UPDATE 6PM
MILWAUKEE- After nearly sixteen years at the helm, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett appears to be ready to move on.
Barrett has been nominated by President Biden to serve as the Ambassador to Luxembourg. A small country located between Germany and Belgium with roughly 639-thousand residents.
“I am honored by the President’s actions and humbled by the trust President Biden has placed in me,” Barrett said during a roughly 2 minute press conference this afternoon. “As a lifelong Milwaukeean I will bring the values of our community to this new posting. Values such as hard work, honesty, and caring for others.”
Barrett’s appointment is still pending confirmation by the US Senate.
Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce President Tim Sheehy says Barrett will be remembered fondly if, and when, he steps away.
“He was fiscally sound, development flourished under his leadership and one piece of unfinished business was really this push to give the city local control over a sales tax, which I think is a necessary part for the city going forward,” Sheehy said.
Sheehy also credited Barrett for co-founding the Milwaukee 7 business group.
If Barrett is confirmed by the Senate, Milwaukee Common Council President Cavalier Johnson would assume the role of Mayor, and if he chooses, would fill out the rest of Barrett’s term which runs through April 2024.
Johnson released a statement of his own this afternoon, “On behalf of the Milwaukee Common Council, I congratulate the Mayor on his appointment. We will continue to work closely with the Mayor during this time of transition. Until he decides to step down he will remain in that position, and the business at City Hall will continue.”
UPDATE 4PM
MILWAUKEE- Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett addressing the public regarding his nomination to serve as US Ambassador to Luxembourg:
ORIGINAL POST 2:30PM
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is to be named the new United States Ambassador to Luxembourg, TMJ4 News in collaboration with The Milwaukee Business Journal have learned. Barrett first became mayor in 2004, when he defeated incumbent Mayor Marvin Pratt. He was re-elected in 2008, 2012, 2016, and most recently in 2020.
Luxembourg is a Western European nation that lies between France and Germany. It is slightly smaller than the state of Rhode Island and about half the size of Delaware, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Barrett is expected to address his nomination at 4 o’clock this afternoon.
