November 29, 2017:
14th District Alderman Tony Zielinski announces he will run for mayor in 2020, not to seek re-election as alderman (after what will have been 16 years in office).
March 9, 2019:
8th District Alderman Bob Donovan announces he will retire at the end of his term in 2020, not to seek re-election as alderman (after what will have been 20 years in office).
May 23, 2019:
13th District Alderman Terry Witkowski announces he will retire on May 30th, not to seek re-election as alderman (after what will have been 16 years in office).
That leaves 3 of the 5 south-side Milwaukee Common Council seats open in the coming year (District 11’s Mark Borkowski [5 years] and District 12’s José Pérez [8 years] show no signs of abdicating, though the 11th does have a challenger already filed). That’s a huge swath of the city, physically and in terms of population, now with the chance to re-imagine their representation without the specter of a powerful and longtime incumbent running…
…or so it would appear: the reality is much less revolutionary.
14th District
County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic is the only filed candidate to fill Alderman Zielinski’s seat. Many in the burgeoning 14th District (which includes Bay View and parts of 9 other neighborhoods) have grown weary of Tony Z’s antics, though Bay View Town Hall will never come to a complete consensus. Though Zielinski won’t be running, Marina is essentially the incumbent, having served the same area for 15 years as Supervisor and currently endorsed by 7 different aldermen including the aforementioned Witkowski, Donovan, and Zielinski.
13th District
Alderman Witkowski took a page out of his predecessor’s handbook, retiring literally 2 days away from a “standard” term. Since his last day will be May 30th instead of June 1st, the city will be forced to hold a special primary in July and a special election this August to fill his seat rather than wait until the general Aldermanic elections in February/April 2020.
It sure looks like Alderman Witkowski was playing politics in hoping there wouldn’t be enough time for challengers to jump in against his legislative aide, Scott Spiker, who filed for candidacy two days before Witkowski even announced his retirement. Luckily for democracy (regardless of if Spiker is the best candidate or not), 3 others filed to run for the seat the next day: the City Plan Commission Chairwoman, a former Milwaukee state representative, and the general manager of Canfora Bakery. It’s a sprint in the Garden District!
8th District
The only race that’s probably going to see a significant change in representation is Alderman Donovan’s “Fighting” 8th. True, a supposed Trump-backing pastor is running, but he’s a long-shot even if he’s the most similar Donovan replacement. Instead, State Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa (also endorsed by Tony Zielinski and José Pérez) and political operative Justin Bielinski (who narrowly lost to Donovan in 2016) are the front-runners, both of whom are complete 180s from Donovan. (Of note: a fourth candidate has also filed, but no info (besides maybe that he’s a Scout leader?) could be found on Google.)
As a proud south-side resident, I’m eager to see how these candidates shake out and how the future of our diverse neighborhoods will be guided. And if the next Aldermen will be any different than what we’ve had for the past 2 decades.