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In recent years Milwaukee city
government has been under the shadow of scandal. There have been
multiple now-public instances of corruption in the local government:
tavern bribery, dirty campaign money and illicit gift-giving.
After the elections in the spring of
2004, residents hope that, as Lee suggested, they got a clean house.
The city of
Milwaukee is essentially represented and run by two braches of
government-- the mayor and the Common Council. Milwaukee
residents are encouraged to communicate with their elected officials
in these branches in a variety of ways. The public is allowed to
participate in the discussion of matters on the agenda at committee
meetings of the council. Council members frequently host public Town
Hall meetings in their districts and prepare and mail informative
newsletters to constituents.
Mayor
The
current mayor of Milwaukee is former member of the U.S. House of
Representatives Tom
Barrett, who took
 office
in the spring of 2004. As chief executive of the City, the Mayor
is responsible for assuring
that state laws and City ordinances are observed and enforced. He also
insures that all officers
of the City discharge
their respective duties. The Mayor provides the
executive direction for the City's operating
departments, by appointing department heads or
board members. He also has the power to veto Common
Council actions.
Barrett,
in an effort to gain the public's trust, issued a
100-day-plan,
outlining his ideas to get the city away from
its previous corruption and back on track. They include
budget cuts, a crackdown on crime, better assistance of uninsured
residents, and restrictions on campaign finance.
Common Council
The Common
Council exercises all policy-making and legislative powers of the
city, including the adoption of ordinances and resolutions, the
approval of the city's annual budget,
and the enactment of appropriation and tax levy ordinances. The
council also has approval over the mayors appointments of cabinet
heads to direct day-to-day operations of city departments. In addition
to their powers as legislators, council members serve as district
administrators, responsible to the citizens in their districts for
city services.
The
president of the Council, including new president
Willie
Hines, is elected by the council members at the beginning of the
councils term and serves for four years. The president makes all
appointments to the councils eight standing committees and many
special committees, and presides
over all meetings of the full council. He or she becomes acting mayor
when the mayor is out of the city. The 2004 elections provided
Milwaukee with a new-look Common Council.
The
committee system forms the cornerstone of the governmental process in Milwaukee. A standing committee holds public
hearings, takes expert testimony and researches topics pertinent
to the proposal. After their evaluation, committee
members draw up a recommendation
to present to the full Council as part of their committee report. The eight standing committees of
the Common Council are:
Here are the districts in Milwaukee, as well as
how they voted in the 2004 local elections. The numbers on each
district correspond with the numbers assigned to the Common Council
members on the right.
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"It [Milwaukee city government] clearly has become dirty and it needs a
major housecleaning."
-Mordecai Lee,
former Wisconsin state senator from 1983 to 1989 and current
UW-Milwaukee professor
