Milwaukee County Executive Crowley visits White House

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley's White House meeting with senior presidential aides was to discuss COVID-19 recovery and infrastructure, FOX6 News has learned. He was part of a group of county leaders from around the country.

"We know that this delta variant has ravaged this community, and we don't know what to expect with the omicron variant, but the White House has basically assured us that they want to continue to partner with all the local municipalities as well as state governments to do everything that we can to get vaccines in people's arms," Crowley told FOX6 from the White House on Thursday.

A day earlier, Wednesday, Crowley spoke at a National Press Club event – joining county leaders from around the country.

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"We still have a long way to go, to get the pandemic behind us," Crowley said at the event. "At the end of the day, it’s going to take all of us coming to the table. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican, a union member or CEO, it’s going to take all of us being at the table, having some crucial conversations about how we get through this pandemic, for the next generation to be able to thrive."

Back home, the challenges are growing. The Wisconsin Hospital Association reports 97% of the state's ICU beds are full. Milwaukee County is seeing a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations for 2021 with nearly 300 people in the hospital.

"We have to understand how this is putting a strain on our hospitals, which, unfortunately, doesn't allow those who are having other medical emergencies, whether we talk about diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, so on and so forth. Those folks need medical attention, and if we can do everything we can to prevent those who are being infected with COVID-19 from utilizing those critical ICU beds."

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With the strain the pandemic on putting on the country, county leaders are looking to use federal funds to help. The American Rescue Plan Act sends $183 million to Milwaukee County.

"We want to make sure we have eyes on how these dollars are being spent, so we’re making sure to dot our Is and cross our Ts," said Crowley. "The biggest factor is making sure we mitigate COVID-19."

The National Association of Counties hosted the five-person panel in Washington. Crowley joined these leaders for the discussion at the National Press Club:

• Mayor Daniella Levine Cava: Mayor, Miami-Dade County, Florida
• Lina Hidalgo: County judge, Harris County, Texas (Houston)
• Gary Moore: Boone County, Kentucky judge/executive, National Association of Counties immediate past president
• Mark Poloncarz: County executive, Erie County, New York (Buffalo)

With all those leaders, including some Milwaukee competed with to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention, FOX6 asked Crowley if there were discussions in Washington, D.C. about bringing the Republican or Democratic conventions to Milwaukee in 2024. 

"A few of us have been talking about that. You know, last time it was Houston and Miami that was running and both Houston and Miami county executives are here. Right now, we have not had that conversation, but I will tell you that we welcome the DNC and we welcome the RNC. We want to showcase what we have to offer throughout Milwaukee County and all the assets that we have available, because it's a beautiful place to come to. But, at the end of the day, it's really about how we are going to have a healthy community a healthy United States, so we can eventually have a healthy economy to allow conferences like the RNC and the DNC."