Milwaukee · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in Milwaukee public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
New tavern, liquor and entertainment licenses citywide
The committee's recommendations on licenses feed into the Common Council's final decisions on who can hold tavern, liquor, and other city licenses. Those decisions affect neighborhood businesses and the establishments operating near you.
Vice chair vacancy
The commission honored Vice Chair Bree Spencer at her final full board meeting, crediting her with major policy changes including the video release and vehicle pursuit policies.
Tax-deeded property sale-backs
Ten city-owned tax-deeded properties across the 1st, 7th, 8th, 9th, 12th and 15th districts were recommended for sale-back to their former owners, returning properties to private hands and the tax roll.
Code cleanup ordinance
A routine substitute ordinance fixes errors, clarifies language, and removes obsolete provisions across the city code — recommended for passage.
2025 Property Tax Cancellations
The assessor's office asked to wipe $15,004 in 2025 property taxes off five parcels, mostly commercial, after valuation disputes.
Parking and traffic control updates
Small but real changes: new resident parking near Hawley Road, no-parking zones for truck safety and the Howard/16th corner, an all-way stop at Waterford and Third, and removal of an outdated through-highway designation on South Third Street.
Fifth District Thanksgiving Giveaway
Ald. Westmoreland's second-annual giveaway provides gift cards rather than turkeys, in partnership with Milwaukee Harley-Davidson. The resolution adds authority to spend sponsorship funds already accepted into an account.
Elimination of drive-up checkout at Central Library
The proposed budget eliminates drive-up material checkout at Central Library, though the window stays open for returns and curbside pickup remains at all 13 locations. Low usage and needed repairs to the leaking deck above drove the decision.
Linton v. City of Milwaukee settlement
The committee signed off on settling a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city after closed session. Settlement terms weren't discussed in open session.
Historic plaque program visibility on Brady Street
A Brady Street homeowner got the district's rare historic plaque and urged the city to advertise the plaque program more — she thinks there may be only one plaque on the whole street.
Gateway sign maintenance transfer
The city is taking back six gateway signs from MMSD, with the Forest County Potawatomi Community maintaining three, including new signage at 25th and Canal. The other three sites may lose their signs if no sponsor steps up.
Bank of America branch at Southgate Marketplace
The old Omega South Side restaurant site on 27th Street would become a full-service bank branch with drive-through ATM, replacing an 8,200-square-foot restaurant with a 3,500-square-foot building.
Bay View mixed-use rezone on Howell Avenue
A vacant Bay View building gets new life: rezoning to NS2 lets the owners lease ground-floor space to a café, shop, or studio.
Week Without Driving
The council recognized October 1-8, 2026 as Week Without Driving, encouraging people to experience the barriers non-drivers face; Moore is partnering with Milwaukee County on a Sept. 28 press conference.
Police officer recruitment process overhaul
MPD is moving from year-round police officer recruiting to three fixed three-month application windows a year, which staff say will give them reset time, clearer expectations for candidates, and more incentive to follow through.
HACM Board effectiveness survey
The board will do its first-ever annual self-evaluation this fall, run by a neutral third party and kept anonymous — though responses are still public records.
Contractor workforce compliance reporting
Three development projects hit or beat their local-hiring goals (100 East National, CDA Scattered Sites, Northwestern Mutual), showing the resident-preferred-worker program working as designed; two reports were held pending more detail.
National Register nominations: Greyhound Terminal and County Welfare building
The commission backed National Register nominations for two mid-century landmarks — the 1965 Greyhound Terminal downtown and the former Schuster's/County Welfare building on Vliet Street, which is being converted to affordable housing. The listings recognize transportation and social-welfare history rather than architecture.
No Mow May
Participating in No Mow May no longer requires registering with the city — just display a yard sign during May to avoid a mowing citation.
Native plant landscaping registry
Residents can now register native plant lawns with forestry so they won't be cut down under the old tall-grass ordinance.
Assessor's office employee performance and taxpayer responsiveness
Testimony revealed a pattern of unreturned calls from property owners dealing with assessments and objections, including complaints that reached the Commissioner of Assessors and an alderman's office. For homeowners, this is about whether their assessment questions get answered.
2027 Council and committee meeting schedule
The Council set its regular meeting calendar for 2027, so residents can plan when to attend or weigh in on council business next year.
Sister city relationship with Irpin, Ukraine
Milwaukee updated its sister city relationship with Irpin, Ukraine, amending an earlier council file. These relationships are largely symbolic but can support cultural and humanitarian ties.
Barclay Street corridor assembly hall deviation
The former Foamation cheesehead building's owner wants to keep running a 400-person event space in a light-industrial maker corridor. The commission gave her one more year to keep events going while she fills the rest of the building with artists and maker tenants and finally installs promised murals.
Community festival funding
Small committee-fund expenditures for two beloved neighborhood events: the Beet Street Fall Festival in Bay View and the 16th annual Bronzeville Week.
Urban wood utilization
The city ships 2,000-plus tons of logs annually to Kettle Moraine Hardwoods, which uses only 20-30%; Forestry will issue a new RFI to find smaller-scale users, after a prior $3.3 million in-house operation was ruled infeasible.
