MILWAUKEE — A day of inaugurations at City Hall Tuesday as Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson was inaugurated for another four years while 15 Common Council members were also inaugurated into new terms. In addition, the Milwaukee City Comptroller, City Treasurer, and City Attorney were also inaugurated.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s inauguration
The first swearing-in of the day was for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson as he was re-elected for another four years, from 2024 through 2028. He told WTMJ that one of his main focuses moving forward will be education.
“Too many people make decisions about whether they come to Milwaukee, leave Milwaukee, start businesses in Milwaukee, all that… based on education,” he said. “I want to find a way to engage with the education system here more so than what we’ve seen in the past.”
He said he wants people to be moving to Milwaukee because of schools.
“[This will] lift the bar for all our kids, which is good for them and whatever they’ll do in life, but then also good for our future workforce as well,” he said.
He said crime is a main issue he plans to continue to attack as well. The quarterly crime report for 2024, which was introduced by the Mayor, released before his inauguration, and all major crime numbers are down in comparison to the last two years by this time of the year. He believes that crime should be rare in the city of Milwaukee.
“I am optimistic that those trends will continue,” he said. “We’ll continue to apply the approach we’ve been doing the whole time, which is having a focus on both accountability as well as prevention… and calling people in the community to step up and be a part of the solution too.”
He said the best way to improve Milwaukee in all areas is through partnerships with different groups and communities throughout the city.
“We’ll continue to work with partners across the sector, whether in government, the city government, other units of government, in the private sector, the non-private sector… in order to move this city forward,” he said. “If there’s anybody out there that can help us move the ball forward, I want to work with them.”
Common Council members inauguration
The second swearing-in of the day at City Hall was for the 15 Milwaukee Common Council members along with the Milwaukee City Comptroller, City Treasurer, and City Attorney. The mixture of Aldermen and Alderwomen on the common council is the most diverse group in the history of Milwaukee.
Eight of the members are African American, along with six members being women, and two members are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Newly elected 10th District Alderwoman Sharlen Moore was inaugurated as the first-ever black woman in her position. She told WTMJ it’s an honor to be part of this historic moment.
“Representation matters,” she said. “We’re now really representing Milwaukee and the folks that live here.”
Re-elected Common Council President José Pérez agreed with Moore.
“When they start seeing more representatives that look like them… that have gone through some of the same trials and tribulations in this city,” he said. “We can get them better engaged… in our civil process.”
Perez said to minorities who want to run for public office that all it takes is putting in the work necessary for that position regardless of the circumstances.
“[Underrepresented groups] may not be in large numbers,” he said. “But it shouldn’t stop [them] from representing [their] community even if [they] don’t look like [you].”
10th District Alderwoman Moore said her first order of business is working together with all 22 neighborhoods in her district and making sure they all have representation.
“I want to do a District 10 leadership council that consists of residents whether they’re part of a neighborhood group or not,” she said. “[I want] to have some really rich conversations around ‘what do we do well, [and] what are the things we want to work on collectively?'”
She said she wants to work with more than just the people in her district as well.
“I’m here to serve the residents of the great city of Milwaukee,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do to collectively join forces together and make our city a great city for every single resident that lives here.”
