After months of disruption, the Social Development Commission will restart some key programs on Dec. 2 in what is considered a major step toward restoring vital services to Milwaukee’s neediest residents.
The agency plans to focus on offering the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, program; career services; child care; and housing programs at its main office at 1730 W. North Ave. and its location at 6850 N. Teutonia Ave., which operated SDC’s child and adult care food program.
SDC’s Board of Commissioners discussed the programs on Thursday during a meeting at SDC’s main office.
It was the first public meeting in the building since the anti-poverty agency suspended operations and laid off employees in April.
The closing of the quasi-governmental community action agency, which managed approximately 30 programs and employed 85 people, has left a major gap in services for many low-income Milwaukee residents.
“In my opinion, it must be opened immediately,” said Jorge Franco, an SDC commissioner and newly named interim CEO. “There’s things that can be done today that increase the likelihood of getting service back in, back to the people who are of lowest income in our community.”
The Social Development Commission will use its existing funding to support the programs and hire staff and is also seeking private donations, according to William Sulton, SDC’s attorney.
“We know we have the ability to run these programs, and we are betting on ourselves that we will be able to secure state and federal funding in the future,” Sulton said.
A few of SDC’s former program managers were present at the meeting, including Diane Robinson, who was the manager of SDC’s VITA program and senior services.
In the months since SDC stopped its VITA services, Robinson said she has had numerous customers reach out to ask if SDC will reopen.
“They’re wanting to know when is SDC coming back online because they don’t trust anyone else outside of SDC to do their taxes and do them right,” she said.
Franco named board chair and interim CEO
The board voted to appoint Franco as chair and interim CEO, replacing Vincent Bobot, who was named interim CEO in September.
“The thing is I want to stay on as a commissioner, but I think everybody here is aware that I have a full-time law practice, and I have a couple other things going on,” said Bobot, an attorney who owns a general practice, Bobot Law Office.
Bobot is also on the board of SD Properties Inc., the tax-exempt corporation that owns SDC’s buildings. He will remain on the SDC’s board and was appointed to serve as its secretary.
Franco, who is also the CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, will not be compensated as interim CEO, according to Sulton.
Jackie Q. Carter was nominated to serve as board treasurer. She was appointed to the board by Mayor Cavalier Johnson in June.
Carter did not accept the nomination to be treasurer and voted against the executive nominations of Bobot and Franco, urging the board to wait until it gets more members.
New board member appointed
The board voted 2-1 to appoint Lucero Ayala, a licensed practical nurse and vice chair of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, to serve District 5 on the South Side. She has experience working with an assisted living facility and day care centers.
“I’ve been helping the community and I’ve seen the impact firsthand, being in child care, how a lot of the kids count on those meals that SDC was providing,” Ayala said.
Carter voted against Ayala’s appointment, saying that the board needs to go through a more thorough vetting process before voting.
“I think it’s important for the commissioners that are here to ensure that we are not doing things in a way that is same old business and doing the things that got us here in the first place,” Carter said.
“Nothing personal, but we’ve got to do the process in a way that makes sense, that’s transparent, that’s collaborative, and the community needs to be engaged,” she said.
In the meantime, Commissioner Matthew Boswell’s term expired on Nov. 18. Boswell was appointed by Milwaukee Public Schools.
A Milwaukee Public Schools representative said earlier this week that Boswell would remain on the board until the district finds a new appointment.
Sulton disagreed and said Boswell is no longer serving on the board.
“I will reach out to former Commissioner Boswell, but that’s not my understanding at all,” Sulton said.
Boswell did not attend Thursday’s meeting.
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