Photo Credit: Tom Jenz
Development Commissioner Lafayette Crump
After a distinguished career in the private sector as a lawyer and an advocate of workforce diversity, Lafayette Crump took on an important job as the Milwaukee Commissioner of City Development. Appointed by Mayor Tom Barrett, he began the job in July of 2020. Being commissioner is a huge responsibility that involves improving Milwaukee’s built environment from houses and buildings to work with other departments on streets and sidewalks.
In terms of quality housing, there is disturbing disparity among ethnic groups, namely lower income Blacks and Latinos versus affluent whites. Currently in 2022, 49-year-old Commissioner Crump is facing significant challenges to improve Milwaukee’s infrastructure, especially in the central city. I met him in his office (809 N. Broadway) near City Hall. His department covers three floors. I could feel his enthusiasm, but it was filtered through his acuity for rationality.
I understand you were born and raised in Milwaukee. Tell me about your early background, your parents, where you grew up, your neighborhoods, and schools you attended.
I grew up in the inner city near 27th and Burleigh. I was bussed to an elementary school on the south side, and then in the fifth grade, I was placed in the Gifted & Talented program at the Golda Meir School. For middle school, I attended the Samuel Morris School for Gifted and Talented. Very diverse, really good experience. I’m an only child. My parents were teen parents, both 17 when I was born, and they were incredible parents who always stressed education. My mom went to North Division, my dad to Milwaukee Tech. Mom went to Marquette for undergrad and got her master’s degree from UWM. Dad graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Dad became an electrical engineer for Cutler Hammer and for Eaton Corporation, then later opened his own business. I worked there part-time as a teen, and I learned their work ethic. My mom started out as a probation and parole agent at the Ethan Allen Boys Home in Wales, but later joined Dad in his business. With my parents’ support, I ended up getting financial aid to go to University School in River Hills. Excellent high school education.
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You have an impressive academic background including undergrad and law school at Duke University. Can you elaborate on your college education and how you decided to go into the law?
I was attracted to the Ivy League schools, and my parents took me to a number of those colleges. I was later accepted at Harvard. But when they took me to Duke University, it was spring, the campus green and beautiful. I received an Angier B. Duke scholarship as one of 14 kids in the country. But I lost that scholarship after my first year. I just didn’t apply myself, and that was my first real adult lesson. You may be smart, but you have to work hard. I took out student loans, and my parents helped. I was studying to be an engineer. I excelled in math and science, but my favorite subjects were English and history. My first summer, I did an internship at Bell Labs in Pennsylvania. That experience made me realize engineering was not for me. I loved writing and reading and public speaking. I liked debating. The nuts and bolts of the law. I ended up as a history major, the goal to be a lawyer. After my undergraduate degree, I went straight to Duke University School of Law.
After you finished law school, you moved back to Milwaukee. How come you decided to do that?
Part of the reason I returned to Milwaukee was my interest in community service. I wanted to help people in my hometown. My first job as a lawyer was working for Foley & Lardner in business and corporate law. After three years, I took a job with Quarles & Brady where I did litigation and government compliance work and also lobbying work. Meanwhile, my parents started Prism Technical
(Prism Technical Management & Marketing Services is known for its development, management and monitoring of projects that ensure workforce diversity and equity)
I was giving my parents legal advice on the company structure and on some of their projects like Miller Park. Prism focuses on diversity and inclusion, for example, construction projects that may receive Federal, State or Local funding and require diverse contracting and hiring.
If I’m a developer, and I win a building contract, then I make a legal promise that I will hire people of diversity, Black and brown. Is that how it works?
Exactly right. Ultimately, in 2004, I went to work for Prism and worked on Fiserv Forum, the Northwestern Mutual Tower, the construction of the Hop streetcar, the Moderne apartments, and the redevelopment of the Brewery area. All of those projects had some government assistance for the developers in the hiring of diverse businesses and workers. Prism might work with the contractor, the developer, or also the government oversight agency.
We also developed technical training programs with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and the city of Milwaukee to help train small minority and women-owned businesses. These were almost like mini-MBA programs where you learn to run a business. Generally, our clients were private businesses with government oversight. At that time, I also had a small solo legal practice, representing people, businesses and nonprofits.
You’ve now been the Commissioner of City Development for a couple years. What exactly is the Milwaukee Department of City Development and what does it do?
We are largely responsible for the “built” environment in Milwaukee, residential and commercial development. We engage in long-term planning, attract investment, and manage city-owned real estate, among other things. We work to get tax-foreclosed property back into productive use and onto the tax rolls. We also work with a number of small businesses in our commercial corridors—help see that they are thriving.
