60] approval to build the first phase of solar at the landfill and that one that didn't

[275:30.28] cost us any extra they actually pay us a lease under that what was called the solar

[275:34.48] now program as a pilot program we were one of the first ones in to get it so that funding

[275:40.28] from we energies actually funds our climate planning and program fund that's where that

[275:45.38] lease revenue comes from so that got us the first chunk of the way there they pay us

[275:53.08] for what now to lease the landfill that we own on college avenue so they own the panels

[275:59.21] they own the panels they maintain the panels and all of that they own department and they

[276:03.37] pay us we saw yep so we got actually at least revenue from that one but that was under

[276:06.97] a pilot program that the public service commission then discontinued so then we basically worked

[276:14.70] with them and agreed to that they could expand the solar at the airport between that and

[276:21.44] the Caledonia project which is another six megawatts it cost us in that about I think

[276:28.56] it's like ninety ninety thousand dollars ninety six thousand dollars but we also get

[276:34.16] somebody hundred dollars per acre back out of that ninety six thousand we also get at

[276:39.20] least revenue back for the additional land that they they leased at the airport so it's

[276:45.88] very minimal extra cost to the city and we have a big energy bill that we have to pay

[276:51.08] and so to get the clean energy was very very minor actually now walnut way they are getting

[276:58.33] a they have recently I think it's public but they've gotten philanthropic money to

[277:02.77] add solar right in their community which we're excited about we helped introduce them

[277:07.93] to a lot of the funders nationally so anyway we're excited about that yeah yeah okay I'm

[277:15.98] gonna follow up man just a little bit more understanding on that okay thank you very

[277:20.74] much why are we paying them because they're our energy provider and we use a lot of energy

[277:26.65] and for to power all of our operations our streetlights our buildings all of that stuff

[277:33.02] so we basically we buy or have always purchased electricity from we energies but we've told

[277:41.03] them we want our power to come from renewable energy sources and so in this case under

[277:46.11] the environment that's the best we could negotiate is a slight half a cent per kilowatt

[277:53.22] hour premium which is not very much to get the power from renewable energy sources built

[277:59.06] by Wisconsin by Milwaukee workers and then we're also getting a lease revenue back for

[278:04.64] them to use land by the airport that could not be developed for anything else it's their

[278:08.96] panels though they own they own the panels they maintain the panels because I don't

[278:14.56] want to be in the business of owning and maintaining them they they now mow that whole

[278:19.03] landfill which we used to have to do so they maintain their maintaining that landfill spot

[278:25.58] and yeah so there we are under a five year agreement to buy that power for the next

[278:31.06] five years so hopefully that answers your question it does what if we own our own panel

[278:38.89] so we do own our own panels so if you want to own our own panels then we have to borrow

[278:43.05] from the capital budget last year we did that and successfully got two projects done

[278:49.36] at the DPW field headquarters so that whole rooftop is covered with solar as is the MPD

[278:57.06] third district station but the rooftop so we do support rooftop solar we also have a

[279:02.78] little bit of solar at MLK library so that is part of the strategy and you want to use

[279:07.38] roofs when you can but it is not enough power to meet all of the city's energy needs so

[279:15.67] if you go on a rooftop solar the panels are maybe this tall and if you go out to the

[279:20.03] landfill they're you know 10 15 feet in the air there's ninety seven hundred solar panels at the airport so the scale

[279:28.73] is just totally different for what they can sell for what we own we're not paying them

[279:32.95] but for what they own we're paying yeah so it's if we own the panels we have to come

[279:38.21] up with the money out of our capital budget and pay for it up front and then but then

[279:43.99] you get savings on your energy bill with the projects that we did at the airport we

[279:50.26] are we have no capital expenses we have no maintenance expenses on any of that stuff

[279:55.02] we pay a slight premium on our operating budget on our energy bill for them to build

[280:00.91] maintain and operate the system we negotiated local hiring so RPP workers would build the

[280:08.41] project and we also get what's called the renewable energy credits so we can credit

[280:12.87] that power to our buildings for our sustainability goals have you looked at like at what point

[280:26.55] is it more feasible for us to have more of our own because I hear you on the rooftops

[280:32.12] but we own over 3200 pieces of land out here and although all of them may not be ideal

[280:39.00] for solar I'm sure it's a few that might be so have you looked at or have you worked

[280:44.36] out numbers on where it might be feasible for us to do more of our own solar so we

[280:52.26] have worked I haven't done a whole analysis on it we have worked with DCD to see where

[280:59.85] they would be willing to put solar in other words they don't they're not really crazy

[281:04.11] about putting solar on what could otherwise be redeveloped for buildings and property

[281:07.95] tech space and the like so we did reach out to them and they provided two parcels to look

[281:14.38] at one was I mentioned this brig site sometimes called Bocker Farms next to the Job Corps

[281:22.68] and there was another site on the northwest side the sites weren't you know they had

[281:27.88] some wetland issues and stuff like that so we're still evaluating whether you can cost

[281:32.12] effectively build solar there that being said so I would you know longer term and this

[281:38.55] could be a different discussion or short on time but we have some significant challenges

[281:43.39] of building solar on land if it's not directly connected to a city building we basically

[281:47.95] have to have the utilities buy in to do it because they are the the electric provider

[281:54.42] for the region other states have more favorable rules there was a community solar bill that

[281:59.56] was considered at the state legislature that didn't pass there would have to be changes

[282:04.71] in state legislation to open up a easier regulatory path for us to build solar that's

[282:09.83] not directly connected to city buildings without we energy is direct involvement thank you

[282:16.66] thank you Madam Chair just one thing you was not a discussion I want to open today

[282:24.32] but I'm letting you know it's pretty obvious that one of our colleagues is introducing

[282:28.96] an amendment to use capital funding to explore the feasibility of municipal izing the energy

[282:35.62] that you just spend a lot of time talking about spend a lot of energy on anybody no

[282:40.58] I got you rough afternoon okay will you please are you involved in that at all I'm not so

[282:53.42] the approach that we've taken is like so I've been in I like this Eric when it's up

[283:00.28] when it's up in the week or two please be present we would care about some of your

[283:06.53] feedback so yeah I don't want to do it today but I don't want that opportunity to now

[283:12.58] not be there just like I sought feedback on data center yes information with you and

[283:19.56] by the way the mayor just signed it today the pause so there'll be a fact in a few

[283:23.12] days yeah it'll be an effect in a few days but I did want to make that note because

[283:28.68] as I decide what I'm going to do I might seek some of your input so inputs different

[283:34.04] than endorsement or whatever but I mean we just spent a lot of time talking about about

[283:38.00] that so we are getting very close to conclusion I feel like we okay all the women more we

[283:45.39] just do look all the wrong time is done did you say you had an outstanding one yeah okay

[283:49.71] Oh Bergellis has one more I just had a one quick so we'll go more Bergellis Samper anything

[283:54.81] on DOA no I'm fine okay and then Pratt just check with you anything on DOA now to get

[284:00.05] in the list so we have more Bergellis and then we will likely conclude DOA unless some

[284:04.93] things really needs to be handled here although more thank you so much Madam Chair I just

[284:09.18] wanted to just ask is there a special developer needed for the net zero housing we are working

[284:17.89] with one of the contractors that DCD collected through their process so we have somebody

[284:25.64] that we're hoping that we can pull we can work this up but there's still I'm kind of

[284:29.60] you know it's tied to all DCD's whole big process for how they've selected developers

[284:34.16] and getting designs finalized and all that stuff as part of raise and revive perfect

[284:37.93] thank you okay fantastic alderman bergellis since you want to talk about fire trucks let's

[284:43.52] talk about procurement that's procurement back okay thank you eco Ronda welcome back

[284:51.96] again we heard from the chief earlier that there was a long delay in procurement there's

[284:59.71] difficulty securing capital equipment purchasing how has your department been able to coordinate

[285:06.33] with the fire department to prioritize those public safety needs and we got a quick update

[285:12.42] that no one had heard previously from earlier in the week that those RFPs were moving forward

[285:18.78] but how how are the fire departments RFPs progressing there's a long delay can you

[285:28.22] share any information about that yes recently we put RFPs out on the street to purchase

[285:34.60] some new fire trucks for the fire department and my understanding that those proposals

[285:41.01] are currently under review by the evaluation committee so we did and just stepping back

[285:46.81] rolling back prior to that we had issued a bid for those fire trucks and the bidders

[285:55.30] were not responsive they did they were not compliant so we had to issue a rebid we issued

[286:01.36] an RFP and like I said those proposals are currently under committee review when did

[286:07.63] the first RFPs when did the request come from the department how long did it take

[286:11.86] to process that because it we're already in the next budget season and we're you know

[286:16.71] there's a lot of surprises why the fire department wasn't able to acquire any vehicles in the

[286:21.67] last 10 months so like I said we had to rebid because we didn't receive compliant responses

[286:30.42] and as soon as we had conversations with the fire department about the need to issue

[286:35.38] those RFPs I mean we move pretty quickly I don't have the and I can get that to you

[286:40.56] I don't have the timeline in front of me so the data request but that's a very interactive

[286:46.07] process right because we have to work with them to refine the scope and do all the things

[286:50.07] and so we move pretty quickly on getting the reish reissued excuse me RFP so it'd be I

[286:56.83] think it'd be helpful for the committee to just to get a timeline from 2026 when the

[287:01.63] department first contact procurement when that process and what date those meetings

[287:06.07] took place and when the RFPs went out when we got the responses hundred percent thank

[287:09.71] you very much thank you madam chair oh key dokey anything else on department of administration

[287:17.05] anything else just triple checking okay dokey not seeing anything else then that will conclude

[287:25.07] department of administration think this new strategy work but we'll assess it and then

[287:30.14] make a change of need be we got feedback from Russell Stamper thank you so much on

[287:34.86] that have a wonderful day thank you for your service to Milwaukee next up is Department

[287:41.10] of compliance and engagement followed by Department of Community Wellness and Safety

[287:48.17] so compliance and engagement and then community wellness and safety have a great day do a

[287:55.50] good day thank you so I got Russ's feedback you should have seen them back into the county

[288:32.82] okay we'll now begin Department of compliance and engagement good afternoon thank you for

[289:05.99] waiting and I'll go to budget director Nick Kovac good afternoon Madam Chair committee

[289:14.24] members Nicole back director of budget management division Angelique Pettigrew will present

[289:18.80] the budget slides for compliance and engagement then turn it over to Mary and her team okay

[289:22.68] great hello Angelique good afternoon nice to see you and the same to the committee

[289:28.38] members how are you doing this afternoon pretty good pretty good all right let's get

[289:33.00] into it let's get started we'll jump right to the second slide before 2027 the total

[289:39.38] proposed operating budget for the department is slightly over 2 million representing a

[289:46.50] baseline increase of 192 K or 10 percent this change is primarily driven by personnel

[289:55.34] lines with payroll up by 18 percent to eight hundred and ninety seven K and fringe benefits

[290:03.18] matching that 18 percent adjustment at 403 K this shift was offset by one percent reduction

[290:11.86] in operating expenditures landing at seven hundred and forty seven K while department

[290:18.53] special accessibility fund remains unchanged at 30 K the department's overall FTEs remain

[290:26.51] at 12 moving on to salaries and positions overview this slide breaks down the personnel

[290:38.15] lines in more detail total salaries and wages are up by 138 K bringing the payroll budget

[290:46.59] to 897 K while our active workforce remains at 12 FTEs the total authorized position count

[290:55.95] increases from 19 to 23 I want to clarify that this for position increase represents

[291:05.09] for new volunteer equal rights commissioners this expands the body from 7 to 11 members

[291:12.95] to broaden community representation with zero local tax impact furthermore the stream

[291:21.11] to streamline DC East office structure the equal rights specialist role was combined

[291:29.85] with the ADA coordinator into a single compliance and engagement coordinator position in line

[291:38.05] with the proposed budget as well as a few other positions moving on to slide four next

[291:48.08] we'll look at daily office operations which total 747 K reflecting a small net savings

[291:57.39] of about 8 K from last year however there are major operational changes specifically

[292:05.25] the department is scheduled to vacate the city hall building this year to support this

[292:10.91] physical relocation we have allocated 112 K to facility facility rentals to handle

[292:19.83] year one lease costs plus 13 K for separate property operation expenses we also added

[292:31.05] 65 K for a new labor compliance software contract to move certified tracking from

[292:39.52] the city's internal system the department's special purpose account will remain at 30

[292:52.09] K allocation for ADA and accessibility coordination pursuing 100% of its historic baseline these

[293:03.10] funds are legally restricted and prioritized to support our independent license architects

[293:11.60] review program ensuring citywide infrastructure meets rigorous physical access compliance

[293:18.48] bars without any operational delays now we look at budget by service this map this slide

[293:29.57] excuse me shows the department funding directly to community services this chart spreads

[293:37.17] out 2 million operating plan across the department's four core pillars contract compliance small

[293:46.55] business development ADA coordination and community outreach a total of 240 K is grant

[293:56.85] funding that must be reapplied for annually and is not guaranteed with our core financial

[294:05.75] overview complete as the department does not have any revenues or capital projects

[294:12.02] I'll now turn over the presentation to director Mary read thank you thank you so much okay

[294:19.62] good afternoon director read please feel free also as you see need needed to announce

[294:24.42] anyone or introduce anyone that you want us to be aware of so the floor is yours thank

[294:29.63] you good afternoon Mary read please put this a little bit closer good afternoon everyone

[294:34.11] yep Department of compliance and engagement director all right join with me here today

[294:45.43] is my entire team on my right is the deputy director Ramona Ramos after I give an overview

[294:52.31] of our department and operations Ramona will go into her efforts in leading our teams

[294:58.03] operations and behind me is our entire team there are seven of us we have Jason Thompson

[295:04.64] he's our outreach coordinator team a gullet who was our compliance and engagement coordinator

[295:09.92] our newly brought on contract compliance officer Claudia Garcia yes and Gavin who

[295:18.36] is from public allies so thank you for joining us also Imani Ortiz our business operations

[295:25.52] specialist and Dr. Altig runs our small business enterprise certification program so we are

[295:31.32] all here in attendance today I'll go over our core services to begin we administer the

[295:38.32] contract compliance and RPP program along with that is section three compliance with

[295:43.80] that we oversee on average 10 to 15 active private construction development projects

[295:50.52] annually those employ between five and six hundred unique RPP workers we've worked to

[295:58.40] identify zip codes within the city of Milwaukee that are especially economically disadvantaged

[296:04.92] giving individuals in those zip codes even more opportunity to gain employment and skills

[296:13.00] and career training in the construction trades along with that our primary mission is to

[296:19.04] upskill those workers to enter the apprenticeship career track not only that they are general

[296:25.16] laborers on these construction projects but that if they are so interested the development

[296:29.90] teams commit to on the job training with these individuals pre apprenticeship and apprenticeship

[296:35.56] programs for those individuals interested in growing their career in the trades we work

[296:41.12] very closely with many of the alders a lot of the community organizations including WRTP

[296:46.88] big step employee Milwaukee and even we met with Congresswoman Moore's representative

[296:53.56] to share what the needs are with regards to Milwaukee's workforce and the strong need

[296:59.24] for apprenticeship for our new workers entering this space we receive a hundred and fifty

[297:05.20] thousand dollars in grant funding to administer the section three compliance program again

[297:10.68] as mentioned earlier that funding is not guaranteed we must reapply annually so the

[297:17.20] contract compliance officer administers section three compliance simply because we have grant

[297:22.88] funding does not mean that we create a new position specifically for that many of our

[297:28.04] entire team we wear multiple hats there are seven of us now we're going to ramp up to

[297:33.80] twelve and we'll talk about staffing and spacing soon I'm sure so so everybody even

[297:42.54] though we have subject matter experts and they are well versed in their fields everyone

[297:49.20] helps out with community outreach and other areas to support one another next we'll go

[297:55.60] into small business enterprise certification and program administration we onboard small

[298:03.52] businesses disadvantaged small businesses in Milwaukee to give them contracting opportunities

[298:10.32] not only on a private construction development projects but also contracting opportunities

[298:16.20] with the city of Milwaukee we track the funding and payouts to those small businesses to

[298:22.96] ensure that developers are in compliance with that we also administer ADA coordination

[298:29.82] for the city we act as a facilitator we receive complaints and requests for ADA coordination

[298:36.30] and other needs regarding accessibility we coordinate and work very closely with the

[298:41.74] Department of Public Works other engineering staff to ensure that we're meeting those

[298:47.76] needs and that we follow up and ensure that those items are rectified if there are issues

[298:52.74] with accessibility within the city let's see here we also staff the equal rights commission

[298:58.50] right now there are 11 commissioners there's a staff assigned to manage their public meetings

[299:06.22] their virtual meetings and they also do community outreach for the commission and last but

[299:13.93] not least workforce and community outreach we are very connected to the community we

[299:21.45] are out weekly monthly for sure if you all would take an opportunity when you all have

[299:27.97] time to visit our newly developed Facebook page yes please check it out it will show

[299:35.17] how active we are in the community we are at a number of community outreach events not

[299:40.97] only do we put on our own events but we partner with community agencies local festivals we

[299:46.41] try to get out as much as we possibly can to touch people to let them know the services

[299:52.33] that we offer and to be a resource to the community let's move on to some service highlights

[300:00.10] So for 2026 we've certified 14 new small business entities and we've renewed 23

[300:10.72] of those. So small businesses come up for renewal every couple of years and we're

[300:16.78] always encouraging small businesses to continue their certification because it

[300:21.40] does open doors and allows for small businesses to scale. Regarding DCMKE,

[300:27.16] Direct Connect Milwaukee, we work very closely with Guideway Labs. David Douglas

[300:33.66] and his team they developed the Hello or Ask Sam app. It is now an AI powered app

[300:40.36] where our outreach team when we're out in the community and individuals

[300:44.42] expressed to us that they're interested in learning about community resources,

[300:48.66] soft skills and employment opportunities. They can scan a QR code, be

[300:54.10] connected with this AI powered app. It will help them to develop their resume

[300:58.94] and get them connected with resources and job leads directly to their email

[301:03.70] inbox. Does that same method apply to individuals who want to get

[301:15.03] certified with their business? So the this Hello Ask Sam app is specifically

[301:22.09] for workforce outreach. It is not for small business enterprise. Thank you. But

[301:26.89] it's definitely something we could consider. Okay. So just to go on a

[301:33.58] little further. Awesome. So through the Direct Connect MKE program we have at

[301:40.29] least 554 community outreach contacts, 882 Hello app subscribers and 39

[301:49.45] and counting community outreach events that we've made contact with in the

[301:54.61] community. Just to give an overview of some successes that we've seen in

[302:00.01] contract compliance and private construction development projects. Here

[302:03.43] we have five development projects that have exceeded RPP requirements, right?

[302:10.71] We're in the 50s. That is not easy to do. We know that a lot of developers have

[302:15.55] concerns about meeting that 40 percent threshold. We know that it's possible and

[302:20.43] if any way possible we can help get them connected to community first-source

[302:25.31] staffing agencies, get them connected directly with RPP workers. We will do

[302:29.87] that. As you can see here the 100 East National Project employed 116 unique

[302:35.59] RPP workers and I'll jump down to the Northwestern Mutual North Office

[302:40.15] building. Since they broke ground in 2023 they have employed 459 unique RPP

[302:47.99] workers. So the program is very strong. It is alive and we will continue to put

[302:53.27] our resources and efforts behind it. All right. Just a couple updates here. Again

[303:00.04] I mentioned earlier please check out our Facebook page. You'll see our

[303:03.36] community outreach efforts there. We recently hired our contract compliance

[303:09.00] officer. You will hear more from her as she touches base with you guys on

[303:13.08] development projects and reports out quarterly at the ZND hearings and also

[303:18.84] just introducing our public allies extern Gavin. We are excited to have

[303:23.94] them on our team and with that I'll hand it over to Ramona Ramos to talk a

[303:28.56] little bit more about about operations. Hello. Ramona Ramos, Deputy Director.

