MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Public housing residents have a new ask or rather an invitation to the board members of the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM).
"Since you don't want us to come to your meetings, we invite you to ours. Come talk to residents, come listen to the neighbors, come see the mold, the rat problems, the broken appliances," resident Stacy Ream said.
Ream's been a resident of public housing for more than a decade. She now lives at College Court.
Since September, Jenna Rae has investigated the conditions of people living in public housing and a lack of transparency from HACM's leaders, as they've consistently denied requests for interviews.
In February, dozens of HACM residents met at Milwaukee's city hall to attend HACM's monthly board meeting. It was a meeting scheduled to be in person that changed to a phone call just days before. The meeting left no option for public comment.
In March, that same monthly meeting was canceled because of the unavailability of commissioners and a lack of agenda items. The board's president, Willie Hines, was at Joe Biden's event that day when he visited the Cream City.
Now, it's April, and residents have asked again to speak to board members at this month's meeting. With no response from board members, the meeting was moved to a teleconference again.
"It's not improving for me, not the residents, and Chairwoman Daniels knows this," Ream said.
"All these roaches, the bed bugs, the rats, and you are comfortable with that? We are not comfortable with living that way and neither should you be," resident Vivian Jones said.
Jones also lives at a HACM property and has been voicing concerns for nearly the last year.
Jones, Ream, and about a dozen other residents are now calling on Sherri Reed Daniels, the chairwoman of HACM's Board of Commissioners, who's under Willie Hines' leadership.
"You live right in the midst of it, do something about it," Jones added.
Daniels lives at Hillside, a HACM property.
Wednesday morning, HACM tenants and Common Ground organizers met outside Daniels' apartment, after their several requests to speak at the monthly board meetings went unanswered.
"Chairwoman Daniels, come see College Court, come see my apartment, come talk to residents," Ream pleaded.
Folks asked for transparency and the opportunity to speak with Daniels to address ongoing living conditions at public housing units city-wide.
"This past November, I moved into College Court, but unfortunately upon my arrival, I realized that my unit was still infested with bed bugs," Ream explained.
Residents knocked on Daniels' door Wednesday, but no one answered.
TMJ4 went with residents to HACM's downtown office and was told board members weren't there either.
"Why weren't we able to do the virtual meeting with them, or why did they go virtual," Jones asked HACM's spokesperson, Amy Hall.
"They decided it depends on their schedules, they all work full-time jobs," Hall responded.
That monthly meeting, which was moved to virtual in February and canceled in March, was moved virtually again on Wednesday with no option for public comment.
Residents asked why there is not an opportunity to voice concerns to board members, so we asked an expert.
"This is a government entity. It was created by the city of Milwaukee, the commissioners are appointed by city officials, they're supposed to be accountable to the public. That means both public records, requests and responses that they have to fulfill, and meetings that they have to hold in public," Tom Kamenick said.
Kamenick's an attorney and the president and founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, a law firm that focuses on state open records and open meeting laws.
"I think it's unfortunate for transparency and accountability when they don't allow people to come and speak and hear from residents. If it's their job to be working with these residents and listening to their concerns, why do you cut them off like that? I don't understand that, but the law does allow it," Kamenick explained.
Residents told us they're going to keep pushing for transparency, accountability, and the opportunity to speak with the board.
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