The Milwaukee Common Council Steering & Rules Committee on Oct. 20 heard city attorneys’ advice that the council cannot generally require confirmation for many mayoral or administrative positions because state civil service law and the city’s mayoral-cabinet statute define narrow exceptions.

City Attorney Evan Goiki opened the discussion by describing a staff memorandum and asking the committee whether it wished to receive further legal advice in closed session. “The notice for today's committee hearing included the potential to engage in closed session to receive legal advice from the city attorney's office,” Goiki said. Assistant City Attorney Tom Miller summarized the memo’s legal framework, starting with Wisconsin’s civil service statutes and the mayoral cabinet provision in section 62.51.

Miller told the committee the general rule under the civil service statute is that appointments to subordinate offices are made by department heads in conformity with city service rules, and that the statute lists exceptions, including heads of principal departments and appointees enumerated under section 62.51. The memo says the City Service Commission (CSC) may exempt subordinate positions from civil service when, in the commission’s judgment, subjecting a position to the merit system would be disadvantageous.

Miller and Goiki said that if a position is not either (1) a head of a principal department or (2) specifically listed in the mayoral-cabinet statute, then confirmation by the common council is not provided for by the civil service framework; instead the CSC has statutory authority to exempt positions. The attorneys said one legal route to preserve council confirmation would be to create a standalone principal department for the office, which would change the hiring and appointment rules.

Committee members pressed on specifics. Several members cited the Office of Community Wellness and Safety (OCWS) as an example; the attorneys said that office had been repeatedly exempted by the City Service Commission and that the exemption authority attaches to the position and not the person. Alderman Scott Speicher questioned whether repeated or effectively permanent exemptions complied with the intent of civil service law and asked the city attorney to consult further on CSC independence and statutory compliance.

The committee voted to move into closed session under Wisconsin Statute s. 19.85(1)(g) "for the purpose of conferring with legal counsel who will provide oral or written advice concerning litigation in which the city is or is likely to become involved." Alderman Coggs moved the closed-session action and members recorded a roll-call 'aye' for the motion. After the closed session motion, Alderman Jackson moved—and members approved without objection—to hold file 251065 to the call of the chair for further consideration.

City attorneys told the committee they would return with additional context on particular positions that may have been confirmed in error and on possible consequences; they said their current research did not indicate that incumbents must be removed immediately but cautioned that filling vacancies for positions not properly excepted could be legally problematic without CSC action or statutory change.