[303:35.73] Thank you Madam Chair and committee for your time today. It's nice to see you

[303:39.13] all and good afternoon. I know it's been a long day so I just wanted to highlight

[303:43.41] some of our vision our leadership vision and really the team of what makes DCE

[303:49.37] DCE and it really is a combination of skill commitment and heart. We had a

[303:56.94] team meeting today and we talked about heart work because we put our full

[304:00.70] hearts into this work because we care about Milwaukee and in our community. So

[304:05.52] my vision personally I guess I haven't shared as Deputy Director is to build a

[304:10.90] coordinated reliable and people centered team. We already have that but to

[304:17.16] enhance it. Part of that includes having clear expectations, sustainable workloads

[304:22.84] and systems that support effective service. I guess in my opinion the

[304:28.98] greatest way to honor your work is to have a contingency plan to leave it

[304:33.36] better better off than when you started. So when we talk about processes there

[304:39.56] that is directly attached to expectations. We are a newer team right a

[304:45.72] newer department but we have some seasoned staff that have been here and

[304:50.56] I don't know the full number in years in terms of experience but it is

[304:55.72] lengthy. Some of the things that we've been doing over the past year or so or

[305:02.54] less is building processes. We have SOPs, we have annual reports, which we connect

[305:09.14] weekly check-in metrics to KPIs to those reports. I believe in staff

[305:15.54] supported work-life balance and finding joy in your work so we do have

[305:19.58] centralized emails, phone numbers, there is cross training, clear roles and

[305:25.42] support. Streamline processes and decisions that are discussed within our

[305:32.86] team and clearly defined. Clearly defined roles and who is accountable who do you

[305:40.14] touch base with and how do services overlap. So when we're talking about

[305:44.70] small business enterprise resident preference program and DC direct

[305:50.84] connect DC MKE there is definite overlap instead of having siloed

[305:55.97] divisions we are working excuse me hard every every week every day to bring

[306:02.34] those services together and to say if someone walks in and or we meet someone

[306:07.22] in the community because we are out there and they want to they need a job

[306:12.66] we connect them with DC MKE they can build out a resume and get job leads

[306:16.86] but then also there's RPP so what is that internal process to get them

[306:21.04] connected what RPP to be certified in a certified worker and then there's SBE

[306:25.98] SBE in the small businesses that can use a certified worker so connecting all

[306:31.30] those dots and bringing it all together that is I feel is my role in the future

[306:37.50] what do I plan out there's more implementation of effective inefficient

[306:41.98] processes building out the web-based app that we already have to make it DCE to

[306:47.82] connect those dots and those services between all of our departments and to

[306:53.62] define responsibility ensure that we are always accountable and transparent

[306:59.39] consult with one another and keep our constituents and keep the public and

[307:05.15] you all informed of what we're doing that is the goal and that's a just a

[307:10.19] breakdown in a summary so thank you okay thank you so much does that conclude

[307:15.03] your presentation yeah well just the last page about demographics 71% of us

[307:20.45] are residents of the city of Milwaukee 28% are non-residents and that will

[307:26.67] wrap up these slides there okay great well now go to member questioning I'm

[307:32.47] due to start on my right side which will be all the Roman cogs and then

[307:35.91] alderman burguelus all the Roman mille le cogs I guess about the DC MKE I know

[307:47.70] when we started DCM care I think it was click to work I think that's what we

[307:53.63] started as um and as it's been built out through the years I guess I want to

[307:58.21] know how the utilization given a transition to AI has been have you seen

[308:04.62] better responses from users and organizations and businesses they use it

[308:12.22] as well okay no thank you for that question so yeah I believe that with

[308:29.21] this new AI driven would you introduce yourself okay okay my humble apologies

[308:35.83] Jason Thompson from the Department of Compliance and Engagement and so yes the

[308:42.99] direct connect Milwaukee platform with its new AI format of course as you

[308:49.16] indicated we started a social media so we have actually seen an improvement in

[308:55.34] the quality of the profiles that people fill out because one of the struggles

[308:59.66] that we have when it was a social media platform is you would get incomplete

[309:03.50] information from job seekers so they would put the bare minimum just their

[309:07.54] name maybe one or two career interests it was really difficult to know how to

[309:12.60] refer them to the right resource or the right employment service agency but now

[309:16.88] with the AI format where it takes about 10 minutes for them to have a

[309:20.10] conversation with our AI agent compass I think with that relaxed conversational

[309:26.30] approach people are sharing a lot more so we're getting full complete profiles

[309:31.34] and then we're finding a more efficient system for the automatic referral to the

[309:38.70] employers that partner with us and so we've been able to actually to refer

[309:42.38] quite a few people over to some local employers for interviews with varying

[309:47.35] results and I just want to give you some kudos because I didn't see you

[309:53.55] everywhere

[309:56.05] I do appreciate that but that's all the questions I had about DC MK I guess

[310:04.26] about the SBE and RPP stuff you know you director you showed us some statistics

[310:13.81] on some of the best performing projects yeah how are you able to use maybe like

[310:21.63] best practices or lessons line for those extremely successful ones to help aid

[310:29.33] the projects and development teams that struggle to meet those requirements no

[310:36.94] unfortunately we we're not knowing that a project is having significant

[310:41.50] challenges until they're several months in right some of them it starts out

[310:47.25] that there are they aren't able to get their payrolls inter timely right so

[310:52.27] we're working on that and then once we get that payroll data then we have a

[310:56.45] clear picture of what participation and performance is looking like so at that

[311:02.60] point we have calls with the development team we introduce them to

[311:07.84] our part our community partner first or staffing agencies we ask what the

[311:12.80] challenges are most oftentimes they are working with a an inclusion consultant

[311:18.08] and that inclusion consultant can help craft a sort of mini job fair for them

[311:23.28] to get them connected in the right areas neighborhoods and zip codes to hire the

[311:28.76] workers that they need to work on those projects also we do a kickoff call

[311:35.16] before any of the agreements are signed just to make sure that development

[311:39.52] teams are aware of what they're getting into some are very familiar they've done

[311:44.40] multiple projects others are brand new to working with the city in this space

[311:48.20] and so we have those real down-to-earth conversations like these are the

[311:53.45] expectations these are the requirements here is the language are you clear on

[311:58.33] this what questions do you have some of them push back and maybe they delay

[312:03.05] right moving forward some we've seen a delayed a year because they're trying

[312:07.47] to work out a plan to make sure that they can meet the requirements others

[312:11.79] they feel confident that they can and still fall short so you're right I gave

[312:18.59] some highlights here but that does not negate the fact that there are some

[312:22.71] underforming projects and so we definitely just try to work with them

[312:27.93] more closely I even I'll point them to and say hey look at these are some

[312:34.11] projects that are performing well and a lot of them in the developers space

[312:37.51] they know each other they know the general contractors in the subs so

[312:41.53] they're able to have those conversations so so that's kind of where

[312:45.67] where it starts just trying to make sure that they're aware a lot of them

[312:49.63] are not aware of how to communicate with this workforce they're not aware of

[312:55.45] how to reach out to community based organizations they've never done it

[313:00.11] before this is a totally different universe for them so just making sure

[313:04.87] that they have that knowledge early on I think over the past couple years I

[313:10.39] think we're seeing some improvement going in the right direction making sure

[313:14.55] that they have information early on there will always be and has always

[313:23.55] been developers who don't want to meet our people or SPE and as we know we

[313:30.08] have the more ordinance where if you get a million more a million dollars or

[313:34.50] more in support from the city you have to meet these requirements given the

[313:41.12] progress you've seen or given given what you've seen through the years and

[313:44.08] we're working with so many different developers who have been successful and

[313:47.08] those who have fallen short do you believe like at this moment in time it's

[313:51.77] still worthwhile for what our original goals always have been to get local

[313:57.05] folks to work on these projects it's still worth that investment into these

[314:03.15] programs excellent question along with the mayor's office and many other city

[314:08.91] departments we have an RPP work group we've been meeting for the better part

[314:13.77] of almost two years now and we combine our thoughts we're combing through the

[314:19.86] ordinance we're finding things that may be antiquated looking for ways to make

[314:24.95] improvements so we are having those conversations and you mentioned the one

[314:29.41] million dollar requirement that triggers the human resources agreement is that

[314:34.53] one million dollars still appropriate given this economy right so we are

[314:38.25] having those conversations currently we meet monthly we communicate regularly

[314:43.97] via email so we are changes coming right we we definitely are going to

[314:49.61] propose some positive changes to ordinance chapter 355 along with your

[314:54.89] support as we come up with these plans and ideas and initiatives we'll make

[315:00.75] sure we share them with you before moving forward but certainly that

[315:05.09] ordinance is it's quite dated and it could use some improvement and we are

[315:11.13] definitely making strides in that direction lastly for now I think I said

[315:17.72] it to you probably what I'll say publicly if you look at like where the

[315:22.54] majority of newer developers that are coming to the city asking for support

[315:27.90] are coming from I think it's out of the acre program and I think it would be who

[315:33.36] was proactively to work with list MS Marquette whoever to work with acre so

[315:42.17] that as a part of their education is somebody from your department actually

[315:48.77] helping teaching a class or two so that you know once they graduate it's not

[315:55.15] just something they heard about they've actually have an understanding of what

[315:59.86] it takes to meet those RPP and SPE requirements I think it just gives them

[316:05.44] a better chance that when they start doing their larger projects that they'll

[316:11.16] start off on that right foot so I just want to put that out there thank you

[316:17.40] for mentioning so I have recently joined and been accepted into the 16th

[316:22.14] cohort of the acre program so thank you for that yeah and so there are a lot of

[316:27.78] brilliant students in this cohort and so I am sharing my expertise where I have

[316:33.74] it and they are doing the same but hey there are some leadership in lists that

[316:39.38] I may not necessarily have direct access to so if you guys are aware and you and

[316:44.50] you are able to have those conversations as well because we will to let them know

[316:48.90] that hey Department of Compliance and Engagement does this work and they're

[316:52.60] committed to it and we're more than happy to step up and and join and share

[316:57.02] our knowledge thank you that's okay great aldermen or sorry aldermen Peter

[317:03.76] Bregellis thank you at your urging I've now followed the Department of

[317:07.60] Compliance and Engagement on Facebook so appreciate that we lost the slide but

[317:14.87] your demographic showed you have seven staff you're budgeted for 12 so there

[317:23.08] are a couple gaps or a couple vacancies talk about the vacancies and how that's

[317:27.20] affecting your ability to do your work yeah so unfortunately we though we I've

[317:33.15] mentioned earlier that we're wearing multiple hats we continue all of our

[317:37.13] services continue to be done I would even venture to say that some of our

[317:41.63] services especially with regard to serving the Equal Rights Commission and

[317:46.63] ADA compliance are being done now better than they ever have been I feel

[317:50.63] confident in saying that even being understaffed as soon as the hiring work

[317:56.75] day hiring freeze is lifted we will work diligently with DER to get those

[318:01.55] positions filled as quickly as possible oh those you can you can ask for an

[318:08.39] exemption from a hiring freeze if there's a urgent need for okay to fill

[318:14.47] staff if you have vacancy in your department that seems pretty important

[318:20.71] and it there is that exception but it's also not a recruitment freeze it's just

[318:24.47] an actual hire freeze so the depending on what stage of recruitment they're in

[318:27.53] for a position they can you can even we're still doing vacancy agendas we're

[318:30.95] not stopping all recruitment we're just it's because of workday data entry that

[318:34.31] we're not doing actual hiring with exceptions as you pointed out yeah since

[318:39.44] you mentioned the Equal Rights Commission the department is charged

[318:43.43] with staffing and staffing that Commission I've looked for some meeting

[318:49.68] minutes online and Legistar some are missing there are no videos that are

[318:54.75] saved is that part of what you're expected to do for the Commission or do

[319:02.10] we just not record the videos because they're there there's always a virtual

[319:05.68] component said there's always a recorder running right there's a recorder but

[319:11.05] it's kept for meeting notes so that has not been a regular activity that I know

[319:17.29] of ever for the Commission that those videos are included online would it be

[319:22.65] helpful to coordinate with the with channel 25 and and have real recordings

[319:27.17] possibly yeah yeah or that at all nope and it hasn't been requested by the

[319:31.98] Commission either I did attend one meeting recently and there's a lot of

[319:39.02] concern about combining the equal rights specialist with 88 coordinator

[319:42.42] looking in the budget it looks like there are two separate line items 88

[319:47.80] coordinator is line 13 and the contract compliance officer I'm sorry equal rights

[319:55.50] oh equal rights specialist is the one that was removed is that right yeah line

[319:59.14] yeah line 13 or on 14 I think is 88 coordinator line 9 is the equal rights

[320:03.26] specialist which in the it's not been retitled yet so you don't see new that

[320:07.82] new title in this sheet but it would it was expected to be based on what we've

[320:11.98] indicated so now I'll read from the resolution that came forward that was

[320:16.94] forward from the Equal Rights Commission from that last meeting now therefore be

[320:20.26] it resolved that the City of Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission formally opposes

[320:23.46] the proposal to reduce the equal rights specialist and ADA coordinator functions

[320:27.14] to halftime assignments and consolidate them into a single position further

[320:31.28] resolved that the Commission supports maintaining dedicated full-time capacity

[320:35.12] for both the equal rights specialist function and the ADA coordinators

[320:38.50] function recognizing the distinct expertise for responsibilities and

[320:42.50] public accountability associated with each further resolved that the

[320:46.21] Commission respectfully urges the Department of Compliance and Engagement

[320:48.85] the mayor the common council and other appropriate City Office officials to

[320:52.45] provide sufficient staffing and resources to enable the Commission and

[320:55.61] the city to fully carry out the responsibilities under chapter 109 the

[320:59.69] Americans with Disabilities Act applicable federal requirements and

[321:02.89] other city equal rights and accessibility commitments the

[321:06.70] Commission further requests that any proposed restructuring affecting the

[321:09.74] staff support for the Equal Rights Commission or the city's ADA

[321:13.54] coordination function include meaningful consultation with the Equal

[321:17.06] Rights Commission and appropriate stakeholders before implementation at

[321:21.65] that Commission meeting I heard your repeat no action has been taken to do

[321:28.60] this this has only been a suggestion but the action that was taken is not

[321:35.56] from the requested budget but from the mayor's proposed budget so the the

[321:41.73] department didn't try to consolidate or cut these positions it was the

[321:46.79] administration that did that no let me clarify that I first like to say that I

[321:51.59] think we've learned a very valuable lesson in not discussing positions

[321:56.39] outside of budget and sans consulting budget and management so that will not

[322:01.67] happen again secondly it was in our restructuring plan to combine those

[322:07.23] positions to combine equal rights specialist and ADA coordinator because

[322:12.31] we know from experience time study and reviewing the job descriptions and the

[322:18.87] ordinances that govern those those lines of work what is required of those

[322:23.99] positions from what we could tell and from what we know to be true from

[322:29.39] leading this department neither of those positions alone justify full time

[322:35.25] and that is why we came up with the concept of combining those positions

[322:41.04] unfortunately that resolution came out after this budget was published so

[322:47.12] you're right as you see it published here the equal rights specialist

[322:50.68] position is not in the 2027 proposed so that is where we stand right now again

[322:58.78] I'd like to mention that I was expecting a larger turnout from the

[323:04.76] community especially the disability community at that public meeting I was

[323:11.43] there the entire time and I counted not to negate but I counted two individuals

[323:16.55] from the disability community it appears to me that the resolution and the

[323:22.39] request for these positions to remain separate come solely from the Equal

[323:27.75] Rights Commission and not necessarily from the community the two individuals

[323:32.51] who were in attendance from the community did not mention anything about

[323:36.51] either of these positions we truly did not hear from the public any concern we

[323:43.46] only heard from the Equal Rights Commission and not even all of the

[323:49.01] Commission just a small few so I just had a quorum to do their business that

[323:53.90] day okay well I just wanted to make that clear that I was really looking

[323:58.90] forward to a robust discussion with the public that did not happen but even

[324:04.14] still and still we support the mayor's budget but if there are some action to

[324:10.97] be taken we will not oppose it even if we were to bring back the equal rights

[324:18.69] specialist position through some action in order to justify a full-time

[324:26.63] employment position we'd have to find a way to make sure that the workload is

[324:31.58] there so so that is something we'll have to to consider we'll have to go

[324:37.37] back to the drawing board and talk about what that position looks like

[324:42.05] moving forward if I could say a few words what is the timeline to get

[324:52.15] minutes published for the virtual meeting on March 31st and then the other

[325:00.69] minutes I recognize that the September meeting minutes maybe aren't aren't

[325:04.73] available until after they're approved or posted until they're approved it's

[325:07.29] fine but then July 15th minutes also haven't been posted so I would have to

[325:12.61] look at that because as far as I know the minutes for March 31st should be on

[325:16.65] there and that is March 31st of 2026 okay I will look while I'm sitting here

[325:24.33] and check July 15th the Commission decided to have a recess in August so

[325:32.51] those minutes weren't approved until they're revised on the agenda for

[325:37.45] September 24th the minutes for July we're not on the agenda I'll have to

[325:50.42] look at the agenda because the ERC chairs here and I'm pretty sure that

[325:54.06] they approve minutes and we do have the video for that as well so second that

[325:59.24] meeting in July the minutes couldn't be approved until September 24th when they

[326:04.52] decided to have that meeting so they were just approved they just haven't

[326:07.84] been and uploaded into registrar so March 31st I will look at that to see

[326:12.38] what happened with those meeting minutes and then there will be a

[326:15.81] conversation about their requested videos entered into registrar so the

[326:20.68] other point that I wanted to make all the woman cogs made a great point

[326:24.38] earlier today about asking the staff asking the staff that do the work I do

[326:28.78] the work and I can tell you with certainty that based on some of the

[326:33.86] enhancements in the efficiencies that we created through the ERC app for the

[326:39.12] Equal Rights Commission and processing of complaints and the workload

[326:42.74] combining the two positions of ADA coordinator and the ERS applies the

[326:49.71] correct amount of employee necessary or necessity in terms of times with the

[326:57.33] workload so it matches what is needed in terms of the workload with staff how

[327:01.99] many what what kind can you talk about what kind of complaints the get

[327:08.18] investigator how many I mean that's so right now that would be a really good

[327:12.50] metric and I know that I know that the Commission is trying to expand their

[327:16.54] scope a little bit but can you talk about what the what the complaint

[327:21.67] process is absolutely so as metrics look like as of today there are 45

[327:27.20] complaints and in comparison to 2026 that is 2026 yep in comparison to

[327:34.80] 2025 I believe it was either and I have it here I just have to pull it up it

[327:39.60] was either 42 or 47 so we still have a quarter left in 2026 so there has been

[327:46.32] an uptake in terms of was there another specific question well have those

[327:54.63] complaints been resolved how what's the process so we have more complaints in

[327:59.43] 26 than we did in 25 is this still part-time work to investigate we never

[328:08.06] said it was part-time work and I know that was mentioned before that we

[328:12.90] specifically or I specifically said it was part-time work I said it was

[328:16.30] combined work so it's the process is when a complaint is submitted on the

[328:21.74] online system now it directly links to it the ERC app it eliminates the time

[328:29.13] that in equal rights specialists or I would need to take the information that

[328:34.51] is received by email and entered into another system or a spreadsheet it's

[328:38.51] already there so when I contact the person for an interview regarding their

[328:43.23] complaint because everyone is contacted whether or not they're reachable right

[328:48.11] I just verify the information from there it's documented in the ERC app

[328:53.31] when the call was made when they were contacted when they were emailed and

[328:56.83] when that interview happened all of that was done and it's efficient from there

[329:02.16] based on the jurisdiction of chapter 109 and the Equal Rights Commission the

[329:07.69] decision or recommendation is made and not so much an investigation of the

[329:12.79] complaint but more of a referral and recommendation of what can be done for

[329:17.57] that person so based there in addition to chapter 109 there's something called

[329:22.79] appendix a and I'll wrap up because I know there's other things that we want

[329:26.39] to get to the two primary jurisdictions that the ERC have are over protected

[329:31.27] hairstyles and homelessness that is that's the root cause for the

[329:36.59] discrimination so that does limit what they have jurisdiction over and that's

[329:41.74] based on chapter 109 many times the complaint then comes to me and I review

[329:48.16] it and I provide recommendations in a referral process to make sure that

[329:52.36] Milwaukee ins or persons that have experienced discrimination in the city

[329:55.96] of Milwaukee have been they had their voice has been heard and they have been

[330:01.52] provided a service and their needs are met so the deputy directors taking care

[330:07.12] of the complaints and so the positions are filled in whatever capacity that

[330:12.79] they are filled I'm experienced I did help design that ERC app and I enjoyed

[330:17.87] the work thank you very much thank you thank you okay on that position was

[330:23.40] there a deputy director position is that a new fairly new create yes as of this

[330:28.09] year because it was a new department well is it mandatory that each because

[330:35.04] I know we saw that in OCWS as well yep so because it's a separate department

[330:39.68] correct you know the deputy because DOA just got a deputy director they always

[330:45.18] have one for a few years now but you mean DCWS no I'm just saying like we

[330:49.60] didn't have remember when we didn't have one for a little while right it's not

[330:52.20] legally required that's what I'm trying to well right it was this question as it

[330:55.88] being a best practice for reasons this council is very familiar with you well

[330:59.88] it's not automatic I'm just trying to understand because it almost what I'm

[331:02.72] hearing here is is like it sounds like because I don't understand how there's

[331:06.40] new positions yet a consolidation I mean obviously that's you right sizing your

[331:12.04] department so we are in need of a org chart I've made that request a number of

[331:16.15] times now that will really help us here and understanding that I do differ on

[331:21.51] an opinion and assessment of the Equal Rights Commission I do think that is

[331:25.07] the public I do think that they're carrying out their charge I think that

[331:28.63] their charge is to speak collectively for the voices they're expanding as

