Milwaukee County district attorney confirms ongoing local, state criminal investigation into Health Department
Mary Spicuzza
The Milwaukee County district attorney confirmed Tuesday that there is an ongoing local and state criminal investigation into the City of Milwaukee Health Department.
District Attorney John Chisholm publicly acknowledged the probe Tuesday in a letter to a pair of city leaders who asked him to consider prosecuting health officials over their handling of the city's lead crisis.
"In recognition of the serious nature of this matter, and as has been previously indicated publicly, my office and the State of Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation commenced a joint investigation several months ago, which continues at this time," Chisholm wrote. "Upon conclusion of the investigation, my office will report to the Milwaukee Common Council and the public our findings and any appropriate next steps."
Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton and Ald. Bob Donovan sent a letter Monday to Chisholm formally requesting he investigate whether criminal offenses had occurred at the city Health Department.
The request comes as a number of other investigations — including at the federal, state and city level — have been launched into the failings of the department and its lead programs. An audit is planned, and a reorganization of the agency is also underway.
"While we continue to wait for an audit of the Health Department to begin in the coming weeks, we also thought it prudent to contact you and ask if there were any circumstances that you believe could rise to the level of an offense prosecutable by your office," they wrote.
It's unclear how this would be different from the ongoing criminal investigation into the department that Chisholm acknowledged Tuesday. Hamilton had publicly referred to the existence of a criminal investigation last year.
Chisholm could not be reached immediately for an interview Tuesday. A city Health Department spokesman said the agency has been cooperating with the investigation.
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The Health Department has been struggling for months in the wake of revelations about severe problems with its program aimed at preventing lead poisoning among Milwaukee children.
Troubles with the agency's lead programs forced former health commissioner Bevan Baker from his job in January 2018. A number of other staffers have since been disciplined, forced to resign or fired.
Lisa Lien, who served as the city's home environmental health manager, decided to resign in July rather than be fired.
Richard Gaeta, who served as the city's environmental health field supervisor, was fired from the department in August. He appealed his firing but lost his bid to get his job back.
Margot Manassa, the city's public health nursing coordinator, received a written warning in September 2017 and was suspended for five days in April 2018 after she allowed children with lead poisoning so severe they had been hospitalized to be released and sent back to homes with lead hazards.
Tiffany Barta, the city's director of nursing, was suspended for five days late last year after city officials determined she had worked to "sabotage" others in the department.
In texts previously obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel through a public records request, Barta repeatedly slammed her co-workers and urged Baker not to trust some of them.
The texts also show Barta and Baker were aware of the crisis months before it was made public. Barta raised concerns as early as September 2017 about what would happen to Baker if this information got out.
"If this gets out, that the lead program is this messed up," Barta texted Baker in September 2017. "We will be held to the grindstone!"
Tasha Jenkins, who oversaw the city's problem-plagued family planning and cancer screening programs as the city's director of family and community health, lost her job in December 2018.
Hamilton, who has filed papers to run against Mayor Tom Barrett, and Donovan did not specify which health staffers they suspect may have committed crimes in their letter.
"As of this writing, it seems clear that fault for this tragic dysfunction rests with many people who held varying levels of administrative authority," they wrote.
They added that they and other aldermen have spent months trying to understand "precisely what went so dreadfully wrong" within the department and its lead programs but are still trying to come up with answers.
"It may be true that this was a story of bureaucratic misfeasance that had horrible results," they wrote. "We, however, felt obligated to make every outreach we could in search of answers."
Contact Mary Spicuzza at (414) 224-2324 or mary.spicuzza@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MSpicuzzaMJS or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mary.spicuzza.