Photo by Tom Jenz
Jonathan Brostoff
Jonathan Brostoff
Milwaukee’s State Assembly Representative Jonathan Brostoff, 37, is truly a man of his people. His 19th District is one of Wisconsin’s most diverse, and includes Hispanics on the South Side, upper middle-class whites in Downtown, college students and academics in the UWM area, and Blacks in Riverwest, which itself is ethnically diverse. Brostoff has represented his people since 2014 and knows the territory. The citizens of his district are politically active. He listens to their concerns through town halls and emails, but likes to be out among his constituents, walking, chatting, hearing about their needs. To gain public input, he also does outreach events on various topics.
We met at a coffee shop near the UWM campus. I found him fascinating—glib, informed, combative and thoughtful.
You have the challenge of looking out for a wide range of citizens with a wide range of interests.
It can be a challenge, but it’s also a reflection of the severe segregation culture of Milwaukee. I sometimes have hard conversations with people as we try to discuss the systemic issues of racism. There’s a term for this called NIMBY, “not in my backyard.” Through my interactions with people, I try to help them overcome that divisive mentality.
Your own domestic situation is a living example of diversity. You are Jewish and are married to a woman of Hmong ethnicity, Diana Vang-Brostoff, an activist in social welfare, I believe.
We met in college at UWM. Diana is a constant source of good energy to have in my life. We have two kids now.
I’d like to hear about your background, where you grew up, what your parents were like.
I grew up on the East Side by UWM near Downer and Locust. My dad’s from Chicago, my mom from Washington D.C. My dad is retired but he was a labor lawyer, and my mom taught at UWM. My interests came from them. My dad’s work included disabilities advocacy and wrongful terminations. My mom did a lot of labor organizing, even worked on the famous national Kerner Commission about racial issues.
What about your schooling? I think you went to Milwaukee public schools.
|
|
Yes, I did. I started at Elm in elementary but there were some shootings in the area, and my mom moved me to Hartford School near UWM. I ended up at High School of the Arts off 23rd and Highland. I was into creative writing and wrote some one-act plays. I still have a creative ear for dialog and I like rap music. English has such a wide range of sounds that it’s enjoyable to juggle the language creatively.
Did you attend UWM right away after high school?
Since I was 14, I worked at Pathfinders, which is a temporary shelter for 11 to 17 year old homeless kids. After high school, I did a year of service at AmeriCorps which helps with community needs. Amazing experience there. As an 18-year-old punk, I was looking after 20 homeless families in a shelter, from babies on up to 17-year-olds—45 to 60 kids. One idea I came up with, I toured a lot of rich boutique clothing shops and got them to donate clothes and linens to the families. I also organized weekend field trips to expand the kids’ interests.
After a year working at AmericaCorps, I went to UWM and majored in Political Science. While in college, I realized the importance of government because government makes rules, allocates resources, and institutes systemic changes. In college, I became a legislative assistant for County Supervisor Chris Larson. I also did a paid internship with Iowa Senator Tom Harkin in Washington D.C. He was one of the leaders on the American with Disabilities Act.
What did you do after you graduated from college?
I was still working for Chris Larson, and I was waiting tables to earn a living, even had the idea of opening my own restaurant. But a good opportunity came along after 19th District State Representative Jon Richards decided to run for Attorney General. I entered the race, and was fortunate enough to win in my first time running for state office.
Then, you started focusing on ways you could help with people who faced difficult challenges.
Most of my political efforts revolve around three separate categories. The first issue focuses on the rights of deaf people. I was part of a landmark epoch for laws to expand deaf access in Wisconsin. I worked with deaf people all over Wisconsin. I do sign language myself, learned that language from two of my best friends in Washington D.C. They are deaf. Since I met them, I’ve been a fierce advocate of deaf issues in Wisconsin.
Then, you have two other issues you are working on.
The second issue is maintaining minimum safety standards in speech pathology, disability access, and building safety, for instance, that deaf people have a right to counsel who understand their ways of communicating. I also advocate safety standards for landscape architecture. For example, if you walk into a building, you need to know that building is safe. The architects are required to have a minimum set of safety standards and the contractors who build it are licensed for competency,
Your third big issue is currently controversial and has produced public anger on all sides. Police reform.
