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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Milwaukee Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting Summary – May 28, 2026

City Plan Commission — Thursday, May 28, 2026

BodyMilwaukee, Wisconsin

SessionCity Plan Commission

DateThursday, May 28, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:05:55

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

You can hear me.

0:00

No, you'll be like, I'm so hurt by it.

0:06

Okay.

0:07

Oh, okay.

0:08

Good morning.

0:09

Welcome to Finance and Personnel Committee.

0:12

Um, it is Thursday, feels like Wednesday, but it is Thursday, May 28th, 2026, a gorgeous day in Milwaukee.

0:20

Finance and Personnel Committee.

0:21

I am Alder Woman Marina Dmitrievich, the chairwoman.

0:24

I'm joined by my vice chairperson, Alder Person Peter Bergelis.

0:28

We have Alderman Scott Spiker.

0:30

Alder Woman Milele Cogs is excused but joining us soon.

0:34

And Alderwoman Charlene Morris here that presents us a quorum to conduct our business today.

0:40

Item one 260120 substitute resolution relating to reimbursement allowances for members of the Granville Haven Woods Advisory Council.

0:51

This is sponsored by Alder Woman Larissa Taylor.

0:54

She did request that we have it on the agenda.

0:56

Um we have not been able to reach her this morning.

0:59

So we will temporarily lay this over and continue to try to connect with her so that she can speak on her item today.

1:06

And hearing no objections, so ordered.

1:09

Item two five two one eight eight.

1:13

Um temporary hold by Alderman Vergelas.

1:17

Thanks.

1:19

252 188 resolution authorizing the review enhancement and expansion of the Department of Employee Relations Mental EAP Health and Wellness Benefits Program.

1:30

Department of Employee Relations Molly King.

1:33

Are we prepared for this one?

1:35

Alright, good morning.

1:39

Good morning.

1:40

And welcome and please begin to discuss your item here.

1:43

Yes, we have a presentation that we like to provide.

1:47

I guess I'll come over there.

1:48

That's okay.

1:54

I think everyone has a hard copy of the presentation.

2:05

All right.

2:06

Good morning again, Madam Chair, committee members, Molly King, uh benefits director, and I want to thank you all for taking up this file this morning.

2:15

Um, this uh this endeavor here is a proposal to upgrade our current EAP or employee assistance program, both in both from a perspective of mental and behavioral health.

2:26

And what we're trying to do here is uh to make sure that whatever program we have in the city is something that not just we have a program for program's sake, we want to make sure it's effective and it's meeting the audience, meeting our employee and their family where they are.

2:40

So this is target physic this is this uh program and this enhancement that we're working on is uh we currently have our service with United Healthcare, and we're looking to transition out from United Healthcare to Spring Health.

2:54

Um, and so one of the things as we did our research and due diligence, we did it with a fiscal responsible enhancement that will double our employee access is our goal uh to mental health care while generating measurable cost savings for the city as a self-funded plan, right?

3:11

It's because we're not insured, so everything we do impact us directly.

3:15

So the first slide here, and with me is Chris Amore, he's online.

3:20

So he will be jumping in as need be.

3:22

So this first slide here basically talks about the landscape, the current landscape.

3:26

The current landscape in just city in general nationwide is one out of five U.S.

3:32

adults experienced mental health issues, over a trillion dollars globally, is it's spent on uh loss of productivity because of anxiety and depression.

3:42

And what's staggering is and this includes us here, 76% of our at least uh members say they have experienced one or two symptoms of mental health uh issues, and that is what our nation is facing with.

3:57

And currently here in the city of Milwaukee, we have United Healthcare, and here's what our status is uh state of our um plan is.

4:06

We have three sessions for issues, six hour each day to actually get an appointment to to meet or meet with the counselor, uh, a limited uh provider network.

4:18

In addition to that, the cost increase after the visit the three visits is over.

4:24

So, what does that mean?

4:25

When you finish your EAP visit, it fulfilled to the medical plan, and that's where substantial cost comes in.

