>> FOR THE FIRST TIME IN NEARLY
20 YEARS WISCONSIN'S LARGEST
CITY WILL VOTE FOR A NEW MAYOR
WITH JUST FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE
SPECIAL ELECTION IN MILWAUKEE,
CANDIDATES CAVALIER JOHNSON, THE
CURRENT ACTING MAYOR AND FORMER
CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT AND
ROBERT DONOVAN, FORMER CITY
COUNCIL ALDERMAN SAT DOWN FOR A
CONVERSATION WITH OUR PARTNERS
AT MILWAUKEE PBS.
>> HOW MUCH OF THE UPTICK IN
VIOLENCE HAS BEEN IMPACTED BY
THE PANDEMIC AND VOTERS WANT
SPECIFICS AS TO YOUR PLANS FOR
THE CITY TO MINIMIZE ALL OF THIS
CRIME AND VIOLENCE.
CANDIDATES DONOVAN.
>> I WILL SAY THIS, I THINK
PERHAPS SOME OF IT IS DUE TO
COVID OR THIS WHOLE PERIOD OF
THE LAST TWO YEARS WE HAVE SEEN
CHAOS REIGN IN MILWAUKEE AND I
SIMPLY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THERE
IS ANY HOPE OF RESTORING ORDER
AND STABILITY TO OUR STREETS AND
NEIGHBORHOODS WITHOUT PROVIDING
THE MILWAUKEE POLICE DEPARTMENT
WITH THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF
MAN POWER.
IN ADDITION, WE NEED TO ENSURE
THAT OUR DISTRICT ATTORNEYS AND
OUR JUDGES ARE HOLDING OUR
CRIMINALS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR
CRIMES.
IT SEEMS TO ME EVERY TIME WE
HEAR OF SOME HORRENDOUS CRIME
BEING COMMITTED IT'S PERPETRATED
BY AN INDIVIDUAL, A RECORD A
MILE LONG, SHOULD NOT HAVE EVEN
BEEN OUT ON THE STREET IN THE
FIRST PLACE.
SO THOSE ARE CRITICAL COMPONENTS
TO BEGIN THE PROCESS OF
RESTORING ORDER TO OUR
COMMUNITY.
>> CANDIDATE JOHNSON?
>> YEAH, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY
CORRECT AND COVID CERTAINLY HAS
PLAYED A ROLE IN THE UPTICK IN
CRIME AND VIOLENCE WE HAVE SEEN
IN LARGE CITIES ACROSS THE
COUNTRY.
MILWAUKEE IS NO EXCEPTION.
AND WE NEED TO HAVE HOLISTIC
PUBLIC SAFETY IN ORDER TO
ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE ON
THE STREETS OF MILWAUKEE.
SO HOLISTIC PUBLIC SAFETY MEANS
HAVING THE ADEQUATE NUMBER OF
POLICE OFFICERS, SOMETHING THAT
I WANT TO SEE AND SOMETHING THAT
I'VE BEEN FIGHTING FOR.
IT ALSO MEANS WORKING TO HAVE
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES THAT ARE
AVAILABLE TO FOLKS IN OUR
COMMUNITY.
IT ALSO MAKES -- ALSO LOOKS TO
MAKE SURE WE HAVE EARLIER
INTERVENTIONS IN THE LIVES OF
YOUNG PEOPLE, AND WE HAVE HAD
CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DISTRICT
ATTORNEY, WITH THE CHIEF JUDGE
FOR MILWAUKEE COUNTY.
THAT HAS HAD THE STATE COME IN
TO MAKE AN INVESTMENT, TENS OF
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN OUR
PUBLIC SAFETY APPARATUS HERE IN
MILWAUKEE.
>> SHOULD OFFICERS BE RETURNED
TO SCHOOLS?
>> I DON'T BELIEVE THAT POLICE
NECESSARILY NEED TO BE INSIDE
THE CLASSROOM.
I'VE NOT CALLED FOR THAT.
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE,
THOUGH, IS THAT POLICE ARE ABLE
TO BE ON HAND AT SCHOOLS,
ESPECIALLY AFTER SCHOOL WHEN
THINGS ARE MORE LIKELY TO
HAPPEN, MORE LIKELY TO POP UP.
>> WE JUST CAN'T HAVE OUR POLICE
COMING AFTER THE FACT.
WE NEED OFFICERS, THE
APPROPRIATE OFFICERS IN OUR
SCHOOLS CONNECTING WITH
STUDENTS, CREATING THOSE
RELATIONSHIPS THAT ARE SO
CRITICAL SO THAT THEY CAN
PREVENT CRIME OR PREVENT THE
FIGHT OR THE DISTURBANCE FROM
OCCURRING.
>> LAST YEAR THE OFFICE OF
EQUITY AND INCLUSION FOUND THE
PANDEMIC HAD IMMENSE AND
WIDESPREAD IMPACTS ON THE
MILWAUKEE WORKERS, LOW WAGE
WORKERS HAD IT PARTICULARLY
HARD, BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS HAD
DISPROPORTIONATE UNEMPLOYMENT
IMPACTS.
