Earlier this year we wrote the We Believe in Milwaukee statement demanding that Milwaukee’s mayor would be responsive to the needs of Milwaukee residents. With Mayor Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson’s first budget just being approved, we thought it would be a great opportunity to check back in on how the mayor’s budget priorities align with the needs of our communities. Here is a report card on the mayor’s record.

Public Safety

During Johnson’s first eight months on the job, he has shown that he does not support true community safety but rather more carceral solutions.

His first budget added $20 million to the police budget, and he said, “If our financial standing were better, I would favor adding more officers to Milwaukee’s Police Department.” The 2023 budget will give the Milwaukee Police Department close to $300 million while continuing the trend of defunding our neighborhoods. At the same time, the mayor worked to close libraries and fire stations. When the Common Council decided against his cuts to libraries and fire he said, “ I am concerned about Council action that increases our budgetary challenges over the next several years.” Again he fails to mention who is truly driving Milwaukee’s budget problems–the police. He would rather cut libraries, which provide people with internet access to apply for jobs or other resources, and the fire department, which are often first responders when a person experiences harm, than cut the police department’s budget. 

Mayor Johnson implemented a curfew for young people during the summer which criminalizes and fines children under 17 and parents for being unaccompanied at night. Multiple studies have shown that curfew policies don’t prevent or reduce crime but rather just expand the reach and scale of police power.

Sales Tax

The mayor offered false solutions the first year of his term.  To deal with Milwaukee’s budget problem, Johnson championed the idea of a Milwaukee sales tax. This is a regressive tax, meaning Milwaukee’s poorest residents would be most impacted by this tax. If Milwaukee is able to work with Wisconsin Republicans in the legislature, it is likely that this sales tax would require Milwaukee to hire and maintain a certain number of police. Adding more police would create the same problem Milwaukee is currently facing: a budget that funds police and fails to fund any other programs for residents.

COVID-19

While politicians like President Joe Biden say, “the pandemic is over,” we know that is not the case. Yet, the city of Milwaukee recently closed two of its community COVID-19 testing centers and now are requiring a person to have symptoms in order to receive a PCR test, a move that is likely driven to cut costs. This is the wrong time to make testing more restrictive, as people will be gathering more for holidays. 

The Path Forward

As 2023 approaches, the path forward is building more safety in our community. Andrea Ritchie and Mariame Kaba remind us that safety is not a commodity that we can buy and sell. Rather safety is a set of relationships. Investing more in police won’t produce more safety. Regressive taxes won’t provide more safety. Pretending COVID-19 is over won’t produce more safety. We need to have a vision of Milwaukee that will create more safety.

Devin Anderson is the Membership and Coalition Manager for the African American Roundtable.