Mayor Cavalier Johnson taps Ald. Ashanti Hamilton to lead the Office of Violence Prevention as former director slams firing

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on Monday appointed a one-time political rival with no public health background to lead the Office of Violence Prevention amid a historic wave of gun violence.

Ald. Ashanti Hamilton will take over for Arnitta Holliman, who was fired by Johnson after facing months of questions about the effectiveness of her office. Holliman on Monday spoke out for the first time since losing her job, saying she had been unfairly maligned and calling her termination "unwarranted."

The Office of Violence Prevention, housed within the city's Health Department, was created in 2008 and has dramatically changed in the past decade. Once a one-person office that focused primarily on gun policy issues, the Office of Violence Prevention now has a staff of 15 and a budget of more than $4 million. It coordinates community-based organizations and efforts addressing the root causes of violence.

The leaders of the office, starting with Reggie Moore in 2016, brought heightened public attention to addressing gun violence as a public health issue, which means focusing on causes like family violence, youth programming and addressing trauma to stop cycles of violence.

The office also shepherded the creation of the Blueprint for Peace, the city's first comprehensive plan to lower violence, in 2017 and launched 414LIFE, an evidence-based model using violence interrupters in 2019. 414LIFE now operates out of the Medical College of Wisconsin and is staffed by fewer than 25 people who concentrated on specific neighborhoods with high rates of gun violence.

But with a rising profile came rising questions.

Elected officials had asked pointed questions of the Office of Violence Prevention this year, as homicides continued an alarming rise with no sign of slowing. This year, at least 140 people have lost their lives, a 33% increase in the number of victims from this time last year. Holliman, the former director, and her staff had been called before Common Council committees to answer for their work.

Hamilton will be the office's fourth director and the second to come from a political background. In contrast, Holliman and Moore both had years of experience of direct service work. Holliman is a trained psychologist and served as director of a program to help women engaged in sex work lead safer and healthier lives. Moore founded the Center for Youth Engagement and co-founded Urban Underground, which provides youth mentoring, before taking the post at City Hall.

Holliman's annual salary was $105,000, according to the city.

Johnson said Hamilton's experience as Common Council president and his connection with Milwaukee residents, as well as his law degree, will serve him well in the new role.

"He understands the need for results, tangible metrics that show we are making Milwaukee safer," Johnson said at news conference Monday with Hamilton by his side.

The two men have a tense history that most recently includes Hamilton's endorsement of Johnson's rival, former Ald. Bob Donovan, in April's mayoral election. Donovan was a longtime conservative council member and vocal critic of the Office of Violence Prevention.

At the news conference Monday, Hamilton said he has shown his commitment to violence prevention during his time at City Hall by sponsoring, leading and creating programs within the Office of Violence Prevention.

He was a driving force of the "Safe Zones" initiative in 2015, an early example of the city supporting residents who were trying to de-escalate and mediate disputes. But that effort fizzled within a year amid funding problems and questions about whether the residents had received evidence-based training.

Former OVP leader slams 'unwarranted and unprofessional' firing

On Monday, hours before the appointment was announced Holliman issued a statement slamming the way Johnson's office handled her termination, calling it "unwarranted and unprofessional."

"Since being appointed by Mayor Tom Barrett to the position of Director on May 6, 2021, I have tirelessly served the residents of Milwaukee alongside a team of dedicated and hardworking leaders and community partners who were also blindsided by my dismissal amid the greatest public safety crisis in the history of our city," the statement said.

Her removal from the position was announced Aug. 3 in a statement to media from Johnson's office that came at the same time she was informed — a move she said was "without notice or regard for the impact that this announcement would have on our work, the office, my staff, or the city."  

Holliman said in her statement that she had brought in millions of dollars in grant money for the office, in addition to expanding its operational capacity for grant reporting, fiscal management, and data and evaluation and more. 

Johnson on Monday said he disagrees with Holliman's statement and said "we're in this position right now" after discussions with Holliman at council committee meetings and in his office about things that needed to change.

Johnson declined to detail the reasoning behind Holliman’s removal other than to say it revolved around having the ability to describe “the effectiveness” of the office’s programming.

But in an interview Monday, Holliman said she has never been given a clear explanation for her removal.

“The effectiveness” of the office’s activities has been a subject of conversation in City Hall for some time, however. In late June, the city’s Public Safety and Health Committee held a hearing where Holliman detailed ongoing efforts to collect performance metrics in collaboration with the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Multiple Common Council members, including Alds. Michael Murphy and Milele Coggs, have said that as the office receives more funding — mostly by way of the American Rescue Plan Act — it must be subject to more accountability. The presentation given that day indicated more metrics would be available by November or December.

Holliman said she was having “a constant conversation” with city officials about the office’s data and metrics, but argued the issue was not a valid reason for her removal.

