Milwaukee council controversy; member says Black alderwomen being shut out
MILWAUKEE - Recent Milwaukee Common Council committee appointment have sparked controversy; one member slammed the fact that no Black alderwomen were chair or vice-chair of committees.
Alderwoman Andrea Pratt's statement was titled "Back of the Bus." But there is more to the story.
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Committees are where the "sausage-making" of laws take place. They hammer out proposed ordinances that impact your life.
Milwaukee City Hall
Milwaukee Common Council President Jose Perez has the power to appoint alders to committees and appointed Alderwoman Andrea Pratt to one. Other Common Council members were appointed to at least two committees.
Pratt, who is the daughter of former acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, said this is not right.
"That’s not fair to my constituents: their voices are not being heard on those committees that I would normally be on," she said. "I didn’t understand the reason for it. I was shocked, especially seeing there were seven members who had three committees."
Alderwoman Andrea Pratt
All seven of those with three committee assignments voted for Perez to be the Common Council president.
Pratt had backed Alderwoman Milele Coggs to serve as president.
"While we all have the responsibility for our constituents, the president has a responsibility for all council members, not the ones that supported him," Alderman Mark Chambers, Jr. said. He also voted for Coggs and was assigned two committee positions.
FOX6 has learned Perez asked Coggs to take the helm of the Judiciary and Legislation Committee, but she turned it down. Perez said he’ll be making Pratt the vice-chair of that committee.
"I just want to acknowledge that there has been a serious misunderstanding between alderwoman Pratt and I," Perez said. "I still have every intention, after some on-boarding, to make her a vice-chair of Jud/Leg in six months."
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Pratt introduced a proposal that would require the Common Council president to appoint each Common Council member to at least two committees.
Milwaukee City Hall
"I have one committee, so I have free time," Pratt said. "I’ll be able to be [at] as many committee meetings as possible. I have a note on my door now that says ‘when they don’t invite you to the table, bring a folding chair.’"
The Steering and Rules Committee voted 7-1 to table Pratt’s proposal. It still has to go to the full Common Council.
If approved, it would require the council president in the future appoint a member to at least two of the seven regular committees.
All of his current committee chair and vice-chair appointments are members who voted for him to be presideent.
All of the current committee chair or vice-chairs voted for Perez to be president.