Open Letter to Mayor Johnson – Why Are You Protecting Willie Hines?

Mayor Johnson, why do you continue to protect Willie Hines, the Executive Director of HACM? For over a year we have been publicly asking for help with bed bugs, rats, black mold, abusive managers, rent mismanagement, and crime in our buildings. We have told our stories. We have shown videos. We have compiled reports. Yet you have done nothing to help us. Instead, you have stood by Hines while he has driven HACM—and our quality of life—into the ground.

You seem to know that Hines is a problem, Mr. Mayor. You used to say HACM is “headed in the right direction” and you have “confidence in the agency’s leadership.” But now you’re getting Hines yet another consultant. Why hire another expensive consultant if Hines is so effective? Why continue to protect Hines?

Here’s one theory. Maybe you’re letting him stay until he can max out his pension?

Hines is eligible to receive his City of Milwaukee pension once he turns 60 this December. His pension checks will be higher if he waits until March of 2025 to retire, when he’d get approximately $137,000 per year. If he lives until 80, that’d be over 2.7 million taxpayer dollars. That’s a very comfortable retirement.

What about us, 12,000 low-income tenants who are predominantly elderly, Black and Brown, people with disabilities, and veterans? If only we could have comfortable retirements, too! $2.7 million would exterminate the bed bugs at Lapham Park, provide security to stop the drug dealing at Locust Court, address the asbestos at College Court, remove the rats from Hillside, fix the heating system at Victory Manor, and repair the plumbing at Cherry Court. We could go on.

Mr. Mayor, your friend and campaign contributor has mismanaged HACM for the last 25 years. Hines has been at the helm of HACM since 1997—as Board Chair, the #2 staff, and now the #1! From the beginning, federal officials warned that he “does not seem to possess the requisite qualifications.” Under his watch:

• Federal officials found $3 million of missing money and our social security cards piled in hallways, resulting in a forensic audit.

• HACM was forced to outsource its largest program, Section 8 rent assistance—the program he was responsible for as Associate Director 2015-2022.

• Federal officials gave HACM a score of zero out of 25 for “Financial Management.”

• Properties have enormous crime rates with thousands of police calls.

• We residents have suffered emotionally and physically for years.

Despite these problems, the HACM Board has never conducted a Performance Review of Hines’ work. In fact, his incompetence has been rewarded. He has gotten promotions, received raises, and is now paid $252,000/year. Why is that?

You say that problems at HACM aren’t simple. We agree—hence why we successfully promoted reforms like Department of Neighborhood Services oversight and Milwaukee Police Department nuisance authority, among others. HACM needs a new culture, organizational-wide staff evaluations, new hires, improved training and supervision, internal control systems guarding against fraud, social workers, and more. However, none of that important work can happen without competent senior leadership.

Ironically, it is you who has not proposed any solutions.

• 20 months ago you were the only Milwaukee official who learned of fraud within HACM. You did nothing in response.

• 16 months ago we went public about our concerns with over 1,007 people in attendance. You did nothing.

• In January 2024, you did nothing HACM was mandated to outsource its largest program due to mismanagement, and your office downplayed it.

• In April, you declined an invitation from College Court residents to tour their building.

• You get angry with journalists who ask you hard questions about HACM.

• You didn’t fill critical vacancies on HACM’s Board for 17, 14, and 9 months, respectively, until we pressured you to.

• You have done nothing in response to the HACM Board dodging us for over 6 months, while two of the four members are your nominees.

• You re-nominated Brooke VandeBerg, who for six years has done nothing about the scandals and fraud that has occurred on her watch.

We are tired of waiting. The Hmong resident on the eighth floor of Locust Court who was just beaten, robbed, and hospitalized because of ongoing security failures cannot wait. The disabled College Court resident who pays rent but cannot live in her bed bug-infested apartment cannot wait. The mother and her infant daughter at Hillside living in an unairconditioned apartment with windows that don’t work, cannot wait.

What could be worth our suffering under Hines’ incompetence, Mr. Mayor? Are you choosing his retirement check over our wellbeing? We understand the Board has the official power to hire/fire the Director, but everyone looks to you as the leader of our City.

It’s long past time for change. We have called for new leadership. The President of the Common Council, José Pérez, has called for new leadership. We need a national search for a qualified, caring director who will put us first.

