Statement from members of the Common Council: JoCasta Zamarripa, Mark Chambers, Jr., Jonathan Brostoff, Robert J. Bauman, Lamont Westmoreland, Mark A. Borkowski, José G. Pérez, Scott Spiker, and Marina Dimitrijevic
Today’s news that Fire and Police Commission (FPC) Chairman Ed Fallone and Vice Chairwoman Amanda Avalos will be resigning effective 12:01 a.m. Friday cannot be interpreted as anything other than a monumental loss for the City of Milwaukee.
Since joining the body, Chairman Fallone and Vice Chairwoman Avalos have helped oversee a period of stability for the FPC. We want to thank them for their service to our community and wish them the best moving forward.
As has been stated time and time again, Wisconsin Act 12 included a number of outrageous provisions aimed specifically at the City of Milwaukee. Among them was removing the FPC’s authority to set policies for the police and fire departments, and transferring that responsibility to each department’s chief. This overreaching provision greatly diluted an important oversight responsibility held by the FPC, and is already causing talented, thoughtful individuals to leave their posts, in the end hurting the citizens of Milwaukee the most.
We on the Common Council have opposed these State-mandated provisions at every turn, and will continue to do what we can to right these wrongs.
