Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee County selects new DOT director to navigate bus system budget woes
Legislation signed to fund Domes redevelopment, restoration
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson signed legislation approving funding to redevelop the Mitchell Park Domes
Milwaukee County has chosen a new director to steer the county Department of Transportation five months after the previous director stepped down in the wake of a transit deficit that caught officials off guard.
Joe Lamers, who has spent the last eight years as director of the county’s Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance, will now head the transportation department, according to a Dec. 4 news release from the county executive’s office.
Lamers has been a pivotal player in the county’s efforts to become more fiscally sustainable as it faced a longstanding and ongoing structural deficit, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in the release. He has managed and developed recent budgets and led efforts to improve operations, grant development, public policy, and internal communications. The county’s reserve fund increased by about $90 million under his watch.
Lamers has also helped coordinate legislative affairs efforts, including negotiations for the state legislation known as Act 12, which delivered nearly $100 million in additional annual revenue for the county and addressed long-term pension funding challenges.
“Lamers has served my administration with integrity and expertise,” Crowley said. “His leadership in creating County budgets and initiatives has closed structural deficits and enhanced essential services for the community, including in public transit and transportation infrastructure.”
In late June, the county’s bus system agency, which is overseen and managed by the county DOT, blindsided local officials with news of a $10.9 million budget deficit, which now stands at $9 million after some course correcting. The shortfall resulted in service cuts in an effort to balance the agency’s budget.
Emails obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in October showed that leaders of the bus system agency, known as Milwaukee County Transit System, had been scrambling behind closed doors for several months to address the looming deficit crisis while keeping top county leadership in the dark.
The transportation department’s executive director at the time, Donna Brown-Martin, resigned on July 1. She had held the position since 2018.
Since then, Deputy Director John Rodgers has served as the department’s interim director.
Despite service cuts in 2025 and 2026, the county’s transit system faces significant budget challenges ahead.
The transit agency faces a projected $14 million deficit in 2026, along with a 2027 deficit between $17 million and $20 million based on current service levels, MCTS President and CEO Steve Fuentes told the county’s transportation and transit committee on Dec. 3.
In the news release, Lamers said he’s grateful to Crowley for the opportunity to serve in the new role.
“I look forward to working with staff throughout the department and advancing the important mission to provide safe and reliable transportation options. I also look forward to working with all partners necessary to develop viable and fiscally sustainable funding options to provide transportation and transit services into the future,” Lamers said.
Lamers will begin serving as acting director next week. His appointment is subject to confirmation by the county Board of Supervisors. Milwaukee County Strategy Director Isaac Rowlett will serve as interim director for the Office of Strategy, Budget and Performance as the search for a new leader of the department begins.
Contact Claudia Levens at clevens@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @levensc13.
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred on early Sunday morning on the 4900 block of W. Capitol Drive that left one person injured.
An 18-year-old sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
TMJ4
The police is currently looking for an unknown suspect at this time.
Those with information regarding the shooting are encouraged to contact the Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-TIPS or P3 Tips to remain anonymous.
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MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Police Department requested the public’s help to find 11-year-old Sir’Charles Bason, a critically missing boy who was last seen near Teutonia and Kiley at around 6:20 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.
Police described Bason as 4 feet, 5 inches tall with a slim build, brown eyes and black, low-cut hair. He was last seen wearing a gray jacket with green lines, dark-colored jeans, tan sandals and carrying gray Nike Jordan shoes.
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What you can do:
Anyone with information on Bason’s whereabouts is asked to call Milwaukee Police District 4 at 414-935-7242.
The Source: The Milwaukee Police Department released information.
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man, previously named one of Wisconsin’s Most Wanted, has been sentenced to prison for shooting and killing his cousin in 2020.
In court
What we know:
A Milwaukee County jury found 39-year-old Brandon Gladney guilty of first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firm by a felon earlier this year.
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Judge Michelle Havas sentenced Gladney to 29 years in prison on Friday, April 17. He was granted credit for more than a year’s time served and further sentenced to 14 years of extended supervision.
Arrested in Arizona after years on the run, court records show Gladney has also been ordered to pay the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office more than $1,800 for extradition costs.
Homicide investigation
The backstory:
The shooting happened in May 2020. Investigators said Gladney was captured on video apparently arguing with the victim, his cousin, outside a Milwaukee convenience store near 21st and Meinecke.
“It’s all on video, and it’s devastating for that family,” the marshal on the case told FOX6 when Gladney was profiled on Wisconsin’s Most Wanted. “You have a family member that shot and killed another family member.”
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Prosecutors said Gladney walked away but then returned with a gun pointed directly at the victim and shot him. The victim died from his gunshot wounds at a nearby hospital. Multiple bullet casings were found at the scene.
Gladney went on the run for years. He was arrested in Arizona in January 2023, years after he was charged.
The Source: FOX6 News referenced information from the U.S. Marshals Service, Wisconsin Circuit Court and prior coverage.
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