WHAT SPECIFIC STEPS WILL YOU
TAKE TO BRING JOBS TO CHALLENGE
NEIGHBORHOODS AND ENSURE THAT
THEY PAY A LIVING WAGE?
>> RIGHT NOW DOWNTOWN THERE IS A
SKY RISE COMING OUT OF THE
GROUND, TALLEST IN WISCONSIN,
AND SKYLINE DEFINING AND GREAT
FOR DOWNTOWN.
THE THING THAT'S MOST EXCITING
IS THE FACT IT WILL TAKE A
MILLION CONSTRUCTION HOURS AND
40% OF THOSE HOURS, 400,000 WILL
GO TO PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE
MOST DEPRESSED NEIGHBORHOODS IN
MILWAUKEE.
NEIGHBORHOODS I GREW UP IN
BECAUSE OF THE CITY'S RESIDENCE
PREFERENCE PROGRAM, SO CREATE AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE IN
DISADVANTAGED CHALLENGED
NEIGHBORHOODS TO HAVE AN ACCESS
POINT TO A 21st CENTURY JOBS.
WE NEED FOLKS TO HAVE THE ACCESS
POINTS.
>> I WOULD WANT AS MAYOR
DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT
THAT IS FAR MORE AGGRESSIVE IN
REACHING OUTSIDE OUR REGION TO
ATTRACT BUSINESSES TO COME TO
MILWAUKEE AND I WOULD URGE THAT
DEPARTMENT AND INSIST THAT THAT
DEPARTMENT WORK WITH MANY OF OUR
EXECUTIVES CURRENTLY HERE IN
MILWAUKEE.
MILWAUKEE IS HOME TO SOME OF THE
BEST FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES IN
THE COUNTRY.
WE NEED TO TAP INTO THE
CONNECTIONS THAT THOSE C.E.O.s
HAVE WITH OTHER C.E.O.s AROUND
THE COUNTRY AND BRING SOME OF
THEIR VENDORS AND SOME OF THEIR
COMPANIES THAT THEY ARE
CONNECTED WITH RIGHT HERE IN
MILWAUKEE, BUT IN ADDITION, AS I
HAVE AN SAID PREVIOUSLY, WE NEED
TO TAKE PROGRAMS THAT WORK IN
OTHER COMMUNITIES AND IMPLEMENT
THEM HERE IN MILWAUKEE.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WOULD
INSIST ON MOVING FORWARD WITH AS
MAYOR IS THE CLEVELAND CO-OP
MODEL THAT HAS BEEN VERY
SUCCESSFUL IN CLEVELAND IN
TAKING INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE
CHRONICALLY UNEMPLOYED OR LOW
SKILLED, TRAINING THEM, GETTING
THEM INTO JOBS AND THOSE
INDIVIDUALS THEN BECOME OWNERS,
CO-OWNERS OF THE COMPANY THEY
ARE WORKING WITH.
>> BOTH OF YOU HAVE BEEN FAIRLY
CRITICAL OF OUR FORMER MAYOR
ABOUT HIS SEEMING LACK OF WORK
IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
CANDIDATE JOHNSON YOU SAID IN A
RECENT DEBATE, 20 YEARS UNDER
TOM BARRETT, DEPRESSED
NEIGHBORHOOD YOU GREW UP IN,
WINDOWS BUSTED OUT, DOORS
BOARDED UP, HAVE NOT SEEN
IMPROVEMENT.
YOU SAID WE HAVE TO LIFT THE
NEIGHBORHOODS AND CREATE
STABILITY.
WHAT CONCRETE STEPS WOULD YOU DO
TO IMPROVE UNDERSERVED
COMMUNITIES.
>> I WANT TO SEE US TO GET BACK
TO A POINT IN THE COMMUNITY
WHERE WE ARE PROVIDING
FAMILY-SUPPORTING JOB
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PEOPLE WHO
LIVE HERE.
WORKING WITH ENTREPRENEURS,
MAKING SURE THEY HAVE
OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE ACCESS TO
RESOURCES TO START NEW JOBS,
WORKING WITH OUR DEPARTMENT OF
CITY DEVELOPMENT, WORKING WITH
M7 TO ATTRACT NEW BUSINESSES TO
MILWAUKEE TO LURE HERE, LIKE
MILWAUKEE TOOL.
>> EMPHASIZING, RESTORING SAFETY
TO OUR NEIGHBORHOODS AND THEN
BEGIN THE PROCESS ONCE THAT'S
ACCOMPLISHED OF BUSINESSES WILL
WANT TO COME IN TO
NEIGHBORHOODS.
WE ALSO DESPERATELY NEED TO
ENSURE THAT THESE HOUSES THAT
ARE BURNT UP, FIRE DAMAGE OR
BOARDED UP, WE EITHER TEAR THEM
DOWN OR RESTORE THEM, ONE OR THE
OTHER.
WE NEED THE RESOURCES TO GET
THAT DONE.
BUT WE BEGIN THE PROCESS ONE AT
A TIME OF TAKING OUR