In a heated meeting Wednesday, City Attorney Tearman Spencer defended one of his deputies who has come under fire for doing legal work while holding one of the top jobs in Milwaukee city government.
And Spencer fielded sharp criticism over his handling of a city contract for the Couture, a major and long-delayed downtown development.
Spencer s refusal to sign the contract could prompt a lawsuit from the developer and raises the need for the city to hire outside counsel, Ald. Nik Kovac said during a meeting of the Common Council s Finance and Personnel Committee Wednesday.
Spencer defended Deputy City Attorney Odalo Ohiku s outside work as a defense attorney, which included a four-day criminal jury trial last week at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
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215 2 minutes read
On Jan. 19, the Milwaukee Common Council decided to ignore organizers’ demands by re-voting on and ultimately accepting the $9.7 million Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant, which will hire 30 additional Milwaukee Police Department officers over three years. The grant was originally rejected last month, but after Alderwoman Nikiya Dodd motioned to reconsider it with added amendments, it was approved nine to six.
“I’m not surprised but I’m angry and frustrated,” said Hayden Harwood of Party for Socialism and Liberation Milwaukee. “If that money is used to hire more police, it means the Common Council will have to allocate more money towards MPD for the following years that those officers stay on. They pay for their salaries every year, for the damages they’ll eventually cause, and for their pensions. That $9.7 million wasn’t free. It was collected from the people and it will cost Milwaukee much more in the long run.”
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