MILWAUKEE — Two Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission (FPC) officials announced Thursday they’re resigning in protest of a new state law that takes away authority from the commission.
Chairman Ed Fallone and Vice Chairwoman Amanda Avalos said they will officially resign on Friday at 12:01 a.m.
“This is not an easy decision for us to make,” said Fallone and Avalos in a joint statement.
It comes amid Milwaukee’s approval of the 2023 shared revenue plan, which includes a measure to strip FPC of its power to set polices for the police and fire departments. Instead, it gives power to the individual chiefs responsible for each department.
“We do not accept these changes to the authority of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission,” the two commissioners said in the joint statement. “Our resignations are intended to clearly communicate to the elected officials of our State and to the members of the general public that we strongly oppose the elimination of the FPC’s policymaking authority as part of Act 12.”
Both said they had communicated their strong opposition to the law with the Milwaukee Mayor, the Common Council and the state governor.
“None of this mattered,” the two continued in the statement. “An institution that for over 135 years has provided the citizens of Milwaukee with an important measure of control over their own lives was reduced to a pawn in someone else’s game. We simply cannot accept this.”
Fallone and Avalos are among nine other commissioners who oversee the police and fire departments.
The commission is set to take up the reappointment of a new chair and vice chair at a virtual meeting Thursday night.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.