Milwaukee Mayor’s Proposed Budget Faced Opposition in First Public Hearing; Concerns About Flock Cameras, City Employee Raise and Food Investment

“In Milwaukee my reign will be omnipotent and everlasting,” said Michele Beaulieux, her face hidden behind a photo of the Eye of Sauron, the magical all-seeing surveillance entity from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series.

“I misjudged the capabilities of the so-called free peoples of the world, and they narrowly defeated me,” said Beaulieux, speaking as the Eye of Sauron to the Milwaukee Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “I’ve learned my lesson, and I am back with a vengeance; with your sophisticated surveillance system I will triumph.”

Behind Beaulieux sat a crowd, many holding signs reading, “flock this” and “no flocking way,” others in matching green AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) shirts. They all came to City Hall on Oct. 5 to tell Johnson and the Common Council their reactions to the mayor’s proposed 2027 city budget at the first public hearing on the budget.

Johnson has been highlighting the proposed $19.2 million investment in road improvements, the biggest in Milwaukee’s history, citing it as residents’ top issue, according to a survey conducted by the city over the summer.

The residents at the public hearing mostly ignored the roads investment and focused on three major issues: Flock cameras in Milwaukee, demands for a flat $2 raise for all city employees and a demand for a $1 million investment in the city’s Healthy Food Establishment Fund.

Flock Cameras in Milwaukee

By far, the most popular topic of the night was the Milwaukee Police Department’s continued use of Flock cameras. Many speakers cited privacy concerns, worries of Milwaukee becoming a surveillance state, cases of police officers’ misuse of the cameras and jurisdictions across Wisconsin, like Milwaukee County, that canceled their contracts with Flock.

“Not a day goes by where we don’t hear of one scandal or another involving stalking, hacking, misuse and the sale and transfer of data pertaining to Americans to some third party,” said Emilio De Torre, the executive director of the Milwaukee Turners, the oldest civic society in Milwaukee. “Please don’t add another dollar to warrantless mass surveillance in this budget.”

MPD supports continuing the use of Flock cameras, saying they help solve crimes and apprehend suspects quicker, making Milwaukee safer, according to a press release published Aug. 31, 2026.

In the same press release, MPD acknowledged the harm caused by officers’ misuse of the technology and explained access to Flock cameras has been restricted to supervisors only. MPD will also no longer share their Flock data to other jurisdictions and will only be used in investigations for critical missing persons, drug trafficking organizations and Part 1 crimes. Part 1 crimes are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson and human trafficking.

“We recognize that the use of such technology, like Flock technology, comes with great responsibility,” said MPD. “These tools must always be used to prevent and reduce harm, not create more.”

“I recognize the benefits of the Flock cameras system,” said Johnson in a statement also released on Aug. 31. “On multiple occasions this tool has located critical missing persons and helped apprehend violent criminals in Milwaukee… I am committed to regularly reviewing our use of Flock cameras and will make further decisions when and if necessary.”

Many speakers called for cuts on police spending and use the money on criminal prevention programs.

“A public pole was done and prevention ranked second in priority to people in this city,” said Vaun Mayes, a locally famous Milwaukee activist. “Regardless of the pros (of Flock cameras) your residents have made clear their position. They demand their tax dollars go somewhere else.”

However, this is reallocation of funding is not possible under state law due to Act 12, passed in 2023. This bill requires cities with a population over 20,000 to either maintain the same number of full-time-equivalent police officers as the year before or the same amount or percentage of tax-levy money spent on police employment as the year before.

This means Milwaukee could employ fewer officers but spend the same amount of money or even more on the police department, or they could employ the same number of officers but pay them less. None of these options would make a meaningful enough difference in funding to focus on criminal prevention programs.

AFSCME and Flat $2 Raise for City Workers

More than two dozen seats in the chamber were filled by Milwaukee city employees in matching green AFSCME shirts. Johnson’s proposed budget included a 2% raise for all city employees, but AFSCME came to demand a flat $2 raise instead.

“We don’t have the tools… you want us to do our jobs effectively, but you won’t pay us,” said Veneasha Youngblood-Campbell, an AFSCME member who has worked for the city since 2003. “I have been here all these many years, and all I can say is I’m a City of Milwaukee employee that’s well underpaid.”

Youngblood-Campbell went on to explain city workers’ healthcare costs are increasing by 6%, and they cannot afford it with a 2% raise.

In 2025, the median salary for a 40-hour work week for city employees was $69,285, the highest full-time salary was $297,918 and the lowest full-time salary was $37,107, according to the City of Milwaukee’s most recently published data. A 2% raise would give the highest full-time earner a $5,958 raise and the lowest a $622 raise.

“Last year we decided the percentage raise was inequitable to the lowest paid workers, and this was our way of making sure that money went to getting them a fair shake,” said Josh King, the chief steward of sanitation for AFSCME Local 33.

A flat $2 raise to all city workers would cost the city substantially more than the proposed 2% raise, in a year where Johnson is highlighting the, adjusted for inflation, missing $250 million from years of frozen state funding.

Feed the Change MKE — $1 million Investment

The third most popular issue at the public hearing was a demand for a $1 million investment in Milwaukee’s Healthy Food Establishment Fund, led by Feed the Change MKE. Feed the Change MKE is a campaign hoping to establish locally owned grocery stores, community gardens, farmer’s markets and more food access points in the Northwest Side of Milwaukee, according to their website.

Feed the Change MKE is a part of the larger organization, the African-American Roundtable, an organization for Black Milwaukee residents to engage politically and create change.

Markasa Tucker-Harris, a leader of the African-American Roundtable, began her speech using her parents as an example. They have been watching grocery stores leave the Northwest Side since the 1990s. The few left in their area don’t meet their needs and do not offer a dignified shopping experience due to security guards at the doors and everyday essentials locked behind glass.

“This isn’t about just bringing another grocery store into our neighborhoods, but addressing the growing food apartheid throughout our city,” said Tucker-Harris.

A UW-Milwaukee study published in Feb. found that in Milwaukee, predominantly White census tracts have 3.5 times the number of supermarkets than Black tracts.

Feed the Change MKE advocated for locally owned food markets that won’t pack up and leave and community-led gardens to teach residents how to sustainably grow their own fresh food.