Milwaukee School Board members on Tuesday ordered a special election Nov. 5 to replace board member Aisha Carr, who resigned last Wednesday.

The winner of that election will serve for the remainder of Carr’s term, which is up in April of next year.

If more than two candidates run for Carr’s seat, requiring a primary election, the primary would take place Aug. 13. Candidates need to file paperwork by June 1.

Darryl Jackson was the only board member to vote against ordering the special election. Noting that the new board member’s term would be short, he said it “doesn’t make sense to have another person.”

While other school boards are allowed to appoint board members to fill vacancies, Milwaukee is an exception under state statute and must hold a special election to fill a vacancy, Milwaukee Assistant City Attorney Jordan Schettle said.

Carr’s resignation letter did not include an explanation for why she was resigning. She hasn’t replied to interview requests from the Journal Sentinel.

As previously reported, Carr’s resignation came after questions were raised about Carr’s residency and comments she made about planting a recording device in the district superintendent’s office:

Carr was subject of investigation by District Attorney’s office

Records unsealed in April showed the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office in January was investigating whether Carr had lied about living in the district she represents. The office has not answered questions from the Journal Sentinel about whether that investigation is ongoing. Online circuit court records do not show any misconduct charges filed against Carr.

Carr, who had shared publicly that she did not live in District 4 while she was campaigning for the north side board seat in 2021, said she was going to move to the district before she got sworn in. She told the Journal Sentinel last month that she had done nothing illegal or unethical.

“As previously stated, I have and continue to reside in my district,” she said.

The unsealed search warrant showed the District Attorney’s office had obtained Carr’s cellphone GPS records to determine where she had been spending time. In asking for the warrant, an investigator for the District Attorney’s office said Carr had “filed numerous documents” with MPS listing an address he believed would be shown to be false, noting that utility and voting records appeared to indicate she was living outside District 4 until last year.

It’s a Class I felony for public officials to intentionally falsify records, carrying a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and two years of extended supervision.

Carr could have also been subject of MPS board investigation

Separately, Carr told the Journal Sentinel ahead of a April 18 meeting that she believed she was the subject of a misconduct complaint that was reviewed privately by the school board that night. The nature of that complaint has not been made public.

School board members said they were unable to share what happened in that closed-session meeting. Board members had the option to initiate an investigation into the alleged misconduct, which could result in a vote to censure or remove a board member.

Carr had told the Journal Sentinel she expected that the complaints were likely about her because of disagreements she has had with other board members and administrators. Carr has been critical of MPS leadership and opposed the April 2 referendum that raised the district’s taxing authority.

Dozens of supporters of Carr packed that board meeting April 18. Residents cheered for Carr throughout the evening, with some speakers saying they would work to vote out any board members who tried to boot Carr from the board.

Carr was recorded saying she planted a recording device

Earlier this year, a recorded conversation surfaced online in which Carr could be heard telling a former Milwaukee Public Schools administrator that she had planted a recording device in MPS Superintendent Keith Posley’s office.

Carr told the Journal Sentinel that she did not plant a recording device but had made the false statement to the former administrator to determine whether she was trustworthy.

Anyone driving part the blue Gothic Revival gatehouse at Calvary Cemetery – resting place of Milwaukee founder Solomon Juneau and many other notables – can attest to its sorry state.

But now, the wood frame structure, built in 1897 to designs by Erhard Brielmaier – architect of many Catholic buildings in the city, including Basilica of St. Josaphat and the now-demolished Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi in St. Francis, among others – may get a lifeline.

On Monday, May 13 at 3 p.m. at City Hall, the City of Milwaukee’s Historic Preservation Commission will discuss a plan by the Archdiocese to stabilize the structure at 5503 W. Bluemound Rd.

The plan calls for replacing the leaking roof and flashing; boarding up the doors and windows to secure the gatehouse; supporting and boarding up the screen porch area to keep out vandals and animals; winterizing the plumbing and heating; tuckpointing masonry as required and replacing missing masonry; replacing rotted downspouts that have been causing damage; and somewhat more vaguely, repair, “or rebuilding of building elements to prevent further deterioration or damage.”

The proposed work is to be done by Kelmann Restoration.

The gatehouse – which was not yet built when Juneau’s body was interred at Calvary in 1866 – is built over the main entrance to the cemetery and served as the cemetery office.

It also has an attached residence for a cemetery groundskeeper and his family. The wood structure atop a raised stone foundation is capped with a bell tower.

“According to newspapers from 1897, ‘the residence consists of two stories and a basement. The basement is planned for store rooms and a laundry. On the first floor are offices, waiting rooms, and two private parlors. The second floor will contain three bedrooms’,” notes the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Architectural Inventory.

“After it was expanded, an additional room was added to the second floor. Currently, only the enclosed porch and the recently updated kitchen are used by the workmen of the cemetery. The first and second floors remain intact, though some carpet has been added. Almost all the original hardware, floors, and moldings are in place.”

Brielmaier, who was born in 1841 in Neufra near Rottweil, Württemberg, Germany, emigrated to the United States with his mother and siblings in 1850 to join his father, a carpenter, in Ohio.

Married in 1860, Brielmaier and his wife, Theresia Haag, moved their 13 children to Milwaukee in 1873 and he worked as a carpenter and sculptor, eventually becoming an architect.

With three of his sons, he launched Erhard Brielmaier & Sons Co., Architects, and in addition to churches and convents, they designed universities (including at Marquette), schools and hospitals (including at the Mayo Clinic) around the U.S. and in Canada. The firm even had a second office in Chicago.

The gatehouse is among Brielmaier’s most recognizable projects in Milwaukee. Let’s hope this new work helps keep it standing long into the future.

MILWAUKEE – A 73-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of stabbing a person at a bus stop. The accused is Lugene Mitchell – who faces a charge of substantial battery.

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched to 27th and Wisconsin on Friday, April 5 for a stabbing.

Officers and Milwaukee firefighters arrived on the scene and located the victim. The victim said he was stabbed in the stomach by someone at the bus stop. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

When investigators went to the hospital to get more information from the stabbing victim, they learned the alleged stabber was playing loud music from a portable speaker at the bus stop at 27th and Wisconsin. When the victim made a comment about the loud music, the man later identified as the defendant, took exception to this and took a swing at the victim. He then said, “‘I have something for you.’ He dug into his backpack, took out a black and gray box and then opened the box. Inside the box was a folding knife. The person then used this knife to stab (the victim) in the stomach. The stabber then got on the purple line to leave,” the complaint says.

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On Thursday, May 2, officers went to the same bus stop to search for the stabbing suspect. They saw a person who fit the description — and the victim confirmed it was the same person. Officers approached the suspect, Lugene Mitchell. He was arrested, the complaint says. Inside the defendant’s backpack, they found a ‘black box which contained a silver folding knife,” the complaint says.

When Mitchell was questioned about what happened in early April, he said the victim was “‘crowding his space’ so he stabbed him. He said he was sorry, and he knew what he did was wrong,” the complaint says.

Mitchell made his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Monday, May 6. Cash bond was set at $2,000.