Milwaukee Common Council 5th district candidates on fighting crime
MILWAUKEE - On Tuesday, April 4, you’ll decide control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. You’ll also decide local races that could impact you, your schools and your neighborhoods.
There will be changes coming to the Milwaukee Common Council, with 20% of the seats vacant heading into the election.
FOX6 News asked the 5th District candidates about pressing issues like fighting crime.
Annette Jackson works for the city of Milwaukee, previously in the water department, Department of Neighborhood Services and now, licensing.
"I have grandchildren, and I wonder what the city is going to be like 10 years from now if real people don't step up and make a difference," said Jackson. "I really want to make a difference in the community."
Annette Jackson
Jackson faces Lamont Westmoreland.
"My background is business lending, so I did small business loans for a while," said Westmoreland.
Westmoreland owns his own painting business.
"I always tell my kids, when there is a problem, we have a duty to inject ourselves into that problem and be part of the solution," said Westmoreland. "I’ve got my complaints on how things are run. I’ve got ideas I haven’t seen before, so this is part of me seeing problems and wanting to be part of the solution."
Both candidates have ideas for how they'd fight reckless driving.
"Putting calming infrastructure is definitely something that I want to do stricter," said Jackson.
Lamont Westmoreland
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"We can curb it with things like speed bumps on major roads, bump outs," said Westmoreland.
They both said they would not make cuts to the police department and have ideas for fighting crime.
"Another issue is street lighting," said Westmoreland. "I always say, when there’s darkness, there’s opportunity for crime."
Lamont Westmoreland
"We'd like to do is install more cameras and lights so that people can see what's going on and hold people accountable," said Jackson.
This race is the first time either has had their name on the ballot.
In the primary, they beat out five other candidates, including former MPD Assistant Chief Ray Banks and Jeff Spence, former member of the MPS board.
Alderwoman Nikiya Dodd resigned her post as 5th District alderwoman in late November 2022.
Annette Jackson
If Jackson wins the race, she would have to move before taking office because she doesn't live in the district. She said she has in the past and loved it, adding that she already picked out a spot to move to.