Alderman Zielinski Holds News Conference at Mayor’s Office Door

Ald. Tony Zielinski held a news conference outside the Mayor’s Office (room 201) at City Hall on September 3rd to call on Mayor Tom Barrett to accept the alderman’s invitation to publicly debate the mayor’s proposal to change state law to allow Milwaukee’s mayor to appoint the superintendent of the Milwaukee Public Schools and to do away with the current MPS governance structure of a publicly elected school board.

A day earlier Alderman Zielinski said he had received a quick “no, thank you” reply to his email sent to Mayor Barrett earlier in the week inviting him to publicly debate the MPS proposal, which would require state legislators to change existing state law. The alderman, the primary sponsor of Common Council legislation that would put the Council on record opposing the mayor’s MPS governance change effort, said he would not let the mayor’s initial refusal stop him from trying to convince the mayor that a public debate “is good for the community and good for the democratic process.”

“If the mayor doesn’t want a debate with the primary Council sponsor of legislation opposing his move to control MPS then apparently his position and his commitment to it must not be real strong,” Alderman Zielinski said.

“Very simply, Milwaukee needs open public discussion and vetting of his proposal,” he said.

Alderman Zielinski has said consistently that he’s open and available to debate the issues with the mayor “whenever and wherever” in a public setting with a neutral moderator.

In late August Alderman Zielinski hosted a large City Hall news conference to rally opposition to the mayor’s MPS control proposal. MPS Board of Directors President Michael Bonds, as well as school board members Peter Blewett, Annie Woodward and Terrance Falk took part in the news conference, which featured several speakers, including former school board member (Rep.) Christine Sinicki and her colleague state Rep. Annette Polly Williams. Labor representatives also took part, including leaders from SEIU and the American Federation of Teachers.