'No rush for us to hand out a four-year term': When will Milwaukee know if the police chief is getting another term?

Ashley Luthern
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Fire and Police Commission Chairman Steven DeVougas cast the tie-breaking vote in February 2018, choosing then-Capt. Alfonso Morales as interim police chief over Inspector Michael Brunson.

This story was republished on Jan. 5, 2022 to make it free for all readers

If Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales is looking for a speedy end to contract talks with the city, he may have to wait even longer.

A key member of the board that will decide his fate said he sees no need to hurry and take a vote.

"There's no rush for us to hand out a four-year term," Steven DeVougas, chairman of the city's Fire and Police Commission, said Friday, adding: "If a contract expires and he wants to do something else, then it falls to the next person in line."

Criticisms of the reappointment process spilled into public view recently during a Common Council committee hearing, where it became clear DeVougas is the person setting the timetable.

The commission is the civilian oversight board for the city's public safety departments. DeVougas, an attorney, is one of six part-time commissioners, who were nominated by Mayor Tom Barrett and confirmed by the council. 

In October, DeVougas said the commission would vote on reappointment before the end of the year. Now, he says there is no reason to do so.

His reasoning: If the commission does not take action and Morales' term expires Jan. 7, then Morales would remain as chief in "holdover" status until he is reappointed or is replaced. 

The commission's final meeting of the year is 5 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.  The agenda is still being finalized by DeVougas, who said it likely will be released Monday.

“It certainly sounds like they’re not being as transparent as they should be about this important hire," said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.

"People in the community care deeply about who their next police chief will be and they should be facilitating and providing a maximum amount of information on the process."

DeVougas defended his actions, saying he still is waiting for information from the Milwaukee Police Department before calling a vote and could not share details for legal reasons.

"My goal is to do what's best for the citizens of Milwaukee and to operate with as much transparency as I possibly can, given the sensitive nature of what we deal with, and to make sure we maintain our integrity at all times," DeVougas said. 

"If that means I've got to be unpopular, then I'm fine being unpopular."

A contentious meeting

At a council committee meeting last week, the commission took center stage.

The meeting saw city officials shouting at one another, disclosures about possible criminal activity — someone using ex-employees' key cards to get into the commission's City Hall offices after-hours — and police and fire officials sticking up for the commission's executive director, Griselda Aldrete.

As executive director, Aldrete is a member of Barrett's cabinet who runs the commission's day-to-day operations and serves as a key adviser, but does not get a vote. 

Like the commissioners, she was appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council. She is the third executive director in four years.

Griselda Aldrete serves as executive director of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission.

Ald. Milele Coggs pressed Aldrete on residents' complaints about the lack of meeting notice and limits to public comment at the meetings. Aldrete said it was up to the chairman, DeVougas.

“I do not have the authority to cancel meetings. I do not have authority to schedule meetings," she told Coggs. "I also do not have the authority to change the way those meetings are run.”

DeVougas said he canceled the commission's Dec. 4 meeting, which fell the same day as the council committee's contentious hearing with Aldrete.

The commission only had a "consent agenda," which meant no new business to vote on or discuss, he said. 

The commission has had one public meeting about Morales' reappointment at Marquette University on Oct. 30, and accepted public input through letters and emails for a two-week period in October. The commission has not shared that input publicly. A records request for those materials is pending.

At the committee meeting, Coggs said some residents felt the Marquette event was more a "public appearance" than a "public meeting." Aldrete responded that DeVougas, not her, set the reappointment process.

A possible new member of the Fire and Police Commission 

The commission is among the oldest and most powerful civilian oversight boards in the country.

It is responsible for the hiring, firing and promotion of city's police and fire personnel, reviewing police and fire policies, investigating citizen complaints and disciplining employees for misconduct. 

Those responsibilities — particularly hiring, promoting and investigating complaints — require the commission to function like other city departments with a full-time staff, which includes the executive director. The commission can have up to 28 employees; it currently has 14 open positions.

The commissioners themselves work part-time, serve overlapping five-year terms and receive an annual salary of $6,600. The commission can have up to nine members, but typically has had seven.

In addition to DeVougas, the other commissioners are: 

  • Ann Wilson, a manager for the city's Housing Authority Hillside complex.
  • Rev. Fred L. Crouther, founding pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church. 
  • Angela McKenzie, an attorney specializing in employment law. 
  • Nelson Soler, president of a multicultural marketing organization. 
  • Everett L. Cocroft, a retired city fire lieutenant.

With only six commissioners, the board has the risk of being deadlocked 3-3 on any votes.

The mayor has appointed Raymond Robakowski, a retired city police officer, as a seventh commissioner. Robakowski needs to be confirmed by the council to actually get on the commission, a process that started with the council's Public Safety and Health Committee.

Ray Robakowski speaks at a community listening session. Robakowski was appointed by Mayor Tom Barrett to the city's Fire and Police Commission and still needs to be confirmed by the Common Council.

That committee voted to recommend Robakowski and now his appointment will go before the full council on Tuesday. The African American Roundtable and LiberateMKE have urged alderman to vote against his appointment, in large part because he is a former officer and his son is a Milwaukee police officer, which could to lead to conflicts of interest.  

If approved, Robakowski will be sworn in and could take his place on the commission in time for Wednesday's meeting — and provide a tie-breaking vote, if needed.

But DeVougas indicated Robakowski might not be able to take his seat immediately.

When Cocroft, the most recently appointed commissioner, got final approval from the council, he did not take his seat for two months because of an "onboarding process," DeVougas said Friday.

"Plus, I feel like it would be unfair to that commissioner to have to step into the middle of all of this without having the information," DeVougas said of Robakowski.

If the commission does take up the reappointment and has a tie vote, then Morales could continue to serve on a holdover basis until he is reappointed or a replacement is selected, DeVougas said, citing a 2003 city attorney's opinion.

If Morales resigns or retires from the department, then one of his assistant chiefs — Michael Brunson, who was a finalist with Morales during the last search, or Raymond Banks — would lead the agency until a new chief is chosen.

When Morales first got the job

The Fire and Police Commission first appointed Morales as interim police chief in February 2018. 

He is fulfilling the term of former Chief Edward Flynn through Jan. 7. He was appointed after Flynn retired in the middle of a four-year term.

DeVougas cast the deciding vote for Morales over Brunson for interim chief.

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales talks about the importance of police and community relations when it comes to solving homicides at MPD Office Administration in Milwaukee.

Later, the commissioners ran afoul of open meetings laws when they voted to have Morales fulfill the rest of Flynn's term and remove "interim" from his title. The commission was forced to take a second vote on that decision.

When Flynn, the prior chief, was reappointed for a third term in 2015, the commission was criticized for its lack of public notice beyond one line on a meeting agenda and little opportunity for public input.

Flynn was reappointed in July, six months before his contract ended. At the time, DeVougas was new to the commission and said he regretted how that process unfolded.

"I remember when we gave Flynn his third term and they rushed it through," DeVougas said.

"The commission was kept in the dark, we weren't given all our options. I vowed from that day forward I would not make the decision until I had all the information because you've got to live with it."

The Common Council is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in its chambers on the third floor of City Hall.

The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday in room 301-B at City Hall, beginning at 5 p.m. with a closed executive session and its regular public meeting at 6 p.m.

Contact Ashley Luthern at ashley.luthern@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.