[331:32.95] well with volunteers that are doing this so I just I wouldn't count like I

[331:39.34] wouldn't count that we didn't hear from the the ADA you know community of all

[331:46.47] abilities like ERC is for there to speak and we get this actually a lot

[331:51.40] so I am a little sensitive to it because we do have differing opinions

[331:54.61] but when we take a position and go through a formal process there's no

[331:59.14] difference that is the the recommendation and the letter we receive

[332:02.94] which I sent your way as soon as I got it from the Equal Rights Commission so

[332:06.66] it wasn't one or a few people it is the official position so I do want to speak

[332:10.74] that into the record I just you know politely I believe that that's the case

[332:14.22] and there's no way around it and they're doing what we asked them to do so

[332:18.58] this is like it's odd it's an odd situation because they're like

[332:21.26] advocating you know within and you staff them so it's kind of like an odd

[332:27.45] conflict that we're trying to figure out now I've heard that the term I've heard

[332:32.19] a few times now is from the administration and from yourself that we

[332:35.49] do not oppose not we do not oppose not consolidating those positions okay so

[332:44.37] that's left to the council and I had asked repeatedly if we were to change

[332:49.87] that or undo that consolidation there is a financial component to that so you

[332:55.97] know where would the funds come from then because it sounds to me I'm trying

[332:59.35] to understand that we do not oppose so should we make that change and if we do

[333:03.36] how are we supposed to fund it anyone Madam Chair on that we had the finance

[333:08.86] committee where we approved the deputy positions and I said at the time although

[333:13.42] I didn't listen to my own good advice that yacht not to do this outside the

[333:17.26] budget process and I voted in favor of the deputy because there was a funding

[333:21.16] source identified which is now being called into question and we are kind of

[333:25.58] over a barrel now and that there is no funding source identified so we don't

[333:32.11] have to come up I mean we were here to present the mayor's proposed budget if

[333:38.46] the council wants to make changes we'll work with you on what those changes are

[333:41.83] so you're going as far to say when you say I do not oppose not that you're

[333:47.77] gonna help us seek a revenue source from the choice that you all made but

[333:51.33] that you the mayor won't veto it I'm not I never predict vetoes I just were

[333:57.89] aware of the feedback and we've indicated that the mayor's proposing his

[334:00.85] budget stands by the budget but we also understand this co-equal branch of

[334:04.45] government yeah there's a right to make changes and this is a change we would

[334:07.49] work with you on if it's if in your judgment based on all the facts you

[334:11.35] just heard from the director and if that's your judgment which you'll make

[334:14.66] you know in about a week so yeah we're happy to work with you we did hear from

[334:17.86] the director we did hear from the community we did hear from the Equal

[334:20.66] Rights Commission that took a position and sent us you know that's what they're

[334:24.22] there for us to take positions on things so is the person here I'm just so I

[334:30.13] know the contact for ADA whereas that position is vacant as well okay I thought

[334:35.73] so because I had a couple they're both vacant so it's an opportunity to

[334:38.17] consolidate I mean you heard the reasons for it we still think it makes sense we

[334:41.41] understand the public feedback so we're we understand the balls in your court

[334:44.25] now how long has that one been vacant oh my since me yeah I guess what I'm

[334:49.02] saying is is like to say that people didn't speak out from from for all

[334:52.82] abilities when it's been vacant and couldn't really talk to talk about it

[334:56.28] why is a completely I didn't say people didn't speak accurate I'm saying that

[335:00.57] you counted the number of people that yes speak you could count the number of

[335:04.27] people in the room with you know there were not a lot out I guess there was so

[335:10.20] much ado about the matter that I figured sans the Equal Rights Commission

[335:18.46] if the disability community or other members of the general public had strong

[335:25.69] concerns about the consolidation of these positions that we would have seen

[335:32.75] and heard from them that is that is all I'm not saying that we didn't hear from

[335:36.23] anybody I'm just saying that it was posted on social media it was shared

[335:42.68] throughout city government this this public hearing I guess if I feel as

[335:51.02] though if the public was really against it that we would have seen a turnout we

[335:56.53] would have gotten phone calls emails from the general public but now I hear

[336:01.59] you and I respect that you're saying that the Equal Rights Commission is

[336:04.85] speaking to me that half of these people who were relatively absent yeah

[336:08.77] and it's okay we don't see but I want to say that's my assessment that's what

[336:12.55] what one of the things that they're there to do and that we want them to do

[336:15.89] and they've even opined on decisions we've made before you know I know there

[336:22.39] will be more on this but I want to move to a more issue before I move it to

[336:24.91] the spiker alderman spiker on the on the rental I'm not understanding why do you

[336:32.42] need to leave this facility yeah so there is there's no no space here in

[336:37.14] City Hall so we like you've outgrown the current space yeah oh okay yeah

[336:41.38] there is no additional space to add anyone we want to ramp up to 12 there

[336:46.30] is not a cubicle to add an additional staff person in addition we're very

[336:50.34] disjointed we're located scattered across two locations here in City Hall we've

[336:55.08] got staff on the north side sharing space in Office of African American

[336:58.86] Affairs and I feel that it's a reasonable ask that as a team we be

[337:03.96] allowed to work together in a cohesive space and collaborate and have a space

[337:08.46] that we call our own our staff they show up every day they're committed to

[337:13.06] this work they given their lives decades of their life and time and

[337:17.06] commitment to this work and I think it's not unreasonable that we be allowed a

[337:23.42] co-working space to work together as a department even if we weren't a

[337:28.57] department even if we were still in office we still need a unified space for

[337:33.45] ourselves so I asked for you all to consider that very carefully and know

[337:41.40] that there is no way we can add an eighth ninth tenth eleventh or twelfth

[337:45.28] staff person there's no place to put them and as alderman burglars mentioned

[337:49.64] we are critically understaffed we need to fill these positions but we simply

[337:54.28] cannot right and last on the RPP I was excited to see the cordless project in

[337:59.27] in my district so you're saying with those numbers I'm gonna take that

[338:02.79] information and share it out even wider that is something to be proud of those

[338:06.71] are city of Milwaukee residents RPP just want to make sure I have the same

[338:11.51] like I know it's not subjective but that I understand so for RPP city of

[338:17.50] Milwaukee employed the whole time on that that is correct so when those

[338:22.26] workers come in and out of the life of the project we'd have to look deeper

[338:25.90] into the data so I can't say the duration that in RPP worker worked but

[338:30.14] to be RPP you have to verify city of Milwaukee proper residency and so yes

[338:35.38] those are 153 unique RPP workers city of Milwaukee RPP workers on that project

[338:41.10] okay thank you so much forgive me for being speed speedy there I'm just trying

[338:45.53] to get through it alderman spiker thank you madam chair and so I know with the

[338:51.11] change to department status they're feeling need a deputy you have a deputy

[338:56.91] now but the need to ramp up to 11 or 12 members was there before and assuming

[339:06.61] it's there now it was there before so whether you're a department or an office

[339:12.93] there's certain synergies certain advantages of you all being together as

[339:18.81] opposed to strewn about the seven kingdoms so what is and I know you gave

[339:28.02] a partial answer to Alderman Bergellis on this but what are the mission

[339:31.74] critical roles you just can't do right now with seven as opposed to almost

[339:35.14] doubling your department size and with respect to the space issue I'd be

[339:42.75] interested to know how many folks are taking advantage of alternative work

[339:46.67] arrangements and if their workarounds there if we look at DOA space and how

[339:51.66] many people are using those arrangements as well but those sorry those are two

[339:55.22] separate questions the first question is seven to twelve what mission critical

[339:59.22] stuff couldn't be done even with your amazing jugglers right now which is seven

[340:07.06] yeah so right now when you we look at our KPIs and our performance metrics we

[340:12.77] feel like they could be more robust we could be doing much more we could have

[340:16.81] more staff one additional staff supporting a small business enterprise

[340:22.25] certification could potentially double the number of certifications double the

[340:27.43] number of disadvantaged small businesses that have access to contracting

[340:31.35] opportunities is that reflected in your because I did note that that in the LRB

[340:36.53] right up it said the 20 25 actual certifications were 1926 projected to be

[340:42.73] 23 and then there is a proposed almost doubling for 27 of 45 certification so

[340:49.17] is that assuming the additional staff yeah so in 2023 and 2024 we had two

[340:55.25] staff working small business and we were in the 40s so now small business

[341:01.33] has taken a hit and we feel that an additional staff person could help

[341:05.41] bring those numbers back up okay so that's one of the positions and the

[341:10.09] others would establish other things so mission critical right equal rights

[341:16.41] staffing in ADA compliance right now our deputy director not only is she

[341:21.41] managing operations supervising community outreach and engagement she's

[341:26.73] also stopping what she's doing to wear the hat of an ADA coordinator running

[341:31.65] over to DPW to have those meetings running over to have meetings at

[341:36.31] independence first on ADA accessibility staying after work for equal rights

[341:42.81] public meetings taking her weekends to do community outreach events at the

[341:48.29] summer fest grounds and throughout the county so mission critical to lighten

[341:54.84] the load on our deputy we need those positions and the rules that are the

[342:01.22] hats that are being worn by the deputy now you feel would be sufficiently worn

[342:06.04] by one person although if the budget office can help come up with the funds

[342:13.26] you want to be opposed to heaven - although it does sound like you have

[342:17.06] some real reticence about whether there is enough work and you will have to

[342:19.86] reimagine the rules absolutely to assign absolutely and I guess for budget

[342:25.20] director Kovac the I mean there was a thing back in the day when Dennis the

[342:30.69] act Reno said we'll work with you that meant to work with you it'll work real

[342:35.69] hard to find out something it might come out of some squish if such a

[342:38.89] concept exists but is that what's being proposed here or is it just like hey

[342:44.95] the comptroller identified some extra revenue y'all should look there so

[342:49.27] obviously there is the comptroller additional revenue if I it will I mean I

[342:53.84] guess maybe I mean it in the dentist sense I don't know how you think Dennis

[342:56.68] meant it but yeah we'll talk to us about whether it's a true priority and

[343:00.12] we'll do our best to work with you but obviously the balls in your court you'd

[343:05.12] have to propose something yep okay and then let's see the space the other one

[343:10.23] that's it for now thank you madam chair okay all the woman

[343:13.91] Sharlin Moore and then after that we'll go to all the woman Andrea Pratt thank

[343:18.53] you so much madam chair director thank you for I did have an opportunity to

[343:25.22] visit the space just because I'm a visual learner so after we met not too

[343:31.30] long ago I did have an opportunity to say well let's walk over just so I can

[343:34.98] visually see what you know Mary was referencing and yes they are definitely

[343:40.06] out of space so I think that is an opportunity to bring everyone together

[343:48.89] and again when we talked about it it wasn't long it's not necessarily a

[343:53.95] forever thing it's this is what we need for right now and if and and when things

[343:58.23] change you know we'll make those adjustments so that was cool and I got

[344:04.77] to give a shout out to my girl Ramona who's absolutely holding it down you

[344:10.41] know when I see you out in community at all the events and you know all that you

[344:14.25] do I mean you couldn't have picked a better deputy so thank you Ramona for

[344:19.83] all that you do really quick I wanted to because I know that and I see Tony I

[344:26.69] thought I saw Tony was here I was gonna give him a shout out to but I know

[344:31.95] chair Snell was here from the Equal Rights Commission I know they they made

[344:38.09] a decision to go from 7 to 11 have are all of those seats filled and is their

[344:45.29] quorum at monthly meetings so yeah excuse me they as far as I know they

[344:52.88] were already approved for 11 so they have they were at full commission as of

[344:59.83] June and then they just lost their ERC vice chair sure so now they're at 10 so

[345:06.54] they're almost at a full commission so they'll be recruiting again for that

[345:10.95] position and for those monthly meetings are they typically here at City Hall or

[345:15.07] or do they alternate outside of City Hall in the community since I've been

[345:21.65] working with the Commission since 2025 they have all been here with the

[345:26.29] exception of the one on September 24th 2026 which was that independence first

[345:31.17] I do have two things I just wanted to follow up on for all the member galleys

[345:38.09] I see the March meeting as March 18th not the 31st and the number of so I'm

[345:45.53] just gonna make a point to talking about discriminate the ERC complaints of

[345:50.13] those complaints at the end of year of 2026 they were at 45 so they're at 45

[345:56.54] now and 20% of those disability complaints in 2026 or the complaints in

[346:03.34] 2026 20% of those were disability as a as a cost okay for a protected card for

[346:13.27] clarity the minutes for the meeting on March 18th are on led to star but

[346:18.49] there's another virtual meeting that was listed as March 31st maybe it was

[346:22.77] cancelled it was a governance meeting they did not meet quorum yep so really

[346:29.24] quick let me let me finish up just for clarity Mary when we talk about because

[346:37.01] I'm learning all about RPP and the certifications how do you confirm the

[346:45.78] RPP certain you know those individuals that say hey we need certain amount how

[346:51.10] do you confirm those I know you mentioned like payroll but how does that

[346:56.05] work when you know we have a company you know they have to meet the

[346:59.57] requirement how does that process sort of work good afternoon everyone my name

[347:05.03] is Tima Goulade I am the compliance and engagement coordinator I certify for the

[347:09.35] residents preference program the way that we verify that is we request we

[347:13.75] require two proofs of residency in order for us to certify the affidavit

[347:19.54] does have to be notarized so I can do those certifications for our department

[347:23.66] I also have a team member Jason Thompson who can do those certifications and then

[347:28.14] we have partnerships in the community with first-person staffing in addition

[347:32.09] to that anybody can go to a notary public so if it's more convenient for

[347:36.97] a resident to go to their local credit union they they're able to do that but

[347:41.93] the documentation does have to include those two proofs of residency and then

[347:46.19] for the company itself does the company have to have that because you know

[347:51.37] there's some companies might say oh well we're gonna hire them for three

[347:54.55] months and then let them go how does that work is there a longevity clause

[347:58.81] like oh it has to be the duration of the project it has to be a minimum of X

[348:02.65] number of months how does that work well I'll speak to that so because they

[348:07.40] are private construction development projects they have autonomy in their

[348:10.48] hiring decisions in our RPP work group we are working on seeing if it's

[348:16.60] possible to add some language to the agreement that there are some retention

[348:20.72] requirements there that is what we're looking to it that does not exist right

[348:24.88] now so technically an RPP worker could be hired for a very short period of

[348:29.28] time and let go but we are thinking about that and we're looking at ways to

[348:33.50] address it so for the company itself it's not necessarily the duration of

[348:38.21] the project so for example if and I don't know if you all go based on

[348:44.28] numbers based on the amount of the contract is that how it works Mary well

[348:48.57] so it once a developer is signs of human resources agreement they they're on our

[348:55.25] right right we're monitoring them and then they go active so we create a

[348:59.33] project file and we enter them into our labor compliance reporting system now

[349:03.77] for every RPP worker not only does the individual have to be RPP certified that

[349:09.09] employer that contractor needs to enter an employee record in LCR and then they

[349:15.53] have to request the RPP designation so there's still additional steps before a

[349:22.77] worker can be counted on a project as RPP certified so that involves an

[349:28.73] approval process as well so they the employer creates the employee record

[349:32.89] they say they enter give us an alert through LCR and say I'd like John Smith

[349:39.84] to be RPP certified we look we make sure the certification is there the

[349:44.48] verification documents are there it is notarized and then only we internally

[349:50.16] can flip the switch to make sure that they're RPP and that the hours start

[349:55.71] counting on the project and then we can going back to the duration can we know

[350:01.50] like how long absolutely they've they've been with that particular company yes

[350:06.06] that data exists down to the payroll week so we can see the higher date and

[350:12.54] every payroll week that they worked up until the last day that they worked

[350:16.06] nice nice and do we have met so I see that for example in the service

[350:22.19] highlights these are some great metrics by the way we hope to have more right

[350:28.95] do we do we can we get sort of a reporting on I would love to know

[350:35.36] duration because you know the last thing that I want is for companies to use this

[350:40.08] as a checkbox right oh yeah we've done it and you know three months later you

[350:45.44] know the person is let go right just so that they can say hey we did it so I

[350:50.81] would love to know metrics as in the duration of how long our folks are RPP

[350:57.90] folks have have been on if that's a if that's a possibility I love that

[351:01.84] demographic yep so we do have demographics I could I do we do publish

[351:07.94] an annual RPP report and since we're here I can just run through just a few

[351:13.66] of the demographics from 2025 to let you know what RPP looks like so there

[351:19.94] were 113 newly hired RPP workers during 2025 of those let's see here 58 were

[351:30.26] black or african-american 40 were Hispanic or Latino these are new hires

[351:34.26] eight were white and seven were of other or multiple races 101 of those

[351:41.38] were male and 12 were female so I can share the link this is published on

[351:46.92] registrar I can share that with you all and those demographics are included

[351:50.66] annually in the RPP report zip codes as well that's perfect can you also share

[351:56.57] 2024 just yet I have a comparison yeah or know where to go to find all the

[352:01.49] reports absolutely I really appreciate that and I'll wrap up my line of

[352:06.49] questioning this actually is for Jason all the women cogs thank you so much

[352:12.37] Alderman cogs talked about the the DCMKE system and you know Jason you shared

[352:21.76] hey we're using AI and compass to you know get a more robust background of

[352:28.15] the individuals using it my question is really centered around is there any way

[352:34.66] for us to track or determine placements or even retention and I'm sure you've

[352:41.06] gotten this question before you know Jason because hey you know we provide a

[352:44.90] great infrastructure to our community and you know and I think the reason why

[352:50.59] I'm asking this is because you know I know lots of people that are looking for

[352:55.54] jobs and they can apply apply apply apply and still you know even though

[353:00.50] they've you know refined I'm working with a young person right now young

[353:04.10] adult refine their resumes and you know I'm like okay make sure you are you're

[353:08.94] dressed up your job written look everything and it you know for some it's

[353:13.14] just difficult right so Jason can you talk a little bit about like placement

[353:18.62] and retention is that an option for us to to track or measure yes I'd be happy

[353:25.68] to Jason Thompson outreach specialist with the department of compliance and

[353:30.36] engagement so I'm glad that you asked that question so is it okay if I do a

[353:37.02] brief I'll keep it brief yes okay I do a little bit of a zoom out and give a

[353:40.80] little context historical context so first of all just want to acknowledge

[353:44.78] all the woman cogs for the creation of direct connect Milwaukee and thank you

[353:49.10] for the privilege of being able to promote it when it was still in the

[353:53.12] former office or workforce development in the council and then as it moved

[353:57.50] through do a to its new home in DCE so when we started the platform again it

[354:04.98] was social media focused and it was designed to mirror the functionality of

[354:09.36] something like a LinkedIn and a Facebook with a local focus but the

[354:13.24] priority in those first phases of the platform were more so on closing those

[354:20.12] barriers first of all between the job seekers and the employers and employment

[354:24.60] service agencies and the major priority at first was not employment that came a

[354:30.97] little bit later we focused initially on making sure that people who were

[354:35.65] disconnected from information were aware of and had access to places like

[354:40.32] employment walkie and Maximus and DWD and these other employment service

[354:45.40] agencies where they could work on things like their job readiness skills

[354:49.72] and working on resumes and working on remediating what we call barriers so

[354:56.60] there was a focus for example on individuals that needed to complete

[355:00.80] their high school diploma or individuals that had been justice involved or

[355:05.32] individuals that had never had a job before and needed access to job

[355:09.49] training or internships and apprenticeships and so the reason I'm

[355:14.97] bringing that up is that because the focus was not directly I mean

[355:19.86] employment definitely was part of it but there were other related aspects

[355:23.96] that we were seeking to address and then in 2020 we brought employers on

[355:28.64] board as the platform began to develop and we did a little bit of tracking a

[355:33.96] placement but we were limited in terms of how much we could actually verify

[355:39.56] outside of the occasional anecdotal hey I got a job from a job seeker just

[355:44.76] because the fields of data that we collected from people it didn't include

[355:49.43] some of those more sensitive points of data just for a concern of their

[355:53.35] privacy and security that would have allowed us to track more accurate like

[355:59.16] actual placement I can tell you the number of people that we've reached if

[356:02.24] you want to know that number since we started in 2018 and that's been 10,000

[356:08.24] people reached through the platform through job fairs and what have you but

[356:12.54] this year with this new version of the platform we're actually involved in a

[356:17.54] new pilot project where we are working with local employers that we have good

[356:22.23] relationship with and we're using the platform to very efficiently first of

[356:26.95] all as I mentioned before the platform now as it stands it's getting a more

[356:32.96] filled out profile from the job seekers people are filling out a lot of details

[356:38.70] address name work experience and the benefit that is especially for people

[356:45.26] that have never done a resume before or never had job experience that Tim in a

[356:50.24] conversation will compass becomes their resume and they can download that and

[356:53.72] use it as a resume and then our system will automatically recommend them to

[356:59.25] some of the local employers that we work with so since we started this pilot

[357:03.41] we've actually had job seekers who created those profiles get sent

[357:09.76] directly to the recruiters locally and there's been interviews offers have been

[357:14.64] made in some situations and other situations other candidates were chosen

[357:19.12] and preferred but the feedback that we got from the job seekers was that this

[357:23.52] was more efficient than using something like indeed or a monster just because

[357:28.50] you go on those platforms you have to filter for your area your resume or

[357:32.89] your application can get lost your mix and by partnering with companies locally

[357:38.40] that we know yep we're able to get people in front of the recruiter and the

[357:42.60] hiring manager immediately so so now so they answer your question yeah that was

[357:48.99] just the context answer question that's actually one of the things that with

[357:52.96] this ability now because of the intimate relationship with the employers now I'm

[357:57.62] gonna be able to be track and say and we've actually had a few placements that

[358:03.08] I've started tracking now but asked me this question next year I love that no

[358:09.05] you did I love that Jason because it's this evolution and I like that it's

[358:15.05] being built out I think the only thing that had come to mind with me is you

[358:20.05] know I'm selling something on the market right all these people reach out and say

[358:24.23] hey I want to purchase this purchase this and you know and then when it

[358:27.41] finally when I hit sell it's sold it says well who did you sell it to right

[358:31.29] and how was your experience type of thing so it tracks sort of that

[358:35.49] algorithm and it seems like that's the we're moving and we're figuring out how

[358:39.89] to use the technology use the employers but even on both sides you know how do

[358:44.65] we get back to you know using the system to say okay you know oh you got a

[358:49.41] job who did you get you know who are you employed through you know just

[358:53.05] something basic so obviously we're not infringing on their you know their

[358:56.57] privacy or whatever but but for us to know that these systems are working so

[359:01.77] thank you thank you Jason thank you so much for that you don't tell the woman

[359:05.57] I think wait I think that was it yeah I think that was my last rant thank you

[359:14.62] oh wait wait that no the last one sorry the last one the last piece again your

[359:22.32] new division how have you communicated to what what does or what did because

[359:29.72] you've already started what did communication look like to the council

[359:33.00] how often have you reached out to the council to share updates or highlights

[359:37.56] etc since the time that you've been appointed yeah I would say this one

[359:43.52] alder men said I reach out before it's time unfortunately right before we have

[359:49.09] to come before a committee like this right to share or before budget to talk

[359:53.81] about the work we've done and what our plans are for the future and all them

[359:58.17] and I took this to heart

[360:00.00] "Reach out more often than times like this and so we'll definitely make sure that we're

[360:05.52] doing that.

