Candidates for Milwaukee’s 3rd Aldermanic District participate in first public forum

Photos by Cherrie Hanson

Milwaukee’s 3rd Aldermanic District candidate forum at Zao MKE Church in Milwaukee.  From left to right, moderator James Causey, award-winning journalist with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and PBS’ Black Nouveau, Josh Anderson, Daniel Bauman, Alex Brower, Frank Ferrante, Ieshuh Griffin, Bryant Junco, Alexander Kostal and Nasser Musa.

Zao MKE Church had a packed house on January 23 for a public forum featuring eight candidates running for Alderperson in Milwaukee’s 3rd District, which consists of the city’s entire east side and Riverwest from east of Humboldt Ave. The vacant Common Council seat comes in the wake of the late Alderman Jonathan Brostoff’s death, who tragically passed away this past November.

The forum, moderated by James Causey of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, included candidates Josh Anderson, Daniel Bauman, Alex Brower, Frank Ferrante, Ieshuh Griffin, Bryant Junco, Alexander Kostal, and Nasser Musa. 

Sponsoring organizations included Muslim Women’s Coalition, Jewish Voice For Peace (JVP) Milwaukee, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Voces De La Frontera Action, Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, Greater Milwaukee Green Party, and Wisconsin Justice Initiative.

A large turnout for the first public forum featuring candidates running for the District 3 aldermanic seat.

On the issue of affordable housing, candidates spoke resoundingly in support of more housing construction, with some of them also touching on high property taxes and the importance of having intergenerational housing. Attention was also brought to corruption in the Housing Authority of Milwaukee.

Bauman affirmed, “We’ve got rising housing costs, and we’ve got people in the district who want to stay but can’t afford to. The east side is a desirable place to be and people want to be here, so that’s going to put pressure on the housing market. People need more options.”

On the topic of public saftey, candidate Frank Ferrante (center) championed working with youth-centered organizations rather than prosecuting our way to a safer Milwaukee.

Brower, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, followed by proudly stating, “I believe that housing is a human right, and one of the biggest challenges facing housing in general is the very existence of profit-driven landlords.”

Pointing to the hardships of renters looking to become homebuyers, Kostal mentioned, “Rents are consistently going up, and it becomes harder and harder to invest with the money that you need to save up to buy a house, so the city really needs to step up and be a leader in the development of affordable housing.”

“People over profits,” Musa began with. “We need to promote affordable housing to our locals and not out-of-towners, and I would like to see attention brought to landlords who are price gouging.”

Many pertinent issues were discussed throughout the evening, and most candidates had the opportunity to individually respond to each question. 

Candidates were asked about policies that they are most passionate about. Griffin spoke about addressing sex trafficking, Kostal discussed repairing the relationship between UW-Milwaukee and its surrounding neighborhood, and Brower elaborated on plans for a municipal energy utility to replace WE Energies.

Jodi Melamed, Ph.D., a member of Jewish Voice for Peace asked the panel about how they would keep pro-Palestine protesters at UW-Milwaukee safe from repression.

As the conversation moved into topics around public safety, candidates talked about the increasing amount of crime in District 3 while also acknowledging failures of the Milwaukee Police Department and their current operation.

“The biggest criminals in Milwaukee are in your public offices,” Griffin contended. “They are not telling you the truth. The “reason” it appears that crime is down is because the police are not filing reports.”

Griffin continued by pointing to the specific issues of sex trafficking and sexual assault being insidiously on the rise in Milwaukee. She proposed having neighborhood task forces and more safe spaces for survivors of such crimes, as well as an audit done on the Milwaukee crime map.

“I agree with you on the audit,” Causey replied to Griffin. “The city hasn’t had an audit done in decades.”

Ferrante championed working with youth-centered organizations, “We cannot prosecute our way to a safer Milwaukee – it doesn’t work that way,” he said. “When you give folks skills and tools that they desperately need, it creates hope in those communities.”

Junco, while voicing support for community-oriented programs and quality access to education, broke off from the rest of the candidates on account of his advocacy for harsher criminal prosecutions. “I’m for rehabilitating nonviolent drug offenders and people who are in jail for petty offenses. We need to clear those people out and make room for real criminals.”

