It didn’t disciplinean officer for punching handcuffed woman in the face, then, after much outcry,reversed its decision.
It didn’t disciplinethe officers involved in the in-custody death of Derek Williams, either.
The mayor’s previousappointee, Ann Wilson, had to travel a rocky road to her confirmation earlierthis year, with complaints from council members and the public that they had nosay in whether she should be confirmed.
In response to thislack of public input, Mayor Tom Barrett and members of the Common Council aretrying to make the FPC nomination and confirmation process a bit more open.
So how’s it working?
Barrett appointedimmigration lawyer Marisabel Cabrera to the FPC in mid-June. She will face thecouncil’s Public Safety Committee at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 17, in Room301-B of City Hall.
Members of the publicwho attend the meeting can weigh in on her appointment by submitting theirquestions in writing to Richard Pfaff, the Legislative Reference Bureau’smanager.
Cabrera’s nominationis the first one made under this kinda-open system, where members of the publiccan submit their nominations online.
She’s also attendedtwo community meetings, one on the north side and one on the south side. Idon’t remember receiving a press release about these meetings, and only thesouth side meeting got any coverage. If you have any information about thenorth side meeting, please let me know.
She’ll face thepublic next Wednesday, which is the only opportunity the public has to questionher and raise their concerns.
Unfortunately, thismeeting is in the middle of the afternoon, which makes it difficult for folkswho work during the daytime.
In response to myemail, Ald. Terry Witkowski let me know that community members will not be ableto submit questions to the committee if they cannot attend the meeting. If theywant to weigh in on Cabrera’s appointment, they’ll have to contact theirrepresentative on the Common Council, who will consider it (presumably) whenthey vote on her appointment.
Baby steps!
Here’s Witkowski’spress release on Wednesday’s meeting:
Public Safety Committee to take up FPC
appointment confirmation
The Milwaukee Common Council’s PublicSafety Committee on Wednesday will hold a hearing on the appointment of MarisabelCabrera to the Fire and Police Commission. Alderman Terry L. Witkowski, chairof the Public Safety Committee, said that the hearing will begin at 1:30p.m. on Wednesday, July 17 with some remarks fromMs. Cabrera. Residents are invited to attend and participate in the hearing,which will be held in Room 301-B at City Hall, 200 E. WellsSt.
Members of the public who wishto speak regarding Ms. Cabrera’s appointment must register for the opportunitywith the committee clerk at the hearing, and after his or her name is called,each speaker will have three minutes to address comments to the chair. Anyonewho would like to pose questions to Ms. Cabrera can submit them in writing.After they are sorted to remove duplicates, the questions will be posed to Ms.Cabrera by Richard Pfaff, manager of the city’s Legislative Reference Bureau.
Committee members will alsohave their own opportunities to question the appointee. At the end of thehearing, the committee will vote on whether to recommend confirmation of Ms.Cabrera to the full Common Council.
Cabrera is an immigrationattorney based out of Milwaukee who also serves on the Council for the SpanishSpeaking Board of Directors, the American Immigration Lawyers Association andVoces de la Frontera. She applied online for a vacant seat on the commissionusing a new system created through cooperation between Alderman Witkowski, CommonCouncil President Willie L. Hines, Jr., Mayor Tom Barrett andthe City Clerk’s office.
Alderman Witkowski said that hehopes residents will be able to attend or view the hearing, which will betelevised live on City Channel 25 on Time Warner Cable and U-Verse Channel 99in the City of Milwaukee. The meeting will also be streamed live on the city’swebsite at www.milwaukee.gov/CityChannelLive.
“The goal of creating an onlineapplication process for citizens who want to serve on city boards andcommissions was to increase the transparency of and public input into thatprocess,” Alderman Witkowski said. “Ms. Cabrera’s application utilized this newprocess, and I look forward to even more public input at the hearing.”
Residents can also offer theirinput about the appointment (and about other city business) by calling oremailing their Council member. Please go to www.milwaukee.gov/commoncouncil toget contact information for Common Council members, or call 414-286-2221.
