Not Fired, At Least Yet. Board Keeps Discussing Marty Brooks’ Future

Marty Brooks at the 2024 opening of the Baird Center. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Wisconsin Center District board met for approximately one hour behind closed doors Tuesday to continue discussions surrounding CEO Marty Brooks, but emerged without taking any public action or offering clarity on what comes next.

But multiple sources expect the issue to be resolved in the next couple of weeks, with Brooks leaving the district that operates the Baird Center, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre.

The 17-member board’s latest closed session, its fourth about Brooks, was noticed under a litigation-related exemption to Wisconsin’s open meetings law, a notable shift from earlier meetings that cited personnel and employee performance exemptions. The board adjourned immediately afterward without reconvening in open session.

Brooks’ latest contract, signed in 2025, is said to be a sticking point in a possible termination.

If terminated for cause, including dishonesty, misrepresentation or fraud, Brooks is to be given 30 days notice and not owed a severance package. But if terminated for convenience, Brooks is owed six months severance.

The three-year deal tops out at a $445,000 base salary, with Brooks eligible for several bonuses, a car allowance, retention award and market adjustment award.

Some of the matters the board is discussing stem from before the new contract was entered into. But the biggest issue remains Brooks using his authority to enter a $145,000 study last spring that recommended a convention center hotel. Brooks said the outcome was not predetermined, but multiple board members have publicly challenged that.

During a May 15 meeting, downtown Alderman Robert Bauman called the report “a waste of money” and criticized Brooks for authorizing it without a board vote. Board member Grady Crosby said the study was “kind of thrust upon us,” while Marcus Corp. CEO Greg Marcus said, “What I asked for was a strategic plan, not a hotel pitch.”

On Tuesday, several board members declined to comment following the meeting.

Board member Liz Sumner, Milwaukee County’s comptroller, said there would be another closed session meeting, but said she didn’t know when.

A district spokesperson said the board met in closed session and Brooks remains the CEO. “It sounds like this is a fluid situation,” said the spokesperson.

Brooks first became embroiled in controversy after Common Council President José G. Pérez, who serves on the WCD board, filed a police report alleging Brooks pinched his buttocks at a November fundraiser. Brooks denied the allegation, and the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges, saying prosecutors did not believe they could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Brooks, 69, has led the Wisconsin Center District since 2018 and oversaw the completion of the district’s $456 million convention center expansion, which opened in 2024.

The district is funded by a sales tax, rental car tax and hotel taxes.

Brooks was not present at Tuesday’s meeting.

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