4:34

I'm sorry, how many do you get currently?

4:37

How many?

4:38

Three three visits currently per year per yeah per session or per issue?

4:43

So, individual conditions so you go for the various conditions.

4:47

Each condition you go for, you're seeking uh treatment for, you get three visits.

4:52

So, what is a really good uh mental health model looks like, one would ask, right?

4:58

And so this slide here will illustrates the limitation of what we should be, what we have and what is let's consider a robust mental health.

5:06

It says that research research shows that um to improve an employee mental health begins with at least three to six counseling sessions.

5:15

We currently have three.

5:17

In addition to that, it talks about any of you need to have a network has to have at least 60% of the appointments outside of the business hours.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Personnel Matters█████████████████████████████████33%

Mental Health Awareness████████████████████████24%

Community Engagement█████████████13%

Procurement and Contracts█████████████13%

Fiscal Sustainability████4%

Procedural████4%

Public Safety███3%

Public Health██2%

Engineering and Infrastructure██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Milwaukee Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting – May 28, 2026

The Finance & Personnel Committee of the City of Milwaukee met on Thursday, May 28, 2026, at 9:14 a.m. in Room 301-B of City Hall. Chaired by Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic, the committee considered 15 agenda items including reimbursement policies, mental health benefits expansion, annual wellness program updates, personnel reclassifications, contract approvals, and grant acceptance. The meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m.

Consent Calendar

Item 5 – Vacancy requests, fund transfers, and equipment requests (Communication 260093): Approved 4-0 (Ald. Spiker excused).
Item 6 – Approval of sole source contract changes (Communication 260095): Approved 3-0 (Alds. Spiker and Coggs excused).
Item 8 – Classification studies (Communication 260098): Placed on file 4-0 (Ald. Coggs excused).
Item 9 – Clerical/administrative corrections to Salary and Positions Ordinances (Communication 252216): Placed on file 4-0 (Ald. Coggs excused).
Items 13–15 – Resolutions and ordinances deemed no longer necessary (Files 190232, 210231, 251683): All placed on file 4-0 (Ald. Coggs excused).

Discussion Items

Item 1 (260120) – Reimbursement allowances for Granville-Havenwoods Advisory Council: Sponsored by Ald. Taylor. The council has 9 volunteer members, proposed $20 per meeting per member (approx. $1,600 annually). Committee members expressed fiscal concerns, requested data on total city spending on similar reimbursements across all eligible bodies. Ald. Burgelis moved to hold to call of chair; motion prevailed 5-0.
Item 2 (252188) – Enhancement of EAP/Mental Health Benefits: Molly King (DER) presented a proposal to transition from United Healthcare to Spring Health, increasing therapy visits from 3 to 6 per issue, reducing appointment wait time from 6 days to 2 days, and adding precision matching and care navigation. The annual cost increase is approximately $65,000, but officials argued savings from reduced absenteeism and ER use. Ald. Moore moved adoption; prevailed 5-0.
Item 3 (251940) – Comprehensive Health & Wellness Program 2025 report: Presented by DER and Froedtert Workforce Health. Highlights included 80% employee participation in at least one healthy reward activity, 21% reaching the gold tier (125 points, $350 to FSA). Discussion focused on participation rates among police (68%) and fire (72%), and potential to increase incentive levels. Recommended for placing on file 4-0 (Ald. Dimitrijevic excused).
Item 4 (260152) – DPW Operations Division position amendments: Chuck Schumacher (DPW) explained elimination of three vacant Equipment Operator 3 positions and creation of three Program Assistant III positions to support new routing software (Samsara, Routeware). Budget neutral. Ald. Spiker questioned the need for new admin positions when technology was expected to create efficiencies. Placed on file 5-0.
Item 7 (260097) – Waivers for single/sole source contract amendments: Included an $18,000 increase for Axon body cameras/tasers (total now $13.774 million) and a $175,000 extension for Safeguard Recruiting’s police recruitment campaign (through April 2027). Leon Todd (FPC) reported applications nearly doubled since the contract began (742 applications Aug–Dec 2025; over 1,000 in 2026 so far) but cautioned that hires have not yet increased proportionally. Placed on file 4-0 (Ald. Coggs excused).