Police reform and police violence. One of my biggest projects has been ending qualified immunity for police. Right now, police cannot be held civilly liable for their actions. This is incredibly problematic. It encourages a culture of corrupt cops and more police brutality. I’d like the police to no longer be physically aggressive or violent. Cops should only be taking actions that are within the law. I believe that police should be held to higher standards or at least to the same standards as ordinary citizens. In Wisconsin the police union is so strong that they own a lot of politicians. It’s difficult to get reforms passed.
The biggest issue regarding police problems happens in the Black areas of Milwaukee, mainly the central city. I’ll give you the two views from my conversations and interviews with police and Black residents. With Police Chief Norman, I find that he is trying to institute community based policing, more interactions and patience with residents. But he is just one leader.
The other view involves the Black inner city street leaders and residents. They are trying to get the word out as to what life is really like for ordinary Black citizens faced with so much crime. They would like police protection, but the irony is they don’t trust the police and will rarely agree to be a witness in a crime incident. It’s kind of a paradox. You want police protection and you don’t. Currently, there has been a 38% increase from last year in overall crimes committed in Milwaukee.
That’s all part of the myth making. The reality is police do not prevent crime. The status quo is not working. We’ve been spending 50% of the city budget on police.
In the last generation or two, the infrastructure has declined rapidly in the inner city, more vacant houses and buildings. That decline foments lack of jobs, hopelessness and also criminal activity as a way to make money. The community becomes a Third World economy. Can you blame the police?
Yes, I can blame the police, 100% blame the police. It’s absolutely their fault because 50% of the city budget is a zero-sum game. The money the police are taking up is by definition not going toward targeted economic investment that would give people hope. It is not going toward rebuilding infrastructure or giving people access to long term healthcare that would prevent crime.
What would you do if you are the police? One hundred twenty police positions in Milwaukee will be eliminated by year’s end. Not firings, just not new hirings.
There is this great propaganda machine being pushed that police have something to do with preventing crime. Just look at the clearance rates of violent crimes. They’re terrible. Police seem to be apprehending violent criminals after the fact. In other words, they really don’t prevent a violent crime from happening. Police are horrible at investigating crimes.
I’ve brought up this very topic with cops and even the police chiefs. They say that if we arrest a person for something like stolen cars or a non-assault robbery, that person is put back out on the street, and we end up arresting them all over again for another crime. That is their argument.
Which is a stupid argument, completely wrong because Milwaukee is one of the best cities in the country at locking people up. It doesn’t work. The cause needs to be addressed, not the harm afterward. Poverty is a significant indicator of crime. If you eliminate poverty, you lessen crime. So many juveniles in poverty have so little regard for their own lives, they might end up committing crimes. They don’t care about the punishment. We need to focus more on preventing crime. If crappy racist policy on locking people up doesn’t work, then we need to concentrate elsewhere.
I like your idealism. Who can’t like an idealist?
I was lucky. I came from a good family and support system. But ultimately, the police are a cancer on the city budget because they are eating up resources that need to go to social programs. For example, the city could be putting 50% of the budget toward public health and infrastructure and 5% toward police. I’m talking about targeted economic investment, mixed housing, public transit, good healthcare, and public education with no more than 18 students per classroom.
You hold a state office. How can the state help with reducing the number of police?
One of the bills I’ll be introducing this session is for every dollar you spend on police enforcement, you have to spend two dollars on education and social programs. The problem is too many people are excluded from writing the budget whereas police unions have a powerful influence on budgets.
With your expertise, I’m sure you’ve experienced the political cliche, “the art of compromise.” Should there be compromise on these issues we’ve been discussing?
There are issues that people can be right about and wrong about. If someone is stabbing me in the neck and I say stab me in the stomach, I won’t make that compromise. However, if I say we should spend $150 million on violence prevention and we end up at $130 million, that I can compromise on. I won’t compromise on moral issues, but I will compromise on issues of policy.
