Milwaukee’s acting mayor says crime will slow when economic development increases

Milwaukee’s acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson released a plan Wednesday to grow the city’s population and create more business opportunities in Milwaukee’s neighborhoods.

Coming off one of the deadliest months in Milwaukee’s history, Johnson drew the correlation between poverty and public safety.

“Safer neighborhoods promote development, and development promotes safer neighborhoods through family-supporting jobs,” Johnson said.

Milwaukee had 26 homicides in January, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office. The city also had 61 nonfatal shootings last month, according to the Milwaukee Police Department.

Before unveiling his plan, Johnson discussed a shooting that happened outside a Milwaukee high school Tuesday night during a basketball game. Police say four teenage girls and a woman were shot near Rufus King International High School following a verbal fight on Facebook.

Johnson called Rufus King a bright spot in the city surrounded by a neighborhood that really cares about Milwaukee. The school is a public magnet high school located on the North Side of Milwaukee. It is consistently a top-rated Wisconsin school.

“Kids in this city are going to have trauma because of a dispute on social media and guns entered the equation,” Johnson said.

Employment and incomes have lagged in Milwaukee’s neighborhoods, he said, and on Wednesday, he laid out a three-prong economic development strategy. It included creating more economic mobility for people by working with existing nonprofits in the city including Employ Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Technical College and Milwaukee Public Schools. Johnson’s proposal includes 21 different ideas for achieving this.

He also laid out a public infrastructure investment strategy and economic growth strategy with 21 more ideas.

“The stakes in this are pretty high, it’s things like this that help to move the city forward proving growth, not just for businesses, but growth in the neighborhoods surrounding businesses like this,” Johnson said.

Johnson wants to grow Milwaukee’s population to 1 million, but didn’t set a timeframe. The city has 577,222 residents, according to 2020 census data, down more than 17,000 people since 2010.

Johnson is one of seven people running for Milwaukee mayor. He’ll face six challengers in the Feb. 15 primary. They include: alder Marina Dimitrijevic, former alder Bob Donovan, community activist Ieshuh Griffin, Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas, business owner Michael Sampson and Democratic state Sen. Lena Taylor.

Johnson has served as acting mayor since Tom Barrett resigned in December and has been able to use this time to lay out his visions for the future of Milwaukee. Last month, he released a plan to combat crime in the city.