The City of Milwaukee’s Department of Community Wellness and Safety has a new director.
Karin Tyler, who led the department on an interim basis in the wake of the past two directors’ resignations, was officially appointed to the role via a 9-3 vote at the April 21 Common Council meeting.
Two council members abstained, and one was excused.
Alds. Robert Bauman, Sharlen Moore and Scott Spiker all voted against Tyler’s confirmation.
The process for Tyler’s appointment has been fraught and received mixed support from city officials. At the Common Council’s March 24 meeting, the council voted 11-4 to send Tyler’s appointment back to subcommittee for further deliberations, one day after the Wisconsin Office of Violence Prevention released its list of grant recipients – and the Milwaukee Department of Community Wellness and Safety was passed over for a requested $2 million grant.
Tyler has rejected the notion that she holds responsibility for the city not receiving the state funds. She said the city was passed over in part due to the department’s frequently changing leadership. The department has seen four different directors in four years. Most recently, former director Adam Procell resigned in January, after the city attorney said a felony conviction Procell received as a teenager deemed him ineligible to hold the role.
Tyler was not acting as the department’s head when the city applied for the state grant.
Tyler started as interim head of the Department of Community Wellness and Safety following the resignations of former directors Procell and his predecessor, Ashanti Hamilton. Hamilton stepped into the role in 2022, following the firing of then-director Arnitta Holliman. He resigned in 2025 for a new job, when Procell was appointed.
The office’s director before Holliman was Reggie Moore, who now works at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he operates the program 414Life. He is also the spouse of Ald. Sharlen Moore – who has told the Journal Sentinel she does not believe Tyler should be appointed to the role, due to funding concerns and need for more community input.
Tyler has been with the department since 2017, and prior to that had worked for the city’s Health Department since 2008.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson named Tyler as his pick for director in February. Her appointment was approved by the Common Council’s Public Safety and Health Committee April 10 in a 3-2 vote before it moved to the full council April 21.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Karin Tyler confirmed as new director of Milwaukee’s Office of Community Wellness and Safety
Reporting by Kelli Arseneau, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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