New oversight coming to the 'troubled' Milwaukee Housing Authority
New oversight is coming to the embattled Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.
On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Common Council voted unanimously to confirm Karen Gotzler — a consultant who has worked to turn around struggling public housing authorities in other communities — to the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.
Her appointment to the board was a rare point of agreement between Mayor Cavalier Johnson; Common Council President Jose Perez; and Common Ground, a local nonprofit lobbying for major reforms of the Housing Authority.
Gotzler, one of three board members nominated by Johnson, has pledged to rebuild trust with public housing residents and conduct performance reviews of the Housing Authority's senior leadership.
Common Ground and public housing residents have been calling on Housing Authority Secretary-Executive Director Willie Hines to step down since two federal audit reports warned the agency was "at risk for serious fraud, waste and abuse."
