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Lead meeting
Lead meeting
Milwaukee Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee
MILWAUKEE -- Members of Milwaukee Common Council's Steering and Rules Committee and Milwaukee Health Department leaders on Wednesday, Jan. 31 poured over a 51-page report released late Monday into the city's mismanagement of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. Former Health Commissioner Bevan Baker resigned amid the scandal. Health department leaders told the Common Council committee Wednesday there is a department policy that prevents them from going to the Council or mayor with concerns.
FOX6 News has learned then-Commissioner Bevan Baker signed off on the policy on Oct. 27, 2017, and it took effect three days later. It was scheduled to be in effect for three years before a review, according to the last page of the policy.
The policy mandated that Milwaukee Health Department employees seek authorization from the health commissioner or health operations manager before contacting elected officials -- including the mayor's office, Common Council, Milwaukee county executive, and Milwaukee County supervisors. A handful of employees were given pre-authorization because of their job duties.
City of Milwaukee Health Department
"The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the department's policies, mission and goals are appropriately represented and communicated to the mayor's office and Common Council," the policy states. "By following this policy and procedure, staff members will ensure that MHD's policy issues are properly vetted and communicated."
Mayor Tom Barrett's office told FOX6 that Barrett would be checking with other department heads to ensure their agencies don't have similar policies. Barrett's expectation is that no city departments have such policies prohibiting contact with Common Council members, said Jodie Tabak, a spokeswoman for the mayor.
"Nobody is well served by playing hide the ball or any of these other things and that's certainly not something we'd support," Aaron Szopinski with the mayor's office said.
Health department employees were also barred from responding to requests from elected officials without contacting one of four top officials in the department.
"Employees should not respond to elected official's requests without prior approval or authorization," the policy states.
Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton
Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton said the policy may have inadvertently hurt children in Milwaukee.
"The lack of the ability to be able to move past your immediate supervisor to talk about a problem hindered us from being able to respond to this in a quicker way," Hamilton said.
Hamilton noted that he was receiving text messages that employees from across city departments had similar experiences of not taking matters directly to the Common Council or mayor. Other city officials said this problem goes much deeper than the health department.
As it relates to Wednesday's Steering and Rules Committee meeting, all were in agreement that the city failed to protect the city's most vulnerable populations from lead exposure, and now, they're trying to work together to figure out how this happened, and make sure it never happens again.
Health department officials before the committee on Wednesday went over the 51-page report.
"We are being transparent. It's too late. The evidence is glaring," Sandra Rotar, health department said. "I have absolutely no idea that we were not serving children in the capacity, and children in the way that we should have -- until it was discovered."
The report shows there is now record that thousands of children exposed to lead ever received necessary outreach services between 2015 and 2017, including instances where children with extreme blood lead levels may have been allowed to return home before lead sources, often found in paint, were removed.
"My question is this: As serious this problem is, ladies, why didn't you come forward beforehand?" Alderman Bob Donovan said.
Sandra Rotar
"I had absolutely no idea how systemic the problem was," Rotar said.
Rotar said once she became aware of the mismanagement, she informed Mayor Barrett in early January. On Jan. 12, Barrett held a news conference to alert the public.
He held another news conference Monday evening to release the report.
"A news conference at 7 p.m. on a Monday? You can talk about 'there's no cover-up,' but the actions say otherwise," Alderman Mark Borkowski said.
Barrett said the health department was working to correct the errors, sending out 6,400 letters to affected families and opening three walk-in clinics for free lead testing, along with a hotline for parents with questions.
Common Council members are now calling for an external investigation, saying the current administration cannot be trusted.
"We need to know about the problems so that people can get the services that they need," Alderwoman Milele Coggs said.
Despite requests from Common Council members that the mayor attend Wednesday's Steering and Rules Committee meeting, he was in California to accept a grant.
Mayor Barrett's office issued this statement Wednesday:
Statement from Alderman Russell Stamper II Wednesday:
Statement from Alderman Khalif Rainey Wednesday:
Statement from Alderman Jose Perez Tuesday: