Mayor Cavalier Johnson: ‘A leader has to stand up and lead even if some residents are not happy’

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Photo by Tom Jenz

Cavalier Johnson - Mayor of Milwaukee

Mayor Cavalier Johnson in his office (2025)

Nearly four years into the Milwaukee Mayor’s job, Cavalier Johnson, at only 38, wears the mayor’s mantle like a favorite pullover. When I walked into his office, the mayor was watching on screen as members of Milwaukee’s Common Council debated his zoning proposals. As I was to find out, zoning is a priority on his agenda. 

I’ve known Mayor Johnson for over five years since he was the 2nd District Alderman. Nearly four years as mayor has not changed his appearance—still that boyish face with the magnetic smile. But now, at 38, he was dressed in a sharp slate suit, white dress shirt and a timeless-style necktie. We sat in wing chairs, a table between us. He leaned forward in his chair and focused his attention on me through stable eye contact.

Crime is a big issue. According to the MPD crime maps, in the past two years, almost every category of crime is down, the total being down more than 20%. To what do you attribute the decline?

When I first ran for mayor, public safety was high on my agenda and still is. We’ve had a two-pillar strategy—accountability and prevention. Let’s take accountability. People out there who think of causing death, harm and destruction, they know there will be a consequence. The police will arrest and process you, and the courts will hold you accountable for your crimes. 

What about the other pillar, prevention?

We work hard to see we have strong workforce development programs. For example, various summer programs like Camp Rise where kids can earn money, and there is Safe & Sound. If you need help finding a job, call Safe & Sound. We also work with the faith-based communities and nonprofit organizations.

If you have a decent job, you most likely will not commit a crime. I see that as crime prevention.

Every year, I work with the Milwaukee Public Schools to do two things. One, I want children to understand that I grew up in the same neighborhoods they did and that I focused on education and hard work. I also prioritize the trades to show kids that there are good paying opportunities in the trades. Jobs are important, good for families, self-esteem and also for safe stable neighborhoods. 

You stated that your budgets are investing more in police personnel, and you aim to add to the number of officers.

Every year, I propose a budget that includes growing the number of police. To have accountability and prevention, we need more police officers to enforce the laws and be proactive on the streets. But it is a challenge to recruit police officers. 

Do you ask the Common Council for a certain number of new police officers?

My budget allocates enough police to cover three recruiting classes each year. Theoretically, there can be 65 recruits for each class, although the classes are not always filled. It is difficult to recruit police. Not that many people want to become police officers. But all I can do is try to allocate the resources.  

What are the Bright Line street lighting improvements, where is this happening, and is this part of crime prevention?

Yes, this is one of our prevention strategies. We’ve employed federal funds to invest in brightening thousands of streetlights in a number of corridors. Bad guys don’t like bright lights, cameras, or witnesses. 

Russell Stamper is the alderman of the central part of the inner city: a majority of his constituents are Black. I recently did a story on him, asking his top concerns. He said, “Number one is reckless driving and speeding.” As a driver of inner-city streets, I witness too many speeders and careless drivers, too many red lights ignored. Your thoughts on this problem?

We’ve taken a strong and visible approach to the problem of speeding and reckless driving. That’s why we’ve built so many pinned-on curb extensions and refuge islands for pedestrians. That’s also why we’ve installed so many protected bike lanes. One of the goals is to prevent speeders from passing on the right. Public Works data show precipitous drops in speeding in those neighborhoods with the added installations.

In your State of the City address, regarding crime prevention, you said, “I want young people to see positive opportunities in their future.” Regarding my own observations—because of the long legacy of slavery and generations of prejudice, racism and also government welfare and public housing funding, many urban Black citizens view themselves as victims. In Milwaukee, some children never leave their city blocks, visit Downtown or Lake Michigan. Many cannot see a future, much less hope. Too many are low income or dependent on government support. You yourself came out of this kind of background.

That is exactly the reason why I visit public schools and engage with students, kids who look like me, who live in the neighborhoods I grew up in. I am not naive to those challenges because I lived them. In schools, I try to impart mentorship lessons that were important to my life. I came from a single mom family with five kids. 

Your family was poor at one time.

Yeah, I’ve seen it all, and I know the bad stuff out there, but my mom never gave up. Hers has become my own philosophy. Keep on working. Keep on fighting. Never ever give up. My good friend, Victor, whose family immigrated here from Mexico, couldn’t speak English at first. I met him when I was 14. He taught me that no matter where people come from, no matter their looks or religion, they can build bands of brotherhood. My stepdad taught me it costs nothing to be kind. I think that people should change to the things they are passionate about.