[360:06.52] But I'd also like to say is that when we're out in the community, in the districts, we

[360:11.08] work with the Alder of that district.

[360:14.84] When it comes to RPP, I'm working with Alderman Stamper and those who are on the ZND Committee.

[360:21.48] So it's more specific, not necessarily generalized.

[360:25.84] If there's something, a piece of work or an initiative that we're working on, we

[360:30.24] definitely reach out to that Alder on that initiative.

[360:34.08] But just overall, we'll do a better job of communicating our highlights, any annual or

[360:40.32] quarterly reports that we have coming.

[360:43.44] Also there's some Alders who request equity impact statements, again, a very specific

[360:47.56] thing.

[360:48.56] But I'm able to work with the Alders in those types of capacities.

[360:52.60] But thank you for that, and mental note taken.

[360:55.71] Thank you.

[360:57.14] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[360:58.14] Okay.

[360:59.14] Thank you so much, Alderman.

[361:00.14] Let's move on to Alderman Andrea Pratt.

[361:02.02] Okay.

[361:03.02] Thank you.

[361:04.01] Man, I've been waiting.

[361:05.25] No, I wanted to speak because I worked formally as the Equal Rights Specialist.

[361:11.46] So I did that job.

[361:13.50] And I was surprised when the job was kind of like split up a few years ago after I

[361:17.66] did it.

[361:19.10] And it was because when I was the Equal Rights Specialist, when I saw the breaking up and

[361:24.50] putting it together, I said, "How is this going to work?"

[361:27.54] But when I was the Equal Rights Specialist, I did outreach and engagement.

[361:30.98] I had to staff the ERC, and I also took complaints.

[361:34.43] And I made $20,000 less.

[361:37.63] But I can see how with the difference in how the jobs are distributed now and the responsibilities

[361:49.02] that as an Equal Rights Specialist, if you are not taking the complaints and your job

[361:53.68] is solely to staff the ERC and to do the minutes and agendas for them, there have

[361:59.88] been many times when it was Office of Equity Inclusion where there was only an ADA Specialist

[362:06.32] or there was only an Equal Rights Specialist, and the ADA Coordinator staffed the ERC.

[362:12.40] She took the minutes.

[362:13.40] She took the agenda for years.

[362:14.76] She did that.

[362:17.24] And she had to train every Equal Rights Specialist that came in because they would come and

[362:21.40] leave even after I left, the next person who came in, she left in the interim as well.

[362:28.56] But she was the person, the ADA Coordinator, did a lot of the Equal Rights Specialist

[362:33.12] job before Equal Rights Specialists were there.

[362:35.60] They were not a constant in that position.

[362:38.12] It was a job that people kind of came in and out of.

[362:41.48] But it had a lot more to do, a lot more responsibility that would make it enough to be a full-time

[362:48.36] job.

[362:49.36] It was when I did it.

[362:50.52] And although the complaint process at the time I did it was still being worked out with

[362:54.56] the City Attorney on whether or not we can take complaints.

[362:57.48] And it still feels like it's kind of, I mean, it's the Crown Act and homelessness that

[363:05.21] you can enforce.

[363:06.69] It is really what you do as an Equal Rights Specialist is that you are referring.

[363:10.81] So you are referring to the Equal Rights Division.

[363:13.81] You are referring to Fair Housing Council.

[363:15.69] You are referring people to all of the EEOC, wherever they need to go.

[363:19.73] And so you are a go-between to connect people.

[363:22.65] And so it's not something that you have to constantly be at your desk doing.

[363:27.41] And ADA Coordination as well.

[363:29.29] I agree with the merging of those two positions, especially when the responsibilities of the

[363:35.41] Equal Rights Specialists have been distributed to other jobs.

[363:38.85] It just makes sense.

[363:40.09] And also when I worked in that department there were seven people, I think.

[363:44.57] And that was five, okay, it was five.

[363:48.12] I remember when I first started, because Angelique was working with me.

[363:52.88] When I first started, some people quit right after, they were sent to other departments.

[363:57.40] I also am excited to hear that you all would be in one place.

[364:00.96] It was difficult to feel like you were part of a team, to even feel like you were part

[364:04.44] of the city working.

[364:06.72] I worked in an office, in a cubicle, across from the ADA Coordinator in the Eco Office

[364:12.04] between Budget and Eco.

[364:15.48] Everybody else worked across the hall.

[364:17.88] We would have a monthly meeting on Friday in the one conference room, but it was so

[364:22.38] difficult to coordinate, and it was no sense of cohesion in our -- you just did not feel

[364:27.79] like you were part of a team, as I'm sure that persists, that you all are spread all

[364:32.03] over the place.

[364:33.03] I encourage that.

[364:34.03] I'm excited that you all at least get to be together and figure out as a team moving

[364:38.47] forward.

[364:39.47] You'll be able to bounce ideas off of each other in a way that we weren't able to, because

[364:43.83] we were so separated.

[364:44.83] I talked to Rebecca Rabattin, who was the ADA Coordinator.

[364:47.95] I was able to talk to her a lot, but I never had a -- like, I never was able to talk to

[364:52.96] Angelique.

[364:53.96] I was never able to talk to Dontrell.

[364:55.62] They were across the hallway.

[364:56.96] I saw them on Fridays when we had a meeting.

[365:00.04] So yeah, that's just what I wanted to add from my personal experience in having done

[365:04.80] the job, and to -- maybe to help assure some of my colleagues that in having done the

[365:11.40] job, I am sure that even coordinate doing that together, those two jobs together, that

[365:16.62] it will still be fine.

[365:17.62] Thank you.

[365:18.62] You have no idea how impactful that was to hear that, because it validates our leadership

[365:23.76] decisions.

[365:24.76] So I appreciate that.

[365:25.76] Thank you so much.

[365:26.76] You're welcome.

[365:27.76] And thank you for your service as the ERS.

[365:29.40] Yes.

[365:30.40] Thank you.

[365:31.40] I mean, she did say it was -- I wasn't the best, but now I'm just --

[365:34.40] (Laughter.)

[365:35.40] And now we have the ERC app, that web-based app is in full production right now that makes

[365:52.10] it easier than taking that data, as I mentioned before, and entering it.

[365:55.64] Are you able to be together as a team in any city-owned properties?

[365:59.08] Like, that's just part -- I just -- the private rental is tough.

[366:01.65] I mean, we want you to be together, but have you totally explored everything?

[366:05.73] We have.

[366:06.73] Okay.

[366:07.73] We've worked with the entire mayor's cabinet, every department head.

[366:11.77] A few reached out to us and shared some possibilities.

[366:15.65] One of the spaces was so small, it maybe could accommodate four to five people.

[366:20.49] No windows.

[366:21.49] You'd have to go downstairs to use the kitchenette, a shared kitchenette, up two flights of stairs

[366:25.93] to use a shared conference room, just not feasible, and we all still couldn't fit there.

[366:30.85] So we definitely ran this by every single department head.

[366:35.57] There's nothing there that could accommodate us.

[366:38.27] We looked at outside space.

[366:40.91] There were some spaces that were -- could be more affordable, but we have to consider

[366:45.73] they would require build-out and furnishing.

[366:48.69] The space that we landed on is completely built out.

[366:52.65] We'd have an entire floor to ourselves.

[366:54.85] It is fully furnished, and MPD once occupied the space so the network and cabling is already

[367:02.13] installed.

[367:03.13] There will be very little for DPW to do.

[367:05.35] It is essentially move-in ready.

[367:06.97] Okay.

[367:07.97] Accessible.

[367:08.97] There's parking and there's space for even commission or council if you wanted to have

[367:13.09] town hall meetings within the area or campus.

[367:16.53] It is on 32nd and State Street on the Potawatomi-Wajima campus.

[367:20.77] It is secure.

[367:21.77] It has covered parking for all of us and visitors.

[367:25.93] The campus would allow for us to do community outreach events on campus without having

[367:30.85] to pay or travel to do that.

[367:34.17] Also what was the other thing I wanted to mention about the space?

[367:37.45] It will come to me and I'll share it.

[367:40.21] But no, but it puts us central to the community that we serve.

[367:44.59] We could easily get here to City Hall within 10 minutes, and it's a short-term lease.

[367:50.77] So we've had conversations with DPW and they've assured us that whenever possible that the

[367:56.69] eighth floor could be renovated and occupiable, we would be first on the list to use some

[368:02.63] of that space.

[368:03.63] So we are looking at a short-term solution to our needs.

[368:08.21] Okay.

[368:09.27] But nothing in the capital budget for 2027 to renovate floor 8, right?

[368:13.70] Correct.

[368:15.31] Yeah, I mean that would be the obvious option if it didn't cost who knows how many million.

[368:19.94] Okay.

[368:20.96] I only have one last outstanding thing.

[368:23.78] With the county, I know they changed their name to economic inclusion.

[368:28.06] Are you corresponding with them very often?

[368:30.10] I just got connected with some of the leaders over there.

[368:34.22] So I'm going to be joining their, I believe, their quarterly calls.

[368:37.74] Are they in the quarters?

[368:38.74] Do you know?

[368:39.74] I do not.

[368:40.74] I don't know either.

[368:41.74] Actually, I think they're on King Drive.

[368:42.74] Okay.

[368:43.74] I think they have a satellite space on King Drive.

[368:45.46] Okay.

[368:46.46] And they had some changeover too, so that's why I have to get myself familiar.

[368:49.76] Mary, thank you.

[368:50.76] I just want to thank you.

[368:51.76] Anything else from, let me just check real quick though, any other outstanding questions

[368:56.84] from members?

[368:57.84] Do you have anything else?

[368:58.83] Okay.

[369:00.19] Oh, I took it.

[369:01.19] Okay.

[369:02.18] Oops, sorry.

[369:03.18] Spiker's good.

[369:04.28] Looks good over there.

[369:05.33] All the women more?

[369:06.33] Spiker, anything else?

[369:07.43] Yeah.

[369:08.43] Oh my gosh, I should have pointed at you.

[369:09.43] I was pointing at you and then he said one more.

[369:11.43] Come on.

[369:12.43] I got to be fair.

[369:13.43] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[369:14.67] So the, it's what the rentals of the space would be 111 for next year or one something

[369:20.95] like that?

[369:21.95] Yes, just under 112,000.

[369:24.19] And do we have any idea about the escalation or will this be frozen in for a certain period

[369:28.83] of time?

[369:29.83] So if it is, if the lease is paid annually, there is a 3% escalation, but there could

[369:34.79] be cost savings if for some way, the lease could be prepaid.

[369:41.47] Prepaid for the five-year.

[369:42.47] The five-year lease.

[369:43.47] Yeah, then that escalation would be not.

[369:47.00] Go away.

[369:48.03] Okay.

[369:49.03] All right.

[369:50.03] Thanks.

[369:51.06] Is that a lease with the pot of water?

[369:52.06] Yes.

[369:53.22] Okay.

[369:54.19] Yes.

[369:55.19] Any other questions or comments?

[369:56.89] Okay.

[369:57.89] Just double-checking.

[369:58.89] One more.

[369:59.89] Okay.

[370:01.33] So obviously you didn't ask to be made a department, but you are.

[370:03.57] So how has that transition gone?

[370:05.87] Is there anything a year into it, less than a year into it, that you feel are still major

[370:13.74] impediments remaining or stuff that was harder than it seemed or stuff that, you know, gives

[370:20.18] you confidence that you can make the transition smoothly?

[370:23.68] Absolutely.

[370:24.93] So I feel like we've been supported tremendously.

[370:28.45] We have a really good handle on operations.

[370:30.79] Our team here, they're very well-versed and have a ton of experience and knowledge.

[370:37.01] Everybody here is a pillar on their own.

[370:39.01] They can easily run their sections without a lot of close supervision.

[370:44.73] So with regards to operations and management, we do just fine.

[370:50.49] There are some things we have to learn, right, when it comes to HR and finances, but DOA

[370:56.25] has been a tremendous resource.

[370:57.89] DER has supported us and helped guide us so closely.

[371:01.91] So we've learned so much with hiring, onboarding, purchase orders, account management.

[371:09.79] So I would say because of that support, we've been able to just absorb that knowledge and

[371:15.57] our operations have not stumbled one bit.

[371:18.92] Okay.

[371:19.92] That's good to hear.

[371:20.92] The Council had a resolution directing DOA to play nice and helping.

[371:23.88] It sounds like the administration has taken that.

[371:25.84] Yeah, they don't really have a choice.

[371:27.84] It sounds like it could have been, not that I would have expected it out of this administration.

[371:34.28] Somebody could have said, "Well, we didn't want it, so we're not going to play."

[371:36.64] But it sounds like it was a team effort, so I appreciate that.

[371:39.32] Thank you.

[371:40.79] I'd like to say that's a testament to our leadership and Director Reed and trusting

[371:45.03] us and putting the right people in the right positions to make sure all things are taken

[371:48.99] care of.

[371:49.99] So more to come.

[371:50.99] Thank you.

[371:51.99] Thank you so much.

[371:52.99] That concludes Department of Compliance and Engagement.

[371:54.99] Have a wonderful day.

[371:56.41] We're now on to our last department of today, Department of Community Wellness and Safety.

[372:05.49] Community Wellness and Safety.

[372:07.05] Come on up.

[372:10.95] Okay.

[372:14.00] All right.

[372:21.27] Yeah, this is our last one.

[372:22.27] I'm just getting everybody situated.

[372:29.43] Okay.

[372:31.11] Remember our flow, we go to the director, then Sarah, and then we'll come to the director

[372:36.41] of the department.

[372:37.41] So that's how we go.

[372:38.50] Budget director, Sarah, and then we'll -- I know there's, like, various directors.

[372:41.70] And then we'll go to you.

[372:42.70] I would ask you to just be as brief as possible so that we can maximize questions because

[372:46.98] we're getting a little late in the day.

[372:48.27] So let me go ahead to director Kovac, then I'll be Sarah, and then I'll be Karen here.

[372:52.54] So director Kovac.

[372:53.54] Do we have a quorum?

[372:54.54] I have Malay Lay's online.

[372:55.88] Oh, okay.

[372:56.88] Oh, she's online.

[372:57.88] Good afternoon.

[372:58.88] We're constantly looking at that.

[372:59.88] Madam Chair and committee members.

[373:01.52] I didn't think I'd have to mention the game time today, but it is 7 p.m.

[373:06.48] If you want to chart your flight ready to go to L.A., you might have to leave now,

[373:10.82] but if you're just planning on watching TV, I think we have three hours.

[373:14.52] I'm Nick Kovac, the director of the budget management division, Go Brewers and Go DCWS.

[373:21.20] They're here, our last item of the day, and Sarah Osborn will present their budget slides

[373:24.52] before turning it over to director Taylor.

[373:26.32] Thank you, director, and good afternoon, Sarah.

[373:28.88] All right.

[373:29.88] Good afternoon.

[373:31.39] Members of the finance and personnel committee and Madam Chair here to present the proposed

[373:35.47] 2027 budget for the Department of Community Wellness and Safety.

[373:39.65] I'm Sarah Osborn.

[373:43.09] So overall, a pretty significant increase in the department budget from the 26 adopted

[373:49.01] to 27 proposed.

[373:51.17] This is pretty much exclusively due to expiring grants.

[373:53.99] The department has been predominantly funded by ARPA and also supported by the recast

[373:58.69] grant, both of which are ending this year.

[374:03.35] On salaries and positions, so there's a decrease in one FTE as well as some shifting or proposed

[374:11.76] repurposing of some existing positions and retitling, especially some of the recast positions

[374:16.84] are proposed to be retitled to reflect the end of that grant, but also, of course, a

[374:23.52] lot of shift onto the levy, again, predominantly from the -- those were recast supported positions

[374:29.60] previously.

[374:32.17] On operating and equipment, here's where the majority of increases, so this, the 26 adopted

[374:37.53] budget was represented, really their division level budget when they were still in DOA,

[374:45.99] 27, both here trying to right size to reflect their expenses as a department and absorbing

[374:51.23] a lot of costs, again, from grant expiration and just outlining some of what's supported

[374:56.91] or planned to be supported with this budget.

[374:59.03] So there's the alert neighbour program, direct beneficiary program, which provides emergency

[375:03.75] alert relocation services, life coaching, safe futures youth initiative, crisis response

[375:10.95] and emergency mobilization or adapt and react, faith leaders initiative, survivor support

[375:16.31] services, healing hubs as well as training and wellness support, community violence

[375:21.27] intervention.

[375:23.71] Special funds and purpose accounts, again, here we see a really significant increase

[375:27.11] so that violence interruption, again, was funded both through this $750,000 account,

[375:34.16] that's kind of a -- that's been an account for several years but also had been supported

[375:37.96] with ARPA, so this is an increase here to represent the, again, expiration of ARPA,

[375:44.64] hoping to maintain the street outreach services, otherwise there's a slight decrease here

[375:52.25] on the task force for domestic violence and sexual assault.

[375:55.73] This decrease represents plans to absorb more of the administrative costs that have sometimes

[375:59.87] been covered by that task force through that department-wide operating budget rather than

[376:05.44] -- so that the funds for this task force in particular would be more specifically strategic

[376:11.33] for domestic violence and sexual assault organizations.

[376:17.84] So a budget by service here, the biggest piece of the department is for violence interruption

[376:22.82] and the next one, so management and administration, just a -- that covers a lot of the staff

[376:29.34] or that calculation includes a lot of the staff that work across a lot of different

[376:32.82] programs and a lot of different efforts, so it's not really exclusively just for management

[376:37.18] and administration, it's kind of more like miscellaneous, and they do also have some

[376:43.49] grant and settlement dollars that are going to be supporting them next year.

[376:47.33] So part of the plan for the opioid settlement funds that the council approved includes

[376:54.77] a pass-through from the health department to support the credible clinicians program

[376:58.61] which had been previously funded through recast, and they have an ongoing department -- or

[377:05.14] an ongoing grant through -- as a pass-through from employee Milwaukee to support workforce

[377:11.34] engagement for justice-involved youth.

[377:16.25] And with that, I will hand the presentation over to Karen.

[377:20.23] Okay.

[377:21.23] Good afternoon.

[377:22.23] Thank you for being patient to you and your team.

[377:25.63] If there's someone at some point that you want to acknowledge otherwise, feel free to

[377:29.43] call your team up to respond to our questions.

[377:31.59] Sure.

[377:32.59] Okay.

[377:33.59] And the floor is yours.

[377:34.59] Thank you.

[377:35.59] So thank you, committee chair and committee members and other council members, seen and

[377:39.35] unseen.

