Who Gets a Say?

The same people have held power for years, an open seat was filled without an election, and speaking up at City Hall got harder.

By Adam Follmer ·

  1. Your voiceThe District 3 vacancy

    8 daysbetween the ballot deadline and his announcement

    Re-elected in April, gone by May

    Ald. Damon’s new Milwaukee home was under contract three weeks before the April 7 election he won. He didn’t announce his resignation until May 19, eight days after the deadline for a November vote.

    1. Mar 14Offer accepted on Damon’s Milwaukee home
    2. Apr 7Re-elected over a challenger, 566 votes to 319
    3. May 4Milwaukee purchase closes
    4. May 5At the council meeting, a day after closing. No announcement
    5. May 11Deadline to put the seat on the November ballot
    6. May 19Damon announces he is resigning

    More detail

    Voters had a choice in April: a challenger won 319 of 899 votes. Announcing in time for the council to act by May 11 could have put the seat on November’s ballot. Instead, the council got to choose.

    2018, the last timeTutaj’s recall win opened a District 3 seat. Drew finished second to Damon for the full-term position. Two days later, the council appointed Drew for Tutaj’s remaining two years.

    More context

    Four ran in the February 2018 District 3 primary: Drew 191, Damon 187, two others 173 and 45. The council’s April 5 vote, 4–1, gave Drew a term to April 2020. Ald. Janis Schandel, the lone no, wanted it to end in November 2018: “It’s not fair to the citizens not to have their right to vote.” In 2020 Sarah Calderon, who still holds the seat, beat her, 402–278.

    Source: May 5, 19, 2026 council minutes and video; 2020 and 2026 results; Zillow price history (WIREX MLS #1950864); June 2, 2026 council video (0:56:00); § 8.50(2)(a); Journal Sentinel, Feb. 21, Mar. 14, Apr. 6, 2018.

  2. Your voiceNo election

    $8Kthe election they skipped, and the fireworks money they added

    They had the money. They chose fireworks.

    Residents asked for a special election, and the council pointed to the cost: up to $8,000. The same year’s budget added $8,000 for fireworks.

    A special election, at most$8,000Added to fireworks, 2026$8,000

    More detail

    State law allowed an election, an appointment, or leaving the seat open until an election. The council kept the choice for itself and filled the seat on Sept. 8.

    DisclosureThe author’s wife spoke at these meetings and applied for the seat.

    More context

    On June 12 she emailed every council member, the mayor, administrator, attorney and clerk: reconsider, appoint only until April 2027, and let voters elect three of the four years. None of the nine responded. The $6,000–8,000 estimate was for an election on its own; one alongside the April 2027 vote would have cost less, the city attorney said.

    The city might sayAn appointment was faster and cheaper, and the council followed what it did in 2018.

    But that’s not what they did in 2018In 2018 there were no applications or interviews: two days after the election, the council simply appointed the runner-up. Done the same way, this seat would have gone to Scott Taddey.

    Source: June 2, 2026 minutes and video (0:56:00–1:02:30); June 16, 2026 video (0:09:54); 2025 and 2026 budgets, p. 14 (fireworks); Wis. Stat. § 17.23(1)(am).

  3. Your voiceWho decided

    40%of the city’s 2024 votes came from District 3

    District 3 got an alderwoman it didn’t choose

    District 3 is the city’s largest district and its fastest growing, thanks to TID 5. Yet only one of the five aldermen who filled its seat was elected there.

    Who votes in the city2024 ballotsWho decided its seataldermen voting, Sept. 2026District 129%District 231%District 340%District 12 of 5District 22 of 5District 31 of 5

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    Ald. Christina Keoppen, on Facebook, about residents opposing the Triangle: “you people are intolerable and incredibly bored,” “keyboard warriors.” They deserve, she wrote, “a humongous, paved parking lot on the triangle.”

    In her interviewShe closed by backing “the vision that our leaders have already thought over.” Fliss, Feirer and Wattawa chose her.

    The city might sayAny resident had the opportunity to apply, the interviews were public, and she won a majority on the first ballot.

    More context

    Ten residents interviewed; an eleventh had a scheduling conflict. When the mayor opened the floor to discuss them, no alderman named a candidate or a reason. On the first ballot, three of the five landed on the same one of ten. Her Facebook comments had been public since January.

    Source: city election results, Apr. 2020 and Nov. 2024; Sept. 8, 2026 agenda and video (1:24:00–1:35:00); initialed ballots (records request, Sept. 9–29, 2026); St. Francis (WI) Town Hall Facebook group, Jan. 2026.

  4. Your voiceThe same people

    4 of 62016 council members who still hold city posts

    Same people, same playbook

    In 2016 and 2018 these leaders pushed out Mayor CoryAnn St. Marie-Carls, accusing her of mistreating people. Now residents hear the same things from them.

    Then, 2016–2018Now, 2026
    St. Marie-Carls threatens to sue a council member for slanderLawsuitsA council member warns residents of “slander litigation”
    Tutaj says her work didn’t justify her being a “bully”ToneA council member says he was told he sounds like he’s bullying
    Ald. Klug: “We’re keeping everything transparent”OpennessWho chose the new alderwoman isn’t read aloud; the ballots take 14 business days
    Tutaj: “you’ll always have a seat at the table”A voiceTutaj: “Figuratively, not literally”

    More detail

    Residents get two minutes each. Since July 2026 they speak only after the council has voted, and a council member called comment “not a right … a courtesy.”

    The city might sayState law doesn’t require public comment at all (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.83, 19.84). The 2025 rules were amended to allow more debate time.

    The amendment softened a cutThe rewrite proposed capping all public comment at 15 minutes; two council members objected before it was raised to an hour.

    Keeping everything transparent?The administrator reported “over 80 hours” of staff time on “a record number” of records requests.

    More context

    TID money runs through district accounts most residents never see, and that black box is a common criticism of TIF. If the records take 80 hours to pull, that is cause for concern.

    Source: Journal Sentinel, Apr. 1, 2016, Mar. 14 and Apr. 6, 2018; Fox6, Mar. 13, 2018; council videos 2025–2026, incl. June 2, 2026 (1:17:49); draft § 32-6, Sept. 16, 2025; city board roster (onboard.stfranwi.org).

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