Key Outcomes

Held to call of chair: Item 1 (Granville-Havenwoods reimbursement).
Recommended for adoption: Item 2 (EAP program) 5-0; Item 10 (Lead Hazard Reduction grant) 4-0 (Ald. Coggs excused).
Recommended for passage: Item 11 (Rates of pay ordinance, amended to remove Granville-Havenwoods clause) 4-0; Item 12 (Positions ordinance) 4-0.
Placed on file: Items 3, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15.
Approved: Items 5, 6.
Further information requested: Staff to compile historical spending on board/commission reimbursements and provide data on healthy rewards spending by tier before budget deliberations.

Meeting Transcript

You can hear me. No, you'll be like, I'm so hurt by it. Okay. Oh, okay. Good morning. Welcome to Finance and Personnel Committee. Um, it is Thursday, feels like Wednesday, but it is Thursday, May 28th, 2026, a gorgeous day in Milwaukee. Finance and Personnel Committee. I am Alder Woman Marina Dmitrievich, the chairwoman. I'm joined by my vice chairperson, Alder Person Peter Bergelis. We have Alderman Scott Spiker. Alder Woman Milele Cogs is excused but joining us soon. And Alderwoman Charlene Morris here that presents us a quorum to conduct our business today. Item one 260120 substitute resolution relating to reimbursement allowances for members of the Granville Haven Woods Advisory Council. This is sponsored by Alder Woman Larissa Taylor. She did request that we have it on the agenda. Um we have not been able to reach her this morning. So we will temporarily lay this over and continue to try to connect with her so that she can speak on her item today. And hearing no objections, so ordered. Item two five two one eight eight. Um temporary hold by Alderman Vergelas. Thanks. 252 188 resolution authorizing the review enhancement and expansion of the Department of Employee Relations Mental EAP Health and Wellness Benefits Program. Department of Employee Relations Molly King. Are we prepared for this one? Alright, good morning. Good morning. And welcome and please begin to discuss your item here. Yes, we have a presentation that we like to provide. I guess I'll come over there. That's okay. I think everyone has a hard copy of the presentation. All right. Good morning again, Madam Chair, committee members, Molly King, uh benefits director, and I want to thank you all for taking up this file this morning. Um, this uh this endeavor here is a proposal to upgrade our current EAP or employee assistance program, both in both from a perspective of mental and behavioral health. And what we're trying to do here is uh to make sure that whatever program we have in the city is something that not just we have a program for program's sake, we want to make sure it's effective and it's meeting the audience, meeting our employee and their family where they are. So this is target physic this is this uh program and this enhancement that we're working on is uh we currently have our service with United Healthcare, and we're looking to transition out from United Healthcare to Spring Health. Um, and so one of the things as we did our research and due diligence, we did it with a fiscal responsible enhancement that will double our employee access is our goal uh to mental health care while generating measurable cost savings for the city as a self-funded plan, right? It's because we're not insured, so everything we do impact us directly. So the first slide here, and with me is Chris Amore, he's online. So he will be jumping in as need be. So this first slide here basically talks about the landscape, the current landscape. The current landscape in just city in general nationwide is one out of five U.S. adults experienced mental health issues, over a trillion dollars globally, is it's spent on uh loss of productivity because of anxiety and depression. And what's staggering is and this includes us here, 76% of our at least uh members say they have experienced one or two symptoms of mental health uh issues, and that is what our nation is facing with. And currently here in the city of Milwaukee, we have United Healthcare, and here's what our status is uh state of our um plan is. We have three sessions for issues, six hour each day to actually get an appointment to to meet or meet with the counselor, uh, a limited uh provider network. In addition to that, the cost increase after the visit the three visits is over. So, what does that mean? When you finish your EAP visit, it fulfilled to the medical plan, and that's where substantial cost comes in.

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