[377:40.35] We have a couple virtual too, yeah.

[377:41.35] Sure.

[377:42.35] Okay.

[377:43.35] My name is Karen Tyler.

[377:44.35] I'm the director of the department of community wellness and safety, and I will start with

[377:48.83] our service and operational changes.

[377:52.15] So the first one is a mobilization campaign that we are currently conducting that is our

[377:59.27] fall and fourth quarter prevention strategy.

[378:03.15] It is called -- this is our city, the countdown, and we will go more into that.

[378:08.43] But it's basically we've identified clusters throughout Milwaukee that are identified by

[378:13.99] part one crime, and we're mobilizing in these areas.

[378:17.67] We're bringing the full strength of the city with other city departments, other community

[378:21.75] organizations, clinicians, out into communities that need it the most.

[378:29.23] We're also working to sustain and expand our credible clinician model.

[378:34.39] So we're doing that through the opioid settlement funds as well as there is a line item for

[378:40.15] specific other services with that.

[378:42.67] It is very important in regards to mental health services that also impact violence.

[378:51.03] Then we're also developing our Milwaukee citywide community safety and violence prevention

[378:56.71] strategy.

[378:57.71] We're working with a national partner, and that will be underway very soon.

[379:03.03] We're strengthening our departmental infrastructure.

[379:06.95] So we're looking at impact.

[379:08.55] We're analyzing a lot of different things.

[379:11.71] We do have a new deputy director that is looking at our operations, and we'll talk

[379:18.99] more about that, and he'll introduce himself soon.

[379:22.07] And then we're improving operational systems for performance, efficiency, and accountability.

[379:26.79] So I kind of just said that, but that is within our infrastructure.

[379:30.89] So again, it's very important that we just don't do things and continue different initiatives

[379:36.05] if there is a significant impact.

[379:37.79] So we're looking at what's needed.

[379:40.23] We're also looking at our referral counts, who's referring items to us, as well as our

[379:46.31] different outcomes.

[379:48.19] So the next one is our core services.

[379:51.37] So we're really fine-tuning pillars, if you will, within our department.

[379:57.67] So violence prevention and intervention is our main pillar.

[380:01.65] Then we also have crisis response and community stabilization.

[380:05.51] So we do that through community responses to violence.

[380:10.65] We may have different large-scale masses of people that may come together that could

[380:18.73] possibly elevate violence.

[380:20.61] So we have to mobilize teams and get people out there, sometimes even bringing out clinicians

[380:26.25] and other community orgs for that.

[380:29.74] Youth prevention and opportunity.

[380:31.56] So we just don't want to prevent youth violence, but we also want to give them opportunity.

[380:37.92] So we were out in the community the other day.

[380:41.52] Some young people were identified to us as some of the main players for some of the

[380:45.48] violence in that area.

[380:47.63] They weren't that engaging with us until we talked about opportunities that we could

[380:51.63] offer.

[380:52.63] And then they were very interested in connecting with us and seeing what we could offer them

[380:57.51] through job opportunities and different things like that.

[381:02.23] Survivor safety and support, that is an item in regards to domestic violence, sexual assault,

[381:08.67] rape, some of those numbers are concerning currently.

[381:13.07] So like one thing we identified this year was there was an elevated number in the Washington

[381:18.95] Park area.

[381:19.95] So we mobilized in that area.

[381:21.67] We brought CVI teams.

[381:23.11] We engaged our Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and the MPD to even talk

[381:30.31] about there was a perpetrator at large out there to give the community information and

[381:35.35] also to look at safety techniques and education for the community.

[381:41.95] The healing and wellness.

[381:43.39] So we do that in a number of different ways through education, again through our clinicians

[381:49.95] as well as our credible healers.

[381:51.71] So we know that sometimes we'll get referrals from the Milwaukee Police Department in regards

[381:57.31] to families that have been devastated by violent incidents.

[382:02.11] So we definitely engage with those families and bring them support.

[382:05.51] So we may offer free clinical sessions to those individuals and then we make sure that

[382:13.11] they're engaged in ongoing care.

[382:15.97] In the neighborhood safety and mobilization, a lot of people probably see Quinn Taylor

[382:21.29] who is in the audience.

[382:22.77] He's one of our champions who does a lot of work in the community with community engagement.

[382:28.37] He really supports a lot of different events even through council members as well as the

[382:35.09] alert neighbor program and other opportunities to stabilize communities, bring resources

[382:42.33] to neighbors and also elevate black clubs to make them stronger.

[382:49.41] So there's ongoing things that happen even when we're not there.

[382:53.21] And then community engagement and prevention education.

[382:56.21] So we do that through historically we've done things like stop the bleed training,

[383:01.73] things that can sustain life because we look at the community as first responders also

[383:10.00] other than just police, fire department and our CVI teams.

[383:13.98] They may not make it there in time.

[383:15.62] So trainings like that as well as jobs, engagement or supports or opportunities should I say

[383:24.94] and just other things, mental health first aid, several different education opportunities

[383:31.83] and then strategy partnerships and system coordination.

[383:35.69] We do that through our CVI ecosystem and I'm sorry, CVI stands for community violence

[383:40.41] intervention ecosystem as well as mental health groups, again our Commission on Domestic

[383:47.13] Violence and Sexual Assault and other systems that we coordinate and bring together to

[383:53.57] work on violence prevention.

[383:55.93] I will pass it to Julian Pfeifer if you could introduce yourself and go through this slide

[384:01.77] really quick.

[384:02.77] Good afternoon.

[384:03.77] I'm Julian Pfeifer, Program Manager at DCWS.

[384:06.09] DCWS has reached out to more than 600 families who have been impacted by violence and offer

[384:11.93] to connect those folks to services, 150 of which get closer to the mic or one of them.

[384:18.83] Yes.

[384:19.83] Thank you.

[384:20.99] All right.

[384:21.99] 150 of which accepted those offers to be connected with services.

[384:25.51] 22 families have been relocated, people who have faced an imminent threat of retaliation

[384:32.59] in the wake of a violent incident.

[384:34.75] We have DCWS has relocated at least 22 families here to date.

[384:40.23] There have been 250 households reached as part of the alert neighbor program and the

[384:47.20] black clubs that have been established with that.

[384:50.99] 458 combined referrals that the department has received from the Milwaukee Police Department.

[384:58.51] Community referrals, the medical examiner's office, even all the manic referrals and

[385:03.43] even the sheriff's office.

[385:04.63] I know that there was some communication that may have been shared by the MPD that talked

[385:08.63] about one referral coming through.

[385:10.83] I'm not sure how they classify that or characterize that or if they call a notification or referral,

[385:16.39] but when they share notifications with us, we count that as a referral because we reach

[385:20.11] out to those families.

[385:21.95] There have been 165 mediations that have happened amongst our street outreach teams,

[385:28.59] our critical response team, people like 414 life, our promise keeper teams, 225,000 mental

[385:37.55] health and prevention, awareness messaging, impressions that have gone out and there have

[385:43.63] been a combined 224 neighborhood cleanups, popups, community responses to violence where

[385:51.67] residents have been engaged and at least approximately 1300 youth engaged through our

[385:57.63] summer of healing, our safe futures initiative partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools

[386:02.15] as well as the go MKE.

[386:03.83] Thanks.

[386:05.21] Then I'll get back to it, Karen Tyler again and so briefly our KPIs and just so you're

[386:12.85] aware of this, we are reviewing our KPIs based on our evaluation and so these will probably

[386:19.41] be updated and we could definitely send the updates to council members, but right now

[386:25.05] we've identified four that we've used in the past and that is equitable reach and

[386:31.01] access, community engagements, community partnerships and effectiveness and impact.

[386:37.91] So we do have data that shows identified areas that we mobilize in and so for one example

[386:46.35] we will look at how our outreach teams are mobilized based on time in those specific

[386:51.83] identified areas.

[386:53.79] And then our one of our last slides, major updates, again, I spoke about the launch

[386:59.11] of this is our city, the countdown, it's a very successful mobilization campaign that

[387:05.67] is currently underway as well as strengthening the department leadership and administrative

[387:11.23] capacity.

[387:12.23] We have since hired our deputy director and a grant compliance coordinator to bring about

[387:21.49] stronger policies and procedures and administrative practices.

[387:27.41] And then lastly, strengthening our cross sector prevention partnership.

[387:31.27] We had a very successful collaboration, well it's actually still underway, but the strongest

[387:36.51] part of it was this summer with the summer safe site initiative and that was a collaboration

[387:42.13] between Milwaukee County, Milwaukee Public School Systems, Children's Hospital, the

[387:50.97] Medical College of Wisconsin and a number of other organizations and we did excellent

[387:57.09] work with providing evening youth engagement opportunities.

[388:03.07] So that was something pretty significant.

[388:06.37] And so that ends, oh and I'm sorry.

[388:09.21] And then the last one just has to do with our department demographics.

[388:14.15] As you can see, I don't know what else to say about this, but I feel like our demographics

[388:21.30] really kind of reflect the communities that we serve and we focus on and we always really

[388:28.94] look at diversity.

[388:30.82] We feel that's very important within our department.

[388:33.30] Definitely.

[388:34.36] So thank you.

[388:35.92] That's a top demographic in many departments that we've seen, so good work.

[388:41.24] We appreciate that.

[388:42.24] That really means a lot.

[388:43.24] I think we never take time to say why that means so much to us.

[388:46.12] I was telling someone that the other day because you all are out there on the streets

[388:50.74] every day, but for us, you know, as well, we want people to want to be here.

[388:55.99] We want to represent a community that people want to be here.

[388:58.43] So it's very meaningful.

[389:00.35] I don't want to lose anyone else and we're, you know, investing in employees in the organization.

[389:04.82] So I'm going to do a better job explaining why that's so important to us.

[389:08.97] But I wanted to thank you for that.

[389:10.11] We're going to start with Alderwoman Charlin Moore, then Spiker, then myself, and then

[389:16.62] we have some colleagues on the board as well.

[389:19.84] So Alderwoman Charlin Moore.

[389:21.48] Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

[389:24.10] Karen, again, welcome to you as well as the team.

[389:30.55] Again, I'm going to ask you some of the same questions that I asked other new department

[389:35.41] heads.

[389:36.77] This is your new in the role of the department head as director.

[389:42.25] Talk to us a little bit about what has been some challenges, what has been some things

[389:47.41] that have gone well just within your role so far.

[389:51.59] Good question.

[389:52.59] Thank you for that, Alderwoman Moore.

[389:55.33] So I would I would definitely say the challenges are getting fully staffed.

[390:01.89] That process can take months.

[390:04.93] And so we definitely we look to definitely and then with the with the work day challenges

[390:12.83] right now, there are some delays, but that's definitely a challenge.

[390:17.55] Some of the great things that I feel we're seeing is that, you know, we can really look

[390:22.11] at everything, evaluate everything, really have strong impact.

[390:27.47] I think one thing about my position is even with my experience being a survivor of violence,

[390:34.48] I have a very unique perspective in this role.

[390:37.30] And I think that is very important because I could look at and honestly say what a survivor

[390:42.28] really needs the supports that are needed out there and also really thinking about like

[390:48.60] maybe even in my son's case, who was a victim of homicide, what would have really made

[390:54.00] an impact in his life?

[390:55.56] Like could somebody have connected with with the perpetrator?

[390:59.88] You know, and so that's why I really put a lot of investment in violence inter interruption,

[391:07.46] you know, because that's some key work.

[391:09.96] It's dangerous work, it's complex work, but it's it's huge.

[391:13.80] You know, so I think my perspective is key, key with this, but I think we have a strong

[391:18.84] team where you'll hear from them for sure, but they're doing some great work too.

[391:23.84] Thank you for that.

[391:26.14] When we talk about results and you provided some service, some service highlights.

[391:33.44] And thank you all so much for providing that information.

[391:37.12] What other KPIs can you all include aside?

[391:41.28] Because there's other partners that you all, you know, partner with to to do particular

[391:46.60] things, the walks and, you know, different events and things of that nature.

[391:50.88] And a lot of times the numbers are collected, we service X number of people or X number

[391:56.12] of people attended this event.

[391:59.19] What to look at how the violence is moving, the number is reducing the reduction in it.

[392:07.23] What other KPIs are you all looking at aside from the anecdotal number of people served?

[392:14.54] Sure.

[392:15.54] So one thing we want to do is fully go through our strategic plan with our National Office

[392:20.90] of Violence Prevention, because they're also going to be able to give us best practices

[392:26.18] and information from other cities.

[392:28.94] So I think that's going to be a strong way to move forward with our KPIs.

[392:32.94] We are looking again at impact, so like within some of those KPIs, there are measurements

[392:38.30] in regards to the success of mediations, ongoing care.

[392:43.10] We also want to get more into evaluation, which our deputy director will talk more

[392:48.14] about.

[392:49.14] We're going to implement some evaluation tools so we can just look at ongoing impact in

[392:56.22] our work, not just blanket data, but we just want to look at the ongoing work.

[393:00.93] And we actually, you know, I know Otterin Spiker kind of talks about that, like go

[393:06.01] beyond just that, or the quantitative data, but the qualitative and the impact.

[393:13.37] So I think that is very important for us to look at.

[393:16.29] So the more we can evaluate, the better.

[393:18.37] We're also connecting with other academic partners like the Medical College of Wisconsin,

[393:23.61] like Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin.

[393:27.45] A lot of people are very intrigued in that work.

[393:30.65] And so the more we can include them in this for them to study some of our work, we'll

[393:36.81] have stronger evaluation.

[393:38.57] And if I could also add, you mentioned the walks, Otterwoman.

[393:41.53] So we've engaged in the four walks that we've done so far.

[393:45.25] We've engaged at least 200 residents in those walks.

[393:50.14] There have been at least 50 safety concerns, addresses of note that have been reported

[393:54.66] to either DPW or DNS for follow-up, conditions of housing, maybe some of those other things

[394:01.28] that are going on in the community.

[394:02.78] There have been at least three overdose, I don't know what they call those kits that

[394:07.58] have been set up and established with businesses.

[394:09.62] I don't have on here the metric for the number of partnerships with some of the other city

[394:14.94] agencies and community partners.

[394:16.70] I should have that there.

[394:17.78] So those are some of the additional KPIs that we could look at in terms of what we're

[394:21.66] doing.

[394:22.66] So you mentioned, for example, on those walks, there was about 50 incidents that, hey, this

[394:31.30] needs to be done.

[394:32.90] What is follow-up like, though?

[394:34.90] So yep, you can go on those walks and residents can say, hey, this is wrong, this is wrong,

[394:38.78] this is wrong.

[394:39.78] What does follow-up look like to make sure that when residents are sharing, hey, there's

[394:44.90] this abandoned house or we're having issues with drug addiction, whatever, whatever the

[394:53.42] issues are, what does that follow-up look like to make sure that we're doing something,

[395:00.36] somebody says something to us and then we're following up to make sure that we're getting

[395:04.20] it done?

[395:05.20] I'll give you an example.

[395:06.20] Those are residents on 11th and Atkinson, I think the address is 37.

[395:10.60] Don't say it.

[395:11.60] I'm sorry.

[395:12.60] Don't say the address.

[395:13.60] It was a problematic, I don't know what I'm thinking, a problematic address in which one

[395:18.06] of the residents came and shared her concerns about 15 or 20 young people who were showing

[395:25.71] up at the house.

[395:26.71] She didn't think the folks lived there and she wasn't sure who officially lived there.

[395:32.38] What I was able to do, she came over to us and she shared her concern about things happening

[395:36.06] there.

[395:37.06] She talked about gunfire going there and a lot of kids just running in, young people

[395:39.62] running in and out of there.

[395:41.80] I was able to follow-up with DNS and found out that it was a house that had been noted

[395:46.00] as a problematic location.

[395:47.48] I think a nuisance letter had went out.

[395:49.40] I was able to follow-up with that resident, a long-time resident of the neighborhood

[395:55.29] and find out what was going on with it and she was satisfied with the status of it and

[395:59.59] she was provided with some information that she could follow-up on.

[396:03.33] That's the purpose of those walks and we were pretty pleased to see those type of

[396:06.83] things happening.

[396:08.09] That's the type of follow-up that has occurred.

[396:10.37] Thank you for so much for the example.

[396:12.93] What is that sort of process?

[396:14.81] Is there a staff person?

[396:17.01] Does it go to you?

[396:19.01] Does it go to Quinn?

[396:20.61] What does that follow-up look like just as far as just a strategy on, "Oh, this is our

[396:25.49] process."

[396:26.46] It's been a combination.

[396:27.52] Yeah, it's a combination of those things.

[396:29.68] We also take out the city departments that are responsible for addressing those concerns.

[396:34.64] At each of our walks, we have representation from Department of Neighborhood Services,

[396:39.16] Department of Public Works, as well as the Health Department as it relates to substance

[396:43.44] misuse in communities.

[396:45.64] The departments that are responsible for addressing those, they're on-site in real-time,

[396:50.40] putting in the work requests for those concerns.

[396:54.04] We also send out follow-up emails that comes from our executive leadership in the department.

[396:58.88] Excellent.

[396:59.88] Getting your name and title for the record.

[397:01.20] Yeah, Yasmin Morton, Interim Operations Manager.

[397:03.84] Okay.

[397:04.84] We've got to get that for the record.

[397:05.84] Thank you.

[397:06.84] Go ahead.

[397:07.84] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[397:08.84] You mentioned the partnerships as far as medical college, I think you said Marquette.

[397:12.32] I've spoken with Dr. Kostalak on many different occasions, and I've always asked, "Hey, are

[397:19.05] you all working with the department and you all haven't been?"

[397:26.45] Can you talk a little bit about what does that partnership, is it a future partnership?

[397:32.33] What is the relationship as far as that work with the department?

[397:37.69] I'm sorry, you said, "Haven't been?"

[397:40.32] Yeah.

[397:41.56] Just for clarity.

[397:42.56] It was shared.

[397:43.56] Yes.

[397:44.56] Excuse me.

[397:45.56] It hasn't been a meaningful relationship with the department.

[397:49.36] So I personally meet with that collaboration once a month.

[397:54.24] I'm also a part of their trauma response center.

[397:58.28] I think it's trauma response center.

[398:00.30] So I meet with them, the medical college, in that regard too.

[398:05.88] So I'm on that board.

[398:06.88] I'm on that board, but I think it's a steering committee.

[398:09.72] Okay.

[398:10.72] But yeah, and then we definitely have our team that's part of the VR fast convening.

[398:15.12] So there's a number of touch points with the medical college of Wisconsin.

[398:18.40] So that's interesting.

[398:19.40] Well, it wasn't necessarily the full medical college because I know Dr. Kostalak does

[398:24.72] some just specific data driven things.

[398:30.57] And so I think this probably moves me into my next question as far as you've mentioned,

[398:36.55] the violence prevention, the national violence prevention partners, and that was a little

[398:44.42] bit new for me.

[398:45.46] Can you talk a little bit about who is it who locally is involved with the national

[398:51.34] violence prevention?

[398:53.57] So the national office of violence prevention network.

[398:58.79] So what they do is they help several cities across the nation establish strategic plans.

[399:07.01] So and they've been very successful.

[399:08.75] So they actually assisted with the Baltimore strategic plan and that's a very comparable

[399:14.79] city with historic lows in regards to homicides and non fatal shootings.

[399:20.61] So we definitely want to follow that same model for sure.

[399:25.13] So they're, they're very helpful.

[399:27.03] They do.

[399:28.03] We had a regional convening with them as well as a national one.

[399:32.65] So we get a lot of great information.

[399:34.81] They were really, they assisted us with looking at the cost of violence in Milwaukee too.

[399:43.79] So we know that the cost of violence when you look at a homicide, it's, it's two million

[399:49.75] approximately $2 million.

[399:52.07] And then a non fatal shooting is, is approximately 600,000.

[399:57.43] So just even looking at that compared to how much we spend on prevention is significant,

[400:03.95] you know?

[400:04.94] So I agree.

[400:06.13] I agree.

[400:07.13] I'ma ask a few more question and then pass it on to my colleagues.

[400:12.01] There was a significant amount of money that is put back on the levy there.

[400:18.21] You all had recast for, I want to say five years.

[400:21.65] The recraft recast grant was for, there were, there were some other grant opportunities

[400:28.55] and we can dive into that a little bit later.

[400:31.29] There were some other grant opportunities that were over a period of years that folks

[400:38.57] knew that were coming to an end.

[400:40.41] And they're currently, most of those grant opportunities are run out.

[400:46.91] You know, knowing that, why wasn't there better preparation for just funding opportunity

[400:54.00] versus so much?

[400:55.99] You know, this is the most that the, or the, just the division have been put on the levy

[401:02.19] even when it was taken off for ARPA.

[401:06.81] This is a significant amount.

[401:08.47] Why is it that like there are none, they're like nothing.

[401:12.85] It's like we ran it all out and it's just like, yep, we're just gonna just put everything

[401:16.21] on on the levy.

