Tearman Spencer announces candidacy for Milwaukee City Attorney

MILWAUKEE–Tearman Spencer, an attorney and engineer, born and raised in Milwaukee, today announced his candidacy for Milwaukee City Attorney.

“I’m a strong leader, an engineer who understands details, a successful lawyer, and I care about this community,” said Spencer. “It’s time to reinvigorate the Milwaukee City Attorney’s office.”

Spencer indicated his priorities would include working with the Police Department, Mayor, and Common Council in a proactive way to develop policies and protocols that will result in better police-community relations, lower the risk of injury and death, and reduce city payouts. A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis noted that the city has paid out $23 million in claims for police misconduct in the last five years.

“The city attorney’s office should be more proactive in helping the police protect and serve, not just avoid liability,” said Spencer. “We should be preventing problems, not just avoiding responsibility. By more consistently partnering with stakeholders throughout the city, we can make the city stronger and have better outcomes.

“I’m a progressive, and I am going to make this important office more clearly an office concerned with justice,” said Spencer. “We can better engage with business, to actually help entrepreneurs. We can work together with immigrant communities and the Milwaukee Public Schools, rather than pick political fights. It’s time to have a positive vision of how the city can do better.”

After attending Milwaukee Public Schools, Spencer earned an engineering degree from the University of Southern California and became an award-winning safety engineer, focusing on transportation infrastructure including dams, bridges, tunnels, and rail and aviation systems. Spencer was then diagnosed with a degenerative condition that confined him to a wheelchair, and while striving to recover, earned a Masters in Business Administration from Golden Gate University. He learned to walk again, and then later received a Juris Doctor (law degree) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Spencer returned to Milwaukee and currently operates a successful national law practice, handling real estate and business cases, and protecting individuals against big banks. More recently, he has focused on defending the rights of consumers, winning millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for his clients.

“I’m ready to put my experience to work for my fellow residents of the City of Milwaukee,” said Spencer. “The City Attorney’s office should improve customer service, because we citizens are not just a revenue source for the city, we are also the constituents who should be served. By being a strong partner with the Common Council and the Mayor’s office and city departments, we can make city services better.”

The City Attorney’s office represents the City of Milwaukee in litigation, and provides legal advice and opinions to city officials. The office prepares and reviews City resolutions and ordinances, drafts contracts and other legal documents, and prosecutes violations of City ordinances in Municipal Court. It is one of the city’s largest law firms.

Spencer for Milwaukee

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.