City Council president no longer will resign next month to take job as violence prevention manager | #citycouncil

On Wednesday, it was announced that City Council President John Tate II would become the city’s first-ever violence prevention manager, a position the City Council created in July. The purpose of the position is to bring a public health perspective to the city’s response to crime and violence. It is to be funded through at least the end of 2023 by federal grant money provided by the American Rescue Plan Act.

However, several members of the public and two former aldermen began raising questions about the process through which Tate was hired. Among the concerns, there was question whether it was legal for an alderman to be hired by the municipality whose constituents the alderman is elected to represent.

Saturday’s Journal Times included a report on the concerns. The article noted that there is a state law that outright bans elected officials from being hired to work in a position they voted to create — at least within the term the position was created.

On Saturday afternoon, Tate announced he would no longer be resigning from the City Council next month in order to start working as violence prevention manager on Nov. 14.

“After the announcement of my intention to resign from Common Council in order to lead the city’s violence prevention efforts,” Tate wrote on Facebook, “it was brought to my attention that Wisconsin state statute prohibits sitting local elected officials from taking positions that were created during their term of office. Officials, however, are eligible for those same offices once the current term has concluded.”

Tate said he plans to stay on the City Council until the end of his term in April, but will not seek reelection.

Tate added that “It is not uncommon for officials to take employment with the same entities they previously governed,” which is true. Two current Milwaukee employees and Racine Transit Manager Trevor Jung each were active members of their respect city councils when they resigned to take jobs with their respective cities within the last two years.

Tate said “For now, I will continue to consult with the city attorney as to what steps may be necessary to satisfy state statute before proceeding any further with this position. That may include withdrawing from consideration altogether or delaying a start date until after the term has concluded, or something else altogether. Either way the statute is fairly clear, I could not take on this role until my term has concluded.

“Ultimately, my desire is to continue to serve the people of the City of Racine and work to improve everyone’s lives. I will continue to do so as long as you’ll have me.”

Earlier this month, the City of Madison announced it was planning to hire Tate to be its first-ever police monitor. But Tate ended up rejecting the offer, in part because he wanted to continue working in his home of Racine.