Milwaukee County Youth Commission committee approves District 12 nominee Elijah Sarsour 10-0; full commission confirmation still required

The Milwaukee County committee on governance, finance and evaluation voted unanimously on April 9 to approve Elijah Sarsour as the recommended candidate to fill the District 12 vacancy on the 2025 Milwaukee County Youth Commission. The committee recorded 10 ayes and 0 noes; the nominee remains subject to confirmation by the full commission.

The committee read the item into the record and the youth commission leadership committee had recommended Sarsour for approval. Members questioned the applicant before the committee voted. During questioning Sarsour described his community service and leadership experience, saying he had “over 250 hours of community service,” of which “150 of those hours have been with my church.” He told commissioners he had done about “50 hours of concessions and 50 hours of trash cleanup,” participates in a school community service club and is involved in “28 total extracurricular activities.”

Sarsour identified several leadership roles: founder and president of his school’s Multicultural Social Union, captain of student council, sophomore grade-level lead of student ambassadors and leader of his school’s chapel programming. He said he had published a 3,500-word research paper on how sedated anesthesiology affects brain development and that he is serving in a law internship with Falling Lerner (as named in the meeting). On issues he would pursue if confirmed, Sarsour told the committee one area of interest was reducing recidivism among people returning to prison, citing a statistic he described for Milwaukee.

When asked how he would manage the time commitment alongside many extracurriculars, Sarsour said he has worked on time management since sixth grade and that he would “prioritize the youth commission” and would adjust other commitments if admitted. Commissioners repeatedly praised his performance at a recent advocacy day in Madison and welcomed his participation in the commission’s work.

Roll call for the committee vote recorded the following votes: Anastas — aye; Cockfield — aye; Dunn — aye; Galani — aye; Mahomes — aye; Neely — aye; Tao — aye; Liebel — aye; Bruet — aye; Asoka — aye. Chair remarks following the vote noted Sarsour still must be confirmed by the full commission and invited him to attend that meeting but said attendance was optional.

The committee’s approval forwards the nomination to the full Milwaukee County governing body for final confirmation. No ordinance, statute, or other legal authority was cited in the committee’s remarks related to this appointment.