Let’s talk housing. Quoting you: “I want strength in our housing options. That’s why I support comprehensive updates to our residential zoning rules.” What should be those zoning updates?

I brought forth a policy to change the zoning rules in Milwaukee. The council is debating that policy currently. There is a lack of housing in Milwaukee as there is elsewhere across the country. Which means rents go up. For Milwaukee to be an affordable city to live, I want to make sure there is more room for housing development.

If you alter the zoning rules, does this mean that more developers can build new housing?

Exactly. We need to make sure there are more spaces for housing to be built, and that means housing will cost less. 

Why would any alderman be against that policy?

I do think the Common Council wants to get rezoning across the finish line. I’m glad we are having this conversation, but my goal is to increase housing choices. For instance, we need to allow accessory dwelling units, meaning existing homeowners can add attached units onto their homes for aging relatives or young adults to live. Expanding on this, the more people who live in the city, the more they support businesses who are likely to hire local residents.

A recent study of 50 cities ranked Milwaukee 30th in the country—tied with New York City—on rental affordability for a minimum wage worker. You said, “We shouldn’t be that expensive. My administration is thoughtfully exploring ways the city can address the high cost of housing.” What might be some of those ways?

Besides changing the zoning laws, I think we need more affordable housing. I support changes to state law that will allow us an additional year to capture more resources and invest those funds into more affordable housing. There is also workforce housing, the city working with the private sector to bring down construction and rental costs. I want people to have homes in our city.

Let’s talk public housing. The Housing Authority of City Milwaukee, HACM, has had dysfunctional issues in the past few years. The new board of directors seems to be planning positive changes, but few are yet to happen. HACM is a complex bureaucracy. HUD (the federal Housing and Urban Development agency) provides funding for HACM through Housing Choice Voucher programs. But try to figure out the HACM chain of funding, which comes from HUD, state and federal grants, private donations and rent from public housing tenants. Do you, as mayor, have anything to do with overseeing HACM? 

For HACM, I have one indirect primary responsibility as mayor. I appoint the HACM board members, and the Common Council approves them or not. The HACM board members then hire the HACM executive director. HUD is the primary source of funding, but for decades, funding has not kept up to what is needed. That leads to problems in living conditions in public housing. Currently, the board seems to be functioning well.

I know you are concerned about the low achievements of Milwaukee Public School students. You said, “I am inviting MPS Superintendent Cassellius to work more closely with the members of my cabinet.” But aren’t public school issues the responsibility of the school board? The mayor does not oversee MPS, right?

Right. Just like HACM, the MPS school system is separate from my authority. But we do try to help fix the school system. I have been working with the new superintendent, Dr. Cassellius, to have her become a part of our team to address the MPS issues. For example, the City Health Department is working with MPS to reduce the threat of lead paint in the older school buildings. Another thing—we’d like to see some of the vacant school buildings sold off to make room for more housing. The MPS superintendent should be part of that discussion. She was part of our last cabinet meeting.

Of course, all this is to ensure students have a better education at MPS.

You brought up the low achievement of MPS schools. This has been happening for decades back when the mayor’s office and MPS had a strained relationship. The future of Milwaukee depends on what comes out of Milwaukee Public Schools. I am talking about tens of thousands of young people who affect public safety, the business workforce pipeline, and whether we will have strong homeownership in the future.   

For some reason, citizens seem to demand perfection from their political leaders, and yet they do not demand the same from their family and friends. I find hatred over political differences sadly toxic. It is a cancer in social media and in legacy media. I explain to people that their mayor, senator or president cannot please them all the time because he or she is a leader of all constituents. My question to you: “What is it like to be a politician? How do you balance your life?”

When I walk into the mayor’s office every day, I know I cannot make every resident happy, cannot say “yes” to everyone. Every time I say “yes” to someone, I am saying “no” to someone else. A leader has to stand up and lead even if some residents are not happy. But I try to focus on the north star—what’s best for the city, the constituents, and for service delivery out there in the neighborhoods. Milwaukee is the business and population center of the state. People from the suburbs commute into the city every day, and that is a lot of constituents for me to balance priorities, but I have to.

You’ve spent your work life in and around politicians and being a politician, and now you are the city’s biggest politician.

Many years ago, I worked as a staff member in this very office. There were many days and nights I was here alone and working, and I was tempted to sit in the mayor’s chair. But I said to myself, the only way I would sit in that chair is if I earned it.