Panther Edge internship program
A new citywide agreement with UWM revives the internship pipeline that recently produced a full-time water chemist hire for Milwaukee Water Works.
Student IDs as library cards
Milwaukee already lets students use school IDs as library cards through the Library Now partnership, but a new resolution pushes for a six-month report on expanding it to all schools in the city — and possibly broader uses for the ID.
Temporary change of plan permit ordinance
A new ordinance lets alderpersons deny late-filed temporary late-hours permits themselves instead of routing objections back to the full committee — aimed at last-minute requests that arrive without time for vetting.
Do Portugal Circus in the Historic Third Ward
The family circus, returning after last year's denial, was rejected again for a Van Buren Street site over lack of neighbor notification and conflicts with Labor Day weekend events.
Zoning correction at 1993 S. Muskego Ave.
A 2018 city land sale merged two parcels with different zoning, creating a mixed-zoning error. The commission recommended a fix assigning LB2 to the combined property, home to a bar adding a commercial kitchen.
Food truck health compliance and truck routing
Taqueria La Vecindad's food truck was caught twice without running water in under two months. The operator promised to drain tanks nightly, insulate lines, and stop driving his overweight truck down S. 43rd Street by Jackson Park.
Youth apprenticeship expansion in city safety departments
The Fire Department is adding a Youth Carpenter Apprentice program, joining the fleet apprentice and other youth apprenticeships across city departments — a pipeline for high schoolers into skilled city careers.
Library Teen Outreach Intern program
Milwaukee Public Library's teen interns — high schoolers working about 10 hours a week — now have their three positions permanently exempt from standard civil-service rules, recognizing the annual graduation-driven turnover.
HPC by-laws amendment on rear landscaping
The commission restored a policy it accidentally deleted, confirming it won't review planting beds in back yards of mid-block lots that aren't visible from the street.
Layton Avenue gas station expansion rezone
A small rezoning lets a long-time gas station add a pump by combining two parcels, with landscaping commitments in the Garden District.
Garbage cans and North Avenue cleanliness
Youth from the Lindsay Heights BID 32 cleaned up North Avenue and identified missing trash cans as the top need — Alderman Stamper noted the city already bought 500+ cans and offered to place more.
Board hearing logistics and technology access
A room conflict, a missing Forestry witness link, and a remote appellant whose camera wouldn't work all slowed the docket — the board now plans a special Friday session and better room booking.
Exempt appointments in Community Wellness and Safety
Two positions in the newly restructured Department of Community Wellness and Safety were exempted from normal hiring rules because their grant funding is limited — one through 2027, the other ending September 29. The chair noted such positions wouldn't normally qualify but supported the requests given the circumstances.
Kane Commons Phase 1 exterior modifications
The last piece of the 20-year-old Kane Commons development gets a facelift: new siding, resized windows, code-compliant doors, and a new porch and deck on the courtyard side of an East Kane Place duplex.
Employee travel reimbursement policy
Kryshak's appeal exposed a gray area: can employees be reimbursed for what a direct flight would have cost when they take a cheaper personal detour? The health department says only actual paid costs count, and plans to clean up ambiguous policy language.
Short-term rental state legislative package
A substitute resolution tweaking the city's state lobbying agenda on short-term rentals was held to the call of the chair rather than moving forward.
Public Artist in Residence at the Fire Department
Artist Sarah Luther will spend a year working with the Fire Department on safe and survivable housing art projects, treating fire stations as neighborhood hubs — part of the mayor's 2026 housing focus.
Recycling ordinance technical revision
The city's recycling ordinance was held last month so the City Attorney could make it legally airtight under state statute; the committee sent the cleaned-up substitute forward.
Library grants for Talking Book and Braille and Interlibrary Loan
Two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million fund accessibility services for residents with disabilities and interlibrary loan services starting July 1.
Kane Commons duplex exterior upgrades
New owners of the last Kane Commons duplex can now fix up its exterior — new siding, windows, porch and deck — with small future tweaks handled by staff instead of a months-long review.
911 Call Answer and Dispatch Times
Great news here: 99.3% of 911 calls were answered within 15 seconds last quarter, and emergency outlier calls dropped to zero. The dispatch center is rolling out universal call-taker training combining police and fire call types.
Milwaukee Arts Board programs and funding
The Arts Board awarded $267,600 to 49 arts nonprofits, runs public art conservation, and is launching a second artist-in-residence partnership with the fire department on safe housing.
Additional signage for Riverwest Food Accelerator
FoodRight Inc., a nonprofit running culinary nutrition programs with Milwaukee Public Schools, will get an additional wall sign on the Riverwest Apartments building so neighbors can find its Food Accelerator space. The change is a minor modification to the building's planned development zoning.
Cream of the Cream City awards program health
Only eight applications came in this year, and commissioners openly worried the awards lack the prestige and outreach to attract strong candidates. They agreed to rethink the program next year, possibly partnering with groups like the County Historical Society.