Smiter Challenges Sup. Martin in District 7

Stacy Smiter (left) and Felesia Martin (right).

In the race for Milwaukee County Board District 7, incumbent supervisor Felesia Martin faces a challenge from second-time political candidate Stacy Smiter.

Smiter is a real estate broker and adjunct instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). He told Urban Milwaukee he’s a lifelong resident of the northwest side and spent his childhood in and out of foster homes before finding himself entangled in the criminal justice system for a series of marijuana possession arrests. In 2023, after earning a bachelor’s degree at Cardinal Stritch University, he received a pardon from Gov. Tony Evers. He went on to finish a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.

Martin, who was first elected to the county board in 2018, is a longtime resident of Sherman Park and spent her career working as a hospital administrator for the Medical College of Wisconsin. She previously served as vice chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

District 7 encompasses a large swath of the northwest side, with its northern boundary at W. Silver Spring Drive and its southern boundary largely along W. Center Street. The irregularly shaped district stretches from N. 35th Street to N. 92nd Street

It is one of only three county board seats with a competitive race this election cycle. Voters in the district will pick their new representative on Tuesday, April 7.

In interviews with Urban Milwaukee, both candidates weighed in on their reasons for running and the most pressing issues county supervisors will have to address.

Why are they running

Martin told Urban Milwaukee she’s running to provide continuity for the district. She said there remains a few major projects still up in the air, including the replacement of the McGovern Park Senior Center, that she wants to see to completion. “Mature and wise leadership is what’s needed at this time,” she said. 

For Smiter, it didn’t matter that Martin is the incumbent; it could have been anybody, he said. The district is not seeing enough results, he said. “I believe that now is the time to have leadership that is present, leadership that delivers results and brings a new perspective to the board,” he said.

McGovern Senior Center

In 2025, the Milwaukee County Board voted down a proposal from County Executive David Crowley‘s administration to rebuild the McGovern Park Senior Center. Martin was a major opponent of the project because it would have involved developing a mixed-use building with a senior center on the first floor and affordable senior housing above. The project would have been led by a private developer, Jewish Family Housing.

Less than two months after the vote, Milwaukee was hit by historic storms and flooding and the senior center basement flooded. A dangerous amount of mold developed and the building was closed. But with significant maintenance needs even before the flood, the administration has decided not to pursue the repairs needed simply to safely reopen the building and prevent future flooding. The new plan is to design a senior center and develop it elsewhere on the northwest side, outside the park. The administration estimates it could take six years to design, fund and build.

Martin told Urban Milwaukee she would not change her vote, even knowing what she knows now. Even if the project had moved forward, residents would have still temporarily lost the center after the flooding, she said.

Her reasons for opposing the project remain the same. She wants to see the project developed outside of the park, and would prefer to see a vacant lot repurposed before housing is built in a park. She also thought the project would have negative environmental and health impacts on nearby residents.

“We need to understand the environmental impact of putting additional housing in that one specific spot there on [W. Custer Ave.] and [N. Sherman Blvd.],” Martin said. “We need to understand what are some of the potential unintended consequences for [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease], asthma and other upper respiratory issues. How does it exacerbate diabetes?”

Smiter told Urban Milwaukee he disagrees with the county’s current strategy for replacing the senior center, and that senior services in McGovern Park would be his “first order of business” if elected. He has a restoration plan, he said, that involves building a new senior center on the existing site. It will likely require the county to reallocate funding from elsewhere in the county budget and to rely on private philanthropic support, he said.

Biggest challenges in the district

Martin said the biggest challenges facing District 7 are transportation, public safety and meeting the needs of seniors.

Smiter said housing instability, a lack of government resources and little economic development.

County Budget

In 2026, county policymakers had to close a $46.7 million budget gap. In future budgets, supervisors will likely be required to make significant cuts to close growing funding gaps.

Martin said the county needs a “comprehensive economic development plan” that will grow the tax base. She said policymakers should try to attract large businesses to the area, especially District 7. “Making it attractive for businesses to want to come and put their headquarters or put one of their hubs here, and make certain that we give them tax breaks, but we’re going to have to start relying on them to pay their fair share of taxes,” she said.

After that, the county needs to lobby the state for greater support. “Madison is the key overall, after shoring up our tax base,” Martin said.

Smiter identified lobbying the state for more aid as a primary solution to the county’s budget woes, saying the county does not receive a fair share of the tax revenue it sends to the state each year. Next, he said, policymakers need to identify wasteful spending he believes is in the county budget: “Seeing where the money is going, how it’s being used.”

“They’re allocating funding for future capital projects down the line, like we’re building brand new courthouses for hundreds of millions of dollars when residents here don’t even have proper housing,” he said.

Transit System Crisis

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is in a financial crisis. The system made the first significant cuts to service in years in 2026 to close an approximately $9 million budget gap. Early projections suggest 2027 will be worse, with a budget gap as large as $20 million. Transit officials are preparing to redesign the system to be sustainable under future budgets with reduced funding.

Martin said the county board needs to “be smart” when it evaluates transit decisions moving forward, making sure “that redesign does not have a negative impact on our most vulnerable communities.”

Smiter said the county needs to focus on greater oversight of the system, including making sure transit funding is used to maintain the most viable bus routes.

Supervisors are elected to two-year terms in nonpartisan elections. The part-time job is paid $32,819.