A new era begins for the Common Council, and for Milwaukee

Tuesday, April 4 was a historic day for the Common Council, and for the City of Milwaukee. The Spring General Election included three special aldermanic elections to help fill vacancies on the Council, and I would like to congratulate the newly-elected alderpersons: Andrea Pratt (District 1), Lamont Westmoreland (District 5), and Larresa Taylor (District 9).

With these three seats now filled, it means that the City will have a full strength Council for the first time in almost a year, and tens of thousands of residents will now have representation. When the vacancy time for the three districts is added up, it comes to a total of more than 18 months!

According to the City Clerk, there has not been this (high) number of simultaneous vacancies on the Council in the modern era.

During those 18 months, other members of the Common Council stepped up to serve on committees and to make sure the business of the Council – and that of the residents of the City – was handled in a timely manner. I want to thank all of my colleagues who have done extra work with committee assignments and for helping in other districts while we’ve had these vacancies.

Additionally, I would like to extend my deep thanks to the staff of the Common Council – City Clerk’s Office for their great work in handling constituent calls, emails, questions, and complaints during this busy period.

There will be a ceremonial swearing in for our new members on April 18 as part of a full Common Council meeting, and I am excited that also on April 18 we will have an official Council portrait photo taken for the first time in several years.

After the meeting on April 18, I will announce my decisions for new committee assignments.

I look forward to continue leading the new full Council and expect that we will have a productive and consequential remainder of the 2020-2024 term.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.