Fight At City Hall Over Control of Board of Zoning Appeals

Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The future of an often-sleepy city board has become a hot topic at Milwaukee City Hall.

Through a budget amendment, the Milwaukee Common Council blocked Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s attempt to place the citizen-led Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) under the administrative control of the Department of Administration (DOA) and its director Preston Cole. It’s also holding the mayor’s choice of a new chair and the reappointment of another member.

Council members insist it’s not personal and instead about the independence of the board.

“It just needs a strong chair and a strong secretary,” said Common Council President José G. Pérez in introducing his budget amendment on Oct. 26. “The fix for it isn’t moving it to a department.”

BOZA is responsible for deciding whether a fence may exceed the maximum allowed height, a child care center should be allowed in a residential neighborhood or a drug treatment clinic on a commercial street. The part-time board, supported by a small full-time staff, meets monthly for what is a several-hour-long meeting with many public hearings. Concerns over a backlog of appeals percolated through City Hall in recent years.

“Unfortunately, there was two people that didn’t function well with each other, which was the secretary and the chair,” said Pérez of Jeffrey Thomas, who has since left city employment, and Roy B. Evans, who is not being reappointed by Johnson.

Cole and temporary secretary Peter Laritson were credited by Pérez and others with restoring BOZA, but council members sided with Pérez on concerns about “undue influence.” Cole attempted to compromise by offering legislation that an assistant city attorney, who already supports the board, report any time a conflict of interest arises. However, the council unanimously adopted the president’s amendment that would leave BOZA as an independent entity. Johnson could still veto the measure.

Council members, however, want to have their own influence.

Lamont Westmoreland, Russell W. Stamper, II and Robert Bauman have led the call for the board members to be more responsive to council members’ views. The council is attempting to extract that influence by holding up the reappointments of Eric Lowenberg, an attorney whom Johnson is appointing chair, and landscape architect Jennifer Current.

Both Lowenberg and Current, during their reappointment hearings, have said council testimony is one factor they weigh among several others. Lowenberg also suggested Cole is providing administrative support, not trying to run the board. “If I didn’t think there was going to be autonomy, I probably wouldn’t be interested in continuing or at least elevating my role,” said Lowenberg. “If this is some kind of covert takeover, I don’t believe that’s acceptable, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.” The chair is paid $35,000 per year to direct the staff, including the non-voting secretary. Board members are paid $4,200 annually.

Cole, during the debate over the budget amendment, said he couldn’t promise his department would continue to support BOZA without it being in his department. He also said Laritson would return to his prior role with the Department of Neighborhood Services, which got the attention of several council members. “It’s kind of like taking your toys and going home,” said Ald. Michael Murphy.

“We gave you kudos for bringing over a good manager,” said Ald. Mark Chambers, Jr. “But the only way you will keep that manager is if he’s in DOA or nothing else?”

“Correct,” said Cole.

But later in the debate on Oct. 26, Cole said even if Laritson wanted to stay he would need to apply for the job. Come budget adoption day on Nov. 3, without debating the measure, the council unanimously adopted the amendment to keep BOZA out of the Department of Administration.

Both Lowenberg and Current continue to serve on the board while their reappointments are pending. The council, on Oct. 31, did approve Johnson’s two new appointments. Marjorie Rucker, an attorney who leads The Business Council, was confirmed to replace Jewel Currie. Former alderman Terry Witkowski was confirmed to replace Evans.

The other existing members of BOZA are vice chair Henry Szymanski and alternate member Lindsey St. Arnold Bell. Clifton Crump, a former BOZA secretary, was appointed as an alternate member in June 2022, but resigned in May.

The council, which adopted an amendment budget last Friday, endorsed other requests that will increase Cole’s authority and expand the Department of Administration. It granted a $145,000-per-year deputy director role to handle more day-to-day administration while Cole assumes a role, similar to deputy mayors in other cities, focused on solving big-picture issues. It also approved the relocation of the Office of Violence Prevention to the department, away from the Milwaukee Health Department, and its reconfiguration as the Office of Community Wellness and Safety.

“My responsibility is to lead and move barriers out of my employees’ way,” said Cole in May when the Finance & Personnel Committee first reviewed the larger reorganization proposal. Cole said the deputy role is necessary given the increased number of projects being handled by DOA as it shifts away from being an internal services agency. “We need to move at lightning speed to solve myriad problems.”