Mr. Mayor, we deserve better. Milwaukee deserves better. It may be hard to remove your friend and disrupt his retirement plans, but it needs to be done.

Sincerely,

HACM Tenants from all across Milwaukee

Derek Abdullah

Torean Adams

Ruthie Adams

Michelle Aldrige

Gregory Allen

Yolanda Anderson

Gidget Aranda

Darrell Ardd

Darlene Arnold

Gill Bailey

Horstine Bailey

Rhonda Baker

Michael Ball

Berta Bankhead

Effie Bay

Kasie Beasch

Jeffrey Beeman

Andre Began

Charlene Bell

Lavette Bell

Harlana Biami

Nicole Binns

John Birt

Lakeisha Bowers

Erma Bowie

William Boyd

George Brown

Kylie Burk

Seyenoh Bzayh

Daiveon C.

Mickey Cartagen

Dorothy Chalmers

Anita Collins

Joyce Collins

Crissy Cooper

Ana Cordero

Carmen Cruz

Rebecca Davis

Gregory Davis

Laura Davis

Nancy Delatorre

Michelle DePruest

Tommy Dmanuel

Vanessa Dodd

Willie Driakwater

Sandra Eagle

Michael Edwards

Harriet Estes Eiland

Gary Estraytorn

Jacqueline Exum

Darryl Ferguson

Joyce Fleming

Patricia Ford

Gloria Fortune

Shirley Frazier

Raven Gaddis

Gabriela Galarza

Kimberly Garner

Alton Garrett

Kean Gibson

Kelly Gibson

Linda Gilmer

Clifton Glover

Harold Glover

Henry Goodlow

Cynthia Gordon

Frederick Grace

Geneva Gray

Lyneisha Grover

Marilyn Guirau

Robert Hacker

Darren Hale

Mary Hall

Michael Hallett

Shawn Hampton

Jackie Harmon

William Harrell

Milton Harris

Tiffany Harvis

Gerald Heard

Savannah Heart-Scott

Marsha Hollie

Carmella Holloway

Earnestine Hurns

Kurt Hyneman

Tyreilla Jackson

Stuart James

Earniece Jamison

Michelle Johnson

Anita Johnson

Elnora Johnson

Shirley Johnson

Zelda Jones

Sedona Jones

Molly Jones

Barbara Jones

Eddie Jones

Steve Junior

Lakeeda Keeler

Teri King

Mike King

Catherine King

Candice Kleba

Diane Lee

Ollie Lewis

Chris Logan

Floripe Loubriel

Doreen Lundgren

John Marshall

Roshonda Matthews

Lucy McBeath

Abraham McKinney

Monique McNeal

Debra McQueen

Lenore Meeks

Dale Meisner

David Merrwether

Larry Miller

D. Miller

Sonda Miller

Leroy Miller

Shayla Milligan

Martinez Milton

Teddi Minor

Cynthia Mitchell

Marion Moore

Joe Morgan

Carmen Morocho

Carolin Mullins

Rachel Muñoz

Vicki Nash

Sylvia Neal

Tina Neal

Henrietta Nelson

Betty Newton

Denise Neylon

Juan Ortiz

Jimmy Outlaw

Ouida Parish

Frank Parrish

Katrina Parsons

Brenda Payne

Esidro Perez

Joseph Pinto

Shavonne Pope

José R.

Rhonda Reid

Frisco Richardson

Florence Riley

Ronnie Ringold

Ana Rosa

Luis Rosado

Shariz Sabbah

Dorothy Safford

Cornelius Sawyer

Scott Schuetz

Josephine Shillcutt

Felicia Shoates

Nicole Smith

Lela Smith

Marcus Smith

Cynthia Spencer

John Stephens

Gary Strayhorn

Josephine Stuart Ramos

Karen Swift

Kesha Tate

Keisha Tate

Robin Townsend

Amanda Trepanier

Tinameri Turner

Barb Valley

Jóse Velazquez

Luz Velazquez

Jeffrey Walker

Lisa Ware

Alwiller Washington

Brian Watson

Capri Wilder

Jocelyn Wilder

Rev. Ray Wilder

Waymetta Wilkerson

Willie Williams

Mary Williams

Earlene Wilson

Leroy Wilson

Isaac Wilson

Sandrine Winters

OD Wood

Rickey Wright

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.