Chair of Beleaguered Social Development Commission Resigns

Barbara Toles, chair of the Social Development Commission’s Board of Commissioners, speaks at a board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at Port Milwaukee, 2323 S. Lincoln Memorial Drive. Toles has resigned from the board, according to SDC’s attorney. (Photo by Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)

Barbara Toles, chair of the Social Development Commission’s board, has resigned, SDC attorney William Sulton said Wednesday night.

Toles led the SDC Board of Commissioners for nearly six months in the aftermath of SDC halting operations and laying off its employees in late April.

After the SDC’s closure, she asked the public to be patient with the board as it worked to restore some of the agency’s programs to continue fighting poverty in Milwaukee.

Toles resigned after attending the board’s virtual meeting on Wednesday.

“She is no longer on the board, but did say that she would continue to help out, and I expect that the board will regularly tap her as a resource,” Sulton said.

Sulton said Toles was exhausted from the workload of serving on the board, which increased after the agency went into a crisis and the board tried to find paths forward.

Vincent Bobot, SDC’s interim CEO, who is also a commissioner, said Toles had been committed to leading the board despite being under “a lot of pressure.”

“My opinion is Barbara Toles was the right person at the right time when this happened, and during the course of the ensuing months thereafter,” he said.

Latest in a string of departures

Toles, who was elected to represent SDC District 2 and previously served as vice chair of the board, took over as board chair after former chair Elmer Moore Jr. resigned in May.

Toles’ resignation is the latest in a string of departures from SDC’s Board of Commissioners.

The board now has seven commissioners, compared to 18 commissioners at full capacity.

Terese Caro, the board’s treasurer and appointed member by the Office of the Governor, confirmed via email that her second and final term ended on Oct. 1.

Former commissioner Kimberly Njoroge’s term expired in June, according to Sulton.

The board is without a chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer. It appointed Bobot to serve as interim CEO in September.

“I think that having board leadership is important and the board is going to have to figure that out,” Sulton said.

Toles did not respond to requests for comment.

Toles did not submit a resignation letter, Sulton said.

Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

Barbara Toles steps down from SDC’s Board of Commissioners was originally published by the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.