Mayor Nominates Kevin Muhs To Serve As City Engineer

Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced the nomination of a new City Engineer Friday to work alongside the Commissioner of Public Works.

Johnson is nominating Kevin Muhs, the current head of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), to be the city’s top engineer.

Muhs’ nomination comes after the current engineer, Jerrel Kruschke, was nominated on Sept. 1 to become the new commissioner. Both jobs are cabinet posts subject to Common Council confirmation.

The latest nomination breaks with a now longstanding custom of promoting from within for the role. The three most recent city engineers, dating back to 2000, were all promoted from within the Department of Public Works (DPW).

“I am looking forward to the new ideas and approaches Kevin will bring to the job of City Engineer.  He is ready to serve our city with improved roadways that serve drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.  And, he’s committed to better infrastructure from street lighting to sewers,” Johnson said in a statement announcing the nomination. “I encourage members of the Common Council to act favorably on his nomination.”

While the commissioner oversees all of DPW’s $247 million budget, four divisions and 1,674 authorized positions, the City Engineer is responsible for leading the Infrastructure Services Division, which employs more than 800 people. The division is responsible for everything from planning new bridges to filling potholes.

The city engineer is also the de facto leader of the city’s effort to combat reckless driving through engineering. The position oversees the design and implementation of street reconstruction projects. Johnson, in his first act as mayor, declared reckless driving a public safety crisis.

Muhs, 35, earned a civil engineering degree from Marquette University in 2010 and a master’s of science in transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2012. Since then he has steadily climbed the ranks at SEWRPC starting as a planner, becoming deputy director in 2017 and executive director in 2019.

In his current role, Muhs has become familiar with many of Milwaukee’s transportation projects. SEWRPC is the federally-designated metropolitan planning organization responsible for coordinating planning efforts across Milwaukee, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha counties. The commission is guided by appointees from each county.

The city engineer was to be paid $118,261 this year, according to the 2022 city budget. SEWRPC has an $8.5 million budget, funded by contributions from each of the seven counties as well as federal and state aid. Muhs is a resident of the City of Glendale currently.