Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| Milwaukee, Wisconsin | |
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| General information | |
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| Mayor: | Cavalier Johnson |
| Mayor party: | Nonpartisan |
| Last mayoral election: | April 5, 2022 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2024 |
| Last city council election: | April 4, 2023 (special) |
| Next city council election: | 2024 |
| City council seats: | 15 |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 594,548 |
| Race: | White 44.4% African American 38.7% Asian 4.3% Native American 0.6% Pacific Islander 0.0% Two or more 4.0% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 19.0% |
| Median household income: | $41,838 |
| High school graduation rate: | 84.0% |
| College graduation rate: | 24.6% |
| Related Milwaukee offices | |
| Wisconsin Congressional Delegation Wisconsin State Legislature Wisconsin state executive offices | |
Milwaukee is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. The city's population was 577,222 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Milwaukee utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Mayor
The mayor is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the mayor include proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[1][2] The current Mayor of Milwaukee is Cavalier Johnson (nonpartisan). Johnson assumed office in 2022.
City council
The Milwaukee Common Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[3]
The common council is made up of 15 members. Each member is elected by one of the city's 15 districts.[4]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Milwaukee has a Democratic mayor. As of January 2024, 64 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 25 are affiliated with the Republican Party, four are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. While most mayoral elections in the 100 largest cities are nonpartisan, most officeholders are affiliated with a political party. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Elections
2024
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is holding general elections for mayor, city attorney, city treasurer, comptroller, and common council on April 2, 2024. A primary is scheduled for February 20, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was January 2, 2024.
2023
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held special elections for city council and general elections for municipal court judges on April 4, 2023. A primary was scheduled for February 21, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was January 3, 2023.
2022
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held a special general election for mayor on April 5, 2022. A primary was scheduled for February 15, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was January 11, 2022.
The special election was called after Mayor Tom Barrett resigned on December 22, 2021, to become the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.[5]
Milwaukee also held a special election for two city council seats on November 8, 2022. A primary was scheduled for August 9, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was June 1, 2022.
2021
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held general elections for municipal judge on April 6, 2021. A primary was scheduled for February 16, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was January 5, 2021.
2020
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held general elections for mayor, city attorney, city comptroller, city treasurer, and all 15 common council members on April 7, 2020. The primary was on February 18, 2020. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was January 7, 2020.
2019
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held general elections for municipal judge Branches 2 and 3 on April 2, 2019. The primary was on February 19, 2019. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was January 2, 2019.
Milwaukee also held a special election for City Council District 13 on August 13, 2019. A primary was scheduled for July 16, 2019. The filing deadline for this election was June 18, 2019.
2018
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held a special election for common council on November 6, 2018. A primary election took place on August 14, 2018. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 4, 2018. The election was held to fill the District 5 seat formerly held by Alder Jim Bohl, who resigned after accepting a lobbying position.[6]
2016
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held elections for mayor and city council on April 5, 2016. A primary election took place on February 16, 2016. All 15 city council seats were up for election.
2015
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held a special election for common council on August 18, 2015. A primary election took place on July 21, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 23, 2015. The election was held to fill the District 11 seat formerly held by Alder Joe Dudzik, who passed away in a motorcycle accident on May 22, 2015.[7][8]
2012
The city held general elections for mayor and 15 city council seats on April 12, 2012. Tom Barrett defeated Edward McDonald in the mayoral race. Ashanti Hamilton, Joe Davis Sr., Nik Kovac, Bob Bauman, Jim Bohl, and Willie C. Wade won election without opposition to council seats in Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, respectively. Milele A. Coggs, Bob Donovan, Robert Puente, Michael Murphy, Joe Dudzik, Jose G. Perez, Terry L. Witkowski, Tony Zielinski, and Willie Hines won contested races for Districts 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, respectively.[9]
2008
The city held general elections for mayor and 15 city council seats on April 1, 2008. Tom Barrett defeated Andrew J. Shaw in the mayoral race. Joe Davis Sr. and Bob Donovan won election without opposition to council seats in Districts 2 and 8, respectively. Ashanti Hamilton, Nik Kovac, Bob Bauman, Jim Bohl, Milele A. Coggs, Willie C. Wade, Robert Puente, Michael Murphy, Joe Dudzik, James N. Witkowiak, Terry L. Witkowski, Tony Zielinski, and Willie Hines won contested races for Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, respectively.[10]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Milwaukee | |
|---|---|
| Milwaukee | |
| Population | 577,222 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 96 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 39.9% |
| Black/African American | 39.4% |
| Asian | 4.5% |
| Native American | 0.6% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% |
| Two or more | 7.6% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 19.9% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 84.9% |
| College graduation rate | 25.5% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $45,318 |
| Persons below poverty level | 24.1% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2016-2021). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates on a fiscal year cycle from January 1 to December 31. The mayor is responsible for presenting the proposed budget to the common council on or before September 28. After the budget is proposed, the Finance and Personnel Committee reviews the budget and may propose amendments to the budget for consideration by the common council. In early October, the mayor and common council will hold a joint public hearing on the budget prior to its adoption.[11]
The common council will meet on or before November 14 to review the Finance and Personnel Committee's recommendations. The common council will adopt, reject, or modify the amendments from the committee and adopt the budget. After the common council has adopted the budget, the budget is sent to the mayor for his or her signature. Within seven working days, the mayor must sign the budget or veto individual line items. Any vetoes are returned to the common council for a vote to either sustain or override the veto. The budget becomes final after it has been signed by the mayor and returned to the common council without any vetoes.[11]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[12]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[13] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[14] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[12]
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
City Hall, Room 201
200 E. Wells Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: 414-286-2200
City Clerk's office
City Hall, Room 205
200 E. Wells Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: 414-286-2221
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
The city of Milwaukee is in Milwaukee County. A list of ballot measures in Milwaukee County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Milwaukee, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, outside the Wisconsin Black Historical Society.[15] On May 30, Mayor Tom Barrett (D) issued a curfew.[16] The same day, Gov. Tony Evers (D) activated and deployed the Wisconsin National Guard to the city at his own request.[17]
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[18]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External link
Footnotes
- ↑ Milwaukee City Charter, Sec. 3.01, accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ City of Milwaukee, "Office of the Mayor," accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ Milwaukee City Charter, "Sec. 4.05-34," accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ City of Milwaukee, "Common Council," accessed September 15, 2014
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee mayoral candidates vie for rare open seat. Here's what you should know." December 29, 2021
- ↑ WISN, "Milwaukee alderman abruptly resigns; special election set," May 24, 2018
- ↑ WISN, "Milwaukee alderman killed in crash," May 22, 2015
- ↑ City of Milwaukee, "President Murphy calls for special election for 11th District Council seat," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ City of Milwaukee, "Presidential Preference Election City of Milwaukee," accessed April 12, 2012
- ↑ City of Milwaukee, "City of Milwaukee Spring Election Results," accessed April 1, 2008
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 City of Milwaukee, "2020 Budget in Brief," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'We're here in solidarity': Protest in Milwaukee over George Floyd death in Minneapolis," May 29, 2020
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'We cannot operate like that': Curfew set in Milwaukee, National Guard on the way after MPD officer shot, 16 buildings looted overnight," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs, "Wisconsin National Guard troops mobilized in support of Milwaukee civil authorities," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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