As a career public defender, Kostal pushed back on this notion, attesting, “We’re really tough on crime already, and it’s not taking a dent out of crime. Locking people up and mass incarceration didn’t work in the 90’s, and it’s not going to work in 2025.”

Candidate Nasser Musa, a Palestinian-American who lived in the West Bank for two years, stated that he wants to bring unity. 

Anderson emphasized the synergistic need for robust education, jobs, traffic calming measures and affordable housing, rather than more police, as means to break the cycles of crime. He gave as an example, “Act 12 definitely created some issues, where schools are forced to have student resource officers in the classroom, which further criminalizes our students and creates a school-to-prison pipeline.”

Brower pointed out that increasing the police budget is not solving crime, and he instead suggested that the root causes of crime be addressed. Musa spoke in favor of street cameras and community WhatsApp chats.

Once the floor opened up to the audience for questions, Deisy España, who had previously run for State Assembly, asked what candidates would do to protect their community from ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and mass deportations. 

While the majority of the folks on stage expressed support and empathy for victims of ICE raids, Junco refused to say that he would not cooperate with ICE, remarking that immigrants have to come “legally.” He then repeated the false claim that ICE only goes after violent criminals, and he cited an anecdotal example to perpetuate a narrative that undocumented immigrants are criminals and predators, not unlike previous talking points from the Trump administration.

Many in the crowd took offense to Junco’s statements, with some of the event organizers intervening to demand an end to his perpetuation of stereotypes. Organizer Angela Lang reminded him of the justice-rooted, liberation-minded signs adorning the room in Zao Church.

The audience lined up to ask candidates questions about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and mass deportations, freedom of pro-Palestine protesters at UW-Milwaukee and the rising cost of energy bills from the utility monopoly of WE Energies.

Lang made clear, “What I will not accept is bullying and gaslighting of one of our many beautiful, beloved community members. This will be a safe space. If you cannot abide by that, I will make sure you are escorted out of here.”

Jessica Schmidt addressed Junco on behalf of Voces de la Frontera Action, “Your comments are misinformed and false. We are the experts. We don’t need your opinion. We have the facts.”

Junco posted the following statement on his Facebook page after the forum,

“Being thrown out of Zao MKE Church Aldermanic candidate forum, after being INVITED to that event with ALL of the aldermanic candidates, simply because of my political beliefs and opinions is absolutely WILD to say the least. First amendment speech was a hot topic. ALL the candidates were for free speech. Yet, I was the only candidate attacked for my positions?! Absolutely wild and disheartening is an understatement.”

When Bryant Junco a repeated the false claim that ICE only goes after violent criminals, citing an anecdotal example to perpetuate a narrative that they are criminals and predators, many in the crowd took offense to his statements. Event organizers intervened and warned that if he continued he would be escorted out of the building.

Candidates were also asked about how they would keep pro-Palestine protesters at UW-Milwaukee safe from repression. Brower loudly and proudly affirmed his unequivocal solidarity with Palestine, even calling for a round of applause for the students present in the audience who participated in the UW-Milwaukee encampment that called on their university to divest from any Israeli companies benefitting from the genocide in Gaza.

“I will be standing with you, as the alderperson, and call for what is right in this world,” Brower proclaimed.

Anderson shared similar sentiments. “I want to stand strong with these communities that are protesting and protect these peoples’ freedom of speech. Thank God we have a ceasefire, but we definitely need to stay vigilant.”

Left to right, Bryan Atinsky discusses issues with candidate Nasser Musa after the forum wrapped up.

Musa, a Palestinian-American who lived in the West Bank for two years, stated that he wants to build a bridge between the Muslim and Jewish communities. “I want to bring unity,” he said. “If I can build a small bridge between two people then it’s a success. It’s a start. This is another reason why I’m running.”

The next forum will be on February 3 at 6 p.m. at Vivarium, followed by a third one the next day at 6:30 p.m. at Gordon Park Pavilion, which will be broadcast live on Riverwest Radio. The primary for Milwaukee’s 3rd Aldermanic District is February 18.

From left to right, Rachel Ida Buff, co-founder of JVP Milwaukee and co-chair of Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, Ph.D., Fauzia Qureshi, executive director of Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, Angela Lang, founder and executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, organized the District 3 Aldermanic Forum.

From left to right, candidate Alexander Kostal in a post forum discussion with Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee)