By Martha Love
Martha Love
On Tuesday, August 13, I will cast my ballot for Ted Chisholm for Milwaukee County Treasurer and encourage you to do the same.
Ted is a former executive in the Milwaukee County Clerk of Circuit Court’s Office, working under Clerk of Circuit Court Anna Hodges, and the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, where he was chief of staff to former Sheriff Earnell Lucas. Ted also played a key role in electing Clerk Hodges and Sheriff Lucas, who broke new ground for our community through their effective leadership in county government. In each role, Ted helped reform budget services and administration, ensuring that we can trust how key county agencies spend our hard-earned taxpayer dollars.
We can see Ted’s work for ourselves. The Clerk of Circuit Court’s Office under Anna Hodges has its financial house in order and, with Ted’s leadership, even lightened the burden on taxpayers from 2023 to 2024, reducing the tax levy used for the office while cutting down on internal backlogs and funding key services like language access and eviction prevention. The Sheriff’s Office under Earnell Lucas became once again a respected law enforcement agency that patrolled our parks and treated members of our community with dignity. Ted was front and center in both administrations, active, engaged, and transparent. His long list of endorsements from respected community leaders and organizations reflects his successes in office.
On the other hand, Ted’s opponent, David Cullen, has little to show for his ten years in the Treasurer’s Office. Mr. Cullen is a nice man and fine public servant, with decades as a city, state, and county politician. Still, our community deserves active, visible leadership that we can relate to and rely on. Very few Milwaukee County residents could likely tell you our Treasurer’s name or name any major accomplishments he has achieved on our behalf. That’s not good enough, and we deserve a change in leadership.
Ted has bold plans for the Treasurer’s Office, a small department of county government focused largely on tax collection and financial management. When elected, Ted will work more proactively to help homeowners and small business owners avoid foreclosure if financial emergencies cause them to fall behind on property taxes. He will move more quickly than his opponent to foreclose on abandoned and vacant properties that have sat unused for years. And he will be visible and active in our community, just like he has been during his past service and throughout his campaign.
I have known Ted Chisholm for many years and know him to be a person of honor, integrity, and deep commitment to the rights of everyone in our community. He has my vote on Tuesday, August 13 and I hope he has yours.