Milwaukee housing authority leader Willie Hines retiring
MILWAUKEE - Willie Hines, the Milwaukee housing authority's secretary-executive director who has been under fire over public housing living conditions, announced on Friday that he will retire – effective Jan. 1, 2025.
In a statement, Hines said his time with the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) has been "more than a career; it has been a mission" and he is stepping into the next chapter of his life with "pride in what we have achieved together."
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HACM provides a home to roughly 15,000 people in Milwaukee. It has faced intense scrutiny over a litany of problems, such as rent mismanagement and pest control.
"It was a long fight, it was a tedious fight," said Roye Logan, president of Mitchell Court, a HACM property.
Milwaukee housing authority negotiations, board meeting protested
A Florida-based company could soon take over the Milwaukee housing authority's Section 8 voucher program. Residents and Common Ground protested.
"This is thousands of low-income tenants and Common Ground banding together for two years to challenge entrenched, powerful special interests," said Common Ground's Kevin Solomon.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently ordered HACM to turn over its Section 8 voucher program to an outside vendor. HACM's board voted in October to finalize a contract with Florida-based company CVR.
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"We gotta improve housing. We have to fight the charges in rent. We have to fight the bed bugs, the roaches, the rodents. We fought to get rid of those here at Mitchell Court," Logan said.
Now, Common Ground and tenants alike hope a change at the top will bring more authority to those who call HACM properties home.
Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM)
"Tenants need to have a real permanent seat at the table – not this power imbalance that led to this problem in the first place," said Solomon.
FOX6 News reached out to Mayor Cavalier Johnson's office. A spokesperson did not provide a statement, but said Hines' decision to retire was solely his – and the mayor did not force him out. The spokesperson added that Johnson expressed his appreciation to Hines for his decades of service.
Reaction and statements
Willie Hines, HACM secretary-executive director:
"Today, I announce my upcoming retirement as Secretary-Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM), effective January 1, 2025. Serving HACM and the City of Milwaukee for nearly 30 years has been one of the greatest honors of my life. This journey has been more than a career; it has been a mission, a passion, and a privilege to work alongside so many dedicated colleagues and partners committed to creating affordable housing solutions and improving lives in our community.
"As I prepare to step into the next chapter of my life, I do so with a heart full of gratitude and pride in what we have achieved together. I am also filled with optimism for HACM’s future and confident in its ability to successfully navigate the complex challenges that housing authorities face.
"Thank you to everyone who has been part of this remarkable journey. Your support and partnership have meant the world to me."
Common Ground:
"Today is a momentous day for Milwaukee," says Kevin Solomon, Associate Organizer for Common Ground. "David beat Goliath. Thousands of low-income housing residents and Common Ground banded together for over 2 years to challenge entrenched and powerful interests, and fight for better living conditions. We overcame skepticism, doubt, secrecy, and special interests. And we won."
Common Ground has accomplished an essential objective in our "Tenants United" campaign to reform the Housing Authority: Willie Hines is resigning as Executive Director. "The next step is for the HACM Board to conduct a national search for a new, competent, service-oriented director to clean up the mess," says Jennifer O’Hear, Common Ground’s Lead Organizer.
"Common Ground knows how to take on dominant, unaccountable power—and win," says Rev. Will Davis, Pastor of Invisible Reality Ministries and Member of Common Ground’s Executive Team. "We saw injustice and knew we had to work with the residents to change things."
"Nobody believed us tenants at first. It was our word against Hines’," says Roye "Chris" Logan, Resident President of Mitchell Court. "After we made clear that our concerns are real, we were told we would never get rid of Hines. But guess what? We are Common Ground! We never give up, and we never go away."
Common Ground’s campaign made waves in Milwaukee, including:
- Garnering hundreds of news articles — even front-page of the Washington Post.
- Achieving new oversight by the Department of Neighborhood Services.
- Announcing a class-action lawsuit by tenants against HACM for bed bug infestations.
- Working with Council President José Pérez and the Common Council to confirm 4 new members of the HACM Board of Commissioners.
"We had a huge power imbalance between tenants and HACM," says Charlene "Peaches" Bell of College Court. "Working with Common Ground changed that. It’s also why we’re building a permanent tenants organization — us tenants are organizing to ensure this never happens again."