“You don’t get the results from that in a month or two,” she said. “That’s not how evaluations work. That work was underway, and so to imply that I was released because of a lack of data or metrics would also suggest that there was not an intention to give me the time to provide that information.”

Holliman suggested that recent moves in City Hall call into question whether the office will continue to be funded long term. She said the office’s entire budget was taken off the city’s tax levy last year, prior to Johnson’s arrival in the Mayor’s Office, and is now funded by American Rescue Plan Act, a temporary funding source.

Johnson confirmed as much in his news conference Monday, but said he still wants to invest in the office.

Holliman argued it’s a significant challenge to return something to the tax levy after its removal, especially with an impending financial crisis caused by the city’s pension system.

“It looks like dog days are ahead financially,” Ald. Scott Spiker said at a June committee meeting.  “ARPA money will run out. There will be decisions that have to be made about funding OVP, the health department, police department. Decisions are going to have to be made and there’s not going to be enough to go around for everywhere we would like to put it.”

Holliman declined to comment on Hamilton’s qualifications for the role but said she wished Johnson had gone about the transition differently — a transition, she said, he had every right to make as mayor.

“The most appropriate way to do that would have been to communicate with me that he was looking to make a change and then to have a transition plan so that he would set up the next director for better success,” she said.

Hamilton's departure leaves four council seats vacant

Hamilton’s move from the council to Johnson's administration would leave four of the 15 Common Council seats vacant.

The appointment does not require council approval, and Hamilton said he would resign from his District 1 seat as soon as the "onboarding process" for his new position is finished.

He said Council President José G. Pérez had expressed a "willingness and commitment to expediting the process" to ensure the district was represented.

Johnson, who was first elected to the council in 2016, was elected mayor in April and subsequently appointed then-Ald. Nik Kovac to serve as his budget director.

Elections for those seats will be on the November ballot.

Ald. Chantia Lewis was removed from office as part of a plea deal related to misconduct in office last month. An election for her District 9 seat is expected in the spring.

Appointment follows past divisions

Johnson and Hamilton in recent years have clashed over high-stakes elections.

Hamilton was first elected to the Common Council in 2004 and served as council president from 2016 until 2020, when he was replaced by Johnson.

Hamilton, who had been seeking re-election to the council's leadership role after deciding against a 2020 mayoral run, dropped out of the race at the last minute and instead endorsed Ald. Milele Coggs.

Johnson won on an 8-7 vote.

Then in this year's mayoral election, Hamilton endorsed Donovan. He told a group of Donovan supporters that others might prefer a different future for the city, but "what we would prefer is an experienced person driving this bus. Someone who has proven and worked across racial lines, worked across political lines."

After Hamilton appointed Donovan to serve as chair of the Public Safety and Health Committee, the south side alderman unveiled a controversial public safety plan in 2016 that called for dramatically increasing police ranks, more time behind bars for offenders and so-called boot camps for at-risk youths.

The proposal became public soon after the Sherman Park unrest in response to a fatal police shooting of Sylville Smith.

Donovan said in the mayoral race that he continued to support the plan he had put forward when he was on the council.

Hamilton public health experience questioned

Melissa Ugland, a longtime local public health consultant, criticized the pick, saying that Hamilton has "no formal background and training in the fields they claim to be most concerned about, with no public input or review."

The office has a $4.25 million budget and 15 positions, six of them funded with federal pandemic aid, this year.

Hamilton said elected officials play an important role in policy at the city and that he has demonstrated his commitment to violence prevention.

He pointed to the "Safe Zones" initiative that relied on local "ambassadors," residents who were identified as leaders or having strong influence.

The Safe Zones were located within the most challenged blocks in each of the city's four "Promise Zones" neighborhoods — Greater Old North Milwaukee, North Division/Harambee, Washington Park/Amani/Metcalfe Park and the near south side. Those are some of the same areas the Office of Violence Prevention continues to work in today.

Ugland also raised concerns about Hamilton's issues with domestic violence.

In 2009, Hamilton was charged with felony child abuse after hitting his then 6-year-old daughter with a plastic hanger.

The charge was dropped as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Hamilton pleaded no contest in court to the charge, which was then dropped once he went a year without committing another offense.

"Having been involved in violence prevention work for more than a decade, and seeing its profound impact on multiple generations of families and communities, I am also concerned about elevating anyone with a history of family violence to such an important position," Ugland said.

Hamilton at Monday's news conference called the case "a reality that I had to go through, a learning experience that I had to grow through" and said he believed many community members think the way he did at that time.

He said he brought that life experience and "understanding of how to help families" to his representation of his district and would do the same at OVP.

Journal Sentinel reporter Ashley Luthern contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this article inaccurately described Ashanti Hamilton's plea. He pleaded no contest.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr. 

Contact Mary Spicuzza at (414) 224-2324 or mary.spicuzza@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MSpicuzzaMJS.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former head of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention slams firing