Committee confirms nominees to multiple business improvement district boards and Milwaukee Youth Council

A committee of the Milwaukee Common Council approved a slate of appointments and reappointments to local Business Improvement District boards and confirmed a nominee to the Milwaukee Youth Council during a virtual meeting.

The committee confirmed Omar Omar Shaqik to Business Improvement District (BID) 21, approved the three-year reappointment of Connor Ward to BID 21, and approved appointments to BID 4 and BID 48, including Samina Ali, Andrea Bester, and Jeron Perkins. The committee also confirmed Jacqueline (last name on file) as the Ninth District representative to the Milwaukee Youth Council. Two agenda items (file nos. 241572 and 241635) were held to the call of the chair.

The approvals were made by voice when committee members moved for confirmation and the chair noted there were no objections. Alderman Oliver Chambers moved confirmation for at least two nominees and the chair said, "Hearing no objection, so ordered," after motions for approval.

Why it matters: BIDs guide local commercial improvements, events and district services downtown and in neighborhoods; the Youth Council represents young people in city advisory work.

Omar Shaqik, the BID 21 nominee, joined remotely and said he had been active in downtown work and wanted to continue in that role, telling the committee, "I love Milwaukee. I just wanna, you know, do everything I can for the city." Beth (identified in committee remarks as a BID 21 board representative) told the committee Shaqik "attended [board] orientation" and "is willing to represent the slot on the BID 21 board that represents a street-level business, so that would be for Third Street Market Hall, and Carnivore as well."

Connor Ward introduced himself as an attorney with We Energies and WEC Energy Group and described the company's voluntary contributions to BID 21. Ward said the company was "committed to the betterment and improvement of our communities" and that he looked forward to bringing "my legal background and, you know, and my finance background, to help the business improvement district move forward."

Andrea Bester, nominated to BID 48, described her organization, Cutting Edge Staffing and Trade School, and its workforce programming. Bester said the school had hosted a recent hands-on event that drew what organizers described as roughly "230 kids, 250 kids" over three days, and highlighted training in health-care administration and a mobile welding station used for manufacturing instruction. Committee members asked for promotional materials to help publicize the training programs.

Samina Ali, nominated to BID 4, said she is a property owner in the district and described plans to improve landscaping and bring businesses and jobs to her shopping center. The committee thanked her for the investment and moved her confirmation.

Committee members vouching for nominees noted local ties: Alderman Oliver Chambers described Jeron Perkins— longtime restaurant operation and neighborhood presence; Beth and other BID representatives described prior engagement with Omar Shaqik despite his not having held the seat formally before the appointment.

On the Milwaukee Youth Council nomination, staff and committee members said the nominee attends Riverside University High School and is active with the Boys & Girls Club and other extracurricular and volunteer activities. The nominee was not present because she was in school; a resume on file was referenced as the basis for confirmation. Autumn Jackson moved approval, and "Hearing no objection, so ordered" was recorded.

Two items were held at the call of the chair: file no. 241572 (a communication summarizing an equity impact statement submitted in 2024) and file no. 241635 (a resolution amending common council file no. 231757 relating to acceptance and expenditure). Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevich and Alderwoman Autumn Jackson moved those holds respectively and the chair noted no objection.

The committee made no detailed votes recorded in the transcript beyond the motions and the chair's statement that there were no objections; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the audio transcript.

The committee moved on after the confirmations and concluded the session with standard closing remarks.