As SDC Falters, City of Milwaukee Becomes Latest To Walk Away

The city of Milwaukee withdrew Commissioner Jackie Q. Carter (right) from the Social Development Commission board on Friday. Pam Fendt (center) was withdrawn from the SDC board by her appointee, United Way of Greater & Waukesha County, on Oct. 13. (Photo by Meredith Melland)

The City of Milwaukee has withdrawn its support from the Social Development Commission, making it the fourth governing group to do so recently.

On Friday, the city removed its appointed commissioner, Jackie Q. Carter, from the SDC board, according to mayoral spokesperson Jeff Fleming.

In an Oct.  23 letter, the mayor’s chief of staff, Nick DeSiato, explained that while the city values community services and appreciates those trying to fix the SDC’s problems, it still decided to pull its support.

“The City has concluded that there is not currently a clear and credible path for SDC to recover its operational capacity, secure the resources necessary to restore meaningful services, and resume sustained service delivery to the community,” DeSiato wrote.

The letter from DeSiato cites city concerns about the consistency of the SDC board’s governance processes, transparency and documentation of actions, and “the separation of Board oversight and executive-management responsibilities.”

“Collectively, these issues affect confidence in the Commission’s ability to provide effective and accountable organizational leadership,” he wrote.

SDC provided social services for decades as Milwaukee County’s anti-poverty agency before halting operations amid financial turmoil two years ago. The board has continued to meet regularly, electing a chairperson, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer during a chaotic meeting on Sept. 23. SDC leadership held a press conference on Oct. 13 to outline how the organization could move forward.

NNS reached out to Carter and Jorge Franco, chair of the SDC board and interim CEO, for comment but did not get responses.

Board loses more members

The city’s decision comes a week after Commissioner Michael Harris resigned from the SDC board on Oct. 15. Harris was appointed to the board by Milwaukee Public Schools.

Earlier that week, United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County sent a letter to SDC leadership informing them that its appointee, Commissioner Pam Fendt, would be exiting the board. Commissioner Richard Diaz, the appointee for the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, also resigned from the SDC board that week. Fendt serves as president of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council.

In letters to board leadership, Milwaukee Public Schools and United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County indicated that they do not plan to fill the seats on the board, as did Milwaukee Area Labor Council in a press statement from Fendt.

DeSiato’s letter said the decision to withdraw Carter reflects the city’s view that “continued participation by its appointee is not appropriate under the current circumstances” and is not to diminish the significance of community needs historically addressed by SDC.

At the press conference on Oct. 13, Franco said he was not concerned about appointing agencies like United Way not filling seats.

The board’s remaining five commissioners include Franco, Spencer Coggs, Peter Fetzer, Walter Lanier and Michael Rogers.

Carter’s time on board

Jackie Q. Carter, third from left, attends an SDC board meeting at Port Milwaukee on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (Photo by Joe Timmerman/Wisconsin Watch)

Carter is director for the Department of Employee Relations at the city and previously served as port director of Port Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Common Council approved her appointment by the mayor to the SDC board in 2024.

When asked in late September about the future of SDC, Carter said that her understanding was that the organization was sorting through and weighing the pros and cons of all options to move forward.

“I am uncertain about the future of SDC,” she said. “While I would love to see the organization restore services to the community, it is difficult to envision doing so in the face of the current realities.”

Weeds grow in the parking lot of the SDC building located at 6850 N. Teutonia Ave. on Tuesday, July 7. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.