If I’m a developer, and I want to buy property on, say, ML King Drive, and my plan is to build an apartment complex or a commercial building, do I come to you to help me through this process?
We are happy to talk development with any size developer and see if there is a current property out for RFP that suits their needs. If a developer or community group has ideas, we can walk them through available properties, zoning requirements, and financing opportunities. We have an experienced staff who spend significant time connecting people to resources. Our goal is to achieve a vibrant, equitable city.
One of the questions I get from Milwaukee residents is “How many buildings and houses does the city of Milwaukee own?”
Of course, we own the municipal buildings. And we own about 130 commercial properties and a little over 400 residential properties. That is less than one percent of all the real estate in the city. The vast majority are tax-foreclosed properties, and many need a lot of rehab work.
Let’s say I am renter resident on a 6th Street block along Highway 43, and there are a number of vacant houses on my block. Let’s say I want to buy one of those vacant houses. Do I come to your department for help?
Keep in mind not every vacant home is owned by the city. But the ones we do own are marketed on our website or committed to other projects such as Bronzeville Estates or Homes MKE or pending demolition. But absolutely, people can reach out to us to find out more information. We don’t lend mortgage money, but we can make a connection with home-buying counseling agencies. However, we do have programs that can help buyers with needed repairs through the Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation, and down payment assistance.
Another question I often get is “Why can’t the city donate some of these foreclosed city-owned houses to needy residents?”
I wish we could wave a magic wand for the people that need housing. However, many of the properties we own are worth less than the cost of repairs. Even if they are worth something, the new owner would have to do the repairs, pay the property taxes, buy house insurance and pay for upkeep.
But on the residential property issue, we have developed a significant plan, the Homes MKE Program. Of the homes the city currently owns, we hope to get 150 of them back out into the marketplace in the next couple years, and with owner occupants. The Homes MKE Program is funded by part of the Federal ARPA money allocated to us. We’ll hire a number of local developers and contractors to get those homes ready for sale. Keep in mind there is a huge disparity of home ownership in the white community versus Black and brown communities.
At Mayor Johnson’s urging, we have gotten involved with the Community Development Alliance, made up of large philanthropic entities. Together, we have developed a collective housing strategy and plan to address rental and ownership disparities. The Common Council has approved this plan.
Let’s talk about the eviction problem. City Council President Jose Perez recently told me, and I quote, “The City Development Department has been allocated more funds for legal aid to make sure residents are not unjustly being evicted. We work with the City Development people on avoiding any foreclosure process. We also have programs that help fixed-income residents repair their homes.”
Evictions are a problem, and we have been allocated some funds for providing the right to counsel so that tenants have similar legal resources that the landlords have.
Let’s say that I’m a tenant and have fallen on hard times, and I’m a few months behind in my rent, and the landlord threatens to evict me. Who would I turn to?
We do not give legal advice, but we can connect you with qualified help, such as our partners at the Rental Housing Resource Center. This is a one-stop shop. It’s housed at Community Advocates, and is a gateway to all available services, not just legal advice.
You once said, and I paraphrase your quote, “When you’re in the heart of Bronzeville, some folks might feel like it’s an entirely different world, but it’s right there, connected to Downtown by line-of-sight. And we need to find ways to connect more than by just line-of-sight, by action, by connecting, by activating spaces, by making people feel welcome and comfortable.” How might the city go about that?
Some Milwaukee kids have never been to or seen Lake Michigan. Or a resident can live in a neighborhood and see the skyline but never have visited downtown. Residents in some areas of the north or south side think that the city does not belong to everyone, that they are excluded. We need to do more collectively to ensure that our city belongs to everyone. When we talk about development, we make connectivity a major goal. How do we make sure downtown is connected to the north and south sides? For example, we want to make the primarily Black Bronzeville community feel just as vibrant as downtown, and the same with the heavily Latino South Side. Make public transit easily accessible and make it safe to walk or bike from one part of Milwaukee to another.
You have a distinguished career in helping nonprofits grow and achieve. Are you still affiliated with any of them?
Yes, I am. I’m active in Safe & Sound and the Salvation Army, and I’m on a number of other nonprofit boards. I try to make sure that these groups are reaching out to help areas of the city that need it most. I also serve on the boards of Milwaukee College Prep and University School, my alma mater.
You’ve been successful in the private sector and now you are following the philosophy of giving back.
We humans are here for a cosmically short time, and if we are not spending time making sure other people have the same opportunities we had, then we are not making the best use of our time.
OK, big question. Do you have a family?
I have three great daughters, 15, 22 and 25. My amazing partner Katie Avila Loughmiller and I are expecting a little baby boy coming this October.
You can find out more about Milwaukee’s Collective Affordable Housing Plan at the website - housingplan.org