[401:18.87] And I appreciate that the, the mayor is making violence prevention a priority, which he should,

[401:24.37] but to see that the department has had, have no sort of grant opportunity prepared for

[401:32.36] 2026 is, is a little, is a little concerning.

[401:36.60] Can you talk a little bit about that?

[401:38.32] For sure.

[401:39.32] And I am, I appreciate your perspective.

[401:41.98] So the thing about that is this is a national issue.

[401:45.65] This is a national dis, disinvestment in violence prevention.

[401:49.11] This isn't just a local issue, a lot of cities are dealing with this same dynamic which makes

[401:56.91] any available grants very competitive, competitive, highly competitive.

[402:02.13] So it's very difficult.

[402:03.59] So we have attempted to go after a few grants, some we haven't heard from yet, but again,

[402:11.47] it's a very highly competitive grant process right now that we're experiencing as well

[402:17.33] as the funding just isn't there for violence prevention at the level it was before.

[402:23.73] So.

[402:26.93] Understandable.

[402:27.93] And so there are, so there were no opportunities for grant options at all?

[402:34.67] No, we did go for some grants.

[402:38.03] So some we're waiting to hear from, but even like that's one thing in my convening with

[402:42.91] the medical college, they even stated that themselves, that it's very difficult even

[402:47.59] on their end to, I mean, they're applying for grants and they're not getting them either.

[402:53.39] So I think it's beyond our department too, like even other organizations and system partners

[403:00.31] are going through those same challenges right now.

[403:02.59] So it's very difficult.

[403:04.15] What's on, and you can probably talk a little bit to this, Sarah, what's on tap right now

[403:10.81] as far as what's applied for?

[403:12.95] Well actually I don't work on the grant application, so that would be a question for Karen.

[403:17.47] What's already applied for?

[403:19.83] So I, and I may not, so I know, I believe it was three Department of Justice grants.

[403:29.43] We could.

[403:31.29] We can also certainly follow up with that list.

[403:34.69] Or we could.

[403:35.65] Good afternoon Council members, Vanessa Casas Gonzalez.

[403:41.16] I am the healing and wellness program coordinator.

[403:44.55] We did apply to three DOJ grants and then one SAMHSA grant.

[403:49.47] And then that was also a highly competitive grant.

[403:52.86] And I can, we can also follow up with that list as well.

[403:54.98] Yeah, that would be great if you all can just provide us with just a list of grant

[403:59.70] options, like how much there for and if there's a term, one year, two years, three years,

[404:04.74] etc.

[404:05.74] Yes, and we absolutely know that those grant opportunities are very competitive.

[404:09.56] So that would definitely be a data request for us.

[404:12.82] Thank you.

[404:13.82] Now, before I pass it on, I will ask.

[404:20.34] So I saw that you all have launched.

[404:22.84] You mentioned in your service highlights or about the this is our city cool shirts,

[404:31.07] by the way, this is our city launch.

[404:35.68] And so that was launched in the fourth quarter when violence had already come down.

[404:41.28] Why did you all choose to, you know, do that launch in the fourth fourth quarter versus

[404:46.73] doing something over the summer or in the second or in the third or second quarter,

[404:51.89] I should say.

[404:52.89] Why did you?

[404:53.89] Why was the choice to do that in the fourth quarter?

[404:56.29] Well, we were happy to participate in the safe summers initiative, which has shown

[405:01.79] great results.

[405:02.79] Yeah, it did.

[405:03.79] It was amazing.

[405:04.79] And so we were looking to build on the success, the progress we've seen in violence reduction

[405:11.13] citywide, 22 percent decrease in homicides, 23 percent decline in non fatal shooting.

[405:19.05] So it was a fall and fourth quarter prevention strategy devised with the intention of building

[405:26.25] on that success.

[405:27.69] Interesting.

[405:29.20] All right.

[405:30.26] Thank you.

[405:31.23] Okay.

[405:32.23] All right.

[405:33.22] Alderman Scott Spiker.

[405:34.67] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[405:35.67] And I apologize.

[405:36.57] I took a little break there, so I missed the budget presentation part.

[405:39.89] But how much, so with the expiring of the recast grant and no new ARPA expenditures

[405:45.13] obviously in 2017, you have to expend everything by the end of '26 and as mentioned earlier

[405:49.21] what we did, how much additional is on the levy this year for the department?

[405:55.82] So within the department operating budget, we're looking at an over 100 percent increase,

[406:00.83] which is a lot.

[406:02.07] And then separately is the special purpose accounts.

[406:05.19] So there there's also that $1 million increase to represent ARPA expiration, basically.

[406:09.63] Yeah.

[406:10.63] So the $1 million increase in that special purpose account for the violence interruption

[406:15.61] and then $1.4 million additional for salaries and such?

[406:20.19] I mean, most of that is in operating, which is also ARPA and recast expiration.

[406:26.03] Oh, yeah.

[406:27.03] I see.

[406:28.03] So there is salary increase.

[406:29.03] There were 3.15 positions still being supported by recast.

[406:33.30] So those are shifting on to the levy.

[406:34.90] Okay.

[406:35.90] But yeah, the biggest increase here is in operating.

[406:38.22] Operating expenditures doesn't include the SPA.

[406:40.61] Yes.

[406:42.32] So yes, this is the summary of the department operating budget and then SPAs are a separate

[406:46.92] budget and are different from special funds.

[406:49.92] Yeah.

[406:50.92] Okay.

[406:52.27] So there's, but roughly $2.4 million is coming off the levy that formerly was funded in

[406:57.58] other ways.

[406:58.58] Okay.

[406:59.58] Nice.

[407:00.58] Moving on to the levy.

[407:01.58] Yeah.

[407:02.58] Moving on to the levy.

[407:03.58] Okay.

[407:04.58] So that's a lot of money.

[407:05.58] And that was a question I had asked the administration is like, what are you going to do?

[407:08.14] This money's going to run out or are you going to double?

[407:10.06] And there was sort of a KPI that I guess I remember mentioned at the time, which is

[407:17.30] and either you will, Director Taylor or Director Kovac will be able to tell me the, basically

[407:28.84] the number of folks you're putting out in the community.

[407:33.01] What was that number?

[407:34.01] I think 60.

[407:35.42] You mean the total number of interruptors or critical response?

[407:38.86] Yeah.

[407:39.86] So 2.75 represents about 60 people.

[407:43.14] 60 people.

[407:44.14] Okay.

[407:45.10] So that number was preserved.

[407:49.50] So that commitment to violence interruption was preserved.

[407:52.82] So 1.4, 2.4 million additional on the levy.

[407:58.42] That's a big, a big addition.

[408:02.31] So one of the things we discussed, I guess during confirmation, which was, what was that

[408:06.35] back in April or something like that was KPIs.

[408:11.55] And I know you said back then, and you're saying now that we're working on getting ones

[408:16.95] that don't just reflect activity, but impact, I get that's a tough thing to do.

[408:23.47] Police department was in here the other day and saying, you know, the drop in part one

[408:26.83] crime, hey, we're, we're, we have a role here.

[408:29.72] Maybe they do.

[408:30.72] Maybe they don't.

[408:31.80] So that's kind of a hard thing to hit your way into because what would be more, and I

[408:40.31] really do think you probably would have to work with, with some academic institutions

[408:45.26] probably on this is to figure out where you're, if you're clustering the activities in a

[408:52.18] certain area and you're seeing a difference in that area from what would be predicted

[408:57.53] by various models, otherwise in terms of violence than that, it's still correlation,

[409:02.41] but it would give more comfort to one that there's actually an impact.

[409:07.80] And, you know, always bug you for impact, but especially at a point where your budget

[409:13.44] on the levy is going up 2.4 million, that's a time that cries out for like, okay, we're

[409:18.44] going to evaluate what we're doing here and make sure that, that we can justify that

[409:23.10] kind of increase.

[409:26.35] So I guess I would strongly encourage you to, to really work on those KPIs.

[409:33.12] I don't think you're the only department that needs strong KPIs.

[409:37.30] That's a universal problem and the police applies to them as well.

[409:44.00] So that's, that's a suggestion.

[409:46.61] As far as, I have a question in here, oh yeah, didn't we talk about bringing on board

[410:00.42] an epidemiologist and I thought we did do what happened there and what are, I know

[410:07.58] the cure violence thing, OVP initially came up in the health department.

[410:14.59] So epidemiologists you normally think of as in the health department.

[410:18.57] So what happened with the attempt to get an epidemiologist and is that being requested

[410:24.46] in the future and why not just borrow some help from the health department?

[410:27.30] Yeah, that's exactly what we're doing.

[410:29.98] So we definitely can still utilize epidemiologists, the epidemiologists at the Department of

[410:38.54] Administration.

[410:39.54] I've talked to the director there so she's very committed to that and we've also been

[410:44.42] working very closely with the health department and we can use that team over there as well.

[410:50.50] And then we have, two of us actually come from the health department myself and the

[410:55.10] deputy director and then two of our staff are actually, their education background is

[411:02.70] in public health.

[411:04.40] So for sure but we did request to get an epidemiologist that did not go through but

[411:12.86] we're also still looking at our organization chart because I think it's very important

[411:19.82] but we do have a position, what's the position title, I'm sorry, policy, research and policy

[411:31.20] and so our manager Julian Pfeiffer, he does a lot of that great work, his background is

[411:36.84] in public health.

[411:38.52] So we're definitely looking at, when we look at impact we're looking at positions too

[411:42.76] like how do we need to be strategic within our positions versus what we've always done

[411:49.78] so that's still something that we're considering for the future.

[411:54.03] Okay and then one other thing, the alert neighbor program, has that been, so it used to be Patricia

[412:06.99] Ruiz Cantu worked on that in DOA, is that something that you have a specific staff

[412:13.93] member devoted to or is that a distributed?

[412:16.90] Hello.

[412:17.90] Quinn Taylor, a community program outreach coordinator with DCWS, also oversee the alert

[412:28.79] neighbor program, currently we have a coordinator Jermaine Stevens who's behind me, we also

[412:36.67] have a position for a south side coordinator that we still need to fill, Vanessa who's

[412:43.33] now with us primarily was previously operating in that capacity, okay, 2026 is the first

[412:51.92] year that DCWS has relaunched the alert neighbor program, currently we have 18 applications

[412:59.54] that has been submitted, 17 of those are new applicants meaning new established block

[413:06.79] clubs that has not participated in the alert neighbor program as of yet, we've done two

[413:12.15] distributions as of date and we have multiple distributions that is currently scheduled

[413:18.32] for 2026.

[413:19.72] Okay, and refresh my memory on the funding source when we talk about cameras and things

[413:26.25] like that and has there been any coordination, so the city council primarily led by alder

[413:32.11] chambers but I also had a role there, set aside fund for the good neighbor program,

[413:37.99] run through safe and sound, has there been any attempt to kind of take a group that

[413:41.90] wants to leverage help for the alert neighbor program and kind of say hey, look over here,

[413:48.19] there's additional funding and maybe we could coordinate and amplify what kind of impact

[413:53.88] we can have on your block group.

[413:55.83] Yeah, absolutely, thank you for that question also, on the new flyer that we created with

[414:01.51] the alert neighbor program there's a QR code that directs block captains to safe and sound

[414:09.06] website, the good neighbor grant is one of the main components that I've used to support

[414:17.09] neighborhood block clubs and kind of get them more interested in the alert neighbor

[414:20.33] program.

[414:22.13] Safe and sound has a residential leadership training, any new block captains we encourage

[414:29.00] them to participate in that as well, so safe and sound has been a strong partner with

[414:35.59] the alert neighbor program.

[414:36.59] Yeah, it's great to hear you're already coordinating that, so thank you, that's it for now.

[414:41.03] Okay, thanks, great.

[414:44.00] On the alert neighbor, oh, quit hanging, that's a great program and I think it's so much

[414:54.42] more important than just that one contact and handout.

[414:57.38] When you're saying the, or handout sounds weird, but the distribution, I know I'm sorry,

[415:04.93] but do we still have funding for those cameras then?

[415:08.36] Those ring cameras?

[415:09.49] Yeah, we do, if I can pass that over to Yasmin to speak on.

[415:12.63] Okay, yeah, so currently we have about 46,000 left for that and so we already have identified

[415:21.19] what those purchases will be, which will be made in the coming weeks.

[415:25.71] You know, I have a question on that, okay, I didn't realize we had so many, that's great.

[415:28.41] Maybe this is for budget at a different time than this is a short answer.

[415:33.17] The Milwaukee Police Department has so many grants, such large grants, in fact, it looks

[415:38.13] like they're, to my understanding, even increasing their drone purchases, I've inquired to Heather

[415:44.79] about this.

[415:46.94] The amount of purchases that they are making, we had the RV, many of these I've actually

[415:52.82] voted against, but I'm just saying, there's been a lot of purchases of items and drones.

[416:01.22] Obviously we're in a larger discussion about surveillance and those types of cameras.

[416:07.13] Is there any ability that the large amount of grants that they get, could the office,

[416:12.81] the department apply for those?

[416:13.81] Are there going to be a relationship there?

[416:15.63] Because I would much rather use some of that to help out what the Department of Community

[416:21.68] Wellness here is working on.

[416:24.25] My guess is it would depend on the grant, but we could certainly ask, and I know there's

[416:28.13] a good working relationship between DCWS and MPD over cases and coordination.

[416:33.09] I don't know if they've worked together on grants before, but we could.

[416:36.65] I just think what the, like I'm talking about specifically on the purchasing of like stuff.

[416:42.17] Clearly it's not a shock to anyone.

[416:43.71] I'm opposed to some of their recent purchasing and the mass surveillance too.

[416:49.90] But I always, I like to say, if you're going to say no to something, what can you say

[416:52.94] yes to?

[416:53.94] And I think it just seems like there's a lot of money.

[416:56.72] And I've uncovered with Gunner from LRB, the grants and they have the grants.

[417:02.04] They have them for years.

[417:03.24] And then you all are competing so heavily for these national grants.

[417:07.47] There's got to be something else that we can do and meet halfway.

[417:10.63] So I'd like to be part of that.

[417:13.56] Even something like the alert neighbor, like I was saying, it's more than that transaction.

[417:18.11] Because then that's what I love about it is that's just the beginning of the relationship.

[417:21.79] We stay in touch, actually require multiple check ins and check backs and whatnot.

[417:28.03] And I've seen it.

[417:29.03] It can really change blocks and neighborhoods.

[417:31.95] So I wanted to bring that up.

[417:34.34] When moving on, when recast, recast is set to run out this year, the, or did it already

[417:40.51] run out?

[417:41.51] It's like this year, right?

[417:42.51] Yeah.

[417:43.51] At the end of September.

[417:44.51] Okay.

[417:45.51] I thought I had it September of 2026.

[417:46.47] So then how will the continuation of youth contacts remain?

[417:50.93] Like how are we going to replace that important service?

[417:54.43] So right now we do have a line item called safe futures initiative.

[418:00.71] So initially that was just for our work in NPS, but now we're going to expand it.

[418:08.83] But one thing we're going to do is do more focused work with youth, kind of focusing

[418:14.75] in on youth that have a prevalence for possibly violence, either victimization or, or a perpetration.

[418:24.87] So we're going to do that.

[418:26.61] But then we're also, we're still doing ongoing work with Milwaukee County and that whole

[418:32.03] collaborative because we do still have some resources for the safe sites initiative.

[418:39.47] But then we also do other work with youth in regards to even like with our clinical

[418:45.15] work and different touch points, or even like with our violence interruption, because

[418:49.23] we even have youth with credible experience that do this work.

[418:53.89] So we engage them.

[418:56.11] One of the great stories I was really thinking about is we had somebody, a youth that was

[419:02.03] connected with one of our violence interrupters.

[419:04.91] They then became a youth ambassador, then they moved up to be in part of our critical

[419:11.11] response team as they became an adult.

[419:13.71] And now is our youth engagement coordinator if you could, you know, but that just shows,

[419:21.23] you know, you know, our commitment to this work and to people at high risk of violence

[419:26.31] and how they could change their whole life around.

[419:28.95] So do you correspond with the school resource officers from MPD?

[419:33.11] We do.

[419:34.11] We don't support that program either.

[419:35.39] But I just don't, I would prefer, I would honestly prefer to have, you know, your team

[419:39.94] in schools working directly with people than the armed police.

[419:43.60] But they're there for now.

[419:46.32] And I still think, is there a partnership that can happen?

[419:51.25] You know, we also saw, what was it, school connections with the fire department and they

[419:56.34] were using some of their Maury money.

[419:58.74] seems like a--

[420:00.03] (audience laughing)

[420:30.03] - So we've been moving around a lot

[420:30.87] and I want to make sure we're having those connections,

[420:34.35] because that one particularly moved on

[420:35.85] because I think it was dual funded, right?

[420:38.11] And then it moved to MHD, okay.

[420:40.44] All right, two last things, the bridge project.

[420:44.33] Are you all, that's our unrestricted cash transfer program.

[420:48.51] The applications just opened up on October 1st

[420:51.65] and the city of Milwaukee now is a two-time funder.

[420:55.68] It's guaranteed cash for pregnant mothers.

[420:59.36] People call it a lot of different things,

[421:01.24] but please are guaranteed income,

[421:04.82] which I think provides stability and prevents,

[421:07.42] it's proven database prevents violence.

[421:10.96] So it's my understanding

[421:12.52] that there's still accepting applications.

[421:14.20] I just want to make sure,

[421:15.08] and I'm willing to make any connection that's needed,

[421:18.48] that as you're out meeting people,

[421:20.20] especially pregnant mothers in need,

[421:22.16] that they're getting that direct,

[421:23.29] like that's an application you can do on site

[421:25.45] in like a minute.

[421:27.31] And even though it's limited,

[421:28.63] I wish it was much more, they do keep that list.

[421:31.31] And I wanted to make sure

[421:32.31] that we're still connecting that list

[421:33.83] with everybody as well.

[421:34.99] So, okay, good.

[421:36.67] And then last but not least,

[421:39.13] so are we still moving forward on the blueprint for peace?

[421:43.03] 'Cause I'm just wondering is that within your,

[421:45.61] 'cause you kind of reimagined your KPIs.

[421:48.09] Are you sticking with that?

[421:49.07] Have you reimagined it?

[421:50.17] Just wondering that.

[421:51.51] - Well, we're moving forward with the strategic plan

[421:54.95] through the National Office of Violence Prevention

[421:57.07] so that would kind of take that place.

[422:00.58] - Okay. - So, yes.

[422:01.70] - Yeah, I guess what I'll say about that is,

[422:04.47] I was always really drawn to that

[422:05.81] because I like that it was a positive blueprint

[422:12.07] or in roadmap.

[422:14.52] My district in particular

[422:15.76] has some of the lowest crime numbers.

[422:17.88] It has high property theft and car theft and break-ins.

[422:22.59] And peacefulness is such a personal question, right?

[422:27.44] And so it's like hard to measure.

[422:29.08] But I do think if you ask Milwaukeeans,

[422:31.02] do you feel more peaceful in your neighborhoods?

[422:32.82] Like, how are we, I think about that in my district too.

[422:36.34] And so I like that it guided it that way

[422:38.54] in a bit of metrics in what,

[422:40.30] 'cause I think your department's always been held

[422:42.18] to different sets of metrics

[422:45.43] and at times it's been unfair.

[422:48.44] And I'm really happy to see,

[422:49.92] and this actually goes to,

[422:51.62] I guess it'll be my first shout out

[422:52.88] after two weeks of shout outs.

[422:54.38] I do appreciate that the mayor is putting tax levy here

[422:58.86] because other cities just closed up shop

[423:00.56] or did different things.

[423:01.76] And this shows that it is a core function

[423:04.68] of the city of Milwaukee government

[423:07.01] to try to prevent violence and promote wellness.

[423:11.29] And I just, I think that's important.

[423:13.53] It's not what we've seen before.

[423:14.73] And we knew the ARPA funds were gonna run out at some point

[423:17.45] and this is making a long-term choice hopefully.

[423:19.97] So I know I personally appreciate that.

[423:23.21] Alderman Bergelles.

[423:24.55] - Thank you very much.

[423:26.61] I've had one incident that required

[423:34.03] where I requested help from DCWS this year

[423:39.12] for the only homicide in the 11th district.

[423:41.79] And to be frank, the communication requesting that

[423:46.12] wasn't great,

[423:47.50] confirming that someone was actually gonna come

[423:49.18] to the community meeting, didn't happen.

[423:52.31] Thankfully I was able to recognize some staff members

[423:55.10] that did show up when they did arrive,

[423:58.82] but there was no follow-up that at least my office

[424:02.74] was aware of.

[424:04.33] So speak to me a little bit about what your best practices

[424:07.47] are to ensure that the community knows you're coming.

[424:11.68] And then what are you supposed to be doing for follow-up?

[424:14.46] - Sure.

[424:15.42] So definitely I would say we've improved

[424:19.30] in our communication and forgive me

[424:23.49] for disregarding what you're saying.

