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:
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Federal officials found $3 million of missing money and our social security cards piled in hallways, resulting in a forensic audit.
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HACM was forced to outsource its largest program, Section 8 rent assistance—the program he was responsible for as Associate Director 2015-2022.
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Federal officials gave HACM a score of zero out of 25 for “Financial Management.”
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Properties have enormous crime rates with thousands of police calls.
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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.
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20 months ago you were the only Milwaukee official who learned of fraud within HACM. You did nothing in response.
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16 months ago we went public about our concerns with over 1,007 people in attendance. You did nothing.
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In January 2024, you did nothing HACM was mandated to outsource its largest program due to mismanagement, and your office downplayed it.
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In April, you declined an invitation from College Court residents to tour their building.
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You get angry with journalists who ask you hard questions about HACM.
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You didn’t fill critical vacancies on HACM’s Board for 17, 14, and 9 months, respectively, until we pressured you to.
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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.
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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 G. 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
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
Milton Harris
Tiffany Harvis
Gerald Heard
Savannah Heart-Scott
Marsha Hollie
Carmella Holloway
Earnestine Hurns
Kurt Hyneman
Tyreilla Jackson
Stuart James
Earniece Jamison
Elnora 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
Floripe Loubriel
Doreen Lundgren
John Marshall
Roshonda Matthews
Lucy McBeath
Abraham McKinney
Monique McNeal
Lenore Meeks
Dale Meisner
David Merrwether
Larry Miller
D. Miller
Sonda Miller
Shayla Milligan
Teddi Minor
Cynthia Mitchell
Marion Moore
Joe Morgan
Carmen Morocho
Carolin Mullins
Rachel Muñoz
Vicki Nash
Sylvia Neal
Tina Neal
Henrietta Nelson
Denise Neylon
Jimmy Outlaw
Ouida Parish
Frank Parrish
Katrina Parsons
Brenda Payne
Esidro Perez
Joseph Pinto
Shavonne Pope
José R.
Frisco Richardson
Florence Riley
Ronnie Ringold
Ana Rosa
Luis Rosado
Shariz Sabbah
Dorothy Safford
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.
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- Federal Officials Will Meet With Mayor, Housing Authority, Residents - Jeramey Jannene - Aug 13th, 2024
- Common Ground To Mayor – ‘Why Are You Protecting Willie Hines?’ - Jeramey Jannene - Aug 1st, 2024
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