New Budget Director Faces Pushback in Second Hearing

Acting Budget Director Nick Sinram (left) alongside County Executive David Crowley at confirmation hearing on June 11, 2026. Screenshot from county meeting livestream.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley‘s choice to lead the county budget office faced pushback from Milwaukee County Supervisors on the board’s powerful Committee on Finance.

Crowley tapped Nick Sinram, most recently the Milwaukee Public Schools budget director, to lead the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance.

He would replace Joe Lamers, a well-regarded county technocrat who left the office to run the county’s Department of Transportation (MCDOT) following last year’s transit budget scandal, which led to resignations at MCDOT and the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS).

Sinram comes to the county with the stink of another government’s budget scandal still on him, at least as far as some supervisors are concerned.

He sailed through his first confirmation hearing with unanimous backing from the board’s Committee on Health Equity, Human Needs and Strategic Planning. But at the Committee on Finance on Thursday, supervisors Justin Bielinski and Steve Taylor voted against his confirmation.

“I’ve met with the interim director, I think he’s a very likable individual,” Taylor said, “but my total lack of trust in MPS, it’s just at this level, I just look at it as a complete failure, and if I was you, I’d run from it, too.”

Sinram is a graduate of Marquette University Law School. He has worked in the state’s Workers’ Compensation Division, the city of Milwaukee’s Budget and Management Division and the City Attorney’s Office. He became director of the MPS Department of Financial Planning and Budget Services in 2023 and was with the district through a financial scandal precipitated by missed financial reporting deadlines that endangered state funding and then a $46 million budget deficit.

He has the county executive’s full support. Crowley showed up to his first hearing before the board to personally advocate for his confirmation. Crowley said he picked Sinram in part because of his experience with MPS, not despite it.

“I selected Nick for this role because I’ve seen firsthand how his experience has prepared him to lead through exactly the kind of fiscal challenges Milwaukee County faces today, and as we look ahead to this budget cycle and beyond, we know difficult decisions will need to be made,” Crowley said.

Sinram has found support from other board members, including Sup. Felesia Martin, who joked that she wondered whether Sinram liked “torture” after reviewing his resume. Sup. Shawn Rolland explained during his first confirmation hearing that he was initially skeptical, but that Sinram’s strong references won him over, particularly one from the former superintendent of Waukesha’s schools, who explained that Sinram’s position did not have authority over the functions of MPS that were the proximate cause of the missed deadlines and the budget deficit.

Sup. Willie Johnson Jr. supported Sinram’s confirmation at the Finance Committee, even making the motion to approve him. Johnson Jr. said he was encouraged by the comments from county officials who have worked with Sinram since he started at the office on an interim basis, pending his confirmation.

Isaac Rowlett, the county’s strategy director, said Sinram impressed him, that he’s “one of the most intellectually curious people that I’ve encountered in my time in public service.” Rowlett has served in the budget director role on an interim basis.

“What distinguishes Nick, in my opinion, is the way that he listens, and I think each of you on the committee have had an opportunity to witness this and experience this yourself, as he’s taken the time to meet with every single member of the board,” Rowlett said.

Bielinski questioned Sinram’s references, though, as well as the administration’s interpretation of Sinram’s tenure at MPS.

“I don’t see the current superintendent or anyone from the city attorney’s office or anyone from the mayor’s administration at the city where you worked previously,” Bielinski said. “I understand you know you worked under a city attorney at the time who had his own scandals going on, so I understand why you wouldn’t necessarily want his name on there.”

Sinram said he chose his “strongest references” and “references that I felt were familiar with my work, and especially my most recent work, and in the most progressive of responsibilities.”

But why did he leave MPS when the district is still struggling with financial challenges, Bielinski wanted to know. “Why, from your perspective, why not stay there to see the work through to get over that hump and get the house back in order? Why choose to leave in the middle of that process?”

Sinram said the county job was too enticing to pass up.

“Frankly, this was too exciting of an opportunity,” he said. “It was a promotional opportunity. It worked well for myself and my family, and while I believe very strongly in the mission of public education, I feel more at home providing municipal and county services, so it’s just too exciting to have an opportunity to turn down.”

Employing a baseball analogy, Bielinski wondered whether the county had chosen wisely. “You don’t get off the island by running out hard grounders; you get there by hitting home runs,” he said, adding that the county needs a superstar in the budget office. He told Sinram he would feel more comfortable if he was coming to the county having fixed the problems at MPS, “because we’re in such a mess at the county right now.”

County policymakers had to close a $47 million budget deficit in 2026. In May, the Office of the Comptroller reported the county is projected to face a $50.9 million budget deficit in 2027 and, by 2031, a $168.7 million deficit. MCTS is preparing for a second year of significant budget cuts amid a projected $15.7 million deficit in 2027.

The Committee on Finance approved Sinram’s appointment 5-2, with supervisors Rolland, Johnson Jr., Martin, Juan Miguel Martinez and Anne O’Connor voting to approve his confirmation, and Taylor and Bielinski voting against.

Full confirmation will require a majority vote by the county board at its next meeting.