[424:26.33] But I know one thing we have put in place is

[424:29.53] like if there is a homicide,

[424:31.25] we do report that information to that Alder person.

[424:35.25] And then we definitely let them know,

[424:38.45] like what our CVI teams are doing,

[424:40.59] what has taken place.

[424:42.87] If there was a mental health supports

[424:45.93] given that kind of information.

[424:48.21] So, and I know we work a lot with Alderwoman Cox,

[424:52.69] Alderman Stamper, Alderman Chambers,

[424:56.49] because they're just in our promise zone areas for sure.

[424:59.09] And they have a higher prevalence of violence

[425:01.13] in that regard.

[425:03.29] We probably could do better at follow-up

[425:07.81] after the incident has happened.

[425:10.13] We may have other priorities.

[425:12.65] Like for an example, we were getting geared up

[425:14.95] for what they're calling nightmare on Brady Street.

[425:18.17] So we have these large mobilizations this summer.

[425:21.09] We had team takeovers, different things like that.

[425:24.11] So, but definitely we could take that back to the team

[425:29.03] and really, you know, respect what you're saying

[425:31.85] and also make sure we do a strong follow-up

[425:34.67] maybe three to six months after the fact

[425:37.49] to just circle back with council members

[425:40.67] to let them know what the outcome is

[425:42.77] or even if it's an ongoing case

[425:45.11] to just let them know what's going on.

[425:47.21] - And if I can add, there was follow-up

[425:49.77] with the families of the young man who lost his life,

[425:52.49] who did not respond to offers for support.

[425:56.49] - Well, that was more than four months

[425:58.41] after the incident.

[425:59.55] - No, sir, that was--

[426:01.41] - When I requested and received follow-up

[426:04.49] from the department, that was more than four months

[426:06.87] after the incident.

[426:07.71] - But the contact and the outreach to the families

[426:10.85] was not four months, it was in the days thereafter.

[426:14.17] They obviously were not interested in that support

[426:18.86] but we also connected also with some

[426:20.92] of the neighborhood association black captains.

[426:23.74] We had some conversations about bringing

[426:25.66] some prevention activities there,

[426:28.18] followed up with them too.

[426:30.66] Did not get, have not got a response yet from that but just--

[426:33.22] - I'm sorry, I'm sorry, there are no black captains.

[426:36.45] - Not black captains, apologize for what I'm calling it

[426:39.11] but some neighborhood association, I did not,

[426:42.54] I think it is, I did not, I do not have the name here

[426:45.22] with me but we followed up with some individuals there

[426:48.24] and so just responding about the follow-up,

[426:51.54] I followed up with--

[426:52.38] - So you started 18 black watches across the city

[426:55.38] for the alert neighborhood, neighbor program.

[426:58.26] Is Fairview one of those?

[427:02.81] - I don't believe so.

[427:04.34] - No, it's not, all right, thank you.

[427:07.29] - Well on that, I had that one event too

[427:11.09] but I think it was, I think what I'm sensing here

[427:13.05] is a little bit of a miscommunication.

[427:14.33] I know what I could benefit from.

[427:16.23] Mine was a proactive thing because I know it's tough

[427:21.75] and once you have the vacancies filled

[427:23.85] but I'm hoping that you're showing up

[427:26.13] and a relationship is already built

[427:29.03] prior to something bad happening.

[427:31.26] You know what I mean, like I want you to come

[427:33.06] and meet with the Bayview neighborhood association

[427:35.10] for example in some shape or form.

[427:36.50] I know I had you guys do something

[427:38.50] but people to get to know that they can call you

[427:41.02] because we have some neighbors

[427:41.98] that don't feel comfortable calling the police

[427:44.38] and they want different experiences

[427:46.87] and so I think that's really important

[427:48.33] and I think I'm seeing a disconnect here

[427:49.91] 'cause I did have that, it wasn't the same type

[427:52.01] of experience but it wasn't a homicide

[427:53.95] but it was a similar thing.

[427:55.23] So can you work with us?

[427:56.65] We've all now asked for org charts

[427:59.18] but who we contact and when and it should be

[428:02.51] pre an emergency 'cause I know I just randomly called you

[428:07.62] and that's probably not the best way.

[428:09.54] So we're struggling, this has been a consistent theme

[428:12.28] with many departments that we're trying to figure out

[428:14.54] who to go to and when for what.

[428:17.37] And I mean when you're suggesting groups and block clubs

[428:20.51] nobody knows that better than all theirs.

[428:22.85] We can all, many of us have helped create them

[428:26.58] and so that's a powerful outreach

[428:30.42] that we can help with as well.

[428:32.22] So and I had a similar experience

[428:33.94] but I was able to work it out.

[428:36.30] Anything else, I was gonna swing back to more

[428:39.26] 'cause we're gonna begin to conclude.

[428:40.54] So like we're on our concluding round here,

[428:42.22] all the women more.

[428:43.06] - I don't know.

[428:44.23] - Oh I'm sorry, I did that to you again,

[428:46.43] all the women cogs, I'm so sorry.

[428:49.25] It is your turn and I apologize.

[428:50.87] All the women may lay cogs.

[428:53.31] - Thank you Madam Chair.

[428:55.61] I first wanna say, Alderman Stamper gives his regards.

[429:00.15] He had to leave but he wanted me to make sure

[429:03.39] to ask a few questions about Alert Neighbor.

[429:07.14] Quite honestly, most of the questions he was suggesting

[429:09.86] have already been answered.

[429:13.46] But what I will say is I wanna say thank you to Quinn

[429:18.86] and the team that have helped for,

[429:23.81] that have helped to I think strengthen

[429:26.99] the Alert Neighbor program.

[429:29.99] I think when we started this several years ago

[429:32.79] with the lights, cameras and signage,

[429:36.84] with just a desire for neighbors to connect

[429:39.02] with one another and to be empowered for public safety.

[429:44.79] I think that the measures that you all have added

[429:48.99] to the program will over time give us

[429:53.57] even more measurable impact in neighborhoods

[429:57.61] and how residents really feel

[429:59.89] after being a part of the program

[430:01.71] and the sustained impact from it.

[430:05.01] So I do just wanna thank you for the work you've done.

[430:09.37] And to echo the sentiments of the chairwoman

[430:13.15] with a police grant situation.

[430:16.28] I have done past legislation to try to figure out ways

[430:20.40] to get OCWS to do similar things

[430:27.29] like other cities have done,

[430:29.53] which may be stuff like different programs

[430:34.52] that with camera providers like Ring and others,

[430:39.23] which would give us discounted prices.

[430:42.75] And I know in the past that has happened sometimes,

[430:45.67] it hasn't happened other times.

[430:47.47] I just want those ways and avenues

[430:50.07] for us to continue to acquire the equipment

[430:54.49] that residents are calling for

[430:56.71] and that residents want to be a part

[430:58.27] of their neighbor program,

[431:00.07] that we continue to look for ways

[431:02.27] to lessen that cost off the levy

[431:05.46] and through programs and deals and whatever else

[431:08.58] are able to acquire that equipment.

[431:11.78] So I just, so I did just again,

[431:15.04] once I thank you, Quinn, for your work.

[431:17.52] I've been on those walks, I've been in those meetings,

[431:20.96] I've seen and witnessed neighborhoods

[431:22.76] and neighbors come together around this program.

[431:25.04] So I appreciate you keeping a torch in your team,

[431:28.34] keeping a torch of it going.

[431:30.96] My question is not alert neighbor related.

[431:33.64] Here's my question.

[431:35.69] This summer, the city, the county and PS

[431:39.53] all put together with like a couple million dollars

[431:43.00] for summer activations to vest

[431:45.52] and summer activations for youth

[431:47.76] in an effort to keep the city safer

[431:50.58] and keep young people safer this summer.

[431:53.20] Now that the summer is over

[431:54.72] and so many activations were done,

[431:57.88] have you all seen a improvement in violence,

[432:04.44] particularly violence as it relates to young people

[432:08.08] through those activations?

[432:11.33] - Actually, there has been,

[432:15.05] I don't know the specific number,

[432:16.37] but I wanna say it's an over 20% reduction in youth,

[432:20.85] homicides and non fatal shootings

[432:23.49] during that same time period

[432:26.13] and we're getting that information

[432:27.53] so the Medical College of Wisconsin

[432:29.13] is working with us with the data for that.

[432:35.57] - Do you know how many youth attended

[432:37.67] all of those summer events all together?

[432:41.17] - I don't have that information in front of me,

[432:44.19] but I know we also, do we have that information?

[432:48.88] I'm sorry.

[432:50.14] I don't have that in front of me,

[432:51.38] but I could actually send out a report regarding

[432:55.54] that initiative that has those specific,

[432:59.78] that data, that chart you're asking for.

[433:03.26] - Are there intentions of potentially doing something

[433:07.67] like this again next summer?

[433:10.08] - Yes, so we're still, we meet with them.

[433:12.72] I wanna say we, the collaboration meets weekly

[433:15.76] so we have a smaller convening

[433:19.04] and then we also meet with the larger organizations,

[433:23.08] biweekly so there's still very much a commitment

[433:27.32] to move that forward

[433:28.92] and so we're still doing things now

[433:32.80] so it hasn't stopped just because summers stop.

[433:35.88] We still have resources to utilize during the fall season

[433:39.72] so we're meeting with MPS to talk about

[433:42.56] how we can support them as well as other sites

[433:45.96] that we've identified through that initiative.

[433:51.90] - Thank you, that's all I have Madam Chair.

[433:54.06] - Thank you and accept my apologies

[433:55.86] for making that mistake twice all the women.

[433:59.37] We'll now move on to all the women,

[434:01.21] Charlotte Moore for our second and final round here.

[434:03.53] All the women more.

[434:05.19] - Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

[434:08.54] I'll try to be concise

[434:11.34] with just the last few questions that I have.

[434:15.14] In relation to the commission,

[434:18.80] the commission on domestic violence,

[434:20.28] I know that we're reducing the amount

[434:23.20] of funds that they had previously,

[434:29.94] or that was previously on the docket.

[434:33.47] I know that it took some time to get the commission

[434:36.63] as far as all the members confirmed.

[434:41.93] Were any or any of those dollars carry over?

[434:47.06] - They could be.

[434:48.92] - So is yes or no?

[434:50.60] - From 25 to 26 or from 26 to 27?

[434:53.00] - 26 to 27.

[434:54.36] - It'll depend on what gets spent in 26.

[434:57.08] So it's been getting spent so far this year.

[434:59.88] I'm not--

[435:00.92] - Do we know where--

[435:02.00] - We don't have that balance, but I can follow up.

[435:04.75] - Okay, what is spending on for the commission?

[435:08.80] - So awareness messaging.

[435:11.52] Like I said, we did a convening at Washington Park

[435:14.64] where we brought clinicians out

[435:17.72] in regards to sexual assault.

[435:19.56] We do a lot with domestic violence awareness.

[435:23.48] For an example, we may work with sensitive crimes

[435:27.24] on a missing person.

[435:29.20] There may be emergency relocations that we do

[435:32.20] for domestic violence survivors.

[435:34.36] There's a number of different things, so.

[435:36.56] - So for 2026, it was, we were allocated 200,000

[435:39.92] for the commission, correct?

[435:41.60] - I believe so, correct.

[435:44.88] - Okay, and it is now October.

[435:48.77] Do you all, do you have any idea of where spending is?

[435:52.29] Are we halfway, are we less than halfway,

[435:55.30] more than halfway?

[435:56.74] - I would believe we're probably more than halfway.

[435:59.70] - Are you responsible, are you in charge of numbers

[436:03.10] as far as those funding sources,

[436:06.68] as far as for your department?

[436:08.94] - Well, that would be our grant compliance person

[436:11.58] and they're still getting acclimated right now.

[436:13.74] So, but I mean, I could definitely get you

[436:15.82] those specific numbers.

[436:17.14] - It really, I think as Sarah explained

[436:18.42] when she presented the slides,

[436:19.74] it's really a shifting of some of the costs

[436:21.46] that were in the fund, is it a fund or an SPA?

[436:24.69] - It's a special fund.

[436:25.65] - It's a, sure, are absorbed in the operating.

[436:27.69] - The goal of the reduction is to absorb

[436:29.57] some of the costs for just administrative oversight.

[436:32.33] I think there was some marketing money

[436:33.49] like in the department-wide operating budget.

[436:36.93] So that the remaining funds would still,

[436:38.89] would be really strategically deployed.

[436:41.53] If there is available carryover,

[436:43.09] I mean, they might request it.

[436:44.37] We would look at that at that time.

[436:46.13] It wasn't planned, there's not planned carryover,

[436:49.61] I guess, if that's.

[436:50.69] - Gotcha, and.

[436:51.73] - Yeah, this wasn't the thinking of sometimes

[436:54.09] we've said, oh, we cut it 'cause we expect carryover.

[436:55.77] Here, we just think that the cost can be better absorbed

[436:57.89] in the operating budget of existing services.

[437:00.17] - Got it. - Or a portion of the costs.

[437:02.77] - Okay, got it, okay.

[437:06.85] Karen, I know that sometimes you've used

[437:08.53] sort of the term violence interrupters with those folks.

[437:12.77] Are those the folks that are actually on staff of DCWS?

[437:16.79] - No.

[437:17.69] - Okay, those are your partners?

[437:19.36] - Yes.

[437:20.38] - Okay, thank you.

[437:23.05] And then I wanted to know really quick

[437:27.90] what, and I think Alderman Spiker was asking this,

[437:34.69] but I don't know if I really heard an answer.

[437:37.29] So forgive me if this is, you know,

[437:39.09] asking you to repeat yourself.

[437:40.75] As far as some of the programs that have been funded

[437:43.93] of those programs, which ones have been fully evaluated?

[437:50.40] - Fully evaluated.

[437:52.40] Well, I think that we're going through that process now.

[437:54.68] I think we'll be doing that through our strategic plan.

[437:57.20] But for an example, like with violence interruption,

[438:00.60] what we're looking at, and even through our KPIs,

[438:03.56] and we could probably send you some of our data

[438:06.60] that connects with our KPIs.

[438:09.12] But what we're looking at is the hours

[438:11.44] that they're invested in certain neighborhoods.

[438:13.68] We're looking at the success of a mediation

[438:16.16] through ongoing reports.

[438:18.98] We're looking at qualitative data too.

[438:22.48] So we're looking at the amount of follow-ups it may take

[438:26.05] when we're connected in an incident.

[438:28.93] So we evaluate in a number of different ways

[438:33.01] with all our programs.

[438:34.29] But again, that's what we're really wanting

[438:36.45] to do a deep dive into,

[438:38.37] because we really want to assess for impact.

[438:40.85] And, you know, that can be very challenging.

[438:44.07] You know, it's not even for us to take credit,

[438:47.37] but to more so just see what is working for us,

[438:52.21] what shifts the needle, and what isn't, you know.

[438:56.27] So we just can't keep doing things.

[438:58.25] And especially with a limited amount of funding now,

[439:01.61] we really have to really look at everything

[439:04.65] that we're doing and evaluate it.

[439:07.49] - And will those evaluations be with external partners

[439:10.01] or would that be in-house?

[439:11.65] - Both, I would say.

[439:13.89] - What would in-house look like if you're,

[439:16.25] and then are there folks on staff

[439:18.33] that have the expertise to do that level

[439:21.43] that you're referencing, that level of evaluation?

[439:24.15] - So this is my moment to introduce myself.

[439:26.43] How are you guys doing?

[439:27.27] - Come on, see, look, sorry.

[439:28.59] - So Deputy Director of DCWS Marcus Hogan's coming over.

[439:34.01] This is my third week in the department.

[439:36.29] So very new to some of the things,

[439:37.87] but various students to what evaluation looks like

[439:40.43] as I have a background in evaluation

[439:41.83] coming from the Health Department and other spaces.

[439:44.39] And so when we're talking about evaluate,

[439:45.63] we're really talking about the programs that are happening,

[439:47.87] but also the violence, interruptions,

[439:49.47] and how data is collected.

[439:51.27] And so what I've discussed in the last two weeks

[439:53.57] with people who are inviting spaces is like,

[439:55.67] how are we capturing where we're going

[439:57.71] and what the response time is

[439:59.17] and how we're the result, the impact, right?

[440:01.27] And so considering we work for the city of Milwaukee,

[440:04.47] we have a robust set of things already afforded to us.

[440:09.59] We have the Microsoft suite,

[440:11.07] where we can use forms to evaluate,

[440:12.71] create evaluations and surveys.

[440:14.63] I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with Power BI.

[440:16.91] Power BI allows for the creation of dashboards to show data.

[440:19.95] So as we're working with epidemiologists

[440:21.55] across our departments, DOA, MHD,

[440:24.65] the creation of those dashboards will allow you guys

[440:26.39] to get probably real time data as to what the impact

[440:29.27] of those interactions look like.

[440:31.07] But also we have access to other survey platforms

[440:33.91] like Qualtrics that provide some AI related data

[440:37.92] just based on you putting information in.

[440:39.60] So I think that as we look at the time

[440:41.52] that we have now working with the National Office

[440:44.03] of Violence Prevention and what our strategic plan

[440:46.23] is looking like, we'll use that space to create

[440:49.11] more robust evaluations to capture impact data

[440:52.61] and to learn kind of what those interruptions

[440:54.51] and what the impact is on the people

[440:56.27] that we have interactions with.

[440:57.96] - Awesome.

[440:58.80] I'm definitely looking forward to that.

[441:00.52] Thank you.

[441:01.36] Thank you, Marcus, and welcome.

[441:02.20] - Thank you.

[441:03.40] - I'll end with just a really quick few questions.

[441:05.48] I know that there's a million dollars projected

[441:08.64] for the violence interruption contract.

[441:13.12] I don't know if that goes across a variety

[441:15.44] of partners, whatnot, but it's an RFP process.

[441:18.88] We completely understand, like with RFPs, it takes months.

[441:23.68] Can you please talk about the timeline?

[441:25.64] Because we know that budgets wrap up

[441:28.72] probably in October, early November, whatnot.

[441:33.72] What is your timeline to get that RFP

[441:36.76] from start to finish and out the door?

[441:39.12] What is your timeline for that?

[441:41.65] - Yeah, so and I'll pass it over to you.

[441:43.93] - Because I think this is gonna be for summer, right?

[441:44.77] Or this work is gonna be leading into summer?

[441:49.19] - No, we wanna start, so the RFP will have to,

[441:53.59] will be at the start of 2027 as soon as we can start.

[441:57.39] So we'll have a tight timeline.

[441:59.51] So we wanted to make sure we confirmed the amount of money

[442:03.01] for the RFP as a result of this budget hearing.

[442:06.83] But we already know that we have to have it published

[442:09.19] and out the door like by next week, hopefully.

[442:12.23] Well, based on the purchasing department's process,

[442:16.79] but it's gonna be a very tight timeline for sure

[442:19.07] because we definitely want to get that up

[442:21.51] and running very soon.

[442:22.93] So it'd probably be shorter timelines,

[442:26.11] shorter review periods, but yeah, so.

[442:30.04] - You said publish and out the door by next week?

[442:33.57] - Yeah, so to submit it to the purchasing department.

[442:38.37] - Oh, so we don't have to wait till budget is over

[442:41.13] or confirmed?

[442:42.56] - Well, they have-- - That's not how that works.

[442:43.52] - Oh, I thought that was very fun.

[442:45.04] - They can do a lot of the leg work

[442:46.88] before budget is confirmed.

[442:48.92] - I don't think, it shouldn't be going out the door

[442:51.60] until they know exactly how much money

[442:53.56] is gonna be available, obviously.

[442:55.12] But they've been working on, I think,

[442:57.84] but Karen can speak to--

[442:59.20] - Hopefully they can open up the small door.

[443:00.04] - Yeah, I think I-- - I'm so sorry, yes.

[443:02.72] - They can get a lot of the leg work done ahead of time.

[443:05.45] And so, okay, so if a lot of the leg work is being done,

[443:09.75] you expect that the RFP would probably be finalized by when.

[443:17.52] - I would say once everything is confirmed,

[443:19.68] hopefully we can go through that process

[443:21.88] and even have language that the amount may be decided

[443:26.56] based on council approval.

[443:29.64] But if we can get it out the small door,

[443:34.20] we wanna really have it published as soon as possible

[443:38.08] once the council confirms our budget.

[443:42.90] - So if that, so let's say the budget is confirmed,

[443:46.89] what is it, November?

[443:47.97] - Mm-hmm, like mid-November if we get videos.

[443:50.73] - If yeah, yeah. - We're trying to get any though.

[443:52.53] - Yeah, I think I'm trying to get a sense of length of,

[443:57.25] 'cause you're the expert in pulling out these contracts.

[444:01.29] What's typically the length of time

[444:03.89] that it takes to get these RFP processed?

[444:09.13] - Yeah, husband, do you mind just breaking that down?

[444:12.07] - Yeah, so typically it can take anywhere from 45 to 60 days

[444:16.25] from the time that it gets

[444:17.45] to Department of Administration purchasing.

