UPDATE 5:00PM
MILWAUKEE- A tentative deal has been reached between the City of Milwaukee and former Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales that will delay, if not outright eliminate, Morales’s return to Milwaukee Police Headquarters.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and alderman Ashanti Hamilton held a press conference at Milwaukee City Hall this afternoon to announce the deal.
“This has been a challenging matter for all involved and I’m pleased to have this tentative settlement,” Barrett said. “The fact that we reached a tentative settlement of course does not resolve this matter.”
The settlement is pending approval from the Judiciary and Legislative Committee before going before the full council for approval.
Alderman Hamilton says the agreement will be introduced to the Judiciary and Legislative Committee later this week. The Common Council can call a special meeting to discuss the settlement or choose to do that during their regularly scheduled meeting. As part of the tentative agreement, Morales’ return date has been pushed from July 15th to August 1st.
“It’s never an easy situation when the city is being sued,” Hamilton said. “It’s even more difficult when we already acknowledged that the process was flawed that got us into this situation but what we want to be able to do is put this situation behind us.”
The separation agreement is for $500,000. Mayor Barrett said once you factor in attorney fees, the number balloons to around $626,000. The $626,000 number is what will appear on the agreement up for approval by the council.
Morales has not responded to a request for comment regarding the settlement. Morales’ attorney Franklyn Gimbel has also not responded to a request for comment.
ORIGINAL POST 4P.M.
MILWAUKEE — Former Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales has reached tentative deal with the city that would prevent him from reclaiming his role within the department.
Morales and the city of Milwaukee had been in settlement talks for several months after a judge ruled he was wrongfully demoted by the fire and police commission last August.
He was set to return to his role as chief on Thursday, July 15.
“We still have a couple more steps to go through but much of the council’s been involved in negotiations thus far.”
500K to Morales initially… to cover legal fees brings total to 626k.— mayor barrett
file to be introduced later this week
“This has been a challenging time and we are very very happy to be turning the page.”
Norman is acting chief… will be up to FPC to decide whether or not to move forward with search
Barrett endorses Norman
This is a developing story. Check back for details.