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Finance committee confirms Nicole Fleck as city labor negotiator after questions about communication
Summary
The Finance and Personnel Committee approved Mayor Johnson’s appointment of Nicole Fleck as the city’s labor negotiator and forwarded the confirmation to the Common Council after members pressed officials about prior communication failures and a past memorandum of understanding.
The Milwaukee Common Council Finance and Personnel Committee on Wednesday approved Mayor Johnson’s appointment of Nicole Fleck to serve as the city’s labor negotiator and sent the confirmation on to the full Common Council.
Nicole Fleck, introduced to the committee by an administration representative, told members she began work for the city in February 2007 in the labor relations division and recently served as deputy director of the Fire and Police Commission. “I think that’s the biggest challenge,” Fleck said of returning to negotiations, adding that balancing union requests with the city’s ability to pay and maintaining communication are priorities.
Committee members praised Fleck’s experience but pressed administration representatives about why the mayor replaced a prior negotiator and then reversed course. An administration representative said the prior recruitment had been competitive and that the mayor “feels very good about his offer” to Fleck but declined to explain the earlier personnel choice. Alderman Peter Bergellis raised concerns that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) allowing lateral transfers to the police department had been signed without timely council notification; he said the ordinance requires close consultation with council on policy changes.
Fleck said she would use a mix of tools to keep council members informed, including individual briefings and, where appropriate, closed-session committee meetings to discuss negotiations. “If there were something ... that I thought would be controversial ... I would be reaching out to you. I wouldn’t be waiting for you to come to me,” she said.
Alderman Scott Speicher moved confirmation. With no objections recorded during the committee meeting, the appointment was approved and forwarded to the Common Council for final confirmation.
The committee discussion also included requests from aldermen that future major negotiation decisions and SOP or MOU changes be communicated earlier to council members so they are not surprised at committee votes or budget presentations.
