Dodd Takes Job At Charter School, Six Running To Replace Her

Former alderwoman Nikiya Dodd is now the development director for Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy (HFCA), a charter school that is constructing a new building in Bronzeville. Six candidates have filed to run for her prior job, the 5th District representative on the Milwaukee Common Council.

Dodd was on the council until Nov. 25, when she resigned after missing nearly every meeting for two months. “I have had a great run. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served. I am thankful for my constituency for entrusting me,” said Dodd in remarks at the end of the Nov. 22 council meeting. “I can truly say that I have given my all and this is my last run. You will not see me coming back.” She also previously served in the Wisconsin State Senate and Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

She refused to answer questions about where she was going at the time. “You guys have all the information I’ve provided,” said Dodd, who was first elected in a 2018 special election.

The former politician is now the chief fundraiser for a 19-year-old charter school with big plans. HFCA started construction in November on a four-story high school at 2212-2228 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. That building is intended to house 500 students. The school will redevelop its current home, a one-story, largely-windowless building at 4030 N. 29th St., into a new middle school. A $25 million capital campaign is underway and HFCA reports, as of the November groundbreaking, having raised $19.6 million.

HFCA, according to a public database, had 312 students in the 2020-2021 school year. The new high school would have the capacity for up to 500 students, with the middle school designed as a feeder school for 325 students. The school, which launched as a private voucher school, is named for former Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Howard Fuller, a civil rights leader who later became a voucher advocate.

The school’s charter is issued by the Milwaukee Common Council. Dodd abstained from voting on the renewal of all of the city-issued charters shortly before resigning.

Council Candidates

Dodd’s replacement will be chosen by voters in April from a field of at least six candidates.

Currently registered to run are retired assistant police chief Ray Banks, former school board member Jeff Spence, retired police officer P. Thomas Thadison III, entrepreneur Lamont Westmoreland and two candidates, Walt Love and Annette Jackson, registered to run in two of the council special elections.

Candidates have until Jan. 3 to file the necessary paperwork to appear on the ballot. A primary to narrow the field to two will be held Feb. 21, with the general election on April 4. The winner would need to run for re-election to a four-year term in the normally scheduled election in spring 2024.

The generally-rectangular 5th District is located on the city’s northwest side along the city’s western border. It runs from N. Bradley Rd. south to W. Center St. Its eastern border, south of W. Hampton Ave., is N. 76th St. before following N. Appleton Ave. north. A winding western border is shared with Wauwatosa, before a straight line at N. 124th St. divides it, and the city, from Waukesha County. It includes the Timmerman West, Mount Mary, Nash Park, Kops Park, Golden Valley, Lindsay Park, Grantosa and Arlington Gardens neighborhoods. Mount Mary University and Timmerman Airport are located in the district.

The LRB report says 46.1% of district residents identify as Black, 39% white, 6.5% Asian and 5.7% Hispanic.

The seat was previously held by Jim Bohl, who resigned to take a job in Tom Barrett‘s administration, served as chief of staff to Mayor Cavalier Johnson and now recently took a job as the head of the city’s Intergovernmental Relations Division.

The position pays $73,222 annually. Two other council seats are also subject to special elections, the 1st and 9th districts.

School Renderings