[444:21.77] So we have a pretty solid draft of the RFP.

[444:25.97] I'm waiting for leadership's review.

[444:27.93] We work on it together.

[444:30.05] Once Karen and Marcus is able to review it and confirm

[444:33.91] that this is what our product will look like,

[444:36.33] we will get it to purchasing,

[444:38.65] and then they will assign it to one of their coordinators.

[444:41.41] That coordinator will review it.

[444:43.05] There's a process for that,

[444:44.29] and then they put together the review panel,

[444:47.09] and then we move on from there, so.

[444:49.23] - And Yasmin, how long does that process typically take

[444:52.27] from putting that bid out, getting it reviewed,

[444:56.78] and then selecting someone?

[444:58.30] I think that's what I'm trying to get a sense

[444:59.80] of length of time.

[445:01.32] - Yeah, so from previous experience,

[445:04.08] the bid can be open for, I believe,

[445:06.28] a minimum of two weeks for people to respond to it.

[445:10.62] And then once we get our responses,

[445:13.05] purchasing has to make sure

[445:14.43] that all the responses are qualified

[445:16.85] to be in the running, essentially.

[445:20.18] And so once they confirm that our panel in the background

[445:23.02] while they're reviewing those submissions,

[445:26.10] we're putting together our review panel

[445:28.58] and what that looks like.

[445:29.82] And so then we start to schedule.

[445:31.90] There is about a one week window

[445:33.66] where our panel reviews all of the submissions,

[445:36.82] and then we have to score them.

[445:38.04] And once they are scored,

[445:39.70] there is a window for questions to come through

[445:42.22] from respondents.

[445:43.66] And so we have the option where we need to answer

[445:46.90] their questions as long as they are appropriate.

[445:49.58] And then we do a review committee meeting,

[445:53.06] and then we pick our final list, essentially.

[445:55.62] - Got it, okay, thank you for that.

[445:57.78] And I'll wrap it up by, I had some other questions,

[446:00.98] but I think I can forgo those.

[446:04.66] I think it's just communication, Ms. Tyler,

[446:07.58] like how can, what does communication look like?

[446:12.62] I would say, well, let me ask this.

[446:14.70] How many times have you communicated with the council

[446:16.76] since you've been in your role?

[446:19.29] - So I know I did announce that this is our city,

[446:22.77] the countdown mobilization campaign to the council.

[446:28.13] I did send out the Love Without Violence

[446:31.09] conference information.

[446:32.77] So just different highlights that we've had.

[446:35.97] Definitely, I would say we're in constant contact

[446:41.17] with certain other members like Otter Woman Pratt.

[446:47.01] - And excuse me, let me just,

[446:48.33] I'm just looking for like the full council

[446:50.81] as far as just reporting out, hey, these are our highlights

[446:54.01] or these are things that we're doing, that sort of thing.

[446:57.53] - Yeah, so I would say within the six month period,

[447:00.81] I did contact full council.

[447:02.97] I wanna say two different times announcing different

[447:07.25] highlights within the department.

[447:09.47] - All right, that's all I have, Madam Chair.

[447:10.85] Thank you so much.

[447:11.89] - Okay, and please be sure if it's a district thing,

[447:15.17] that's a very sensitive issue with us.

[447:17.31] If something's going on in our district,

[447:18.97] we really wanna know in advance.

[447:21.05] 'Cause it's awkward if there's an event and like,

[447:24.65] I'm not saying we could always be there,

[447:25.81] but if we get a last minute notice,

[447:27.43] then we can't be there and people are looking for us.

[447:29.43] So I'm just asking if you can think about that.

[447:31.97] - Madam Chair, because really quick,

[447:33.05] I know I said this for the, I think the group before,

[447:36.61] for DOA, I would absolutely strongly suggest

[447:39.57] that you all look at the Department of Revenue.

[447:43.89] They have innovation grants.

[447:46.03] They have over $200 million left in their pot

[447:48.53] that they are looking to give away

[447:50.93] to really strong partnerships.

[447:52.41] This could be a great opportunity with Milwaukee,

[447:56.05] the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County,

[447:58.13] because it has to be in a county collaboration

[448:01.80] or an outside collaboration.

[448:03.90] It's a great opportunity.

[448:05.32] So something to consider.

[448:07.26] Thank you, Madam Chair. - Thank you very much.

[448:08.76] Yeah, definitely.

[448:10.73] Alderman Spiker, Alderman Burgelas,

[448:13.17] if you have anything else, Alderman Moore,

[448:15.37] I'm sorry, oh my gosh, Cog's.

[448:17.20] And let's do our last concluding thoughts here.

[448:20.02] Alderman Spiker.

[448:21.46] - Thank you, Madam Chair.

[448:22.30] I'll try to be brief.

[448:23.82] So is there, I think maybe it's been provided

[448:27.74] to us in the past, but there's gotta be a list somewhere

[448:30.44] of which organizations hold the current

[448:33.20] violence prevention contracts.

[448:37.69] Maybe if you could, I guess a data request would be

[448:40.65] to list those, provide the amounts of the contract,

[448:45.65] the terms the neighborhood served,

[448:50.12] and how much we've paid 'em to date.

[448:53.10] And is there an expectation that that cohort

[448:59.62] is gonna change too much, or will that be

[449:02.10] what the RFP and such reveals?

[449:08.47] - Sure, so right now currently it is

[449:11.75] the Medical College of Wisconsin

[449:13.27] and West Care Wisconsin that hold those contracts.

[449:17.91] We have been approached by several other organizations

[449:21.63] for the new RFP for 2027,

[449:24.91] as well as been in contact with our current partners

[449:29.84] for that, so definitely again, the RFP will make

[449:34.20] those determinations in regards to who we work with.

[449:36.78] And I'm sorry if I missed a part of your question.

[449:39.08] - Oh, that's okay, it's getting late.

[449:40.64] I shouldn't add parts to my question.

[449:42.92] And please meet your deputy director.

[449:45.88] Could you just say a little bit about your role

[449:48.21] and what you expect to be doing?

[449:50.19] I know we had that discussion during our FNP

[449:52.89] when the vacancy was requested to be filled,

[449:55.09] but just what's gonna be your,

[449:57.49] you gave a bit about your background

[449:59.43] and the health department, but just what do you think

[450:01.85] you're gonna be tackling?

[450:03.75] - Sure, again, Marcus Hawkins, deputy director.

[450:06.39] I think my first role is to lift the vision

[450:08.27] of Karen Tyler as director, right?

[450:10.15] Whatever vision is for the office

[450:11.75] and to make sure that it happens.

[450:14.03] Coming into the office from a larger department,

[450:17.31] my first role is to put systems in place.

[450:19.47] I think there are a lot of systems

[450:21.38] to get towards efficiency.

[450:23.34] So I'll be working with that, working with the team,

[450:25.24] learning how everyone works separately and independently,

[450:27.72] but then learning how we work collectively.

[450:29.94] Also learning the landscape.

[450:31.10] I think yesterday I was at the guns, gun prevention,

[450:34.57] what was it called?

[450:35.45] - Gun violence.

[450:36.29] - Gun violence summit?

[450:37.13] - Oh, the baratar.

[450:37.97] - So really learning who the players are in the space

[450:41.05] because I don't come from a CVI background,

[450:43.01] come from a public health background,

[450:44.17] which is much broader.

[450:45.61] CVI is a niche place, and so learning who the players are

[450:48.73] and what roles they play.

[450:49.97] So it'll be a lot of learning, Alderman Spiker,

[450:52.17] but also a lot of using the things that I know

[450:55.31] of how things work efficiently to put into place

[450:57.85] so that we aren't stretched in,

[451:00.58] 'cause we are stretched in with a small staff

[451:02.74] with a lot of work to do.

[451:05.49] - Okay, yeah, any other questions I can pursue offline

[451:08.63] in the interest of time, but thank you very much.

[451:10.31] Appreciate it. - Thank you.

[451:11.39] - All right, Alderman Bergelles.

[451:13.43] We'll do Alderman Cox if she has anything,

[451:15.67] and then we'll conclude, or other colleagues.

[451:17.99] Alderman Bergelles.

[451:19.03] - Thank you very much.

[451:19.87] And so there were three vacancies,

[451:22.25] now there are just two vacancies in the department,

[451:24.09] or there were four, now there are three.

[451:25.58] - No, there's four currently.

[451:27.02] - There are four currently.

[451:28.43] All right, so my math is off a little bit.

[451:30.31] Your PCA is $20,600 for the year,

[451:36.16] personal cost adjustment.

[451:38.27] That's like one month's worth of vacancies

[451:40.33] for three positions, give or take.

[451:43.94] Do you plan on being fully staffed after January?

[451:49.71] - That's the goal, for sure.

[451:51.69] So as soon as we wanna put all our job descriptions

[451:56.95] in the queue, so as soon as we can hire,

[452:00.35] we'll be trying to do that.

[452:01.99] And I did hear what you said to DCE,

[452:04.79] so if there's any way we could be fully staffed

[452:08.07] prior to January, or close to January,

[452:12.17] that's what we're gonna do.

[452:14.49] - Excellent, I see the mayor's office trimmed

[452:17.35] your other operating services from 1.132 million,

[452:21.78] 1 million, $132,000 to $891,000.

[452:25.84] That's the other operating services,

[452:27.72] the various grants, right, that you're providing.

[452:32.15] How were those prioritized in,

[452:34.43] 'cause you certainly had more of those

[452:38.23] that weren't on tax levy previously,

[452:40.21] how did you prioritize the 1.1 million that you wanted

[452:43.79] and the 900,000 that you got?

[452:48.88] Were they trimmed off and the amounts were lowered?

[452:53.56] Over the summer worked together to try and identify

[452:55.72] what were really violence interruption costs

[452:57.88] that had shifted, you know, I think carrying,

[452:59.74] shifting from ARPA funding to the levy

[453:02.44] wasn't, had put a lot of stuff in the operating budget

[453:05.66] that when we went through what those line items

[453:07.38] were for together, or like a breakdown

[453:09.44] of what that line represented,

[453:12.01] realized that a lot of those costs

[453:13.25] were really for violence interruption,

[453:14.73] so shifted those expenses to the violence interruption

[453:18.93] special purpose account from a budgeting perspective.

[453:22.69] This specific, the 891, represented kind of like,

[453:27.16] literally you should give me like a very detailed line item

[453:30.20] of what that represented, so that was just like

[453:31.94] the non-violence interruption specific costs.

[453:36.11] I mean, obviously everything's sort of

[453:37.51] violence interruption.

[453:38.72] - Fair enough, and I'm not frankly interested

[453:42.14] in the details on what I have to,

[453:44.59] we have to trust your experience and your prioritization

[453:47.03] and what your department needs, right?

[453:49.19] But general office expenses went from $5,000 to $35,000?

[453:54.09] - Yeah, so.

[453:55.21] - And then I have a couple more there

[453:57.33] that will probably come in the same answer.

[454:00.04] Facility rental, $84,000, and professional services, $31,000.

[454:07.05] Are you not located in the city building that we own?

[454:10.08] - No, we are not.

[454:12.72] - Is there a good, what's the, how long is the lease?

[454:17.57] Why are you not near the city?

[454:20.47] - Sure, so actually when we moved to,

[454:24.39] we're actually located on 13th and Mitchell,

[454:27.87] and so we were within the Department of Administration

[454:30.47] at the time.

[454:31.67] There was other planning with that building,

[454:35.59] but that's basically where we're at now.

[454:38.79] So, but again, those decisions were made

[454:41.67] while we were within the Department of Administration.

[454:44.75] So we definitely want to look at some costs like that,

[454:48.51] for an example, but yeah,

[454:51.19] we are not in a city department building.

[454:53.99] - Should you be somewhere closer, or is that the right place?

[454:58.71] - Well, I think, I do feel we need to consider moving

[455:04.97] where violence is most prevalent,

[455:06.61] and that would be the north side of Milwaukee.

[455:09.01] So the plan was to have a satellite site on the north side,

[455:14.69] north side site and a south side.

[455:18.32] But, so we're reviewing that now,

[455:20.36] but I definitely agree with you

[455:22.72] that I think we should probably move

[455:24.56] where violence is most prevalent.

[455:26.28] - Is the Department of City Development

[455:27.80] helping you find a space,

[455:29.20] maybe a city owned property that can be repurposed?

[455:33.98] - Well, we just started those discussions for sure,

[455:36.78] so we will definitely reach out to them,

[455:39.98] but I did just bring that up that I feel we need to move.

[455:43.86] Yeah.

[455:44.90] - Madam Chair, really quick.

[455:46.69] - I just want to, oh, thank you.

[455:48.65] - No, how many staff are in the Mitchell Building?

[455:51.94] - Currently we have nine staff.

[455:54.45] - And then what's the term of the lease?

[455:57.39] - I believe it's a monthly lease.

[456:00.57] - Okay, so now I was just thinking about

[456:02.77] what the Department of Compliance and Engagement,

[456:06.73] they had a whole floor, so I was just curious.

[456:10.00] - Maybe there's some synergy or something.

[456:12.40] - For sure.

[456:13.24] - There's enough room in there

[456:14.08] for the Office of Compliance and Engagement.

[456:15.60] - Also, please remember.

[456:17.08] - D&D.

[456:17.92] - Yeah.

[456:18.76] - Departments.

[456:20.40] - I'm gonna bring up two, Milwaukee Public Schools

[456:21.44] is going to likely be changing their building composition

[456:24.80] and some are in pretty good shape.

[456:26.92] So that could be, I mean those are strategically located,

[456:29.08] too, and remember the city of Milwaukee ends up

[456:31.88] being the one that has to dispose or divest of those,

[456:34.44] if you will.

[456:35.88] So we have a role in that.

[456:39.31] Okay, was there something you were gonna add?

[456:40.23] I'm sorry about that.

[456:41.07] - No.

[456:41.92] - Okay, anything else?

[456:42.76] Alderman Bergellis, we got some more information

[456:44.38] about the leasing and this is the benefit of us

[456:47.15] listening to many departments.

[456:48.07] We see trends and we can sometimes see the ecosystem, too.

[456:51.23] We're like, wait, we've heard this

[456:52.11] from three different departments.

[456:53.43] - Right.

[456:54.27] - Is there anything that we can do?

[456:56.22] Alderman Coggs, anything else for--

[457:00.46] - Yeah.

[457:01.30] - Okay, go ahead, please.

[457:02.57] - I think I got a footnote a year or two ago

[457:05.65] asking OCWS to work with DCD on the potential

[457:10.65] possibility of foreclosed city properties

[457:15.01] being made available for purchase

[457:17.45] of OCWS staff and/or contractors.

[457:21.40] Have you been working with DCD on that

[457:24.64] and where are you guys at with that?

[457:28.17] - Hi, Alderman Coggs.

[457:29.25] We have been working with Ben from DCD.

[457:33.21] We actually had a meeting yesterday.

[457:35.57] We meet, I would say, pretty frequently

[457:38.93] and so we have done some research on cities

[457:42.05] similar to Milwaukee and what housing initiatives

[457:46.21] they have.

[457:47.53] One of the issues that we kind of run into

[457:49.91] is we're in conversation with Department of Employee

[457:52.49] Relations regarding the CVI staff being contracted partners

[457:57.21] and not city of Milwaukee staff

[457:59.13] and what benefits we can offer contracted staff if any.

[458:03.05] And so that is where we are in the planning process

[458:06.37] right now and so we're meeting with Ben again

[458:10.21] in a couple of weeks but there were some cities

[458:12.59] such as Atlanta, Gary, Indiana and Baltimore

[458:17.22] that we looked at who have similar programs.

[458:19.96] They're not particularly identified for CVI workers

[458:24.52] but they have some initiatives where the work aligns

[458:27.74] with what their housing initiatives are.

[458:34.00] - Thank you.

[458:35.16] - You're welcome.

[458:37.02] - Personally, I would like to see a path at some point

[458:39.42] for those workers to become city employees

[458:41.70] and have benefits and have their pay increased.

[458:44.78] Just putting that out there.

[458:46.85] I just said I wanna see the path

[458:49.14] and I don't know what the national standard is

[458:50.66] but I think the more we can have city of Milwaukee,

[458:55.70] we got a great residency benefit from the humble raises

[458:59.74] we've been able to put forth

[459:00.70] and then I have some healthcare

[459:03.23] that's also important to wellness

[459:06.30] as the Department of Community Wellness as well.

[459:08.22] So I think we need to put that out there,

[459:10.62] start pricing it, see what it looks like.

[459:13.10] Seems important to me.

[459:14.90] Anything else?

[459:15.78] Alderwoman Taylor or Pratt?

[459:18.57] Otherwise we will conclude.

[459:20.09] Just double checking.

[459:21.19] Alderwoman Andrea Pratt.

[459:24.26] Oh, I see, nevermind.

[459:25.62] I thought that was her lightener thing up.

[459:27.18] Alderwoman Larissa Taylor.

[459:34.42] You're breaking up Larissa.

[459:37.84] Seems good.

[459:40.47] We'll give you one more chance, sorry about that.

[459:43.15] Can you try again?

[459:48.32] Okay, I said bye.

[459:51.74] We are unable to hear you clearly, Alderwoman Taylor.

[459:55.61] Sorry.

[459:57.25] I'm sorry about that.

[460:01.02] Okay.

[460:01.89] Hold your question.

[460:02.71] Madam Chair.

[460:03.55] Yeah, sorry about that.

[460:04.39] Okay, Alderwoman Moore.

[460:05.23] Just a couple requests.

[460:07.85] I would love for there to be a 2028 grant sustainability

[460:14.62] plan before our next budget cycle.

[460:17.18] So this is just looking at here are options.

[460:20.10] This is how we can, again, move some of this

[460:23.63] just off the levy.

[460:25.67] And if possible, a closeout report for the ARPA dollars

[460:29.63] that were spent.

[460:31.81] So I think you all were allocated about 8.4 million.

[460:36.19] So perhaps by the end of March or I don't know,

[460:40.55] maybe Nick, I don't know if that March timeline

[460:42.95] is appropriate when we can get a closeout

[460:46.13] of how those dollars were spent.

[460:48.97] For the prior year?

[460:51.65] Whatever total ARPA dollars that went to the department,

[460:54.93] there should be, is that possible?

[460:56.93] Or is that?

[460:58.94] I mean, we should have that now, frankly,

[461:00.62] 'cause we got to spend on plan, but we can, you wanna?

[461:03.26] Oh, it is something that, okay.

[461:05.14] Well, I mean, there's still time to spend some of it,

[461:07.70] but what is it that you want?

[461:09.16] I just didn't know that if I had to,

[461:11.02] I'm sure I have to wait until next year

[461:12.90] just so everything can be reconciled,

[461:14.40] but it's just how those dollars were allocated.

[461:19.99] So staffing, because a lot of it was,

[461:23.77] a lot of the ARPA dollars or a lot of the department's

[461:26.65] budget were ARPA dollars allocated.

[461:30.17] So how was that investment?

[461:33.77] How was that utilized?

[461:36.41] A retrospective of how ARPA got spent.

[461:39.43] Yes, correct.

[461:40.59] Yep.

[461:42.48] Okay, we can work with you on that.

[461:45.20] Thank you.

[461:46.04] Thank you so much, thank you, Madam.

[461:46.88] All right, Alderman Speicher?

[461:48.10] Just super quickly.

[461:49.18] So the RFP, you said, would be about 45, 60 days out there.

[461:57.84] How is it gonna be communicated out

[461:59.80] that that's out there, normal channels?

[462:01.76] Are we working, imagine there's a bunch of groups

[462:04.36] whose contracts will be up then at the end of December.

[462:08.10] They'd really like to know 'em.

[462:09.74] Right, so we'll do it through our listserv.

[462:13.18] We're also social media, website,

[462:17.54] probably even on a city channel.

[462:20.50] I mean, the city social media and information.

[462:23.78] So we wanna definitely, broadly get it out there.

[462:28.31] All right, thank you.

[462:29.44] Alderman Cox, did you have something?

[462:34.88] Seems like people are raising their hand or unmuting.

[462:36.64] Right, exactly.

[462:37.48] Okay, I do not see any other further questions

[462:39.96] or comments from the committee.

[462:42.83] The Department of Community Wellness and Safety,

[462:45.79] hearing and seeing none, we will conclude

[462:48.99] and therefore, Alderman Bergellis moves

[462:50.77] to hold to the call of the chair item 1260001

[462:54.59] and hearing no objections, so ordered.

[462:57.01] We'll begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow

[462:58.55] and it's a very long day of everything public works.

[463:01.07] So it is our final hearing, so get ready for that.

[463:05.37] We said if people wanna wear Brewers gear, feel good.

[463:07.71] Feel comfortable to do it.

[463:09.83] Yeah.

[463:10.67] - Okay, thank you.

[463:11.51] - Yeah, whatever is feeling good for folks.

[463:13.19] Okay, the meeting is adjourned.