Milwaukee housing authority residents pressure leaders: 'Step down'
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee housing authority residents are pushing for change – and putting pressure on the mayor – after years of complaints at several properties.
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) is supposed to provide affordable options for families. Kelly Barnes said rats are an issue she has been dealing with since she moved to Hillside Terrace five years ago.
"Make where we live that we don’t have to watch our backs scared a rat is going to run across our feet," said Barnes. "A rat got into my car, ate the filter and also ate the air duct in my car."
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Rats are just one piece of a bigger problem, residents said.
"Just because of where we stay at doesn’t mean you can treat us like we are not human," said Keisha Tate, who has been an HACM resident for eight years.
Kelly Barnes shows filter she says was chewed by rats
Change at the top
Tate and Barnes are just two of the 180 HACM residents who signed a letter asking Mayor Cavalier Johnson to support the removal of HACM Director Willie Hines.
"If you are not willing to make the change, then step down," Tate said.
Willie Hines
"Until something gets way out of hand they don’t do anything about it," said Tobias Miscevic, a Lapham Park resident for 13 years.
Residents who spoke to FOX6 on Tuesday said they've been trying to get help for the rat problems and security issues for years, but nothing has been done.
City leaders respond
Common Council President José Pérez has joined the call for new HACM leadership.
"Without seeing any of those corrective actions happen, I thought we should take a long hard look at HACM," he said.
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The mayor's office said the resident's letter is "loaded with innuendo and false statements" and doesn't include a "suggestion to remedy the challenges HACM faces." A statement also said his office is "looking forward to Common Council approval of the HACM board nominees."
Pérez said approval will take time: "We want there to be a standard for board members, and I want that to be in place before I schedule any hearings for any HACM nominees to the board."
FOX6 reached out to HACM and Hines for comment, but did not hear back by Tuesday's deadline for this story.
Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM)
Full statement from mayor's office:
The Common Ground letter is loaded with innuendo and false statements. Notably, it does not include a single, substantive suggestion to remedy the challenges HACM faces.
HACM leadership and well-intentioned city officials are advancing solutions for Milwaukee public housing. We look forward to Common Council approval of the HACM board nominees, announced over a month ago, so that additional steps forward can occur.