Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s Goals for 2026

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Photo by Tom Jenz

Mayor Cavalier Johnson (2026)

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson (2026)

Not long ago, I caught Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson in a reflective mood. When I walked into his office, he didn’t stay behind the desk. Instead, he waved me over to a circle of chairs on the other side of the room, as if we were just going to sit and talk for a while.

He was dressed sharp in a well-cut suit, his trademark style since he took office back in December 2021. But it’s not the suit I noticed for long. It was the way he carries himself, facile but attentive, and with a winning grin that shines in a natural manner.

At 39, he’s still a young mayor, though he doesn’t lean on that. We talked for a while. The talk was relaxed and straightforward, the kind of conversation that doesn’t need much dressing up.

You declared 2026 as “The Year of Housing.” Here is a quote from you, “I am motivated in this Year of Housing by three fundamental factors: housing affordability, housing availability and housing quality.”

In a leadership position like mine, you tend to bring your own experience. Growing up in the inner city, for me, was a challenge. I attended six different MPS elementary schools. My family moved around a lot, and that brought instability. Every year, meeting new teachers, making new friends. When I was in the fourth grade, as I think back, I am almost certain I was going through some mental health challenges. Currently, I’ve been working to see that we create more consistency for our kids so they won’t have an experience like mine. A home, a house, means stability. If houses are unaffordable, stability can be a challenge.

And being able to afford a house has been difficult for many Milwaukee residents.

That’s true, even for some folks in the middle class.

In your state of the city address, you mentioned workforce housing. What exactly is workforce housing?

If you are a young person and a recent college graduate and you come back home and get that first job, society assumes you need no help, but that’s not the case. Housing can still be unaffordable. It is kind of accepted that you shouldn’t spend more that 30% of your income on your house. There is a shortage of housing in Milwaukee currently. We are trying to add housing availability.

Through workforce housing, we are making investments in affordable housing for that middle tier. Not just lower class residents. But I also want to develop luxury housing, whose owners have spendable dollars, which boosts our economy. 

Recently, you gave final approval to two more Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) arrangements. These will assist new apartment buildings to be built in Jose Perez’ 12^th Aldermanic District on the South Side. The buildings are named Via and Forma. How does a TIF district work?

Like you said, TIF stands for a tax incremental financing district. When a commercial or private development happens in an area of Milwaukee, the taxes will grow. We are able to take the tax growth increment to help fund other developments. That’s what we are doing with those two apartment building projects, Via and Forma. They comprise about 200 housing units in the Walkers Point neighborhood, which is mainly middle class. They will be developed by New Land Enterprises. Meanwhile, we will be doing another workforce development project in the downtown area. 

You recently said, “We are continuing our efforts to get city-owned tax-foreclosed properties into the hands of homeowners and responsible landlords. Last year, 57 of these residential properties were sold.” I understand there are currently around 150 city-owned houses in Milwaukee and 2,000 vacant lots. What can be done to restore and sell those properties?

A number of things. The best arrangement for funding is when the Federal government works directly with city governments, not through the states. Cities are where things actually get done. Under Joe Biden, this worked through the American Rescue Plan dollars (ARPA). We took millions of those ARPA funds and worked with minority builders to develop our city owned properties—vacant lots and abandoned houses. Then we’d sell the developed properties to homeowners at reduced rates. The goal is to stabilize neighborhoods and also get the city owned properties off our books because they are not generating taxes. This happens through our HOMES MKE Program,

Vacant properties can become a burden for the city.

Yes, that’s right. We have to board them up, cut the grass and shovel the snow. So we are unleashing those properties to homeowners and responsible landlords and get them into private hands.

I think you are also using another approach, as I recall.

Yes, it’s called a backbone TIF, which helps increase the number of Black and Hispanic homeowners because they have been cut out for so long. For example, we sell city owned vacant lots for cheap to owner occupants and developers, who then build affordable houses or apartment buildings on those lots. We are trying to focus on areas that are growing like Walker’s Point. This also lays out a foundation for other people to move into Milwaukee. Available homes help attract folks.

I understand a backbone TIF can also fund core infrastructure like roads, utilities, and site preparation.

Yes, that too.

In 2025, 94 homeowners received loans for emergency and essential home repairs. What is the Department of City Development’s Strong Homes loan program and also the Compliance Home Loans program?

These programs help owner occupants in need of house repairs to stay in their homes. The city works with those homeowners to get them loans to do the repairs. Over time, we will forgive those loans. I want people to stay in their homes, not get priced out.

What is the Milwaukee Home Down Payment Assistance Program?

This is an opportunity for people to buy their first home as an owner occupant, but you need to have a lower income to qualify. The Down Payment Assistance program will help to subsidize some of those costs up to $5,000, and even $7,000 if you purchase a home in a community development block grant area. 

The city’s Raze and Revive work consists of taking down buildings that are beyond repair and then adding newly constructed residences in their places. How does that process work and who provides the funding?

