Committee approves dozens of vacancy requests across city departments, including 12 police service specialist investigator roles

The Finance and Personnel Committee on Wednesday approved a series of vacancy requests, fund transfers and equipment requests from multiple city departments, ranging from library and treasurer positions to dozens of roles within the Milwaukee Police Department and the Department of Public Works.

Among the items approved were 12 Police Service Specialist Investigator (PSSI) positions. Committee members asked whether those PSSI roles are typically filled by retired officers and whether the timing reflected new retirements or a cyclical staffing need; human resources staff said candidates are being recruited and indicated some vacancies exist across divisions. “We do have a list of candidates that we will be actively submitting to a selection process,” an HR administrator told the committee.

The committee also heard that the Department of Public Works is anticipating the retirement of a long-serving operations official and is requesting an auxiliary position to allow overlap and training before the retirement. “We are anticipating that Mr. Krause will retire at the end of this year. We would like to have an auxiliary position in place so they are able to ... get the appropriate training,” a DPW HR administrator said. Members praised the succession planning and asked for a timeline and additional staffing details to be provided before Friday.

The package included dozens of other routine position requests across the city treasurer’s office, employee relations, library, neighborhood services, water works and other divisions; the committee placed the file on approval with no objections in open session.