Milwaukee will get a new watchdog after Common Council overrides Tom Barrett's veto

Mary Spicuzza | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The City of Milwaukee will get a new watchdog after all.

The Common Council voted Tuesday to override Mayor Tom Barrett's veto of its measure to create an inspector general, with supporters saying the position is needed to prevent problems like the recent turmoil at the Health Department.

"There's nothing political about this situation," Ald. Bob Donovan said. "We are simply doing our job."

He urged fellow aldermen to back the proposal, saying they needed to make sure the "chaos that has gone on at the Health Department for a number of years never, ever, ever repeats itself in that department or in any city department."

The Health Department has been reeling for months amid news that staffers failed to provide services to the families of lead-poisoned children, or at least failed to document its efforts. The Journal Sentinel has also reported on problems with Milwaukee's cancer screening programs, family planning, and sexually transmitted infection testing.

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"If the Milwaukee Common Council does not provide appropriate oversight of our city departments, no one else will," Donovan said before Tuesday's vote.

But Ald. Michael Murphy, who opposed the measure, said other cities have created inspector general positions that are independent and impartial. He added that if such a position is needed, it should be in the Milwaukee comptroller's office.

"By its very nature the Common Council is a political entity, a political body, so its decisions in terms of using an inspector general will be political in its nature," Murphy said.

Barrett told the Journal Sentinel last week that he vetoed the council's measure because he was concerned about the potential for the position to be compromised by "political interference," with the inspector general reporting directly to the council.

"I share the sentiment that there is a benefit to having an inspector general," Barrett said. "But we did some research, and as we looked at other cities who have used an inspector general, the common denominator was independence from both the legislative branch and the executive branch."

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Barrett's veto was overridden on a 10-3-1 vote. Those opposed to the override were Murphy as well as Aldermen Cavalier Johnson and Terry Witkowski. Ald. Milele Coggs abstained.

Under the measure, the inspector general position would be located in the city clerk's office. The goal of the position would be to closely monitor departmental administration and activities citywide "while being outside of the administration," the ordinance said.

The council originally created the position to oversee the troubled Health Department, but a council committee previously amended it so the inspector general would oversee all city departments rather than just the health agency.

Comptroller Martin Matson has also warned that placing the inspector general in the city clerk's office provides the potential for "politically motivated audits."

Also on Tuesday, the Council narrowly passed a resolution aimed at overhauling the budget process. It directs the city's lobbyists to seek a change in state law that would essentially create a board for drafting Milwaukee's annual budgets.

Currently, the mayor drafts a budget plan and submits it to the council.