Special Election Called For Kovac’s Seat

It’s official. Nik Kovac is no longer an alderman and a special election has been called to replace him.

A new council member will be elected in November to represent the East Side, most of Riverwest, and the northern edge of Downtown.

Kovac was unanimously confirmed Monday morning by his council colleagues to serve as the city budget director. He now leads the eight-member budget and management division within the Department of Administration. The cabinet-level position is responsible for crafting the city’s annual $1.7 billion budget, management of its implementation and addressing other fiscal issues.

Newly-elected Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced the appointment on April 19, but Kovac waited until the council vote was official to resign.

“I have known Nik as a trusted and knowledgeable colleague. His perspectives on the financial issues Milwaukee faces have always been valuable to me. I am very pleased he has accepted the invitation to join my administration,” said Johnson in making the nomination. “City government faces challenging fiscal issues, and I am confident Nik will help put our government on a sustainable path forward.”

State Representative Jonathan Brostoff announced he was running for the post the same day Kovac’s appointment was announced, but more candidates are expected to enter the race. Kovac won an eight-way race in 2008, the last time the seat was open. Candidates have until June 1 to file to run for the seat. Between 200 to 400 signatures of district residents must be filed to appear on the ballot.

If three or more candidates file to run, a primary will be held Aug. 9. The general election will take place Nov. 8. Both elections coincide with the already scheduled fall election.

The winner will serve the remainder of Kovac’s term through April 2024. A special election is also underway to fill Johnson’s seat.

The third district is the city’s wealthiest by average property value. It also routinely has the highest voter turnout.

The election will pose a special challenge for the Milwaukee Election Commission and voters. Under state law, it will take place according to the council’s prior district boundaries that Kovac was last elected under, not the newly-adopted map. Voters may live in new wards that are eligible to vote in the race, but on blocks within the ward that are outside the old boundaries, rendering them ineligible.

The 2012 map under which the special election will be held was created when the district had 39,492 residents of which 84.2% of voting-age residents were white, 6.9% Black, 4.3% Hispanic and 3.5% Asian.

The new district has 37,703 residents, from which the voting age population is 77.5% white, 7.6% Black, 6.5% Hispanic and 4.9% Asian, according to a Legislative Reference Bureau report.

City Budget

Kovac inherits a budget with serious issues. The budget and management division is projecting a $95 million structural deficit for 2023 and into the future.

The newly-installed budget director holds a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Harvard University. He served was a longtime member of the council’s Finance & Personnel Committee and served as chair when Ald. Michael Murphy was council president.

“I am acutely aware I have big shoes to fill,” said Kovac during his confirmation hearing last week. He replaces Dennis Yaccarino, who served in the role since 2017. Yaccarino started with the city in 1985, steadily rising through the ranks in the budget office. He retired in April.

The appointee also praised the analysts that work for the department, naming each of them during his confirmation speech.

Kovac said more communication between the budget office and council, as well as other city employees, would make addressing problems easier. He cited an example of an unnamed Department of Public Works staffer who pitched him an idea in 2008. It was a tweak to a fee that would in turn avoid a cut to forest services, but the individual was reportedly instructed by his superiors not to discuss it with the council or budget office. After learning of the idea while playing soccer with the individual, Kovac successfully introduced it as a budget amendment. The newly-installed budget director said it was important to get ideas from everyone.

But the revenue-restricted city also needs outside help, something Kovac acknowledges.

“If we do not get new help from the state or federal government, we have to make sure the money we do have is used wisely,” said Kovac. That includes the remaining $197.1 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. Kovac’s predecessor proposed using $160 million, the maximum available for this, to plug budget holes over the next two years.

Without action, the city will hit its pension cliff and need to begin drastic layoffs.

“I would much rather delay that than commit to it,” said the nominee.

Kovac said the city’s budget issues are caused by the need to fully fund the pension, the cost of which will jump by $50 million annually next year, and a sustained reduction in state shared revenue, a loss of more than $100 million annually versus 2003. He was the council representative on a task force that studied potential solutions to the issue in 2021.

The alderman will gain a significant raise by making the jump from the council to the administration. Yaccarino was paid $141,748 in 2020, the last year for which figures were published. Kovac made the standard council member rate of $77,614.

District 3 Map