Common Ground Opposes Mayor’s Housing Authority Nominee

Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson has two pending nominations that would fill the board of the troubled Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee for the first time in years. However, one of the nominees is facing opposition from Common Ground Southeastern Wisconsin, a coalition of HACM residents and community members, because of the public housing they live in.

On Feb. 19, Johnson nominated Lamont Davis, head of the Milwaukee Community Land Trust, and Ramona Ramos, a HACM resident and Alverno College career and internship coach. In nominating Ramos, Johnson would fulfill a statutory obligation for the board to consist of two housing authority residents.

Ramos lives in a stand-alone house on the city’s South Side, a scattered-site HACM property. Jackie Burrell, the existing HACM resident on the board, lives in the redeveloped Westlawn complex.

“Thousands of tenants are seniors in low-income towers. It is fair, right, and advantageous for the second tenant commissioner to be from public housing. HACM will be better positioned to listen, identify issues, balance diverse perspectives, and rebuild trust,” said Common Ground in a letter signed by more than 300 people asking for other HACM resident board member to come from one of the larger housing developments that are alleged to be plagued with issues. “Low-income seniors in public housing deserve to have a real seat at the table. We deserve to choose who represents us. For you, this might be about politics and power. For us, it is about our homes and wellbeing. Please listen to us.”

The federal government has labeled the agency as “troubled” and subjected it to multiple corrective action and recovery plans. An almost entirely new board was installed late last year and new executive leadership soon followed. The new CFO revealed in January that he had found more than $2 million in illegal funds transfers between programs, which explained the inability to get a clean 2022 audit, a key issue for federal regulators. Last week, City Comptroller Bill Christianson determined HACM owes the city $4.1 million, in addition to the $1 million it owes that the new CFO of HACM, Brad Leak, has already publicly identified.

Leak praised Common Ground in January for pushing for improvements at the agency. But Johnson, in a press briefing last year, has called the group “Trumpian.”

“As HACM residents and Common Ground members, we are disappointed that you are still refusing to listen to tenants and did not nominate any of the highly-qualified candidates we recommended to you for the outstanding tenant seat on the HACM Board,” wrote Common Ground to Johnson.

Common Ground recommended Johnson select Convent Hill resident Betty Newton or other HACM residents William Harrell, Vivian Jones and Felicia Shoates. In a list of candidates previously produced, it had recommended Johnson select Burrell, who was later nominated.

The last time Johnson nominated a slate of candidates, the Common Council delayed acting in order to perform what it said was due diligence. One nominee up for a second term, Brooke VandeBerg, dropped out during the multi-month wait. Common Ground backed the new members that were ultimately added to the board

A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of residents of the College Court complex with the support of Common Ground is poised to be resolved with a “third-party expert” that would define and oversee a bedbug remediation plan.

A new Secretary-Executive Director of HACM is not expected to be hired until later this year. Willie Hines, Jr., who Johnson defended for months, retired late in 2024 after stating in September: “I do not anticipate resigning and nor do I anticipate retirement. I have many working years ahead of me.”

Ramos has worked in nonprofit and goverment roles for more than two decades. Prior to her Alverno role she was director of strategic partnerships at Public Allies Wisconsin and spent more than a decade as an income maintenance specialist advocate at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. A resume says she holds a master’s degree in public administration from Upper Iowa University.

Davis is the executive director of the Milwaukee Community Land Trust, which creates “forever affordable” housing through a split ownership model where a house is sold but the underlying land remains controlled by the nonprofit. He also serves as CEO of KLD Construction Management Services. He previously worked as a program director with Community First on housing related issues.

Common Ground’s letter does not mention either candidate by name, nor dispute their credentials.

“We want tenants living in public housing (Section 9) to be represented on the HACM Board. Section 9 housing in Milwaukee is in aging highrises that are long overdue for renovation. The tenants in these buildings are predominantly low-income seniors and people with disabilities living on government support. These residents live in highly-communal environments which present unique opportunities and challenges,” says the letter.

HACM provides housing to more than 10,000 households through a mixture of properties it owns and issuing federally-funded vouchers to live in private housing.

Common Ground launched its campaign in March.

The Common Council must confirm any HACM board members. Board members serve five-year, unpaid terms.

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