We started Raze and Revive when I became mayor. There are a number of homes in lower income areas that are worse for wear and cannot be saved. These houses attract nuisance—drug houses, drug dealers, prostitution, squatters, illegal car storage. The houses can become a blight. We have accelerated the time frame in which the city will raze these houses. In fact, we now have our backlog cleared in terms of razing.  

And the Revive part?

The Revive part consists of building new houses on those vacant lots. We have built some houses and then sold them to residents. 

One subject that has long created controversy is the old Northridge Mall site. After decades of lawsuits, neglect, and life-threatening danger, that space was recently razed. In 2024, the city acquired it from a China-based investment group. Explain what is currently happening there.

Northridge Mall was shut down in about 2002. Since then, a number of proposals were offered but never came to fruition. Over time, Northridge became a blight and had a number of fires. Mayor Tom Barrett kept working on a plan to raze that structure. When I became mayor, I put pressure on the owners of Northridge to demolish the mall. The residents in that area had endured two decades of blight and danger. Governor Evers was an outstanding partner. He stepped in and used some ARPA dollars to contribute a $15 million grant for razing the mall. Finally, the mall was demolished in the fall of 2025. Presently, the old Northridge Mall area is the largest contiguous site for development in the city.  

What kind of development do you think will happen there?

A number of possibilities. Healthcare, medical, maybe youth sports. We are looking for an anchor on that site. Sometime this year, we will have an RFP, request for proposal.  

Let’s talk about public safety. From my conversations with residents, they tell me criminal activity is an important issue for certain neighborhoods. Judging from the recent Police Crime Map statistics, almost all 11 categories of crime are significantly down since 2024. Yet, crime remains a large concern in many neighborhoods. Your comments?

Whenever Milwaukee residents get harmed, I get a notice on my smart phone. I’m one of the first ones to know about the incident. It affects me when there are crimes committed. I carry them with me, but I don’t allow the bad news to numb me. Every quarter, the police chief, the head of Community Wellness and Safety, the district attorney and I go into the community and talk about the current crime trends in Milwaukee. I’ve had a two-pronged strategy on public safety, accountability and prevention. For those folks who choose to harm other people, there is a price to pay. I want them to be arrested and prosecuted. There must be some consequences. Folks cannot just walk scot-free. As for prevention, we have programs like Hello Summer or Camp Rise or Earn & Learn, which encourage young people to stay engaged during the summer. We also have Adopt a Neighborhood, and we have Peace Week.

People need to have good jobs and access to opportunities. I’ve been working hard to expand our economy in Milwaukee, providing opportunities for jobs. This morning, I had a conversation about a large convention that may be coming to Milwaukee. We’ve been working with minority-owned business owners and women who are just starting out. 

You should check out Jackson’s Soul Food Redefined, near Fond du Lac and Baldwin, owned by two sisters. Food is delicious. Let me add that what is often left out of the discussion are the opportunities in the trades. 

The trades offer very good jobs. They pay really well.

They do, they do. I’d like to see more Black kids and kids of color get into the Trades, which offer tremendous opportunities.

Reckless driving reduction has been a top priority of yours. Traffic deaths have declined, but there are still too many car crashes, mainly in busy sections of the inner city. Your thoughts?

When I first became mayor, folks told me that reckless driving was their number one issue. We have been actively working to address reckless driving. We’ve made physical changes to the roadways, pinned-on curb extensions on busy corners, concrete islands, speed tables, speed bumps, protected bike and scooter lanes. These have all reduced crashes and injuries. We also have our long-term project, Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate vehicle accidents to zero by 2037.    

You were an advocate of placing cameras on busy street corners to catch drivers who run red lights. Has the state given you that approval yet?

The state will not let us do that currently, but after the November elections, that might change. I want to employ every single tool we possibly can. That includes driver education and law enforcement. 

You have been a very active mayor, seemingly everywhere in public. What is your operating philosophy as mayor?

As you can see, my desk is filled with paperwork, but yet I feel I need to be out among the public. That includes being in all the aldermanic districts. The other day, I ran into some of my constituents from when I was an alderman in the 2nd District. I still drive around in my old district just to see what’s going on. I call in problems just as I did when I was the alderman. But no matter what district I visit, I want to hear from people. I remember years ago when you walked with me through my district, and you wrote a story. We knocked on doors that day. And I still do that as mayor. 

Surprise. “The mayor is at my house.”

Well, yeah, I’m at their houses because I want to hear from them about their neighborhoods.

I think residents would like to know about the personal side of their mayor. Tell me about your family, your wife and children.

My wife, Dominique, is phenomenal. I couldn’t do all the things I do without her. She’s easy to talk to, and she allows me to complain when I cannot complain to anyone else. We met at the YMCA when we both worked there. She’d already had a son, Oliver. That was 2012. We got married in 2016. She is physically active, and can teach yoga, Zumba and kickboxing classes. She is currently back in college. Three years ago, she created the annual Mothers of Milwaukee Symposium. Hundreds of people attended that last one. We now have three children. Our son Oliver is 15 and in the 10th grade, and our twin daughters, Bella and Madison, eight years old, and they are crushing second grade. (proudly laughing)